Dackel Princess

My Babies

Sunday was supposed to be a quiet, catch up day, unfortunately I got going and before I knew it, I was really chugging along.

I wanted to type out the transfer papers for the puppies, I wanted to print out pictures of Anneliese and Isegrim for the new owners. I got all that done, as well as played with my precious babies.

It’s a funny feeling when you reach this point in their lives. You are ready for them to leave, as having 8 dogs is too much for any sane individual, but at the same time, you look at those beautiful individual faces and you realize how much you will miss them.

From the moment of their conception, their birth and then through the first weeks of their lives, I have been with them. Even though I refer to myself as their grand-mummy, in many ways I have been their mother. After Anneliese finished nursing them, I taught them to lap milk, to eat puppy gruel, to lap water, and to use newspaper!

Anneliese may have been the one to give birth to them, but these are my babies!!!

I read something recently and I realized that I am not a professional breeder. I am not in it for the money, and my dogs are all my pets. I am a breeder who breeds dogs for health, and sound temperaments, and I try to fill them with love so that when they do go to their forever homes they will be able to shower their new owners with love.

I think I am a responsible breeder and more than anything, I know I am breeding for the right reasons. I bet tomorrow when the two families arrive to pick up their babies, their hearts will be filled with love.

Isn’t that what it’s all about?

Lazy Saturday

Saturday was truly a beautiful day. At least the morning was. Sunny skies, warm temperatures and a light breeze. It was just perfect for Hubby to be picking cherries (we have a ton) and for me to drive to Super Wal-Mart and buy dog food. Currently I am buying 4 different dog foods. A normal chopped food for Greta and Arnie. They both need good quality food right now. Poor Arnie lost weight during Greta’s heat because he refused to eat! And now Greta, with the possibility of being pregnant needs great food too. Then there is Fritz, who is the pickiest eater there is. He will only eat “Choice Cuts” and must have 1 entire can per day as he is a large dog and very active. Then there is Anneliese who is struggling to lose the baby weight from her recent pregnancy before the dog show in October. She must have a good quality diet food. Last but not least are the puppies who get special puppy food. I felt very conspicuous with that many cans of different food in my cart, but what can be done? They all must eat, right?

The local rescue shelter was having a “help us” drive. It is a no-kill shelter and they work through donations alone. Today they wanted just donations of food, kitty litter, paper towels, etc. Since I was feeling odd walking past with so many cans of food for my animals, I bought some paper towels for them. This will help with their clean up. I sure can relate to that after the last two months of puppy pandemonium!

I came home in time to get lunch for Hubby and send him off to a Parks & Recreation activity. He asked me to go, but right now I needed a few quiet moments. The puppies were asleep, the dackels resting and Fritz was waiting outside for his daddy to return. 1 entire hour of quiet! How lovely!

The pups went from frolicking crazy pups to passed out sleeping pups. It was very cute and I love it best when I can zoom in and snap pictures of their angelic sleeping faces!

Here is my favorite. Bogart. Asleep on the cool tiles.

And little Baerbel. Stretched out so nicely. I love this one too!

Am I ready to say good-bye? Probably not. Expect tears.

Summer…Are You Here?

Because I am a terrible doggy Mama, I want to start this post entry with a picture of my big white boy, Fritz. He is such a peach and probably the easiest of our dogs. Mostly because he is the oldest, at nearly 6 years old. (His birthday is July 27th) How could I have forgotten his picture yesterday?

Fritz is a big boy compared to my dackels. He weighs 77 pounds, and is all muscle. He runs like a deer across the fields and is Hubby’s constant companion.

He also loves his dackels and is their fierce protector. He is probably closest to Arnie. You know, boys tend to stick together.

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I find I am spending a lot of time now with the puppies. I am taking pictures, hugging them more and showing them to whoever will look at them. The days have ticked by so quickly and the first two leave me in the next day or so.

Here I am with Bogey today. We had a small cook-out and after we got done eating I put him in my lap and rubbed his belly and got showered with kisses!

Jacqui came over and she played with the pups too. Here she is with Baron. What a sweet dog he is!

Actually they are all very sweet. Not a bad temperament in the bunch. They are all loving, sweet and motivated. Here is Ali in one of the few moments that she was able to gather all the toys and then fall asleep amongst them!

Meanwhile, Baerbel climbed into the bed and happily fell asleep.

Soon they all joined her and they took a long, lazy, afternoon nap.

I have fresh boxes of kleenex all ready for when the first pups go. My heart will break a little I just know, but I am truly happy with their forever homes.

My Dackels

Thursday saw me enjoying a ride over to see my hair stylist, Margarita for a dip in the fountain of youth. When I got back I I decided that today was a great day to take some pictures of me and the dackels. So I slathered put on some make up and the asked Hubby to take the pictures. I put them in this sideshow, but if you want to know who each pup is, just click on the sideshow and it will bring you to Flickr and the names are beside each image. After I put this together I realized that I forgot Fritz. This means I will have to do a post very soon dedicated to my White German Shepherd!

The pups are finally sleeping after having a very active afternoon, and Greta, Arnie and Anneliese are asleep in my chair with me, and I think Fritz actually has gone to bed.

The day was beautiful, warm and sunny. Perfect! Now if we could just have a few more like this then the summer won’t be a total loss!

Happy Friday, Everyone!!!

Puppies & Pregnancy

I woke early today as I had to go in for blood work at the local hospital. However, before I could leave I had to walk all the dogs, clean the puppy room and feed the little pups as well! It took me exactly 35 minutes to shower, dress, walk dogs, clean them up and feed them before sliding out the door and getting to my appointment.

The place was mobbed and I worried I would be there all day, but since I had a timed test, they had to take my blood by 7:30 and so I was brought in fairly quickly!

I went to Weight Watchers before heading home. Upon arriving back, I kicked out the pups into their outdoor pen and completely took their room apart, washing floors and beds and toys before allowing them to come back inside. For a good hour the house smelled wonderfully fresh and clean! lol!

My babies leave home soon, so for the next few days I am trying to stock up on cuddles and puppy breath kisses. I sure will miss them. They are all such wonderful little puppies. They are nice, and sweet and well socialized, and best of all, for their new owners they are paper trained. This will make their house breaking fairly easy.

I am happy that the pups are all going to good homes and I feel good about the owners that are adopting my babies. Now I wait until the 29th of the month to find out if Greta is in fact pregnant. Personally, I think she is!

Morning Sickness

My day began with Greta going woof-woof! I woke and groggily made my way to the bathroom and found that she followed me. Before I could do anything, Greta choked and gagged and I lifted her up and held her over the sink. She then had her first bout of what appears to be morning sickness! (or so I think)

After I brought Greta and the other big doggies outside for a walk in the back yard. I opened the door for the puppies to go outside in their pen, and then set about cleaning their room, while the coffee brewed.

Soon all the dogs were fed, the coffee made and I was sitting in my chair watching the rain fall once again, wondering when summer will come to New England!

Makenna was over helping me with the puppies. She is a natural with them and they just love her. Here she is holding Baerbel.

Baron got thirsty and stopped for a break and some water while she was over playing with them.

Ali watched with an adoring eye. She never seems to stay still for long. Ali is always moving! So please forgive the slight blur to the picture.

The afternoon brought more showers and gloomy weather. I really am ready for some nice sunny and dry weather, even if it means I’ll have to hand water my garden!

Tonight the puppies have finally settled in for the night and Greta seems to be her usual self. We will see what tomorrow morning brings. (More morning sickness?)

Sunshine & Puppies

It was a beautiful day here in New Hampshire on Monday. Sunshine, warm temperatures and a gentle breeze! I mean, how good is that, after all the rain and wind we have had over the last month.

I took a walk with Arnie over to look at our garden. I wondered what a month with next to no sun and a ton of rain had done to it. I was amazed to see that the garden was actually doing well. Everything looked great, with the exception of the cucumbers. They just have not done well this year. My tomatoes are growing and the little cherry tomato plant is loaded!

I worked the pups on a line again today to see how they would do with deer blood. They all did well and they really enjoy this as a game. Their new owners will need to continue to run them on tracks in the woods so that they can continue to learn to track the scent of wounded game.

They are so adorable now and so cute and I can hardly wait for their new owners to meet them. Melli asked if it was going to be difficult for me when they leave? You know, I don’t think so. I’ve raised them from day one, telling myself that these special little creatures were going to new and wonderful forever homes. I was just the teacher. The keeper of the babes until they were old enough to be loved by their new owners.

Here are Baron and Baerbel watching their silly brother Bogart who was trying to sleep on his back.

Ali curled up with Baerbel for a little rest.

But then Ali got up and Baerbel had the bed to herself.

Bogart loves his ball.

And because we haven’t had a lot of Baron pictures lately, here is another one of his sweet face!

It has been so much fun having springtime puppies! Being able to go outside with them and play in the green grass has been truly good for them and for me. Of course if Greta is pregnant, then we will be doing Autumn Puppies!

Can we ask Mother Nature for a little Indian Summer this year?

The Day After

The day after the 4th of July found me walking around in a daze. I somehow managed to keep up with the dogs and Hubby, but I wasn’t my usual almost perky self. In fact I guess I looked pretty bad because even Hubby asked me if I was tired. Gosh I remember when I was younger and even after an all night party, I still looked pretty good and could put in a full day’s work!

I made us a nice breakfast and we watched the Men’s Final at Wimbledon. It was exciting to watch this match of two incredible players, playing in 5 sets that almost never ended. In fact I made lunch during the match and we ate that before Roger Federer won. I was really happy that he did. He broke all the old records for most Grand Slam Titles Won!

It was also “bathe the puppy day” in the house and I was amazed that each of the pups really liked sitting in the sink in the warm water. I was able to clean them up and see that their tattoos all came out splendidly!

Makenna came over as promised and helped me! Here we are with Baerbel!

And Bogart

Another one of Bogey.

And here is one of Ali.

They sat in the sun (yes we actually had sunshine today) and even slept outside in the sun. It was such a nice day.

Tonight I am going to get my pajamas on, watch Jeff Dunham and Bill Engvall on Comedy Central and then hit the hay! It’s a great way to end the weekend!

Tattoos and Ribs!

It was the oddest weather day yet. I woke to our 4th of July to find sunny skies and warm temperatures. I was encouraged that the day would go well. Just let us get through the cook-out without rain and I will be happy, and with skies like this,

July 4 09 There was some sun!

I thought I had a chance.

The first thing that happened was that Carrie, our Assistant Breed Warden came to examine Anneliese and her litter and then tattoo them. Everyone came through well, and they all got their tattoos!

Baron

Bogart

Baerbel

Ali

There is actually a story behind using the green ink. When we got Greta in Germany she had been tattooed with green ink. When I had her pups done, I continued on with the green ink. And now with Greta’s grandchildren, I think it is only right to continue on using the green ink. Call it tradition!

The pups all did pretty well. The bravest was Baerbel, she hardly made any sound at all when they pressed the tattoo into her ear. The worst, Bogart. He squealed quite a bit. I felt so bad that I put my face right next to his and kissed him over and over until he stopped. The green ink was rubbed in and has stained the pin holes now, and tomorrow I will give them all warm baths to clean off their fur. Makenna says she will help me.

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Next the guests arrived for our 4th of July barbecue. I had ribs cooking slowly in the oven and once we settled down from the tattooing, we enjoyed some beer and chips and then the ribs and corn and potato salad as well as a great corn and bean salad that Carole made!

The skies darkened several times and we had some rain, but nothing too heavy. We actually got to eat outside for the entire meal.

My friend Judy posed for me so you could see what we were eating!

The guys chowed down too.

The pups were exhausted after the tattooing and just lay down and slept.

At the end of the meal the skies darkened and we heard great claps of thunder. No it was not fireworks, but an honest to goodness storm! We all grabbed the coolers, the chairs, and the food and ran inside. The storm quickly dropped 1/2 of an inch of rain as we all stood inside thanking the good Lord for a roof! The storm didn’t last too long, but it sure was exciting and included a brief power outage!

Now the day is done and soon the fireworks will be shot off from a barge in the big lake. We can sit on the screened in porch and watch, that is if I feel like moving from my chair! Let me think…

Happy 4th Of July!

Today is America’s Independence Day! The kind of holiday where we get out the grill, barbecue some hamburgers, hot dogs or ribs, add to that some potato salad, chips and dips, and strawberries over Angel Cake for dessert. (I know, others make chocolaty things, or ice cream things, but I love Angel Food Cake and strawberries so that’s what we shall have.

10 guests are coming to our home for the meal. We’ll sit around watching the puppies play until their big moment.

Yes, the 4th of July will be even more special this year because our Assistant Breed Warden is coming to examine the litter and tattoo the puppies.

Bogart

Baron

Baerbel

Ali

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Now here is my only crazy 4th of July story to share with you all. Let is serve as a warning to you!

Many years ago when I was a young mother I decided my daughter and step daughter should learn how to hold sparklers so that they didn’t get hurt. I’ve never really liked fireworks, but I always felt sparklers were safe.

Anyway, I got the box out, got my lighter and showed them how to hold the sparkler away from you so you don’t get burned as you light it. Suddenly there was a flash and the sparkler blew up in my hand! I ran for cold water and ice, but knew it was pretty bad. So off to the Emergency Room we went where it was cleaned and bandaged.

Ever since that day I refuse to have any fireworks around me. I like to watch the ones in the sky set off by the professionals, but I don’t ever go near sparklers anymore.

So I do hope you all have a Happy 4th of July, and a safe one!