NIB Halfies
My very first selective breeding project! The two-toned spotted fuzzy dali/sheep mixes are my absolute favorite. I definitely was not focused enough in the beginning and even by gen 7 I was still struggling to get the result I wanted. I didn't really nail down my goals until the second half of the project, so my first gen 6 pup didn't have the tail or ear colors I ended up wanting by the end of the project.
I may go back sometime and re-try the project with more focus on the end goal, but for now I'm ready to move on! Next time I attempt this, I definitely need to focus the cream coat ASAP and make sure all of gen 2 has it, then start working on the other traits. Perhaps eyelid color and ears as well by gen 2, then work on combining breeds.
Head over to adoptions to snag some of the final result cuties, and a few extras from earlier gens that were rejected but still adorable!
Goals/standards:
Body/head/legs/ears/eyes: Dalmatian
Feet: Sheepdog or Dalmatian
Coat/tail: Sheepdog
Lid color: white (18, 19) or black (35, 36, 39)
Fur color 1: cream (45)
Fur color 2: gray (25)
Ear color: only one ear should be black
Gen 1 & 2
I started with 32 pairs of adoption center Dalmations and Sheepdogs! NIB projects are not for the faint of heart LOL. I focused on one "block" starting with 8 1st gen pairs, bred them until I ended up with 1 5th gen pup, then moved on to the next block.
For the first three blocks I was not focusing on the cream color mutation early enough, so I only had one cream pup among the first 12 gen 2 pairs! I finally figured out that the color mutation should be introduced earlier by the last block, and only one of the last 8 2nd gen pups didn't have the cream color.
Gen 3
In gen 3 I still had plenty of pups missing the cream color! My mistake was definitely trying to focus on too much at once.
Gen 4
Again, first two block pairs have some non-cream pups, but the last two block pairs are all cream! I was NOT being patient enough in the first two blocks and selecting pups with too many unwanted traits. You can tell I got a bit pickier towards the end.
Gen 5
You can tell I didn't decide on the Sheepdog tail until the last block! Elsie is SO cute but should not have been selected since she is missing the cream coat...
Gen 6
At last, in the final gen, all cream! Fay and Frankie are such cuties so I'm not upset that neither of them have all the correct traits.
And finally, here are their pups! Head over to the Adoption page to grab some of your own!
