Sunday Brunch: Someday!

Mary-Ann Sontag March 21, 2021

The Thursday Puppy Nanny asked — after not even an hour with the puppies — “how do you get anything done?”

“How do you even EAT?!” she went on as she attempted to finish her lunch.

To date, I am down 17 pounds since the Bright Stars arrived — there is the answer.

I do not write blog posts for sympathy. I write them to help people understand what it is like to raise a litter well. TWO litters in this case.

Yes, writing the blog takes time — but I know people like to keep up on their future puppies. It is my gift to those waiting, and to those watching and learning.

I also write these daily posts because I do not usually have the time or bandwidth to send individual emails and photos to all the folks getting/wanting a puppy. Sometimes a post contains answers to emailed questions — I figure if one person wants to know, so do others, and so a blog post can be efficient in that way.

It is what I can do. I can’t eat well or sleep enough or get caught up or promptly respond to every request or question but I can offer this — these posts.

I wish it could be more. But remember — I am a human being, imperfect and with finite coping resources trying my best to do something really hard. The fact that it was my own choice (sort of) to do this hard thing doesn’t change the reality that this is hard, and I am trying my very best.

So please — ask your questions, and send your emails/texts.

And also — please be understanding and gracious with this exhausted imperfect person trying so hard to do the right things — and dropping balls right, left, and on my own head.

But never do the balls drop on a puppy. #priorities

Now go eat — because you can — and have a grand day.

Evening Report

The puppies had wonderful visitors today — I am so grateful to those who help us socialize puppies. And then the Bright Stars had another outside play session under the watchful eye of Grandma Sparkle…

When Your Son Sends You Videos of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld...

Mary-Ann Sontag March 16, 2021

Being a breeder who cares is such a fine line to walk — like being a mother-in-law or a grandparent. Even when you see or know things you consider cringeworthy, you have to preserve the relationship at all costs.

All costs.

As a breeder, I know about those costs: Anxiety, worry, regret, soul searching, and lost sleep.

As I look at potential puppy homes, I am keenly alert for red flags that suggest I might be paying future high costs for a placement. This is what careful and caring breeders do — it is not unique to me.

A red flag for a puppy mill or backyard breeder might be concerns about whether someone can pay — for me, red flags are all about incongruence with what I consider an optimal life for a puppy.

“Who the heck gets to decide whether my home is optimal for a puppy?” one might indignantly ask.

Fair question and here is the answer as it relates to the Bright Stars and Moonshadows: Me.

I created these lives. Of course I am the one who must decide what is optimal.

There are so many variations of optimal, and this is wonderful because puppies are individuals who need different kinds of homes.

But what all puppies need — in my definition of optimal — is to be a priority. A high priority. One worth time, attention, adaptation, and yes — sacrifices.

This is tough. People want a puppy. I want to sleep at night. And the truth is that sometimes those two things cannot both happen; that reality doesn’t make anyone a bad person.

This is a busy week. We will be doing formal evaluations of the puppies. The Bright Stars will have veterinary exams, get microchipped, have blood drawn both for titers and Berner-Garde sponsored research, and based on titer results, may get their first vaccination. In addition, Claire’s surgery is tomorrow.

And so all things considered — the 10+10+9+me of us are doing some variation of fine. In my case, it looks like more like an acronym (F.I.N.E.) but never mind that — we knew it would be March Madness, right?

Eating and Sleeping

Mary-Ann Sontag March 5, 2021

When it comes to feeding puppies and dogs, I am a fan of variety, whole foods, and moderation.

Consider that food is more than calories — it is also important to the immune system via the impact on the gut microbiome. A diet of just kibble is typically not optimal for gut health any more than our bodies would be happy existing on a single food.

This morning, for example, the puppies had a meal of brown rice, butternut squash, stew meat, and a bit of plain kefir — blended up because the stew meat is too chunky for babies.

Titan gets to eat alone to ensure his fair share. Okay — he gets more than his fair share :)

Because their primary food source is still nursing, I am not overly worried about exact amounts of things in the homemade puppy food; this changes when they are not nursing. I use BalanceIT both for the recipes and to ensure that the homemade food covers all the nutritional bases.

It sings and moves — the Moonshadows thought bubbles: What the heck is that?!

The puppies also eat Darwins Natural, which is a raw food that meets the guidelines as a complete food, including for large-breed puppies; I brown it for the puppies instead of feeding raw.

The puppies are not eating kibble yet. I will introduce Orijen Large-breed puppy kibble to them at seven weeks. When they leave us, they will be used to eating three meals a day plus nursing: one meal of soaked kibble, one meal of homemade, and one meal of cooked Darwins.

The puppy that stays here will stay on that level of variety.

Puppies who are not nursing should eat four times a day for the first few weeks, and then can move to three times a day until at least six months. FYI: I feed my adult dogs three times a day.

I ask new homes to choose two of the current feeding options or all three if one is adventurous. Again, homemade food should utilize BalanceIT product and recipes to ensure complete nutrition.

Puppies grow so fast — we do need to pay attention to their nutritional needs.

I have been asked about the platform beds. This one has a leg removed so that it moves under the puppies.

My advice on the beds: Don’t bother. I bought two and none of the dogs sleep on them. The puppies’ favorite thing to do on them is pee but they will do that on any bed.