Hurricane Deck

It seems as if the dog god has decided once again to frown on my plans. First we had the PLL fiasco with everything in my kennel testing out to be either a carrier or at-risk. After the genetic test for the PLL marker came out I tested a litter that I had just had - turns out the father was at-risk and the mother was a carrier. Each puppy had a 50/50 chance of either being a carrier or at risk - and 4 out of 5 puppies tested as at risk. So much for those who said that the numbers would even out in the litter! Fortunately, all of my puppy buyers understood the issue and took it with more calm than I had. Having witnessed the effects of PLL myself, I swore off any breeding that could possibly create an at risk dog - so no carrier to carrier or carrier to at risk crosses will EVER be made here. I will spay my prize bitch before I issue a painful sentence to a puppy who was created through no fault of its own. And here we go again with the bad news. A year of waiting on a litter. A year an

I will admit it, I am a movement snob. I believe that dogs should move as their standards have them built. Since a Rat Terrier has a well laid back shoulder and "matching" rear angulation, its movement is not flashy nor is it "terrier-like." A Rat Terrier's movement should be balanced and efficient. I've argued for years that a Rat Terrier should move like a "trotter" - mostly like a Dalmatian amazingly enough! Their movement should be smooth, their toplines should not roach, their feet should not be caught up in a tangle at mid-stride, their reach and drive should be easy and go from the tip of their nose to the tip of where their tail would have been (easy enough to figure out). They should be able to trot all day and not get tired. They are not built for sprinting like a Whippet nor stopping to dig as a Jack Russell. It is a unique movement for a terrier, but it is fantastic to see nonetheless. Previously I have discussed the exaggerations of ce