January 18, 2017
Sire: Carson, CH. Militza’s I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff
Dam: Emma, CH. Cobblestone What’s the Catch
We decided to name our first litter after the constellation that was most prominent in the sky. In the winter sky of Ohio, Orion is simply magnificent.
Dam: Emma
CH Cobblestone What’s the Catch
After watching her for over 3 years, I decided to breed Emma. She had demonstrated a wonderful temperament, was athletic, and had enjoyed excellent health. Her medical clearances were good and of note her hips were certified OFA Excellent. That was not a surprise to me, on the farm her chassis excelled as an active and balanced dog around the property in a variety of weather conditions.
In the pursuit of a sire for Emma, I was looking to improve her foundation. Ideally, the potential sire needed to have a better front shoulder/upper arm assembly than Emma which is one of her strengths. I was also looking for a rear hip assembly that had a little less croup angle than Emma. The potential sire needed to be well-balanced and on my wish list, he needed to have an improved head structure if possible. There were other items on my list but finding a sire that was not lazy was important to me. Emma was enthusiastic toward movement, and I was trying to continue that trait in her puppies. As a positive trait, I believe it passed to Emma, from her mom, and from her grandmother, all dams I had visually seen over a period of years.
Regarding the subjective attributes of an Irish setter, I was looking for a balanced sire that was fancier than Emma, but not radically different in structure.
Sire: Carson
CH Militza’s I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff
Carson (GCH Militza’s I’ll Huff and I’ll Puff) appeared to check the most boxes and was used as the sire. I thought at the time that Carson was a good compliment to Emma’s sire, Foster (Gwyndara’s Double Impact). Besides Foster, there was another grandfather to this litter that was of interest to me, Adrian (GCH Vermilian’s Sea Breeze). Besides Adrian’s stellar and well-deserved show career, his temperament was of note. Showing Emma as a puppy at the Wine Country Specialties in 2013, we shared the same handler with Adrian. That weekend, I got to spend a lot of time with him and was impressed. He is a cool dog and a pleasure to hang around with. His personality and temperament were noteworthy, and I was hopeful those attributes would be complimentary to Emma’s.
