The pre-dance moments . . . .

You know, I don't think I ever really intended to be "a breeder." Don't get me wrong:  I have enormous respect for good breeders and have been fortunate to find breeders who were careful and caring and chose wonderful dogs for me.  But I didn't think it was something I'd want to do.  I'd never felt any real desire to breed any of my dogs; I always said that being a breeder wasn't for the faint of heart.


On top of that, I wasn't even looking for Victory when I found her.  I had been researching Shelties for about a year and a half, had fallen totally in love with the breed, and had met some really good breeders who were incredibly kind and helpful and ready to share their knowledge with me.  I wanted to get a Sheltie, but as 2008 ended, I figured I was about a year away from adding one to my family.  Oh, and it was going to come from a breeder nearby, so that I could meet the litter and get to know the dam.


You know what they say about the best-laid plans . . . .


Through a post to a Performance Shelties email list, a serious question, and what began as simply a polite question, I ended up in a conversation with Jean Lavalley of Taylormade Shelties in Tennessee.  Jean had a litter on the ground, and there was a "slight possibility" that one would be available.  That was all fine and good . . . I had no intention of getting my Sheltie right then and even less intention of getting it from Tennessee.  Over the course of the next few weeks, however, I came to believe that this little Taylormade girl was meant to be mine, and luckily for me, Jean came to believe it, too; Victory (Taylormade Victory Dance) left the South and came to live in Ottawa.

I believe things happen as they should, and Victory was meant to come to me when she did.  I have so enjoyed getting to know her and becoming a team with her (we have a ways to go, but we're getting closer and having a great time along the way).  I absolutely LOVE her solid, stable temperament and her athleticism.  She is such a great fit with me that I knew I wanted my next Sheltie to come from similar lines.  The Taylormade family is a very special one, and I am delighted to be part of it.  But the whole family realizes Jean can't keep us all in dogs; there just aren't enough puppies to go around.


Somehow, I started to feel this pull to breed Victory.  At first, it was just a quiet, subtle, niggling feeling, but it was overpowered by terror and so fairly easy to ignore.  As it turned out, ignoring it didn't make it go away, and by the second half of 2011, the niggle had turned into a fairly substantial nudge, and the terror had settled down to a substantial nervousness.  Months before I "officially" decided to breed Victory, Jean informed me that I was already sunk but just didn't know it, and she was right.  By that time I'd been to the ASSA National in the spring and come back with stars in my eyes and a TON of information whizzing around in my brain, Jean and I had chatted back and forth about it, I'd asked a million questions, we'd decided what stud we wanted to use, and I'd even gone to meet him and his owner at an agility trial in Massachusetts (all the while saying, "Now, I'm not sure I'm going to breed her, but . . . "). 


At the beginning of November I went to a great seminar given by Tom Coen; I spent a weekend with Sheltie people, talking about the breed's history, the standard, and breeding decisions.  It was incredible:  I came home staggering under the weight of the information overload, mind all a-buzz -- and the next day Victory came into season.  It was time to make a decision . . . .