I would like to address recent developments with full transparency. 

As I am sure many of you have already seen, Hermes from the Ace x Calypso Space litter has been diagnosed with Lumbosacral transitional vertebrae (LTV) along with Dynamic Lumbosacral Stenosis (DLSS), which both affect the spine. From the research I have been doing, I found that LTV can lead to a slightly increased predisposition to DLSS. However, there are a higher percentage of dogs even in working and sports with LTV and no issues, who don't end up with DLSS or other spine problems. Additionally to date, LTV remains poorly understood and a diagnostic standard is yet to be established (Gong H et al., 2020). To my knowledge, there are no conclusive peer reviewed studies that definitively state Dynamic Lumbosacral Stenosis' heritability. All of the Space litter owners have been informed directly, and I have made my recommendations and given them my opinions. While Hermes’ diagnosis was terrible and gut-wrenching, that does not mean his littermates will also have this problem. 

As I mentioned previously, I have made the choice to pull the entire Space litter from breeding. This choice wasn't made lightly and wasn't based on just this incident alone, but it's a choice I am comfortable with making. I do not regret the litter, as I have placed many heart dogs into their owners hands through the Space litter and that's something I wouldn't ever wish to undo. 

As far as Calypso herself, I'm not certain yet what the future will hold. Ideally I would love to retain some of her genetics somewhere in my program for the future because I deeply value her and many of her traits. Until just a couple of days ago, all of her offspring were happy, healthy and thriving. They are still so beloved by their owners, with lovely stable temperaments, no neurotic tendencies, no over arousal, no anxiety, no aggression. Which are all traits that many Border Collies have and are still bred upon.

To me, temperament is my first priority and in a perfect world I will achieve dogs of exemplary health, superb temperaments, drive that honors the breed and its heritage, but temperament is the first thing that affects us the most on a day to day basis with our dogs. I will not be aborting Calypso’s pregnancy she is carrying now and to think that would be the most ethical solution is simply abhorrent. She definitely will not be bred again any time soon and possibly not again at all, or possibly not again to another Border Collie. I can't say for sure yet; I want to continue seeing how the Space pups turn out but also the upcoming pups. I will probably keep back a puppy from the upcoming litter myself and place some co-owns to watch but I likely won't be placing any with other breeding programs. If something happens or if I decide to make the call to wash the lines completely, I want that to be on me alone.

DLSS is a hard thing to trace because A: most Border Collie breeders don't get their dog's spines tested and B: even though an LTV will show up on a hip x-ray, it doesn't get listed on the final result for the hips through OFA.

There are health issues in Calypso's lineage (which I have never kept secret) but a part of the equation is that her breeder was very high volume. She produced multiple hundreds of dogs. She bred for quite a while and often. So with a numbers game so large, in a breed like Border Collies which are known to be prone to health (and temperament) issues, the odds are that there would be dogs produced with issues.

Unfortunately breeding dogs is very experimental and so many things are not fully understood and can't be tested for. I'm breeding to try to create a line of dogs for myself first and foremost and as a new breeder and program, there will be kinks to work through. I'm so sad this happened but right now I just don't have a big enough picture to make any final calls aside from washing the Space litter in its entirety.

​I will continue as I have always done to make the best and most informed choices I can for my breeding program as well as maintaining transparency with my community and offering my guidance and insight where relevant or requested as things develop and progress. Sending my support to Hermes and his owner in this difficult time, feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions you may have.