And we have a tie! Puppies are expected August 29th, 2024 if the breeding was successful. We got in late Wednesday night and made our way bright and early to Sharon’s place (Jack’s owner) by 7:30am. In past experience it seems that mornings have been the most successful time of day for a mating. And I wasn’t wrong. Lucy and Jack spent a few minutes getting to know each other but only about 20 minutes into our visit to the farm, they had a tie (if you don’t know what I mean by a “tie” Google it). Tim and I were ecstatic. Unsure that Lucy would cooperate (matings with Hamish were an all week affair in the past) we were thrilled that Lucy seemed to know exactly what she was there for and what she was supposed to do. Jack, a proven sire, had no problem participating and “wham, bam, thank you ma’am” as Sharon put it, we were in business.
Since we hadn’t expected success on the first go, Tim and I floundered a bit with how to spend the rest of our day. We planned to give the dogs another whirl the next morning just to ensure a breeding but had thought that achieving a tie might mean being in and out all day from Sharon’s place. With a tie under our belts by 8am, we had the whole day ahead of us. What a rare gift. We used it well starting with Sharon’s recommendation of visiting downtown Paducha, KY for breakfast, eating at Kirchoff’s bakery and a coffee from the spot next door. I can see why they’ve been around for so long…yum!
The downtown with the cobbled streets on the waterfront of the Ohio River was a nice spot to walk around on the still cool summer morning. Shopping is not really our thing but we enjoyed the story of the town’s history displayed in murals with an old steam engine nearby. Quaint and interesting and a good place to walk a dog for a few hours.
What to do next was a bit of a challenge… there isn’t really a whole lot to be seen in western Kentucky besides grasslands. Sharon had suggested a few national and state parks but all of them were in Illinois, an hour away. But with nothing else to do we decided to check out the Shawnee National Forest. I’m always up for adding another National Park to our list 😊.
We visited the Garden of the Gods Wilderness area as this was the park’s biggest claim to fame. Large stone formations to hike through and climb on for about a quarter of a mile. It was interesting and the scenery was pretty. But it was over pretty quick.
We hunted down a trail to a waterfall as the temperature was rising and water sounded pretty nice at this point. A family coming out from the hike remarked that it was a “pretty cool trail” and gave us a tip of how to go around the waterfall rather than back tracking on the trail. After a good while of hiking a mostly dry river bed on a poorly marked trail, we came upon a trickle of water sprinkling on dry rocks. Confused, because this did not seem like the “cool trail” someone would remark on, we were certain we had missed something along the way. So we retraced our steps and went further down the “river”. Bender Waterfall was becoming a figment of our imagination. Disappointing considering the fact that by now we were sweating in the Midwestern heat and a splash of water would have been fantastic. Lucy was panting in agreement. We gave up and headed out. Studying a map of the trail a little later we realized the trickle was indeed Bender Falls and it was “seasonal”. Harumph.
We headed back to our Airbnb and made a stop in to meet Greg Northcutt, Jacks’s breeder, an added bonus to our last minute Kentucky adventure. We spent over an hour on his beautiful farm talking dogs and kid and life. He is an adoption lawyer with a hobby farm and trains and raises collies on the side. He started with border collies and met Old Time Scotch Collies about 15 years ago and never looked back. He has several training videos on youtube if you're interested! Using the famous Doug as his model dog.
At his feet the entire time was his latest OTSC, Rick. And I fell in love. If Lucy hadn’t already done the deed with Jack, I would have given him my blessing on the spot. Not only was he beautiful, but his behavior was impressive. There he was with a beautiful female dog in heat, flashing herself shamelessly in front of his nose (Lucy figured she was there to perform again), and he obediently lay at his master’s feet. Now, he was young and still learning, Greg had to remind him a few times, but he looked frequently to his master for direction. I think we’ll be visiting Kentucky again someday…
The next day we had the same success with Jack and Lucy. Both cooperated beautifully by 8am in the morning. We said our goodbyes and Sharon and I both remarked about the really kind and wonderful people we have met through the OTSC world. It really is a community of individuals that stands out not only in its values to preserve a breed and to preserve them well, but also in overall integrity towards each other as fellow dog owners and breeders. Tim and I could have went home from there but we decided to take our free time and use it a bit longer. Since all our children were still accounted for and enjoying their time at a friend’s, they were not overly anxious for us to make our appearance yet!
We visited the Land Between the Lakes area for the day with plans to rent a kayak for part of the afternoon. The 1850’s homestead was quaint and interesting but it was even hotter than it was the day before. With our northern roots, Tim and I are big sissies when it comes to anything over 80. Even Lucy took a dip in a nearby puddle. We kind of wished we could join her… We decided waiting until 2pm was too long to wait to hit the lake and made attempts to find a place with an earlier rental. No luck. Getting home before dark was looking better and better and so we hit the road. Maybe next time, Kentucky!
And Hannah is out of surgery!
Comments