Puppy Central = Chaos

Puppy Central is a busy place – I do not know how anyone raises a litter without a seasoned Puppy Nanny! On Monday night I had to drive to Missoula to give a talk to a group of moms who have experienced the death of a child. We live about 25 miles from Missoula but it takes about 35 minutes so it was 10 p.m. when I made it home. This was very late for me and I still had puppy chores so it was even later when I finally got to bed.

Puppies do not understand the concept of sleeping in so Tuesday morning brought an early wake-up call from hungry puppies. I wish you could see the chaos of the morning – the puppies are seriously hungry and want to eat NOW. I tried to let four nurse while I fed the other four their solid food breakfast but I had puppies running every which way. I usually feed them individually but it can be hard keeping track of who nursed and who ate and so on – like I said, chaos. And all this is happening within five minutes of getting out of bed on about six hours of sleep, and the big dogs want their breakfast as well so they add to the morning frenzy.

If I did not also have a job it would be so much easier to have a litter but as it is, I spent Tuesday morning making puppy food, cleaning up (over and over), doing laundry (again and again), and getting ready for my 9:00 a.m. class (remember the 35-40 minute commute). And so that is why yesterday’s Blog was lacking in content – I was lucky to get pictures up!

But I made it to class with a lesson ready – on time – having had no breakfast but at least my shoes matched, my hair was brushed and the puppies were clean, fed and happy. Isn’t it amazing how ordinary things become extraordinary feats?!

As I type this I am thinking about our poor visitor this weekend. Cassie will be spending two nights with us and I think I need to tell her to bring earplugs if she plans to sleep past 5 a.m.

The puppies are wonderful!! I now make it a point to take them on a walk once a day up the long driveway. Each day we go a little farther and last night we also went into the field next to the driveway. I constantly give treats to the puppies for staying with me and for coming when I call so they just follow along like little hiking champs. They love this outdoor time and as I have said before, it is really helpful for me as well.

I have been watching the puppies carefully to try and arrange the best matches. It is like dominoes though, because I cannot make any matches until I pick my puppy, and I will not do that until next week sometime. I tend to wait until the very last minute to pick – it is hard to reject all those puppies and so I delay that as long as I can. Yes, they will go to good homes but it won’t be with me and I feel guilty about that. I love them all but I have to choose, and I know that.

I am looking for the girl with the best structure and this is most obvious at eight weeks. There is not a puppy in the litter that does not have a temperament I would be happy with. I would not want a spooky, shy puppy no matter what her structure but this litter is solid, and any of them would work well for me in terms of temperament. I want a puppy that can easily finish her championship and who will be an outstanding working dog for me – and of course I want her to be healthy and sound. I find myself in the position of having multiple puppies who I believe would be well suited for me, and so I am watching and thinking all the time about that Big Decision.

I was thinking about names and realized we could simply do "Kaibab'z...." and get the "z" in that way so that is an option.

Today's pictures are very sweet, especially the ones of Rosebud playing with Halo. Lolo does a great job on our walks but Galen thought she was tired and cold so you see her in his coat. Three puppies discovered their very first puddle -- that was fun. Dawson is standing on the hill and Darby is trotting down. Two puppies are having a showdown in the other picture.

In "G" Litter news, Cadi has about a month to go and is already getting thick around the middle -- so much for a small litter! Maybe they are just big puppies?!

I hope your day is exactly what you hope, and thanks for checking in with us.