I sometimes wonder if being caretaker of a dog with newly born puppies is anything similar to a new mum taking care of her wee little baby. My day seems to revolve around puppies. Now I know that dogs have been birthing and caring for their offspring for millennia with absolutely no problems at all. Why is it then that we humans feel the need to play such a large role in the raising of baby animals?
When Brandy started her “nesting” behavior two days prior to her due date I was a very concerned human parent. That was the day I started making cheese thinking it a nice relaxing occupation that would give me an excuse to stay indoors and keep an eye on Brandy when all of a sudden my pager went off so cheese and dog were left in the capable and calm hands of Darrell as I dashed out the door. All the way home on the return trip from dropping our patient off in John Day I worried that Brandy had started whelping. My dear friend and fellow EMT Debbie Cole who was accompanying me on the ambulance, a very seasoned puppy raiser herself, was a solid rock of confidence reminding me that Brandy had done this before and to stop fretting!
Sure enough, Brandy did not start popping out puppies until 8:20pm that night and wrapped up at 3:15am the following morning delivering 11 very vigorous healthy puppies. I headed to bed for a few hours sleep before getting up at 6:30am to head out to milk my cows.
Now a lot of folks may see dog breeding as a way to make a tidy little sum of money. What so many folks do not realize is the tremendous amount of work entailed in raising said litter of puppies, at least the way I myself and many other reputable breeders accomplish the task, not to mention the considerable expense. From changing the bedding of the whelping box at least twice a day, the washing of the used blankets and sheets used in the whelping box to the daily making of fresh cottage cheese for Brandy using 2 gallons of full cream milk at a whack! The attention to the puppy’s health, making sure all are suckling and doing well, encouraging Brandy to eat as much as she can of stewed meat, cottage cheese, eggs, dog food etc. Then of course as the pups grow it seems the work really begins! More cottage cheese to make, the washing machine going daily, frequent feedings as they start on solid food, playing with them to make sure we have well socialized doggies… yes a lot of work goes into raising these little creatures but I love it.
As I think back through my life, dogs have always been a part of my growing up years. My father had an affinity for Collie dogs and we have had quite a few over the years from standard size Collies to the smaller Shelties. Along with these handsome dogs we have had many, many a mongrel that “followed me home”. I once had a tortoise “follow me home”… but that is another story! Yes, we had a great variety of dogs through the years. Now as an adult I can look back on those days with mixed feelings and in some ways a lot of remorse…. had I only known.
My father and I for many years as I was growing up , moved at least once a year. When we changed our location any pets I had acquired did not make the move with us. Often I would be told that a little girl down the street wanted my dog or cat, gerbils or budgerigar and of course I would believe the story. Many a puppy or a kitten was left to fend for itself and join the ranks of strays in villages I am sure. One of the sad memories I had as a youngster was being with my father when we let Shadow and Scamp out near a village green full of children playing and drove away. I got Shadow and Scamp, two Jack Russell terrier pups from the butcher down the road from us when we lived in Cambridge and owned a working man’s Café and boarding house. The butcher and his wife used to show me the pups when I would pop into their shop on the way home from school as I loved their happy little dogs. The butcher said I could have a pup if my dad said it was OK, so needless to say I convinced my dad to let me have a puppy and then I came home with two! I named them Shadow and Scamp and they were my best pals. But, as so often happened in my early life, it was not long before we once again had to pack our bags and move on. This time, I was with my father when we had the car all loaded with our belongings and the two little dogs, adolescents by this time, in the car with us. I thought they were coming to live in our new home but as we drove through a tiny village my father saw a number of children playing on the village green. Telling me it was “for the best”, he pulled up to the green, opened the door and let the two little dogs out. Needless to say my tears flowed as I watched my two pals happily run over to the playing children, fully expecting me to be behind them I am sure, not realizing the car they had just been released from was driving away, my father telling me all the while those little dogs would find a home with one of the children. Somehow, that did not ease the pain I felt. I did not want one of those other children to have my dogs yet as a little girl I believed what I was told. Little did I know this scenario had been played out many times by my father.
Maybe this is why now as an adult I have such a nurturing feeling towards our animals, yes, even the ones that will end up in our cooler. Sad as it may sound, there is a comforting feeling in having a cat that is almost 15 years old, a fine feat for a barn cat, still going strong! To have dogs that have died a natural death and then been buried just off our back deck with daffodils planted on their burial site. To even have Sunshine, a Chinese Crested Water Dragon lizard given to me by Darrell’s’ son Andy, buried under the Potentilla bush by the front porch steps when he passed away… although I am sure that was because he insisted on eating the wood lizard I had in his aquarium as his companion!
Life lessons learned as one is growing up have a tendency to stay with one into adulthood, hopefully those lessons and memories surface occasionally to remind us and encourage us to be a better person all the way around… God Bless all those wonderful childhood companions who followed me home…
