What's going on over here you ask? Oh nothin' much... we just have EIGHT ADORABLE YELLOW LAB PUPPIES at our house right now!
Drake and Daisy had BABIES!!!
Okay, so sit back... I'm gonna tell the story of how we got all of our dogs. Because I know there are MILLIONS of people out there just sitting around wondering this.
Once upon a time, a little yellow lab was born. He was bought by a couple that lived in a teeny-tiny apartment. This couple was apparently not the brightest, and when they bought this little lab puppy, they didn't know he was going to be big one day. When the puppy was nine months old, they got rid of him because (gasp) he was now big. Too big for their tiny little apartment. This puppy became homeless, and after a while, he ended up with a friend of Dustin's dad. This guy didn't want to keep the puppy, but he agreed to take him in temporarily. Dustin fell in love with this dog and asked me if we could take it. This was about three months after we were married. At the time, I said no. I have no idea now why I said that. But I did. I said no, and then I left to go to my cousin's bachelorette party in Alabama for three days. When I got home from my trip and pulled into my driveway, I was greeted by... a yellow lab. I. Was. Furious. I could NOT BELIEVE that Dustin brought home a DOG when I had said NO! We had a huge fight. He said I could name it. I said I didn't care. So Dustin named (changed his name actually - his first name was Pudding) him Max. I remained furious for about... an hour. All I had going on that summer were some online classes to finish up my degree, and soon Max and I were best friends and spent afternoons laying on the couch together watching TV and sharing bags of chips. Seriously. Max was an extremely expensive dog (that we got free!) with an impressive family history. He came to us with all of his papers. I immediately took him to the vet and got him fixed because I DON'T CARE ABOUT STUFF LIKE THAT! People still give me hell for having him fixed. SO... though I didn't even want him at first, I fell madly in love with Max and claimed him as MINE! Also, he's gorgeous. We had a few mishaps at first (he literally ATE our porch swing), but now he's super super calm. He's so loving and cuddly. He doesn't know he's big, and he's constantly trying to sit in my lap. He's seven, and sometimes I hyperventilate when I think about him no longer being around.
awwww, little baby Edens
About three years after we got Max, the same friend of Dustin's dad had a pregnant lab show up at his house and have her puppies. Again, Dustin wanted one. Again, I wasn't totally on board. At this point, we had three dogs (more on that later), and I thought that was enough. But Dustin knew how to get me. I had never ever had a puppy before; all the dogs I had ever had in my life were rescue dogs. He would go to this guy's house and text me pictures of the little yellow lab he had chosen. I caved. Enter Drake. Drake is still crazy hyper at four years old. He is Dustin's dove hunting dog and can be so tough and intimidating, but at the same time he is so sweet and gentle and is really nothing more than a giant baby. I wanted to get Drake fixed too. But this time Dustin wouldn't let me. Dustin ADORES Drake. Sometimes I accuse Dustin of loving Drake more than he loves me. I joke and ask him questions like, "If the house were on fire and you had to choose between me and Drake to save, who would you pick?" And Drake ADORES Dustin. When Dustin is home, Drake is right by his side. He follows him from room to room. He freaks out if Dustin is outside and he's still inside or vice versa. Dustin begged me not to get him fixed because he always said that one day he wanted to breed Drake - so that when he could no longer have Drake, he could have Drake's offspring.
hahahahaha, I still remember the night we did this, and we just thought it was the funniest thing ever!
So now we had two labs.
awwwww, when Max and Drake met!
They slept with us, rode around in the truck with us, went to Thanksgivings and Christmases with us, went running with me, etc.
Then Eden came along. And Dustin decided that since we each had a lab, she needed one too. I've told that story before. Here. Enter Daisy. Eden loves having her OWN dog. Daisy has a bed in Eden's room and sleeps with her every night. Eden is in charge of feeding her every morning and evening. I, of course, wanted to have her fixed. And Dustin, of course, asked me not to. Because he said that's who he could one day breed Drake to. I was not really on board with this. But Dustin wasn't planning on doing it for a few more years, so I just figured it wasn't worth the fight; I would just worry about it when it came time to do it and would do my best to talk Dustin out of it then.
So Ila was born. And Dustin said that when the time came for her to get a dog, Drake and Daisy could have puppies, and one of those would go to Ila. Since I figured Ila didn't need a puppy for a couple more years, I was just like whatever. Again, no need to worry about it now.
So Daisy came into heat the first time. And we managed to keep her and Drake apart. Daisy came into heat again a few months ago. We started out strong. A few days in, I was busy with Eden and Ila, the dogs were inside and driving me crazy, and without thinking, I put them all outside. LESS than five minutes later, I was like OH CRAP! I ran outside, and sure enough... I was too late. I PANICKED. I completely freaked out. I was SO UPSET. I was hysterical and crying and yelling at Dustin. I did NOT want Drake and Daisy to have puppies... especially not NOW! I told Dustin that I did not have time for this, I did not want to be responsible for puppies entering the world, I went on and on about all the dogs out there in shelters that needed homes and asked him how he could be so selfish to want this! I cried and cried and was in a bad mood for days. I watched Daisy like a hawk. I kept feeling her belly to see if I could feel movement. I asked Dustin if a pregnancy test would work on her. (He thought I was insane.) A month went by. She seemed totally normal. A few more weeks went by. She still seemed totally normal. She was the same size as always. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and thanked my lucky stars that we had dodged a bullet. On April 24th, I noticed Daisy looked a little fat. On April 26th, Daisy went underneath our house and had puppies. We could hear them crying from the vents. I WAS NOT HAPPY. Dustin pulled the siding off of our house and crawled under and got the puppies.
And it was love at first sight. I'm sorry, but you just cannot be anything but over the moon elated when handed newborn puppies.
I still feel guilty for our contribution to the dog world. But what's done is done. So I may as well enjoy this. Because to tell you the truth - this is like a childhood dream of mine come true! WE HAVE PUPPIES! And I'm so happy that Eden gets to experience this. The girl is in heaven. She holds them and cuddles them, and at night she has to tell each and every one of them good night and gives them hugs and kisses.
She was sick a couple of days last week. But it was nothing that puppies couldn't make better!
Dustin suggested we keep one for Ila. And I said that wasn't fair. I said she was too young. Because Eden got to open her puppy on Christmas morning! Daisy was all wrapped up for her in a box! And Ila needed that too! But then we gave her a puppy to see...
And Ila got so dang excited! And I thought, okay... this is pretty great too! They will grow up together.
So meet Ila's dog. (She doesn't have a name yet.)
So Ila has her lab. And through her, Dustin has Drake's line.
We each have a yellow lab.
And as SOON as Daisy is healed, she is getting FIXED! And Drake's time is coming soon as well.
And we are just the happiest people ever over here. We play with puppies all day long. They are currently in a plastic swimming pool in our sunroom. Eden likes to "cook" for them and give them her toys to play with.
I was worried about finding homes for the remaining seven. But in less than a week and without even really trying, they all have homes! I knew I would be very particular about where these puppies were going to go. They are my babies' babies after all. But they all have homes with friends and family - which is great, because we will still get to see them all the time!
Just look...
and my FAVORITE picture...
bliss
Okay. So we have four labs. I admit that the labs get the most attention of all our pets.
But we also have LJ. He showed up one day a few years ago. He was scared and skittish, but with a lot of coaxing and patience and treats, he finally came to me after a couple of days. He is awkward and has an overbite, but both those things just make him adorable. My dad says all the time that LJ is his favorite. It took a LONG time before LJ stayed here. After the first time, he left but would return every few days. I always kept food out for him, and after a while, he finally decided to make this his home. I've tried to keep him inside at night, but he HATES it. He hates to be contained. He has a wanderin' soul and even now, he leaves sometimes. Our fence is dog proof, but he's a little Houdini and gets out. He always comes back though. If he would let me, I would spoil him rotten. I worry about him at night, especially when it's cold. I've put sweaters on him in the winter (he pulls them off) and bought him dog beds (he tears them to shreds). Maybe when he gets old he will let me baby him more.
Then there's Jake. Jake is another dog that just seemed to bounce around homes. One winter night, the temperature was supposed to drop below freezing, and Jake was outside in a goat pen at my grandparents' house. Dustin brought him to our house so he could stay the night in our shop with a heat lamp. It was supposed to be a one night thing. That was almost five years ago. He's blind in one eye. I still don't feel like he's really our dog... it was supposed to be a temporary thing... but I somehow can't let him go. We've had a few people want to take him, but I've turned them all down because I worry that he won't get the care and attention that he needs because of his eye. He's safe here in our dog proof fence.
So yeah... there's the story of our six dogs. Riveting, I know.
We go through a bag of dog food every six days. We could probably go to Europe if I didn't spend so much money on vet visits and heart worm and flea meds.
We also have three cats. And a fish (Kitty-Cat is going strong!). And I'm trying to talk Dustin into a pony for the girls. :)
***though Dustin and I don't seem to agree on the whole having puppies thing, he has a humongous heart when it comes to animals and treats our dogs like kings and queens
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