TWO girls in heat at our house equals Ziggy going on vacation this week in sunny Jupiter, FL! Actually the problem really is Spice since Groovy isn't allowed to interact with the other dogs but now that we know she is in heat too that makes me feel even better about my decision to send him south for the week. He is only sort of interested in Spice but I'd like to leave it at that. He's feeling some manly feelings this week as he's been a bit growly with Ruckus and with his brother Keep who came to visit who he hadn't seen since he was 13 weeks old. The real reason he needs to go though is that I can just see Jack or I in an early morning stupor not remembering to keep the dogs separate and BOOM - babies! Spice and Ziggy would make LOVELY performance pups unfortunately however they'd also likely make double merle pups and I'm just not capable of dealing with that outcome (double merle pups are very likely blind and/or deaf).
The good news is this is the girls last heat! I was waiting to spay Groovy since some studies show that aggression can increase in spayed females but then I finally realized what does that matter since she's already relegated to living separate from the rest of the dogs anyway? Spice... well at one point we thought might breed her but she has an intact sister who is awesome at herding, loves disc and is in a home with a breeder so will likely get bred so no need to miss out on stuff cause Spice is in heat (like today's UFO last chance qualifier)! Though to her credit this is the first time she's caused us to miss something due to her heats and she was kind enough to wait until after USDDN finals. So now I just have to figure out WHEN to get them spayed. I have a month or so less than 6 months to figure out a plan for Spice and less than 10 months to figure out Groovy's! Bottom line though is that Sunday PM through Friday is going to be torture for me! Ziggy will have fun and this will be a good experience for him but I'm not sure I can go that long without some Ziggy love. When he gets back Friday he is going straight to his Pennhip appointment at 3pm! Fingers crossed for beautiful hips! That reminds me I need to get Groovy's hips done when I get her spayed...
