The litter that nearly didn't exist

 

BAMBI

We had decided to stop breeding Malinois. The Q litter was the final one. Then the S litter, which was to help out a friend, became the final, final one in 2021.

But then our lovely Bambi, daughter of Rona and Mats, went and did something we could only dream about.

Following in her great grandmother Ripley's footsteps,

BAMBI WON BEST OF BREED MALINOIS AT CRUFTS 2022!

Bambi had now won 2 CCs. You need 3 to get the title of Champion.

It's said that the UK is the hardest country of all to make a dog up to Champion in. You have to compete against and beat existing Champions.

Bambi's mum Rona won 2 CCs and 6 Reserve CCs. Her aunt, her grandfather and her great aunt ALL gained 2 CCs each and lots of reserves but never managed to win that important third.

Then at a very hot show on Bambi's 5th birthday, the 16th of July 2022, she did it.

Bambi became a Champion.

And everyone asked: "Aren't you going to breed from her now?"

I said no. John said no. I started to think and said yes. John still said no.

Then I had an idea. A special dog deserves a special litter.

I wanted to mate Bambi by artificial insemination to a Champion dog who had passed away 10 years ago.

His semen had been frozen.

Bambi was eye tested clear, hip scored with really good results (2/2) but her elbow score was 0/1.

I'd expected elbows to be 0/0. But Bambi wasn't a youngster, she was over 5. It could be wear and tear.

The Kennel Club states that you can breed from scores of 1 if there are very few dogs around with scores of 0. VERY few show line Malinois in the UK have been elbow scored at all.

Needless to say Bambi has never been lame. We went ahead with the AI in December 2022. 

We waited, and we hoped. Hoped and hoped. But it didn't work. Bambi wasn't pregnant.

I wanted to try again. I had an idea about a beautiful looking stud dog. Sadly his elbows scored 1/0 and I was not going to take that risk. Another dog was decided upon. Bambi came into season in July 2023 and we went to visit the dog. Bambi played hard to get. The male dog was young and didn't have the confidence to mate a bitch who was friendly at one end (tail flagging) but unfriendly at the other (snapping). We went home with no mating having taken place.

Once back home, we brought out Santee, our super stud who never fails to produce puppies. He has a hip score of 5/6 and importantly his elbows are 0/0. Eyes tested clear, of course.

Santee mated Bambi, just as a storm with heavy rain, thunder and lightning started!

 

And Bambi got pregnant!