Plan A has additional objectives.  First and foremost was the production of a Magnus son, but that son would need a mate.  A mate from a different litter that would complement his attributes.  Enter, the other woman.

All of my past pairings were assembled asynchronously.  That is, Magnus showed up in March 1996, and Blaze, six years old at the time, showed up later that summer.  Nika didn’t arrive on the scene for another two years.  L’acy was already there when Sindred and Kronos arrived.  All that is to say that I always had at least one dog on the property, and I never added more than one dog to the pack at any given time.  Until now.

Given my preference for at least two dogs in the yard, I would need to acquire two puppies this Spring.  Not one.  Part of Plan A was to produce the second puppy from a different litter.  Pictured above is Rocky Mountain Epic Evelyn; AKA Evie.  The other woman.  She is a beautiful black and tan whose pedigree also traces back to Nika’s brother Darth.  And all that overlaps to some small degree with Magnus.

The original plan was to couple her with another dog from history, Shang-Hai’s Jack the Bear.  Jack the Bear was a very successful show dog whose mother, Shang-Hai’s Mystical Medusa – Stretch – was the all-time winningest show dog in the breed during her day, and the reason I had to admit that Blaze was only the second winningest Tibetan Mastiff when she lived with me. 

Unfortunately, conducting a transcervical insemination using frozen semen depends on consistent progesterone production from the female.  Without that, the chance of timing it right is too limited.  As Evie approached her optimal moment, her numbers wavered to the point where a breeding with Jack the Bear was likely to be a waste of time and money.  Fortunately, there was an appropriate living stud available.  Shang Hai’s Kodiak the Bear.

The living Bear obliged, more than once, and again, we wait.  If Plan A works, I will introduce a pair of puppies to my home in the Spring.  Fingers are crossed.