What a fascinating week. Lucy went into heat September 14th and the game was afoot! I learned soooo much about the mysteries of dog breeding. We have bred rabbits, goats, cats (if you can count that lol), and chickens. Each one has its own signs, numbers, and quirks that let you know when the time is "right". Every breeder, book, and website its own variety of information, advice, and tips to help you make sure the magic happens. The plethora of information was helpful and yet confusing at times. Lol.
We began with a visit to Hamish's home on Day 10 of her heat cycle. From what I read, it was best to try days 10, 12 and 14. After what seemed like some promising romantic behavior from Lucy toward Hamish, "flagging" (waving her rear in his face with her tail to the side) and romping affectionately, Hamish decided he'd have a go. A harsh snap from Lucy sent him humbly back to his own business and I decided we'd try again later.
The next day we decided to try again. Heck the window is tight here. If you miss it, you miss it for 6 months. The same behavior from Lucy, but this time she scooted out from under him and looked askance. How dare he try such indecent behavior! Poor Hamish seemed confused and rejected.
I began to be concerned that perhaps their inexperience, as well as my own, was going to get
in the way of success. There was some talk of "helping" them along if necessary which sounded sketchy at best. I really liked the idea of nature taking its course. We decided to bring him home for a few days and see how things went on Lucy's own turf. Thankfully, we're in a position with Hamish's owners that this was an option! It was so fun to get to know Hamish on his own. What a sweetheart! We all fell in love with him. He is a bit more people oriented than Lucy. I will often try to get her to lay at my feet when I'm sipping my morning tea or watching a movie. She'll please me for a short time and them harumph back to her bed. Hamish, on the other hand, just couldn't decide who's feet to lay on next! When I tucked the kids in at night, he followed me from room to room. On the bed, kisses for this one, on to the girls room, kisses for them... it was so sweet. If we ever purchase our own stud, I dearly hope he is just like Hamish.
Anyway, on to business. Our next attempt was to pen them into a small fenced area to minimize distractions, as suggested by a few and in a book as well. It was anything but a distraction for poor Hamish. Used to being free as a bird roaming his farm, the idea of being penned in did not sit well. He simply paced and barked. Lucy followed him like she was drooling over a rock star to no avail. He was simply not interested in anything but getting back out!
The next day we tried the next level of intervention: putting them into a tighter space (barn stall) to force him to focus his attention on her alone. This also was not successful. Now Hamish was not free to run AND he was also separated from the people! Hamish loves people! At least in the fence he could still see us. Now he was trapped and alone. Again, he simply stood there and barked while Lucy languished in the corner. After a few hours of that, I gave up. I simply had to let them loose and keep them happy. It was keeping an eye on them so I could witness the blessed event that was going to be tough on 13 acres. But the stress of trying to keep an eye on two roaming collies and get ANYTHING done for the next few days, not to mention the 7 kids I was responsible for keeping alive was already wearing on me. Most of the advice indicated she was probably not quite ready, since Hamish seemed completely uninterested. And after talking with another breeder friend with a similar farm set-up, I decided I was going to let things be what they will be. Let them play and cuddle and if it happens and I don't see it, then I guess we'll do our best to figure it out. And if it doesn't happen, then so be it, no puppies this time around. I couldn't really force a natural event to occur. So let nature take its course. And usually letting things occur naturally is much more time-consuming and inconvenient. Sigh. I'm just not patient enough for this!
What a game changer! To reward my newly decided course of action, the very next morning, the two decided to make a tie of it right outside my kitchen window while I was teaching school. I patted and praised! My kids were concerned that the dogs seemed stuck and confused. Lol, the lessons nature has to offer!
Hamish went home yesterday afternoon. My husband caught at least one more tie. I'm sure there were probably one or two more that we didn't catch. Hamish seemed like he got the hang of it pretty quick once he had some success. In all probability we will be expecting puppies November 29th, with a go home date sometime towards the end of January 2023!
If you are interested in puppies and would like to complete an application, it is available here.
Please email me with any questions at bramblymountainfarm@gmail.com.
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