And then there were five...

Yes, yes I know they are cute, no doubt, but I am exhausted! There are nine of them, if you recall, and they are growing FAST. And like most new borns they are all consuming. It started two weeks ago when one of them could climb, like a cat, over their kennel fence and into the compound, then two others could do it. They all would periodically wake up and yell around 2am or 3am. Sometime I would have to feed them to get them quite. Oh, and ANY time you’d walk around the compound during the day (we’d let them roam the yard) they would move in a herd; a rush of black and brown puppy. Like flowing water. And woe unto you if they got a glimpse of you coming out of the house, it is almost impossible to walk after that, they would all be underfoot, moving around your feet like a muddy river, invariably little paws get stepped on…again ‘sorry’…and again ‘sorry’,. Literally takes five minute to get to the car! Max and I would sometimes try to sneak out the backdoor and make a run for it, laughing as they would finally see us and try to catch us…but Esther is totally mortified by them, thinking they are going to eat her. That’s one thing that seems to have backfired, I thought the kids would really enjoy them, Max ‘sort of’ likes them, but Esther is terrified, I have to carry her around in the yard, dogs barking, Esther screaming.

Feeding has become expensive too; I empty the shelves at the grocery store of all the good dog food every week, resorting to cat food, which, actually, they like better anyway [fish]. And not to mention we’ve start vaccinations which I calculate to be about $300 for the series. I was going to wait until they were eight weeks old [around May 1st] to start giving them away, but now, especially since Sandy is saying to them “hey you, stay away from my tit with your sharp teeth!”, it’s time NOW.

And it’s actually hard let them go because even though I complain, I like them. The other side of this coin is that they are fun and I sort of wish we could keep them all. I am like a momma sending her baby off to school for the first time. It’s hard! I interrogate every prospective owner who’s come for them, making SURE they understand what I expect of them in terms of care and feeding.

So as of this weekend we are down to five. It’s a bit quieter in the yard at night now. But the mornings are far more boisterous as their voices are more developed and they realize their own potential for noise making. They hate being kept in their kennel so we let them out in the mornings and after opening the gate I make a run for it back to the kitchen [retrieving their empty bowl first] and they wait…sometimes patiently…sometimes not, at the door for breakfast. Seems I am reducing the number of pups but food needs are exponentially increasing. I keep thinking about my dad at these times, when we were kids we always had lots of animals around the house. Consistently he would have to be the one to take care of them all, especially when we were young. Guess you must have a big grin on your face right now, dad. Pay back, right?!