Sorry to leave you hanging all... but I wanted to be more sure that this was going to happen before I got all crazy and started making announcements.
The fire I was talking about was at a kennel. The story is here for any interested.
http://www.kenmarend.com/kenmarenews...ture108-45.htm
Absolutely tragic... so many dogs lost and the insurance company refused to pay since they're not "livestock" animals. And yes, I have done my homework... these are not "puppymillers" in spite of the lage kennel they had. If they were I'd be running... not just walking away.
So anyway, it now looks like I'm going to get my wish.
I'm going to be getting a "moyen" poodle to use as a stud. Moyens, for those who aren't familiar with the term, are a much smaller version of a standard. They are just barely large enough to be considered a standard poodle. He is registered as a standard, but will mature to 16-18" tall where my Moses is 24". He's expected to be under 30 lbs where Moses is 64.
Moses is a really good dog and the pups have been great... but because he's so big and his daddy is even bigger, the pups are very large and not everyone wants such huge dogs! Some of my pups will likely mature at close to 80 lbs and that's a lot of dog! I plan to neuter Moses and will of course keep him as my buddy.
So I am planning to have one more litter out of Canada and Moses while I wait for the new little guy to grow up and then keep a female out of them to use with the new boy. I also have breeding rights to one of the females from this last litter and will keep Canada as well. SO in time I will will have f1b pups which will be smaller and sell for at least 50% more than my large f1s.
My ideal is to have about 4 litters per year, so I am hoping to build up to that over time. This new little guy will be a great step in that direction.
I will be helping this couple to market their pups. My name won't appear anywhere on their business, but my experience in marketing and internet research will hopefully help them to reach more buyers, sell their pups easier, and make better use of the assets they now have without spending an arm and a leg to do it.
IF all goes as planned, it looks like my dh and ds will be taking a trip out to ND to pick up this new little stud muffin for me. The logistics of it all have been the biggest stumbling block. My health won't allow me to drive 12 hrs out and right back... and to have to get a hotel room just ads to the expense while leaving the dogs I already have unattended here at home. With those 2 sharing the drive, it's do-able in a weekend. (Did I also mention I get severe motion sickness from riding in a car? so would be a BAD one to take with as I'd need a barf bag as a passenger)
So anyway, I'm planning to expand my business and get into it on a deeper level with a higher generation and smaller size of labradoodles. Wooooohoooooooo!