A day in the life....

This month has been so busy and just gets busier and busier as Christmas gets closer and closer. Yesterday I took the day to go shopping for presents, actually I should rephrase that...I took half the day because I can't leave the puppies that long and I had to get home to pick up Ella from school. I ran around all morning doing dogs (letting them out to do their business and then picking said business up after them...cleaning up after puppies, feeding everyone, washing dishes etc etc etc..) getting Ella ready for school, Marshall dressed and fed, lunch packed, Ella dropped off at school and then back again to clean up after puppies, catch the first 15min of the LMDF dog show (that's all I had time for) on TSN because Ch Braebrook's Remy Martin had won the breed and was on TV before I headed out the door to go shopping.

I managed to get home home just in time to let the dogs out for a quick potty break before I had to leave again to get Ella and make one more quick stop in town before rushing home to get Ella ready for ballet class. After dropping her off there I rushed home to let the dogs out yet again and clean up after the puppies and feed them, and poop scoop the yard. Then it was back out the door to get Ella, stop at the local grocery store to pick up something quick and easy to prepare for dinner because I had forgotten to pull anything out of the freezer and then home to prepare it. I put the dogs out again so they had time for a good run, put the kids in the bath while I was making dinner and then they went off to bed afterwards with hugs, kisses, stories etc and I headed to the dog room to once again clean up after puppies and feed them as well as the adults.

As I was cleaning up after the puppies and thinking how nice it would be just to sit with my feet up and have a cup of tea rather than chase babies around with paper towels because they are running all over the dog room getting their wiggles out and leaving deposits everywhere, I looked up and saw a few individuals stop and strike the most beautiful pose. You know the kind where you look up, stop and think.."wow". Then they trot away holding a perfect topline, looking balanced with nice strong rears and you can't believe they aren't even five weeks old. That is when I remember exactly why I do it, every long sleepless night, every bottle fed puppy, every pile of puppy poop and the never ending bills that go with every part of breeding dogs. I put my heart and soul into this and when I see my hard work grow up and come together the way I hoped and prayed it would when I originally planned out the breeding it brings such a great sense of satisfaction. I truly love what I do. I think you have to or you would never last or succeed in dogs. It certainly isn't for the faint of heart. There have been times when I have felt very beaten down and it's been hard to get back up again, but you persevere, continually striving for that perfect dog...the one that takes your breath away to look at it, has a perfect Doberman temperament and lives long into a ripe old age.

So...I continued to clean up after eight noisy and rambunctious puppies, but I did it with a smile on my face as I watched them. They are the future of my breeding program and with each generation I get closer and closer to my goals, and once all the poop is cleaned up...let's face it..puppies are pretty darn cute. ;)

 Once the babies settled down for the night I headed to the kitchen to clean up supper dishes and then join my fully housebroken and loving adults dogs in the living room for a snuggle and that also helped me to remember what fine companions my Dobermans are (once they are pooping outside ;) ).

Stay tuned for new puppy pictures this weekend!