Good puppy-raisers know their priorities
By Gina Spadafori
May 18, 2009
The gas company finds a leak in your neighborhood, immediately shuts off the gas to all the houses on your street and starts tearing up the road in front of your home to locate the problem. The leak gets fixed, and the crew tells you there will be a technician at your home within the hour to re-light all your pilots and make sure everything’s safe.
You are raising puppies, and your most immediate and pressing thought is:
a) Thank heavens! The whole block could have exploded.
b) Thank heavens! I’ll have hot water for my shower in the morning.
c) Thank heavens! A guy in a uniform is coming over to socialize the puppies.
If you picked (c), well … welcome to my world.
Image: Mr. Green, one of six puppies to meet the PG&E technician within the hour.
Look at that face!
I wish I lived closer to you and you know, actually knew you. I would be at your house every single day to “socialize” with the pups. I’d be more than willing to dress up in uniforms (PG&E tech, USPS delivery person, perhaps a clown costume if if would help, etc) if it means I get to play with puppies!
Comment by The Other Lori — May 18, 2009 @ 7:02 pm
Umm - You’re not going to start calling 911 to get the police & EMTs to socialize your puppies, are you?
Comment by Patti S. — May 18, 2009 @ 7:34 pm
It is so hard to believe that Greenie is so big now.
You have 6 top-of-the line puppies and a great mom. I hope Mckenzie is proud of them.
Maybe you can get some vacuum cleaner salesman, insurance saleman, or Avon saleswoman over to socialize, though it would probably cost you too much time.
Lucky people that are going to get your pups!
Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 18, 2009 @ 7:51 pm
I could set you up with several very sweet bulldogs and let’s see
a two year old boy, a five and a half year old boy and a 10 year old boy who are all “puppy proof”
Nathan, Sam and Robert just spent a week socializing three bulldogX puppies we fostered for rescue, I’m sure they’d love to help with your crew!
Oh and just for chuckles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....r_embedded
Comment by JenniferJ — May 18, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
I also have to admit to accosting numerous construction workers, dry-wallers plumbers and electricians when we remodeled a few years back to pet puppies, whether they really wanted to or not. :)
Comment by JenniferJ — May 18, 2009 @ 8:58 pm
So Cute!!
Its wonderful that the pups are getting such a great start on life.
I’m very curious how the pups will be matched up with their new families. I hope you will share this with us once the matches are made.
Comment by 2CatMom — May 19, 2009 @ 6:15 am
I’m very curious how the pups will be matched up with their new families. I hope you will share this with us once the matches are made.
Comment by 2CatMom — May 19, 2009
All of the families have long been active owners of flatcoated retrievers, and more are well-known to me and all are well-known to Mary, my mentor and co-owner,who’s making the final decisions. Four of the six puppies will likely go to people (including me) who all had puppies from one of Mary’s previous litters — my 12.5-year-old Heather’s litter. Two of the other families own littermates of McKenzie (the mommy).
Most people know for sure they are getting a pup from this litter — they just don’t know which one. A couple are looking for something in particular in terms of working ability, and we won’t yet know if that’s there until Mary and Katie (the dad’s owner, who also owned Heather’s sister Cali) come out in a couple weeks and we do all the final testing.
After all the testing, we’ll sit down with some wine and figure which puppies go where. The prospective owners choose gender, but they trust Mary and Katie to choose the right puppies because they knows the families so well.
It’s all in the family, in other words.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 19, 2009 @ 6:40 am
Lori … I would have everyone over for a puppy party if I could! JenJ … I think calling 911 (as Patti joked) would be over the top, but we have water district folks in out neighborhood all the time, because one of the wells is behind my house and the easement road right next to it. I think I’ll drag them in. … and finally, CT … McKenzie IS proud of them, but she’s also sick of nursing them (which she’s really not doing much of anymore).
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 19, 2009 @ 6:43 am
I could die for that face. Oh my, I’d hate letting the pups go. Who is going to get to stay with Grammy Gina?
Comment by Rochelle Lesser — May 19, 2009 @ 7:01 pm
Grammie Gina will have one grandpup to take care of—the nest might not be entirely empty.
Anways, we have to think of Clara and Ilario. They could be delighted to see the playful pups packed up in cages and sent on their way. :)
Comment by Colorado Transplant — May 19, 2009 @ 7:51 pm
Actually, Ilario is starting to enjoy them. :)
I won’t know who’s staying until we go through all the evals in a couple weeks.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 19, 2009 @ 8:58 pm