A day in my life ....well    ....

Vacations are a thing of the past .."Honey ,hurry and come sit down .Guess where we are going today .. Russia ,just think next month we may get to visit Hawaii !!!"  The Travel Channel comes in handy when you are a breeder .

Long ,relaxing baths ,movies , bowling ,mini golf .....well not in this lifetime ....so ...

Most days start with me getting up at or about 7 to 8 am ,really according to how late I am up the night before .So we will just go through each day a little here and let you know what it is like to be a breeder .

My days start out with taking my meds ,thyroid ,bp and other and getting my coffee ,hot when possible .Most mornings I get to drink it luke warm . Taking an overview of what needs done that day and making a list if needed ,most times ,yes it is needed .

The first thing I do after my cup of coffee is check on new born puppies ,make sure all are getting moms milk and none are showing any signs of weakness ,change Mom and baby beds and make sure moms have food ,water and necessities .

The next thing is all the little rug rats that usually have torn up a few puppy pads and toys through the night (they never sleep ...LOL ) ...and clean all water and food bowls ,clean area for poop and put clean beds in their play areas and clean toys .All this usually takes about two to three hours .

The next thing is I take an hour on the computer ,answer as many e-mails as possible ,update sites when possible and get a list of calls that came in through the night to return when I can that day . Yes people call all through the night ...somehow time differences do not affect breeders . I have central time ,West coast is Pacific ...2 hours earlier ...east coast is 1 hour later or at least I think it is that way .

Then if my help shows up at 9 am and that is 'if' more than you would think ,we take a few minutes and talk about what is most needed .

We have not only our breeder dogs here but also we have at this time about 46 rescues .These rescues are mostly the needy ones ,abused or disabled in some way and are permanant members of our lives .We can and do on average have a hundred or more ,those that can be placed are placed once they have been vetted and gotten healthy /spayed-neutered . These are drop offs ,side of road or here and some come from other rescue places ,pounds ,kennels etc. We do not keep poodles or maltese rescues here as we get those to a small resuce person asap ,we usually have only larger small to large dogs ,purebreeds and mixed alike ,mostly labs and lab mixes and collies and collie mixes and cocker spaniels  and cocker mixes  are kept here .

So ,we gather all our bleach and soap and sprays and cleaners and mops and brooms and shovels and rakes and whatever we need and start cleaning poop ...This is EVERYDAY ,not just one day a week . This process usually takes about 6 hours with 2 to 3 people going at it .Then each day all get clean water and food . We wash water and  food bowls as we clean each run .On 2 days a week we give baths and groom ,worm etc.

We ,each day have a list of who needs treated and with what ,who needs to go to the vet and whom needs to be placed or not . Either I or my sister run the vet trips .If any is treated here in any way .I do that .

I usually get to go and stock up once to twice a week on shampoo, food ,toys ,sprays ,cleaners ,puppy pads and other items needed to maintain our kennels and our puppies . This also applies to our home as well ,I and others here try to keep dishes washed ,cooking done ,laundry and get supplies we also need ..

When new litter is born ,I am with the mom unless I am on a delivery until she has her babies and then usually I sleep next to her bed for the first night after ,sometimes more if needed .This is me on a blanket bed on the floor next to a mom bed ,I catch cat naps as I watch for any sign of a puppy not eating or in distress.

If I have a sick puppy ,I take over the feeding and this is done every 30 or so minutes until the puppy can suckle on its on ,there are times when one will not and I have to raise that baby myself .This is a long and tirng procedure ,I can see why moms are ready for babies to go after 6 to 8 weeks ...LOL!
I have sat all night and day feeding ,taking care of puppies ,saved some and lost some ,but I give it my all 24/7 until I have done all I can .

We try to give puppy baths on regular days ,they need it ,little children from the corn ,if a puppy can get into something it will darn sure make your day at it .And when you have a whole litter or two ..plus cats that just love to get upon the table and throw down to little demons that are so darn cute beggin and just a waggin the tails for more ......the bread ,honey ,ketsup ,mustard  and anything else handy ....well ...baths are common around here .

In the evening you would think all would be quiet here but doesn't happen ...usually there is some type comotion if nothing else but our bird Wilson (an Umbrella Cockatoo ) yelling her head off or picking the lock on the door and being up in the one of the trees, sometimes the very top too . .."Wilson ...WILLLLLLLLLSOOOONNNNN! Where are you ?"  And she answers ever so politely .."WHAT !" Then you find her ...get her down and back to her gym set or in the cage for 10 minutes if you are lucky .

My evenings consists of again cleanning moms and puppies areas ,taking a few minutes to answer phone calls ,taking another few to answer e-mails .Maybe ,just maybe update a page on my site and then it is laundry time .

All puppy blankets ,beds and other that was changed that day needs washed and doesn't happen by itself ,if I could twitch my nose and make it happen believe me I would ...I have tried you know , somehow just doesn't work for me ...anyway by the time laundry is done ,usually 3 to 6 loads and the last load is washing to be put in dryer the next morning it is usually about 10 to 12 pm and I finally get my shower for  the day .

At last I can relax ...you would think ...na ...doesn't work that way ...A puppy screams out ,you run ,you trip ,you run you find puppy that is screaming just wants to be held ...well ...I do ..usually all of them ...just sit in the floor and let them climb and play and do all the things we try to do at least 3 times a day with them as we clean the areas they are in ,we also spend time with each puppy ,holding ,kissing ,playing ...it is important that is done and often and we all do it .

bed time for me is usually about 2 am ..then I sleep ...sometimes ..

My days and nights are full of work and more work and play and more .

Sometimes I barely remember who I am ...but I am happy whoever I turn out to be that day .

Weekends here are not like most peoples ,we do not watch the race or a ball game or a movie ,we are either working or on a delivery or I am making arrangements  for a pick up or other .Pictures of moms ,dads ,puppies are taken when we have the time and for that we have to plan and make time ..sometimes that gets scarce and so we only take puppy pictures about every three weeks ,sometimes longer if we find we are behind ,help don't show for a couple days or as in this week ,not at all .....So when 1 person does it all ...there is no downtime at all .

So ,if I don't get right back to you ,or get a picture on the site on  time or if I can't get to get an arrangement made as fast as you would like ....think of a day in the life of a breeder ...one that does not sit at the computer all day ,one that has responsibilities other than just one puppy ,one that takes all care and tries to make sure your baby is as socialized and healthy as it can be ,and its moms and dads are and the rescues are too ...Think of the day in the life of a breeder and then think of your own hectic schedule ,kids ,store ,job ,husband ,home ....I also have that too ...

Think of all this before you get upset if something isn't just the way you want it ...cause around here ...that is a day in my life ...

Thanks and May God Bless !

"Honey ...ROBERT !!!!!!! Hurry ! We got ten minutes and Spain is on ....HURRY !" ...yea ...life is good !