Well.... That got awkward

Every great story needs a love triangle.

Apparently...

So do giant American Dirus™ dogs.

Our cast of characters begins with Clementine...

A graceful silver female who carries herself with the confidence of someone who has absolutely no idea she's turning heads everywhere she goes.

She wanders through life wearing that beautiful wolf mask of hers while every male in the vicinity suddenly finds a pressing reason to be wherever she happens to be standing.

Then, there are the brothers.

Everest is impossible to miss.

He's enormous, snow white from nose to tail, built like someone carved a polar bear into the shape of a wolf, and blessed with a nose that seems capable of reading tomorrow's newspaper.

Ripley, on the other hand, is his giant black brother.

If Everest looks like winter, Ripley looks like midnight.

He's broad, muscular, confident, and somehow manages to make standing perfectly still look impressive.

This is where things start to get interesting.

Back in February, Clementine was supposed to come into season.

She didn't.

February wandered off.

March followed it.

Then, April joined the conspiracy.

Eventually I shrugged my shoulders, scratched the breeding calendar off the whiteboard, and decided Mother Nature had politely declined my invitation.

Case closed until next fall.

Or so I thought.

Three mornings ago, I walked outside to find Everest conducting what can only be described as a full-scale criminal investigation.

There was Clementine.

And there was Everest approximately six inches separating his nose from her backside.

He was... inspecting evidence.

Very serious evidence, mind you.

The expression on his face practically said, "Jennifer... I don't know how to tell you this... but you've overlooked something rather important."

I ignored him.

After all, I'd been breeding dogs for decades.

I had calendars.

Records.

Experience.

Everest had...

...a nose.

The next morning, however, Mr. Sherlock Bones returned to the scene of the crime with even greater determination.

This time I stopped arguing with him and started looking at Clementine instead.

"Well..."

I muttered.

"I'll be..."

Everest had solved the mystery almost before the mystery existed.

By Saturday evening he was no longer making a suggestion.

He was filing an official report.

At that point, there was only one logical response.

Load Clementine into the van and drive two and a half hours to Ripley's house.

Poor Everest.

He did all the detective work, but Ripley got the girl.

Ripley spotted Clementine from across the yard, lifted his head, and walked toward her with the easy confidence of a dog who had absolutely nothing to prove.

Clementine answered with a relaxed wag, closed the distance between them without the slightest hesitation, and within minutes the two of them were weaving through the grass together.

I smiled and stepped aside with a knowing sway.

There are moments when breeding dogs requires decisions.

This wasn't one of them.

Nature had everything well under control.

About an hour later...

It was official!

I'm not saying Everest looked heartbroken.

I'm just saying if somebody starts selling tiny violins for giant white dogs, I already know who's getting the first one.

In approximately thirty-six days, we'll discover whether this little romantic comedy has a sequel.

Personally...

I have a feeling it just might.

If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, I've put together a page dedicated entirely to the Ripley's Believe It or Not! litter.

You'll meet both "leading actors," discover why I've been looking forward to this pairing for so long, and see why I believe these puppies have the potential to become the closest living rendition of the extinct dire wolf we've ever produced.

Take a look here:

Ripley's Believe It or Not!

https://direwolfdogs.com/litters/77/

Now... if you'll excuse me, I have thirty-six days of waiting to survive

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.