Just a thought… If the kindest souls were rewarded with the longest lives, dogs would outlive us all. [Betsy Farrell]
You can watch a video version of this journal on my Facebook page, or here on YouTube.
Well, well. My last journal of 2023 – except a video message I’ll post, perhaps for this Friday or so, and oh, a reminder on Drift with Erin Davis that we’re bringing you two special Christmas stories this week. Tomorrow it’s Yes, Virginia – a Reason to Believe, and then, so you can share it with family, A Visit from St. Nick returns this Thursday. Just so you know.
And I want to thank you if you are part of our gentle sleep community: last week we surpassed a quarter MILLION downloads. Talk about dreams coming true. Thank you again.
Today I’m feeling even more grateful than ever. Not only because we took Colin and Jane to a hockey game Saturday night and had a marvellous time…
But during an exciting tie game (’til the shoot-out) I was in constant text contact with our dog breeder Bev who was telling me that our girl’s contractions were now five minutes apart.
You see, we took Dottie to the vet last Tuesday and discovered that she had six – not swans a-swimming – but pups a-growing inside her. She went straight to Bev’s warm and welcoming lair up at Misty Trails in Cobble Hill, BC and the babies made their debut into this world on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Three girls, three boys. And if I may, let me proudly share some pictures with you.
Momma and pups are doing well and we’re going to resist the temptation to go and visit our special Dottie and upsetting her when we leave. Lucky for us, Bev kept me abreast, sending photos during the births, and even a few videos of these little sweeties coming out in little pooch pouches, getting cleaned off, and laid down on a warm soft bed before they started to search for their first breakfast in bed.
I want to say again here, if you’re new to our story, that Dottie is part of a breeding program, where we’re contracted to bring her back to have her litters with Bev. When we announced that Dottie was expecting, I received an email from a woman quite upset that we were bringing pups into the world intentionally, and, of course, that’s what stays in my mind!
I explained that these are purebred Havanese dogs and it’s a business that we agreed to be part of, in order to have the dog that was perfect for us. Bev has the highest accreditations and has a peerless reputation. Yes, of course, I recognize that rescuing dogs should be a person’s first choice, and my sister Leslie, with her three, can certainly attest to that. But Rob and I had not had good experiences. At this time in our lives, Dottie is the perfect fit. And if someone doesn’t get that, well, I don’t wish to justify our decisions to a stranger. I did that for long enough in my life.
Rob and I miss Dottie like crazy but we “tailored” a stocking we had for our late pup Pepper, adding Dottie’s eyebrows to make it hers. She’s with us in spirit…
…as are you. For all of the Christmas Eve at Erin’s shows we shared, for all of the good memories and the times I’ll always cherish. Thank you. What a weekend it was!