Welcome Our New Puppy

Being a work-at-home mom has its advantages. You can do things that you could never do if you had a 9-5 job outside the home. You can take time off for school field trips whenever you want to, for instance. How about this ⇒ you can work in your pj’s! You also can take breaks to clean out a closet, load the dishwasher, do the laundry or walk the dog. None of those things can ever happen in a traditional work setting. And – ta da – you can also get a new PUPPY! 

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Today that is just what we did. We got a puppy! Say “hello” to our new bundle of joy ⇒”Bailey!” She is an 8 week old mix:  40% Australian Cattledog, 20% Boxer and 20% Bulldog.  Isn’t she pretty? Her story is kind of interesting.

My niece was pregnant with her 5th child.  She was finding raising a young dog – “OB” for Obi Wan Kanobi of Star Wars fame – and four young children a bit overwhelming. So she and her husband decided to adopt a second dog to keep OB company. Seemed like a great solution.

Well, the little Australian Cattledog they adopted, Leia (yes Princess Leia!) was pregnant with pups, unbeknownst to them. It wasn’t till they could see the puppies moving in her tummy that they figured it out.  Surprise!

Dog pregnancies are just 8-9 weeks long and only a few short weeks later 8 bouncing baby boy and baby girl PUPPIES were born! 10 dogs and four kids in the house. My resilient niece and nephew had a lot on their hands.

Now this is the part that I found fascinating. Apparently dogs can be impregnated by more than one male. Leia started out in a dog pound where they did not separate the dogs so, you guessed it, more than one doggy daddy!

It appears that there were 2 dads. My niece had the puppies’ DNA tested, as the prospective families wanted to know their new pet’s heritage. Three of the dogs are a mix of herding dogs and German Shepherd. You can see it. They are almost 5 pounds heavier and very fluffy.

The other 5 puppies, of which Bailey is one, are Australian Cattledog, Boxer and Bulldog.  When I was a little girl I had three boxer dogs so hearing that made me very happy!  And, though she doesn’t have any Labrador Retriever in her, her mannerisms and face do remind me of our beloved labs. Can it get any better than that?

You will think I am crazy but I swear that she asked to go out to go potty today. New home, only 8 weeks old and learning the ropes already?  Probably not but it sure seemed like it.

Thank goodness for dog crates. We have one near my in-home office (in the kitchen) and another upstairs in the bedroom where Sadie’s crate resides.

Sadie, our lovely green-eyed Yellow Lab,  only sleeps in her dog crate at night, which really is for our sake. She’d love to sleep in our bed with us – all 100 pounds of loveliness. She takes up so much space it gets hard to roll over and, if she slept on the floor I am concerned she’d change her location in the middle of the night and one of us could trip over her. Not a good idea. Good thing she loves her crate. I just bought her a super-sized one that is made for a Great Pyrenees Mountain Dog or Great Dane. She has lots more room to move around.

Enjoy!