Watch the Chandler-Indy puppies grow up
This was born 7 August 1997. The litter included four sable bitches, one tri-color bitch, and one tri-color male (all bi-factored). Pedigree, pictures and puppy evaluations are below.
- SIRE:
- Tara Hill It Hasta Be Shasta (litter brother to CH Tara Hill All Is Vanity)
- CH Tara Hill Aylmere Wild Card
- Dan Dee Orange Fragrance
- CH Aylmere Foxglove You Bet
- CH Benayr Sentimental Journey
- Aylmere Amanda Leigh
- Aylmere Karma ("Sportin' Chance")
- CH Foxglove Chances Are
- Am/Can./Jap. CH Alfenloch Whirlwind, ROM
- CH Shield Crest Hurricane
- Sea Oak Diamonds Are Forever (dam of 3 CHs)
- Foxglove-DeVine Trendsetter, NA, PT-s
- Edgelea Nor'Easter O'Rosmoor ("Rosmoor Robert")
- DeVine Sing A Joyfull Song, CDX
- Kelhar's Joy To The World, CDX
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- DAM:
- Am./Can. CH Banchory Classic Image, ROM ("Formal Notice")
- Am./Can. CH Banchory Beau Of Cedarhope
- Can. CH Banchory Black Fashion
- Am./Can. CH Sugarloaf Sudden Impact
- Am./Can. CH Banchory Classic Image, ROM ("Formal Notice")
- Sugarloaf Classic Mist
- Bayside Socialite
- CH Ashburton Sugarloaf Moonlit (click on name to see photo)
- Am./Can. CH Banchory Classic Image, ROM ("Formal Notice")
- CH Emeraude First Class
- Emeraude Breeze On Bi
- CH Sugarloaf Blue Diamond
- CH Kidwelly Ashburton RSVP ("Formal Notice")
- Can. CH Sugarloaf Ashburton Fantasy
- Shellay's Grand Illusion
Chandler-Indy Puppies -- 10 days old
From left to right (#1 - 6, in order of birth):
sable bitch, tri male, sable bitch, tri bitch, sable bitch, sable bitch
Chandler-Indy Puppies -- 6 weeks old
From left to right (#1 - 6, same order as above):
sable bitch, tri male, sable bitch, tri bitch, sable bitch, sable bitch
Litter Evaluation (9/22/97)
We did this breeding with a couple of goals in mind, all having to do with proving "Chandler" and seeing what he might produce. Our first goal was to find out whether he was tri-factored or bi-factored (that is, whether he carried a gene for tri-color or a gene for bi-color). Chandler's mother is a bi-factored tri, so he had to be either tri-factored or bi-factored. We got the answer to that question when two of the six puppies were black, white and tan. [Answer: he's tri-factored.] (Bi-color is recessive to tri-color, so bi-colored Shelties have two genes for bi-color. Tri-colors can have two genes for tri-color, or one gene for tri-color/one gene for bi-color. The latter is the case for the two tri-color puppies in this litter, since each one had to get a bi-color gene from their bi-black dam.]
We also wanted to see if Chandler would be dominant for his very good front -- one of the best front assemblies we have ever seen in a male Sheltie. See About the Front Assembly. Indy's front was certainly good enough to finish but needs improvement. She has a short upper arm; and although she single-tracks both front and rear, she lifts just slightly in front. Although it is still too early to evaluate front movement in these puppies, we like what we feel when we go over their fronts. We did get a few short upper arms -- but not a whole litter of them.
We were also interested to see what we would get for size. Indy is a small bitch (14-1/4"), but she had very big littermates and produced a lot of size in her first litter. Both of Chandler's parents, on the other hand -- particularly his dam -- seemed to control size to a large extent. We were hoping he would also sire moderate puppies, even with an outcross breeding such as this... Well, these are NOT big puppies. At this point anyway, it doesn't look like anything has a chance of going oversize. Puppies #1 and #3 (sable bitches) are almost certainly too small. Puppies #2 (tri male) #4 (tri bitch), #5 and 6 (sable bitch, sable bitch) should be big enough.
We expected pretty eyes and nice heads from this breeding, and we were not disappointed. We seem to have improved on Indy's head in the ways we were hoping -- better underjaw, more muzzle and better-defined stops. We even got sufficient muzzle and underjaw on the two littlest puppies in the litter (#1 and #3).
Evaluation of individual puppies
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Puppy #1 -- Six weeks Puppy #1, a sable bitch shown at six weeks, is a little one whose size immediately eliminated her from contention as a show prospect. In addition, she was one of two puppies who inherited her dam's short upper arm. |
We like almost everything about Puppy #2, a tri male shown at nine weeks. He has a beautiful head and expression -- with a particularly lovely eye, wonderful natural ears, good muzzle and great underjaw. He has a terrific front end, and we also like his length of body and neck and his general proportions. His major fault is a slightly over-angulated rear. One way to evaluate rear angulation is to set the dog up so his hocks are perpendicular to the ground. In that stance, the back of the hocks should end up just a bit behind his tailbone. He should not "stand behind himself" as this puppy does, albeit ever so slightly -- click here to see this illustrated more graphically. When he sets himself up naturally, a dog with an extremely overangulated rear will be unable to stand four-square as Puppy #2 is doing. This is because, with his hocks perpendicular to the ground, his feet would be too far behind him to support his rear end. To compensate, he may "stand under himself" with both legs, or he may stand like a German Shepherd with one leg under himself and one stretched behind. A badly over-angulated rear will also affect movement because the natural length of stride in the rear will not match the natural length of stride in the front. To compensate, the dog may shorten his rear stride and fail to entend his hocks fully as he goes. This is commonly called "sickle hocks" because, when viewed from the side, the hocks remains sickle-shaped as the dog trots. From the rear, an observer will be unable to see the pads of the rear feet as the dog moves away at a trot. Another possible compensation is to lift the front feet too far off the ground with each stride. This is wasted motion, but it enables the dog to "get out of his own way." He may also fail to single-track (feet converge toward a center line) in front, so that his rear feet -- which are single-tracking -- can swing between his lifting, non-single-tracking, short-strided front feet. (Some people call this type of a movement a "reverse tricycle" -- two "wheels" in front, one behind.) Or, the dog may "crab" or "sidewind," meaning that he will not move in a perfectly straight line. His front feet will move on one line; and his rear feet will converge on another line slightly to the right or left. (Lifting, the "reverse tricyle" and/or "crabbing/side-winding" are movement faults that are also common in dogs with too-short bodies. At a trot, the shortness of the body would cause the front and rear feet to hit each other if the dog did not compensate in one or more of these ways.) Puppy #2 is only slightly over-angulated in the rear and, at least at this point, his natural stance and movement do not seem to be affected. This is probably because he has excellent front angulation (see "About the Front Assembly") and because his body is not too short. We expect this puppy to mature at about 15 inches, maybe a bit less. |
Puppy #2 -- Nine weeksPuppy Number Two at six months (2/7/98)
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Puppy #3 -- Six weeks Puppy #3, a sable bitch shown at six weeks (and not standing very well), is the smallest puppy in the litter. As an adult, she may make 13 inches, but it'll be be close. Other than her size, however, she is a very appealing puppy with sufficient bone (for her size), decent muzzle and underjaw, and a very sweet eye. |
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It's hard to tell much about her bodily proportions from this photo taken by her new owners, although she looks like she is getting leggy. We can tell that this puppy's head has lengthened quite a bit and that she has fallen off in muzzle, something that was reported for all the puppies in this litter around this age.
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Puppy #4 -- Nine weeks Puppy #4, a tri-color bitch shown at nine weeks, is a puppy we like a lot. Although she is not standing very well (some puppies are easier to photograph than others -- this is a naughty one!), she has a very nice front and rear -- good angulation on both ends and well-balanced. She moves well in all directions. We also like her general proportions and outline. Her muzzle and underjaw are sufficient; however, we would like a sweeter eye (that failing is not so evident in these photos, which were taken outside in fairly bright sunlight). On the other hand, we've had plenty of puppies in which the eye sweetened greatly as the head changed and developed over the first few years of life. It will be interesting to see if that happens with this girl. This will not be a big bitch, but we think she'll be big enough. At this point, we're predicting that she will mature at around 14 inches -- maybe a bit more if we're lucky. |
Puppy Number Four at five months
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Puppy #5, a sable bitch shown at nine weeks, is the biggest puppy in the litter. We are expecting her to mature at around 15 inches, maybe a bit more. This puppy is a good illustration of what can happen with an outcross breeding such as this. In this litter, we got several puppies who resemble their sire in general "type" (Puppies #1, 3, 4 and #6); one who is a very good blend of the two (Puppy #2); and this puppy, who looks as if her pedigree is as heavily Banchory as her dam's. A "typical" Banchory puppy may be seen by clicking here. This puppy has a much more "extreme" head than we are used to seeing in puppies this young. Will she grow into that head as Banchory puppies are noted to do, or will she be a clunky, "overdone" adult? Stay tuned! This puppy is somewhat longer in body than any of her littermates -- maybe that goes along with the longer head. She has good rear angulation and excellent shoulder layback. Unfortunately, she, too, inherited her dam's short upper arm. At this point, her movement seems pretty good, but it is something we will be watching. |
Puppy Number Five at 6 months (2/7/98)
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Puppy #6, a sable bitch shown at six weeks, was our pick of this litter. More than any of her siblings, she seems to have it all together at this age. We love her head with its parallel planes, well-defined stop, nice muzzle, good underjaw, sweet eye and clean lip-line. She has a front assembly every bit as good as her sire's and a terrific rear to match. Her body is long enough, but not too long. We love her outline and balance. |
Litter Update (12/28/97) -- 20 Weeks OldWe apologize for having been unable to update photos of
the Chandler-Indy puppies; however, we still hope to be able to update at
least some of them before too long. Puppies Two, Four, Five and Six are
in homes in New Jersey, Vermont, Maryland and Massachusetts, respectively,
where they will be shown if they turn out. From all reports, most are going
through the major "uglies" at this point (20 weeks of age). Number
Six has lost muzzle and underjaw and appears very leggy. Number Four
lost muzzle earlier and is now seems to be regaining it, but otherwise,
in the words of her loving owner, looks like "a sausage on stilts." Number Two (at left, aged 13 weeks in a photo taken by his new owner) seems to be holding together a bit better than his two sisters. His very good front (excellent shoulder layback; long upper arm) is evident even in this not-so-sharp photo -- see how far his front legs are set under his body? His rear, our major concern at nine weeks (see earlier evaluation above), does not appear any more extreme than it did then; in fact, it now appears to "fit him better." And although he has become leggier in the weeks since this photo was taken, he seems to be staying in balance and holding muzzle and underjaw to a greater extent than Puppies Four and Six. According to her owner, Number Five is also holding together pretty well. Her body appears well- balanced, and she is not terribly leggy. Her head appears less extreme than it did at nine weeks; however, like her sisters, she has fallen off in muzzle. Again, with an outcross such as this, the developmental course for each puppy is harder to predict. Chandler, the sire of this litter, grew up "all in one piece" and went to his first shows as a puppy, taking home a major reserve at the age of six months (click here for photo) and a major at almost nine months (click here for photo). Indy, the dam of this litter, was a very different story! Drop dead gorgeous at ten weeks, Indy then "went off" like I've never seen a puppy go off. She lost muzzle and underjaw, and her backskull started to fall off (recede). Her head planes became far from parallel. She appeared weedy, scrawny, long in body, and high in the rear. And you can imagine how she moved. At 13 months, with no sign of improvement, I advised Indy's owner to place her. She didn't, and we're both glad! (And I'm the first to admit when I'm wrong -- I sure was that time!) By eighteen months or so, Indy was starting to pull back together; by three, she was ready to hit the ring. She finished her championship at age five and a half. Click here to see a photo of Indy on the day she finished. Puppy Number One and Puppy Number Three are living with wonderful families in New York and Massachusetts, respectively. Number One, now named Rosie, enjoyed a busy fall attending soccer games with her new family. Number Three, now named Lucy, enjoys walking on the beach near her home and terrorizing her "cousin," a Viszla. As her owner puts it, "She's a feisty one." Seems like the little ones always are! |
