Sunday, April 26, 2009

Bonnie's Parents

I have learned some wonderful background information about Bonnie from her first foster mother Pat.

The story I had previously associated with Bonnie coming into rescue was completely wrong. On the same day I picked up Brynn Pat shared the real story with me...and some nice photos of Bonnie's parents.

Pat learned of a litter of puppies that was being given away in near Mardon/Othello, WA. She made arrangements to go to the ranch where they were living with the parents and coordinate their surrender into rescue.

There were nine puppies in this litter. Previous litters from these parents have been bred for sale in the past. The family was unable to find buyers for this litter which is why they were giving them away. Bonnie's sire is traditional marked black and white. The dam is a patterened white with heavy ticking. Both are purebred and dearly loved by the family. They are also valuable working hands on this cattle ranch.

The litter was born in the house and raised in their kitchen. Healthy and socialized wonderfully.

The next time I am in Moses Lake, Pat told me we can head over to the ranch and meet the family. Hopefully I can find out the breeding on the parents. It would be nice to know.

The only picture I had seen of Bonnie's parents was this little teenie tiny thumbnail which was listed on her adoption page.



Pat was able to provide me with full size pictures (THANK YOU PAT!)



It is amazing to me how much Bonnie resembles her mother... the shape of her head, the coloring, her carriage etc.



Now I understand where Bonnie gets her speckles from!



Bonnie as little puppy







Bonnie snuggled up with her litter mates (she is the one in the middle)



A couple more litter mates



It is amazing how very fast they grow. From this...



To this...She is already bigger than Beth! (that isn't to hard, Beth is a pipsqueak)



I wish teenagers would grow up (and MOVE OUT) as fast...

7 comments:

An English Shepherd said...

Great pictures & nice you now have her full history :-)

Wizz

Kasha said...

I love your blog and I love your Border Collies! It looks like they live in a really fun environment. I would love for you to meet my Africa! Please stop by my blog sometime! I am adding your link to my blog so I can keep in touch.

Monique said...

I wonder if Bonnie's mom is actually a pattern white with heavy ticking? Her silver parts look more ticked vs. diluted/merled.

I'm a big color/genetics nerd. Have you seen the border collie colors section of the online BC museum?

Check it out:

http://gis.net/~shepdog/BC_Museum/

and for colors like Bonnie's mom:

http://www.gis.net/~shepdog/BC_Museum/Permanent/BCColors_Ticked/BC_ColorTicked.html

Southbaygirl said...

Mom and I like Bonnie's speckles!!! I have speckles too!!!

Woof

Velcro

BCxFour said...

Monique,
Thank you so much for giving me the link. I think you are correct about Bonnie's mom not being merled. I only said Blue Merle because the woman who took the photos said she was merled and I assumed the pictures did not reflect it accurately. Hopefully I can see her in person someday soon and get a difinitive answer.

Thanks again!
-Carolynn
PS Thanks to everyone else for your comments too!

The Border Collies said...

Bonnie's mum is definitely ticked, not merle. No need to confirm it in person. Pat can never get that right and consistently calls ticked dogs "merles." I've stopped pointing it out now ;-)

BCxFour said...

I have officially changed the words "Blue Merle" in my post to "pattern white with heavy ticking".

Thank you everyone for helping me figure that out!