Planning for Puppies

We are planning for a litter of puppies this spring. There is quite a bit that goes into planning a litter and getting ready to have the pups.

First, you want to choose the parents. For this litter, we've chosen to breed our dam to one of our own stud dogs. Ch Corwyn's Mystic JH CD VA (these titles means she's got her AKC Show championship, her Junior Hunter title, and her Companion Dog in obedience, plus the Versatility Award title from the American Pointer club) who call call Rowan (or "The Devil!") is to be bred to Ch Corwyn's Charisma JH CDX VA "Duncan". The dogs should be chosen to complement one another in the various doggy aspects:

• Type - they should look like a pointer and hopefully contribute positively to one another in areas where one is better - example: Duncan has more bone than Rowan - we're hoping to get some of that in the pups. Rowan has a beautiful head and dark eye and we're hoping to get that.


• Temperament - They should be solid tempered, outgoing, friendly and easy to train. We at Corwyn do not breed dogs who are shy, aggressive, extremely stubborn or difficult to train.
• Health - both dogs are over 2 years old and have had the appropriate health checks that apply to our breed. Pointers are pretty healthy, but we do use OFA to check their hips - both of these dogs are OFA Good. They do not have any seizure disorders, nor do any of their relatives, and have shown no skin problems.
• Field Ability - No dog at Corwyn is bred without demonstrating field ability. After all, a pointer should be able to do his job! Both these dogs have a basic hunting title (Junior Hunter) and have been hunted over in the field by us. Rowan is a natural retriever and Duncan has been trained to retrieve as well. Rowan has a particularly good nose and both have good range but are manageable when working at a distance. We think the pups will be very birdy and not hard to train.

Now that we've made a decision about the parents, it's just a waiting game for Rowan to come into season so we can breed her... She loves puppies (that's her in the photo with her 1/2 brothers & sisters) and we hope she will be a great mom!