Franc x Odessa puppies - July 11th

Franc x Odessa puppies - July 11th
Franc x Odessa puppies - July 11th

Monday, August 9, 2010

Things I Never Thought I Would Do...

Today's topic is going to be some light hearted humor. I am at the half way point with this litter and I did some reflecting this morning on my adventures to date...Adventures of a litter I said I've never breed.

I never thought I'd go to a week long dog show 12 hours from home without a dog to evaluate Dalmatians from all over the country in hopes of finding something I liked with the intent of getting on a list to buy something to show (and maybe, just maybe one day breed). I actually did this twice, but the second year I showed a friend's dog. (BTW, for a first time Dalmatian National attendee, all the dalmatians look the same by the end of the week.)

I never thought I would buy a Dalmatian from another country. (I imported Odessa from Argentina in June 2009.)

I never thought I'd spend hundreds of hours reading about the differences of OFA versus Penn Hip rating methods, reading about the care and feeding required when you own a stud dog or brood bitch, locating canine neurologists and ophthalmologists and understanding the what/how of testing and results, studying pedigrees (there was a time when I didn't fully appreciate what that meant, heck maybe I still don't), understanding test results and the sometimes confusing path to submitting them to a public database.

I never thought I'd consider breeding to a dog that has long been gone. And because of that, I never thought I'd spend many, many hours researching the how/when/where/who of making that happen.

I never in my wildest dreams ever thought I'd need to ship canine semen cross country. (There was a time when I didn't know people shipped canine semen regardless of the distance - cross country or around the globe.) I also never thought I'd ever need to understand HOW this is done. (But I know now...LOL!)

I never thought I'd drive 100+ miles a day to have blood drawn on my bitch to see if it was time to drive the thousand mile round trip to have her bred.

I never thought it would take me an entire weekend to get the whelping area set up. (Note: I re-arranged the room about a dozen times before I was satisfied. And it has changed twice since then and is about to change again.)

I never thought I would spend hundreds of hours preparing puppy packets of information for new owners, writing a contract, determining the price of puppies, etc. (The website still isn't done.)

I never thought I would have hundreds of, if not a thousand hours into planning a litter of puppies BEFORE they ever hit the ground.

I never thought I'd write a blog (or have a website - if I ever get it finished).

I never thought I'd be able to tell newly born same-sex dalmatians apart without colored ribbon. (I was pleasantly surprised that it is possible.)

I never thought I'd need to know how to help a puppy pee or poop.

I never thought I'd be happy to be peed or pooped on.

I never thought I'd be so thankful for the absorption strength of Bounty paper towels.

I never knew how difficult it would be to tell where the puppy pee was on brown linoleum. (I'm reminded of this fact every morning at 4 am.)

I never thought I could go so long without doing regular chores around my house because I instead chose to sit next to a plastic kiddie pool that was occupied by 4 little puppies.

I never thought I'd be so fascinated with sleeping puppies, watching eyes begin to open, seeing the first sign that a puppy hears, and most intriguing is watching them learn to play.

I never thought I'd sit in the room with the puppies, waiting patiently for them to wake up so they could pee in a cup so I could refrigerate it to see who inherited the normal gene from their sire.

I cannot tell you how long I've heard reputable breeders say they don't make money on puppies and often they don't even break even. I never really knew what went into a litter of puppies before and therefore never questioned those who said this. In the last 6 years (I've been around the show scene for about 6 years now), I've seen and heard what goes into a litter of puppies. I would never have guessed what breeders spent on those litters (and still can't/won't). I did add up all my expenses to date the other day and I just had to laugh. I would never have guessed that number. And we aren't done. But this isn't about money. This is about the dogs and my desire to have a healthy litter of puppies.

This is about that puppy that had me at hello.

So, I wonder what these wonderful puppies have in store for me over the next 4 weeks.

Below are pictures of them the first few days. I never would have guessed how fast they grow, or how fast time flies by....






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