Who is Merlin? And why does he have a web page?

Merlin wasn’t supposed to happen.

When Wes and Margaret started talking about breeding this was not what they envisioned. They got a top-quality Hovawart male from LaVillaRoy kennels and began fulfilling his requirements to become an approved stud within the breeding program of Hovawart Club of North America (HCNA). Hunter was doing well when they added a new puppy, Maggie, from Amistad Hovawarts. She was also from excellent blood lines and would be a great breeding match for Hunter as well as a wonderful addition to Wes and Margaret’s family.

Breeding was still way in the future as Maggie was young and still had a list of requirements to fulfill to achieve breeding status. But a moment of inattention changed all that. Hunter got to Maggie, and at a little under a year old she gave birth to a litter of nine puppies. This is not an unusual size for a Hovawart litter, but for a young bitch to deliver nine puppies in under two hours is outside the norm. Her uterus tore during the rapid birth process, and the infection that ensued caused her to lose six of her beautiful babies. Three strong healthy pups remained. Wes and Margaret showered them with attention and looked to HCNA for guidance on getting them into the best possible homes.

While Wes and Margaret were dealing with the pregnancy and birth, we were dealing with the sudden and unexpected death of our nine year old lab/chow mix, Amber. Like most of our pets she had been a rescue. Our family also included a 16 pound mix breed that had been badly abused. Even though Wendy had been with us for nine months she was still too scared to even let us touch her unless she was on one of her beds. We knew any new dog we brought in would need a strong enough personality to draw Wendy out rather than withdrawing into her fear. A Hovawart would be a perfect choice, but even for the rescue coordinator, Hovawarts are not that easy to come by.

I called my friend and fellow board member, Romy. She said not to worry, that I would have a Hovawart. Not long after she told me about Wes and Margaret’s litter, then worked with the rest of the board to make sure that I would have one of the puppies. I was told it was their thanks for my role as founder, rescue coordinator and web master for HCNA.

For me it was magic. I named him Merlin.

Merlin was born on August 30 and came home on November 2. In return for this magical blessing, I promised to give Merlin his own page on the HCNA website.

So here it is…

Here comes Merlin!