I'm back...................................

Well, I notice that it's been almost a year since I've posted to this blog. What can I say? The boys and dogs have been keeping me quite busy........................
We had an unexpected litter of pups in October. Chester, our male stud, played escape artist by jumping through a garage window and into our open bedroom window while we were out one afternoon - hence 2 little beagle girls were conceived. They were lovely little things, although we were quite surprised that only 3 pups were conceived(one little boy was stillborn :( ). Apparently since they were conceived so early on in Tango's cycle there just weren't enough eggs to fertilize at the time. Anyways....................taking care of the 2 little ones was a breeze after the litter of 7, and we ended up finding lovely homes for them both. I love you Lily and Snoopy!
As far as the boys go, well........................................let's just say that as we near the age of 17, there are more and more challenges to meet. Last weekend I found myself with 3 teenage couples here for the day, and had a hard time determining what is and what is not appropriate for kids of this age - how much privacy should they be allowed? Should they be trusted until trust is broken, or can a group of 16 year olds be trusted in the dark while watching a movie? These are few among many questions that I ask myself on a regular basis. Fortunately my relationship with my son is good, and I'm pretty sure of where he's at and where he wants to go. I must say that the "serious relationship" at 16 stresses me out though. I can't say that I don't understand on a personal level.........................I myself went through the same kind of intense relationship at 16 that he's experiencing - unfortunately this doesn't make it easier. I only hope and pray that by the time we get to the fourth child's teenage years, we have it somewhat figured out.

Just when you think.....................................

Well, the pups turned out beautifully! Although I became stressed, as per usual, that I wouldn't find good homes for all of them, it wasn't an issue I should have lost sleep over. By the time they were 6 weeks old I'd found them all lovely homes, until..........................................at 7 weeks my youngest son had an accident involving one of them. Hunter(8) was helping me move puppies from their inside pen to their outside pen for the day, when his foot caught a cinderblock that I was using to prop up a board to keep the pups from escaping their kennel, and he pulled it over on one of the pups legs. YIKES! Needless to say, puppy was injured. An emergency trip to the vet told us that he had a broken leg and would have to be kept crated for 3 weeks until the leg healed. This meant we would be keeping him 2 weeks beyond when al of the other pups were to leave for their new homes. Well, after explaining the situation to the pups new owner and thankfully finding out that he still wanted the pup, we got through the 3 weeks, fell in love with Diego(the name the new owner had chosen for the pup), got our 2nd xray which was to show us he was healed and ready to go, only to find that the leg still wasn't healed and we needed to keep him for 2 more weeks. YIKES again.
Well, we're pretty much falling in love with little Diego. He has become part of the family. We've had him so long now that we'll really miss him when he's gone.
Raising pups is not for the feint of heart. If you aren't doing it for the love of puppies, beware - things don't always go as planned.

The puppies are here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, the pups are actually 10 days old already.............................
They are all doing wonderfully, and this was the least eventful delivery of all, other than the fact that I lost 2 nights sleep waiting for the little darlings to get here. Tango was visibly on her way to delivering these pups for 2 days before the birth actually occured, and therefore I couldn't relax until their safe arrival. She began delivery at 5:30 last tuesday morning, and the last of the pups was whelped at around 8:ooam. The last little guy was an unexpected surprise. We had had xrays taken which said we would have 6 pups, and ended up with a whopping 7!
Mom and pups are doing great. 3 of them now have their eyes open, and we've had no health issues with any of them. Can't wait until they get their little personalities!
Congratulations Tango!

Waiting is the Hardest Part

Life with a 15 year old is certainly all it's cracked up to be. They say that by the time a child reaches age 12-13 you've done all of the teaching that you can do, and after that it's just a matter of "guidance". Well, this is a scary truth, and living it out is full of dilemmas. At 15 my eldest has lost all motivation for doing well at school. He is an all around good kid - not a trouble maker in the least - he is kind, helpful, courteous, and quite fun to be around......................he's just lost all motivation for completing schoolwork. How does a mom deal with this? I'm not so sure.............................
Gone are the days when I could put him in his room, spank him, take away his favorite toy, give him a stern talking to, etc. He is a young man who must find a way for himself, and in order to be motivated, he needs to decide for himselft that school is worthwhile - no amount of punishment will "make" him motivated.
They say that "waiting is the hardest part". I concur. I see huge amounts of potential in my son. So much in fact that it pains me to see him waste his intellect - I am hurt more than I am angered. I am thankful that at the core I know that God has a plan for him, and that when all else fails, I can trust in this alone.

My puppy's turned into a monster!

Time flies so quikly - we are soon ready to breed the dogs once again, and the spring should promise a new litter of puppies. I'm quite excited. It's funny how just as with you're own kids, you look forward to the babies(puppies), but once they come you are overwhelmed with the stress that they create. Once they're gone, or as in the case of kids they grow up, and then you miss having the babies, so you want to do it all over again. Kind of crazy, isn't it?
I've received many updates on the last litter of puppies - they are all doing well and are adorable.
In the case though of someone reading this blog who is looking for information on dog raising, I do have an issue that some of my puppy owners have been experiencing, and as a newly certified dog-trainer, I would like to address this issue.
I can't stress enough how important it is that you establish heirarchy early on when training your puppy . That is, make sure you don't "baby" him to the point that he becomes the boss, and ends up getting away with all kinds of things that he shouldn't. I have had an owner of one of our first litters call me with resource guarding problems which led to her dog biting one of her young son's friends. This is not tolerable. If a dog from a young age is taught that you are the boss, and that everything he has- eg) couch/bed priviledges, toys, food, treats, are only his because you give them to him, and that you have the right to take them away, he will be a much better adjusted dog, and aggression potential is greatly reduced.
I have had the opportunity to see one of my dogs recent off-spring grow up, as his owner attends the same school as my children. I can see that this dog has the potential to pose an aggressive risk in the future as well. In a breed such as a beagle, especially in the case where I know the temperements of both parents first hand, I can boldly state that the only reason this dog is showing aggression is because he hasn't been taught manners.
Unfortunately, telling a dog owner that he needs to address the problem is not so easy. It is somewhat like telling a parent that his child needs to be disciplined. The owner gets defensive, and feels insulted.
Please, anyone out there with a pup, make sure that you take the time to train your dog - it doesn't need to be a champion in the show ring, but by teaching it some basic commands and manners, you'll be much happier with your new best friend in the long run!

(puppy pictured is "Cooper", from last spring's litter)

The Brady Bunch

Ya, I know it's been awhile......................but I guess that's what happens during summer vacation when you have a large family. Time passes like a blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr cause you're spending all of your time keeping everyone happy and occupied - and if you're lucky like me, you're also having a blast in the midst of all of the chaos.
July was the month of exercise. I chose to challenge myself with one of those "bootcamp" classes, while I kept the boys active in swimming lessons (except my eldest whose already gone as far as he can for his age and was working full-time anyways). I truly enjoy some kind of schedule, at least for part of the summer, and that's what swimming offers - a daily form of exercise, along with something to get us out of the house once a day, thus eleviating the "I'm bored" syndrome. It worked like a charm, and we all felt very fit when August arrived.
August was the month of holidays and family. A week by the lake where I had the boys on a cooking/cleaning rotation for dinners, which gave me a real break, and ten days with my step-daughter and her step-kids(who are the same age as my kids - yes, very confusing), which was the highlight of my entire summer. I agonized for months about how I was going to handle a family of 11 for 10 days, but although it was a little overwhelming in the cooking/cleaning department, it was so fulfilling emotionally, that the memories of it will stay with me for the rest of my life.
My boys had never really met these kids, and therefore I wasn't sure how personalities would mesh. There was alot of potential for disaster, as typically when you put a bunch of kids together for an extended period of time, they tend to get sick of each other and hence, fighting occurs. There was none of that! The kids acted like they were long lost cousins, and developed such a bond with each other that my step-daughter's kids didn't want to go home at the end of 10 days. It was one of the most beautiful things that I've ever been a part of, and in case anyone out there in cyberland is a step-parent and is reading this, I just want to encourage you to remember that kids are just kids. No matter what their parents have done, no matter how they became part of the family that they are in, if you fully accept them for who they are without involving the judgement of their parents mistakes, you can be a part of a beautiful experience like this as well.

A star in the family

Well, it turns out that we have a family member with star potential. Imagine that! A star in the family! Unfortunately this family member is of the canine breed, so who knows how much money will be involved, or if the recognition will be long-lived, but our dog Chester got a casting call for a part in a new series coming up, and we're just waiting to hear if he got the part.
We got Chester in January of this year. He's already produced a lovely litter of 5, and now this. We really got lucky when we discovered him.......................I only hope that he gets the part on this show, and that the lady who got rid of him sees what a wonderful dog she gave up in order to purchase another "pet of the month". Her loss has certainly been our gain. We love you Chessy!