We hope each and every one of you got to spend endless hours with loved ones and countless days with friends and family over this Thanksgiving holiday. So many of you shared your heart warming adventures, love filled photos and stories of reunion, connection and their travels. I am immensely grateful to be pulled into such amazing moments as we start such a wonderful time of year.
Our Christmas tree has been up for a couple of weeks now (I know, crazy teenagers!) but more decorations are coming out of the wood work daily. Such magic fills the air everywhere. Ice skating here in town fills our days at least a few times a week where people laugh, Christmas music fills the air and cocoa gets served into the night. More lights get strung up over the dog yard as the evenings now are dark and gloomy. With new pups on the horizon more lights are always welcomed and brings in a warm glow for the exciting event ahead. The heat in the dog house gets turned up higher each night as all the dogs get used to birth temps in their home. They all sprawl out on the bare floor as if 50 degrees is sauna temps. The snow on the forecast for this week ahead is promising. I hope enough falls to give the dogs at least a few days to roll in the snow. Oh how they do love the snow these retrievers! I'll keep my fingers crossed for at least a few inches this week for them to romp in. As I write this, thick hail rolls in from out of nowhere and covers almost everything around. It’s just enough to give the dogs a couple of hours of play time in …. “what is all this white stuff?!” mass confusion crosses their faces and they munch at the top of the hail but then looking up at me not knowing what to do next. Leia takes the lead (this time at least) and bolts around the yard mixing up the sand with the hail making it look like a perfectly mixed baking bowl. They are all now back inside cozy and warm, once again sprawled out over the floor.
Meiko is getting quite big and grows noticeably by the day now. We are on a countdown for sure. A traditional construction paper Christmas countdown chain is counting down the days. She's starting to play less now and wants to go back inside a little sooner. Extra calories get offered, she gets lavished in love a little more (ok a lot more) and pampered whenever I cave to her requests, which is pretty much all the time. My daughter herself is doing her X-rays on Tues. At her clinic so she'll be in familiar hands of a loved one she knows. Hopefully we'll get a few good clear images and have a pretty good idea on puppy count. As the days tick down I check off everything and anything I can possibly do to have this birth be nothing but 100% successful in every way, shape and form.
The nursery will get put up tomorrow so Meiko can start to nest and adjust to her new space. She'll cozy right in I'm sure and act as if she were an old hat at this mama thing. She's displayed strong maternal instincts from a very early age and I have never doubted her role ahead. I am getting extremely excited to watch her with this new bushel of babes!
I look forward to adding to families, renewing families and celebrating with families as I help add some extra fur to homes come this new year.
These Meiko pups will be absolutely stunning and sweet as pie just like their mama. I can't wait to meet them all and work with each of them over this magical time of year!
Sola is always happier than any happy clams around, Isla and Leia are attached at the hip rolling and romping at every chance they get. Meiko tolerates Sola extremely well, still let's her rough her up most of the time trying to play. You can see this interaction in the top hail pictures with Sola attaching herself to Meiko's scruff and Meiko pretty much just rolling her eyes at her. I'm not sure who the instigator is in the extremely entertaining speed races around the yard, Isla or Leia but you better stand back or they'll take you out at the knees quick! Here's Leia posing for some beauty shots.
Come X-mas time, Sola is due to be given a comeback. Everything is cleared to move forward and we have every plan in place to do so. My hope is that she indeed will repeat her first strong healthy beautiful litter of pups once again for all the eager families waiting for a gorgeous Sola/Silas pup just like darling sweet Trooper. My hope is her time here will be long and successful. She's a gorgeous girl with huge potential to help fill many homes with equally gorgeous pups. I so much look forward to her come back ahead.
As this snow rolls in and the temps drop, I hope everyone stays warm, stays safe when they have to navigate the roads and snuggles in a little closer to home as we all soak up the Christmas spirit and everything it has to bring.
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