Planned Litters
Birdie x Peppe
4 girls 3 boys
If you've been following along on Instagram this litter announcement will be no surprise to you but for those who are just popping in or looking for more detail on the pairing welcome! Settle in for a hopefully good read.
Birdie was our first show girl and holds a very special place in our hearts. She taught us everything we know (or we learned it together anyway) and through it all she has never lacked in enthusiasm or charm. She is always eager to please whatever the task at hand may be, especially when she is working with her dad (Jonah). Birdie is a star when it comes to the show ring and loves to strut her stuff. She is a multi group placing girl who has the "it" factor and likes to "ask for it" as some judges say. As we spent more time in the breed meeting dogs and researching, we learned more about movement and found Birdie to be lacking in that area which fueled us to delve into other lines and work toward forming our own vision as breeders instead of simply being exhibitors. It's hard to describe the feeling of winning with a dog you love dearly but clearly see faults in and wish to improve but this is part of the reason we knew we were called to be breeders; to preserve original function instead of being kennel blind and saying "what wins is what's good". I will get off this tangent now.
Fast forward to Feb 2024 Birdie's first breeding missed and we were devastated but of course willing to give Birdie another chance since it was most likely due to poor timing. When she came in again at the end of the year, we decided to eliminate the risk of poor timing and use
our most favorite local red boy Peppe! We opted for Peppe this time for several reasons. This pairing's pedigree combines two sides of things we have already utilized in our program but in a new combination. Peppe of course is Ophelia's sire and Birdie and Poppy are 3/4 the same pedigree. In short these genetics will be combined down the road regardless so we were interested in seeing what we got out of the immediate combination. Birdie is a very line bred girl and we always knew we would have to outcross her but our initial ideas had always wanted to pair her to a Walter son if not Walter himself. Although neither of those were an option at this time Peppe does come with Walter as his grandsire so I have hopes that we will see those desirable traits pass down through this pairing or at least give us insight as to what a future closer breeding might get us. Phenotypically (physically) Birdie and Peppe compliment each other quite well. She is short bodied he is long, she has short high ears he has longer more correctly set ears. Peppe offers stronger pasterns, tighter feet, a softer head/expression as well as more open movement. Birdie fills his weak spots with her lovely correct coat, amazing tail/brush and a stylish rear. Both Beagles have outstanding showmanship and temperaments, lovely pigment and strong straight toplines. We expect some perky little pups who hopefully inherit their mom's spunk and it factor with some of their dad's old fashioned elegance. All puppies will be tri-color as Birdie does not carry the recessive gene for red.
Now we're off on another new adventure with the Bird and eagerly await welcoming her little birdies into the world to raise alongside her and celebrate this awesome little dog who has taught us everything in an entirely new way.
