The Land of the Leprechauns

Roy and I will be leaving Sunday for Ireland where we will roam around learning about the Emerald Isle for the next 2 weeks. The pups will be well cared for and loved by our sitter and various other friends who will enjoy their company and our pool. When we get back, we will be anxiously awaiting the birth of Blossom's new litter sometime around June 17.

Go gcastar ar a chéile arís muid

(Until we meet again)

Joan

Privacy and Fewer Distractions

The Dawgpatch residents are adjusting to a new change in our environment. We have almost completed a privacy fence which encloses the 2 street sides of our back yard. Now Blossom can concentrate on her ballgames without the constant distraction of people and dogs walking by, and the neighbors don't have to hear the hysteria that breaks out in the Cocker Castle when Sophie (the cocker across the street) or Riley (the golden retriever down the street) come to visit and sniff out the latest news. What a relief to know that our little terrorist, Blossom, is securely contained, and that Emma and Atticus are safe from the outside world!! And I can run around the back yard in my pajamas!! Life if good.

The New Dawgpatch

Dawgpatch definitely has a new look and feel these days. It's population has been cut in half as 5 of our pups have gone to new, happy homes. Although it's been tough for me, all of the new "puppy parents" have been wonderful about keeping me up to date on the wonderful adjustments all of the cockers are making to their new homes. I actually had a chance to visit Bella (now Bella Rosie Ella aka Rosie) yesterday. She is very happy and well loved with her family of 7 humans, one lab (Belle), and a cat (Tinker). She'll be moving to Boston in about 3 weeks, but we'll keep in touch as they all adjust to the new envionment. Thank you Cheryl, Ryleigh, Rain, Steve, Sharon, Gloria, Lori, Michelle, Dan, Jessie, Luke, Sam, Levi, and Hope for taking and loving my babies. Wow !!! they are some lucky dogs!!!!!

Puppies!

I'm so excited! Blossom went to the vet yesterday for her ultrasound and she has at least 4 babies growing inside her! So we will be having babies sometime around June 18. Roy and I will be in Ireland for the 2 weeks prior to her delivery, so she'll have to stay in the kennel instead of inside, but she loves being out anyway, so that is probably her preference. We should be back in time for her to spend the last week before delivery inside in our maternity ward. We haven't had babies since our last ETs left us in March. Yea!!! Summer babies are the best!

It's Hard to Say Good-by

Breeding and raising dogs is a constant learning experience, filled with endless work, incredible joy and happiness, and grief. It took a long time for me to accept the fact that I couldn't save every newborn puppy. I've saved a lot of them and I have sat up many a night and even carried one little girl with me in a bag for six weeks so I could feed her every 2 hours and keep her warm. She went to work with me every day and on several weekend trips. She sat through inservices and meetings and no one ever knew she was there. After all that, we realized that she was hydrocephalic and had only a brain stem. I still found a loving home for her and she lived a very happy and productive 2 years with a loving family. This little girl taught me, however, that sometimes there's a reason a puppy won't suck, or it's mom pushes it away and that it is often kinder to let the little one go. So now I make every reasonable effort to save weak puppies, but I've pretty much cut out the heroics.

This year I've had to learn to accept a different kind of loss. I've finally reached the point of having to find homes for my older dogs outside of our family. The first dogs to retire went to family members and I still see them often. But now I have saturated the family and for the first time I'm letting my precious girls go to homes outside the family. The first to go was Chloe. Now Chloe has her issues. She's terrified of kids and she is a big time barker. She's also a bit of an ankle nipper. That sets some limits on where she can live and who will love her. We had her spayed a couple of years ago after her 5th litter, but had given up on finding her dream family. You see, my dogs only go to homes that are better for them than mine. It has to be a step up for them or they stay with me. Then, out of the blue, I received an email from a lady asking if she was still available. We talked back and forth and finally, in April, I took Chloe to visit Gloria and her family. The family thought she was absolutely beautiful and extremely well behaved (could this be MY Chloe they were talking about?) and she is incredibly happy with a stay at home mom, a chihahua friend named Bonnie, and an unlimited supply of Beggin Strips. Believe me, Chloe has no desire to come back to the Dawgpatch pack!! But I do miss her every time we all go out to play ball, and when I sit on the steps of the kennel. She would always lay down behind me and act as my backrest.

Tonight I faced my second trial of letting my girls go. I received a call from a lovely lady who lives in Alabama. Not only is she a life long cocker spaniel lover (like me), but she's a retired teacher (like I hope to be soon), and the grandmother of beautiful granddaughters (like me). She lost her 16 year old cocker, Maggie, and tried to fill her void with a two year old named Pebbles. The problem is she has 2 granddaughters she is raising and only one Pebbles, so the girls were constantly fighting over who Pebbles was going to sleep with. She needed another cocker who would like to be loved by a little girl. I told her about Maggie and Kinzi, who have each had 3 litters of puppies and really would rather not go through that again. She fell in love with Maggie's picture and made an appointment to come get her tonight. The family promptly drove in the driveway at 7:00 and all tumbled out of the car to see Maggie and Kinzi playing ball. They immediately went to Maggie, and of course, Kinzi pushed her way right in front of them and crawled in their laps. They immediately fell in love with her, too, and ended up taking both of them. Since Maggie and Kinzi are only 3 months apart and were raised together, that will be perfect for them. They pulled out of the driveway with both pups happily settled in someone's lap and not even as much as a wave for me!!! Oh, the people waved, but not the dogs! I have no doubt that this home will be perfect for them and that they will never find a family who will give them more love. I can't even imagine what it will be like tomorrow, though, when I go out to the kennel to let them run. There will be no Kinzi jumping up to sit in my lap, and no Maggie to lick my face. Of course, there will be 8 others to keep me company, but there will be 2 empty spots, just as there has been for Chloe.

I know in my heart that letting them go is the very best thing I can do for all the dogs. They'll have their own families and I'll have more time to give to the others. But saying good-by is difficult. We've played together and cuddled together and whelped puppies together. Kinzi drowned in our pool when she was 3 months old and we had to resuscitate her. She had her last litter of puppies on the couch in the den because she wanted to be in my lap and that was the only way I could get her to relax. They have both earned their retirement and as much love as they can find.

So good-by my beautiful ladies. Be good and make me proud. Enjoy your soft people beds and little girl hugs and kisses. Don't tinkle on the carpet or leave puppy piles in out of the way corners. Keep your ears out of the water dish and don't drip water all over the hardwood floors. Bring them as much joy as you brought me!