Third from the Left

That's Taff, third from the left, and the newest edition to my kennel. Well, he will be once I pick him up at a dog trial in New Mexico next month. He'll be 6 months old by the time I get my hands on him, so what was the delay? The entire litter, minus one that had just been picked up by its new owner, was exposed to a rabid skunk and quarantined until June 13. The quick-thinking breeder and top handler, Allen Mills, heard a pup yelp, saw the skunk nearby, shot it and had it tested for rabies. Sure enough, it was rabid, and the pups weren't going anywhere.

The good news is that after 3 months, everybody is healthy, and ready to go to their new homes. All have been spoken for except the 2 females that Allen is keeping. My good friend, Alison Holmes, is taking one of the pups and has generously agreed to pick up mine, and keep it until the trial next month in Mountain Air, New Mexico, when I can get there and collect him. I owe her big-time for that one. Can't thank her enough.

This is my good dog, Price, that is the pups grandfather. He's 10 now, and this will be only the 2nd pup going back to him that I will try. He was bred to a full sister litter-mate of Emil Ludecke's, Ben, and that litter produced Sis. Bred to Eileen Stineman's Don, Sis is the mother of the pups.

Sis has been quite successful in her own right, and Don has produced some very successful offspring, so I have high hopes for little Taff. It's really impossible to tell from a picture, but in others that I have of him, he seems to have a look about him that is familiar to me. Shades of his grandfather, I think. If he turns out to be half the dog that Price is, he will exceed my expectations. Allen bred the best to the best, and I'm hoping for the best, as they say.