We're Still Here

It's been a long week. But we're still here, alive and kicking (I sometimes wonder, though).

Now that most of the pups have found their forever homes, the regular crew is tickled to be getting more attention from us.

They still enjoy their treats in the kitchen (left to right: Pinot, Ridge, Tucker, Kenya, and Elsie):


[Side note: The orange collars came out with the advent of deer-hunting season.]

They do, of course, relish their snuggle times with us -- something they're getting a whole lot more of now, too. Here's the Pinot Girl nestled in under DFS as he watches TV:


Mr. Lime and Mr. Red continue to do incredibly well. They love the outdoors, especially when they can romp with each other (I'll post about them separately).


The little boys had their full 10-week immunizations and such last week (they turned 11 weeks old yesterday) and have become sweet, snuggly, affectionate, mindful, gentle guys. We couldn't be more pleased with how their temperaments are turning out.

Now, we just need to find the right families for them.

I have to admit I'm starting to get discouraged. Once puppies reach a certain age, and we're quickly approaching that age, interest in them drops off quickly. It's frustrating knowing how much we invest in these pups and knowing what treasures they really are, and knowing what joy they can offer their families, yet realizing that people still opt for puppy-mill pups or store-stock pups (usually coming from puppy mills) or carelessly-bred-and-raised pups.

The fact that no-one has expressed any interest in Mr. Lime or Mr. Red (except their original families, both of whom bailed late in the process) continues to perplex and sadden me. It angers me, too. It makes me grapple with (for the thousandth time) the age old question: "why do the wicked prosper?" (as in, why do puppy mills have no trouble placing their dogs?). A question to which I have no answer, and probably never will.

All I know is that we did and do all we can to responsibly, proactively, and carefully breed, care for, raise, train, and place our puppies -- and yet it seems that everything that can go wrong did and is.

I haven't written much this week because it's been, quite honestly, a crummy week (I won't go into details why). But life is full of crummy weeks, and this, too, shall pass, I guess.

For now we're trying to focus on enjoying the little guys and the big guys alike -- loving them to pieces, chuckling over their antics, burying our faces in their velvet-soft coats, and letting them enrich our lives as only Labs can.

That's all we can do. The rest is out of our hands.

'Til next time,
Joan