Back to Normal. . . What is that?
March 11, 2023
Willow’s 6 AKC Cream Golden Retrievers were born February 26. On March 5th, Pearl delivered 7 beautiful F1 (first generation 50% poodle, 50% golden retriever) Goldendoodles. We are changing puppy pads, removing dew claws, weighing puppies daily, washing puppy pads, and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! Both moms are doing beautifully and the pups seem to be thriving.
Because puppies are fragile for the first two weeks of their lives, we are watching them round the clock, so we’re getting very little sleep. I experience a sigh of relief once the puppies are two weeks old. I find myself saying, “Once we get past the first two weeks, we can relax a little. We may even sleep through the night!” There’s a brief respite after two weeks. Then I think “Oh when these pups are 5 weeks old, we can get really cute pictures.” And then, “Once these pups are 6 weeks old, we can start training and get even cuter pictures!” And then after countless daily loads of laundry and cleaning round the clock, I start thinking, “Once these pups leave for their new homes, we can take a breath and life will be ‘normal’ again!”
And quickly the cycle repeats! We have a small female F1 Aussiedoodle who will be coming into heat in April and we’d like to breed her to Ollie, our miniature poodle. We will have miniature F1b Aussiedoodles. Here we go again! What is “normal?” And is “normal” desirable? I think we love this chaos.
I love breeding our dogs. I love puppies! I love healthy beautiful puppies! I love the serendipity of whelping. Whelping pups is better than Christmas!
So Christmas came early at Doodle Patch Farm! Two beautiful litters of puppies! The kindest, chubbiest, calmest Cream Golden Retrievers, and Pearl’s “Ebony and Ivory” litter of standard F1 Goldendoodles. Our life is full of puppy purrs, chirps, squeaks, cuddles and licks. Watching puppies gain a few ounces every day is gratifying.
Placing a puppy in the perfect home fills my heart. Not only does the new owner have a new canine friend, I have a new friend in the owner. We experience many emotional highs and lows in this business, but overall, it’s very rewarding. So I don’t think our typical days are the “norm.” Normal is defined as a standard typical, usual or expected. What is typical or normal for us would likely not be typical for many others. But I love our early mornings feeding horses, throwing hay, feeding dogs, cleaning stalls, doing a couple loads of laundry, and checking on puppies; all before the sun rises. Our life may not be normal, but it’s invigorating, satisfying, and wonderful. And “normal” is a setting on a washing machine and clearly, highly overrated.
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