I have been pretty quiet in the last few weeks about our potential puppy, but I can confirm we have put a deposit down on one. The litter is about 6 weeks old now. It is a litter of 8 and according to our breeder, our puppy will be one out of 3 girls. She’s been awesome at answering questions, and she’s been sending weekly photos of the litter.

I dont feel comfortable posting pictures of the litter yet, and probably wont until our puppy is confirmed and it is cleared thru our breeder. We are waiting to hear back about her protocol for pickup when flying in on an airplane. I’ve been researching airlines and what carriers can work under the seat, and what is required to bring a dog on a plane. So much effort for a little puppy! But we know it will be worth it.

We have an appointment to interview a vet we want to use. His name is Dr. Robert Atton of Felton Veterinary Hospital. He’s been a local vet for many years and I know first hand he has a few Swissy clients. Brian has an appointment on Monday to just sit and ask him questions, just to make sure he will be a willing partner and we jive with his practices.

It’s funny… Brian made a funny comment about it when he wrote to tell me he made the appointment. Here’s what he wrote:

“I called. The lady I talked to was surprised by such an appointment before we even have the pup. But, she’s going to talk to the doc and get back to us with a time.

We follow all this good advice, and yet it seems everywhere we go people don’t do what we’re doing at all…

Le sigh.“

It’s true. Every thing we have done, has seemed to be judged in excess by other people. Honestly, through this whole process we have been trying to do the right thing. We have tried to research, we have tried to be discriminate, we have tried to do right by this future family member. The first breeder I ever talked to, Maria Jenson.. she said something to me in that first email that I will never forget.

She said: “You get the kind of dog you deserve.”

What kind of dog, do WE deserve do you suppose?

1) Not a perfect one. – We are not perfect, so we don’t deserve a perfect dog.
2) A loving dog maybe? – Yes. We have done all of this searching in Love.
3)A dog with a sense of humor? – MOST DEFINITELY.
4) A healthy dog? –I would hope so.
5) A persistent.. maybe slightly obsessive dog? Uh oh..No.. um. Yes? Maybe? *she says meekly*

Other than that.. I cannot say. Except… we are so excited to finally meet this pup, whoever she may be.

My first copy of the SENNtinel.

“Nambian Elephant Dusting” by Eric Wilson

I had a lot of good support from my friends over the last few days and it has been great! So i got up, dusted my self off and started the whole process over again. I’m taking an advisor’s advice and casting a wider net this time around, instead of focusing on just one semi-local breeder. I’m not sure how this is going to “look” to them however. It might look flaky and it might appear we lack commitment. But considering all the factors involved, and considering I haven’t really found anybody who has committed to my family? I think it’s only fair to keep open until it is absolutely apparent that I have found our “breeder match.” We may end up with one that we’ve already started a relationship with.. or we may not. I’m open either way.

I emailed a breeder that the last one recommended, but the kennel hasn’t returned my email. This wouldn’t phase me but I’ve actually emailed an application to this one before and they didn’t return my email then either. I might give them a call over the weekend just to satisfy my curiosity.

In the meantime, I’ve been given a few other recommendations from some friends and I have already started the process by emails and phone conversations. It looks promising! My wider net includes a representative from three different regions of America: East Coast, Midwest and West Coast. I’ve made initial contact with all three: two with plans to follow up on the phone. The third I talked to this morning. I was initially really intimated by this one as the Kennel is one of the older ones in America, but it turned out great! Almost too easy in a way. They have a litter on the ground and have three girls who are still available. They are going to send pictures on Monday with the promise of a follow up conversation. I don’t know enough about their dogs yet, and as pick up would be about three weeks away I worry that the breeder wont know my family well enough by then. It might be difficult to judge if one of these girls would good for us, and I would hate to think we were a “last resort” couple for the litter. Then again, this breeder has been doing it for sooo long.. maybe they just KNOW. Your guess is as good as mine.

This process is still such a mystery. Sometimes I just want to shake my head an wonder how I got wrapped up in all this.

Today was Mother’s Day. I hope all you mothers out there had a great day of rest. I was pretty happy. I woke up to breakfast in bed and then presents on the couch. And what did my kids and husband get me for Mother’s Day you ask? Jewelry? A spa treatment? Nooo. No, my family knows EXACTLY how to get to my heart. They got me dog paraphernalia: leash, toys and dog treats. Lots of little presents to get me excited for that day in the future when we can bring our puppy home.

Speaking of puppies.. remember that waiting list we are on? The pups were born by c-section on Wednesday. 6 boys and 5 girls. Apparently all is going well and the mom dog is doing great. I am dying to see pictures but the breeder hasn’t posted any yet. I can’t wait to see them!

So Easter Sunday has come and gone. The kids woke up at the crack of dawn to open baskets and go on their egg hunt. We made a breakfast of French Toast with whip cream and strawberries. There was LOTS of chocolate eating, since this was one of the days during the year we indulge the kids and let them pig out. I kept thinking that if we are lucky, this time next year we are going to have to monitor the kids and their chocolate endeavors.. just to make sure all family members stay safe.

But a little place in my heart felt sad this morning because I kept thinking how today would be the perfect day to go hiking with a dog.

Image borrowed from Tucker And Stuart, Our Swissies

I’m finding the waiting pretty difficult to the point where I have had to really stop talking about it with my friends. Mainly because they are starting to look REALLY bored when i start talking about swissies. And I’m starting to bore myself. I’ve heard of people who’ve waited 3 years before they actually got a Swissy. THREE YEARS. Not to mention… I feel like a poser in the dog community. I lurk and read the posts and I form opinions on certain training techniques or ideas about owning a dog, but I don’t own one yet. Poser!

A friend of mine has invited us to go with her to her dog’s training session at a facility we are interested in. Hopefully we’ll get to do that soon. A dog we are interested in is having her litter in about 10 days. I’m on pins and needles. We’ll see I guess. If all goes well, it will mean we only have three AVAILABLE weekends left to finish The List. EEK!!!

Riley owned by Carol Hightower

I’ve been currently waiting for ultra-sounds, learning about canine epilepsy, talking to breeders and researching dog training methods. But in terms of things actually happening or moving forward? Nope. I’m just waiting and masturbating mentally. Honestly, I’ve got nothing. The most eventful thing that happened last week was I went to a dog show up in Vallejo to meet more swissy folk and remind myself why I’m doing all this craziness. While at the show I met some really cool Swissy people and got to hang out with lovely puppies. The one above is a sweet girl named Riley. I snapped this picture of her and thought it was so pretty I needed to post it.

Troy Riewe, president of Golden Gate GSMD club taught me what a “bucket bitch” is. Do you know? I bet you don’t. Its the person who runs after the handler with the bucket or toolbox full of grooming supplies. It is the BB’s responsibility to keep the dog pretty before it goes into the ring. In this case, it was a rag. I carried a rag and wiped his dog down before she went in. Oh, and before you feminist-folk get up in arms about the term… have no fear. “Bucket Bitch” can be both a feminine or masculine. Gender need not apply…

Right now I am sitting at work waiting for a text or a phone call my lovely husband. He’s out-of-state with the kids.. and because he was going to be in the vicinity, we set up a meeting with a breeder to visit her house and meet her dogs. This is a difficult thing to do when you live in a state that doesn’t have many breeders or the breeders that you do have only breed their dogs once a year.

But you see, HE’S the one who is visiting. I’m stuck at work 400 miles away. I’m the one who knows what to ask.. he has been leaving this part up to me. So of course, i had to write up a whole questionnaire so he knows what to do and what to ask.

He asked me for a list of questions and I obliged. Here’s what I wrote up:

1) What kind of health guarantee does she provide?
2) How does she socialize her pups before she sends them to her new owners?
3) What is her view about socialization vs parvo? What does she recommend?
4) Does she start any crate training? Any other training? What kind of training method does she feel works best for Swissies?
5)What does she feed her dogs? What’s her views on what to feed the puppies when they go to their new home?
6) What vaccinations does she give and what is her view on the kind of vaccination schedule the puppies should have?

xxoo
-m

Ok. Seriously? Breeders are CRAZY.

The ultrasound hasn’t even been done yet and I’ve talked to this one 4 times. Sweet wonderful guy.. but he talked to my husband and asked to have me call him back today. I do.. and its like crickets on the other end. It’s painfully obvious the guy didn’t have anything to say and wasn’t really serious when he told brian to have me call him back.

And what is terrible about this conversation is that it feels obvious that we don’t really have anything to say to each other beyond what has been already said. So it’s just chit chat, which makes me feel terribly fake and insincere. The guy wants me to bring all the questions and honestly.. if he’d bother to read my application and my blog, he’d see that I’m incredibly researched and really don’t have any questions beyond what i’ve asked him already. He did have to reiterate that there are 39 applicants for this breeding.. but then he reassured me that there are a few that are 20-somethings who live in an appartment with 3 room mates and maybe they should be considering a toy poodle or something.

Another thing that is kind of funny? He really has no interest in me beyond if I’m appropriate for his dogs. I could be a trash collector or an axe murder for all he knows. I tried showing him all the films I’ve worked on just so it might strike up some conversation and he didn’t have a single question or reaction. As far as I can tell, the only thing he wants to talk about is his dogs and their show record. Which brings up another point: It is absolutely apparent that people who breed dogs? This is their ENTIRE world. Reminds me of geeks who go to star trek conventions and build those crazy one-of-a-kind-costumes just because they can and they LOVE star trek.

Breeders are geeks... in their own way.

All I can say, is this process is driving me crazy. The ultra sound is not for another two weeks. Think i could just get drunk and forget about it all until then?

I don’t know who you are
But I can see you run
I don’t know where you are
But i hear your Breath
I don’t when you’ll Live
But i feel your Love
Because you are meant to be
With me

Now I’m writing stupid poetry. Will the madness ever end?

Puppy photo from Great Swiss Mountain Dog Blog