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Solo Goes Home and… Paris Hilton, Dog Breeder?

Well, life out here in the country sure can be a pain in the butt. A wicked winter ice storm knocked my satellite internet out of service from Sunday afternoon until yesterday morning, and I’ve been going through some serious net surfing withdrawal pains.

Needless to say, I also have some blog post catching upping* to do…

*(is that an actual term? If it isn’t, it should be)

Solo’s New Family

As I mentioned previously, Solo went home with his new family on Sunday morning. Having him gone has been really hard — probably the hardest puppy I’ve ever let go. I think a lot of that has to do with losing Delilah’s brother last summer – but part of it is definately about how special a boy Solo is.

Knowing that he’s someplace where he is so well loved has been a definite comfort, although not to Dexter – he REALLY misses Solo, and has woken me up every night since he left.

Susan, Solo’s new mom, has written up a brief bio about herself and her family, and about how Solo is fitting into their home.

Solo’s new family

We are so blessed to have been able to add Solo to our family. We feel so lucky to have been able to have this opportunity and feel he is the perfect fit. My husband and I have 2 boys, ages 9 and 7, both boys have different levels of Autism. They are both extremely sensitive boys, with a very quirky nature, and the usual behaviours associated with Autism. They were raised around dogs and cats and have always had a compassionate way with creatures of any kind. I am a stay at home mom, so I am always available to be there for my kids and the pets. Solo is our first Frenchie, as we have had large dogs before.

He is a joy to have around, he is not just a pretty face. He is so loving and is always following the boys around the house. He just loves to be around people. He loves to be held and cuddled and we hope one day to have him doing therapy work once he is old enough. I see great things for this little guy, who has stolen all our hearts. He is incredibly smart, which was very surprising to me. He has us all trained already!! He has caught on so fast to his new house and routine. I can just gush over him forever, and he is very photogenic to boot.

We thank our lucky stars everyday to have Solo join our family!!!! We are more than thankful to Carol and Barb for all the thought, work, blood, sweat and tears they put into their dogs. Especially the loving care for Solo, for that is what made him what he is today, a true blessing. And I would also like to thank everyone who rooted for him, and sent their thoughts and prayers for him, thank you, thank you, thank you. He is a special little guy, who has made our special little family a very happy one!

Susan, Terry, Sean and Ian Snider, and wet kisses from Solo

Lots of new photos of Solo with his people (and their toys!) here, or in the slide show below.

Adventures in Puppy Land

Well, tis finally done. Both Journey and Paris have been bred, and what a long, strange trip that has been. Daily 2 hour round trips northward for blood testing and Draminski testing for the past 2 weeks, numerous snow storm delays, worries over sperm shipping, a vet bill well into four figures and counting, and we’re still not guaranteed that either of them is pregnant.

Someone be sure to let me know when all this lucrative dog money we breeders are supposed to have is going to start flowing, because I could sure use it to pay off my Mastercard bill.

In a month or so from now we’ll haul them both in for ultrasounds and see if there are any babies percolating in their bellies.

Of course, I could go the Paris Hilton route, and just let them free range around the yard reproducing willy nilly…

Thank doG she never ended up with a Frenchie. The mind reels.

The Los Angeles Department of Animal Services paid a visit to the home of Paris Hilton today to investigate a complaint about her dogs.

Captain Bowers tells TMZ his department received a complaint from an animal rescue group, after Paris’ appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Monday. On the show, Paris talked about having 17 dogs — a huge no-no in the city of Los Angeles. A non-breeder is only allowed three dogs per address — though in Hollywood, Paris is considered a notorious breeder!

Captain Bowers tells us he went to her home Tuesday, only to find it’s under serious construction and nobody — including pets — is living there. So Captain Bowers left word with a maid and hasn’t heard back.

We’re told all of Paris’ pets are not currently living with her — they are with animal handlers.

Here’s Paris on Ellen, busting herself. I suppose it’s better she’s pumping out puppies than babies… too bad Brit Brit didn’t think of that before becoming a breeder.

Ellie Has Insomnia

Every breeder I know of has at least one ‘special’ dog or two. Ours is named Ellie, and she has a hard time falling asleep. Y’know how kids will get totally, fall over sleepy, so sleepy that their heads are nodding – but they will still refuse to let themselves fall asleep?

That’s Ellie.

I can’t really explain it more than that, other than to tell you to watch the video.

OK, so maybe just one more video

Technically, this one could be about Dexter. It just also happens to have Solo in it. Sorry for the music, but between L Word and Clerks 2, I’ve got Jackson 5 on the brain.

If you have issues with the Blip TV Player, this video should be up on my YouTube page later today.

ESPP Fridays – It's one last Solo Video (and some photos)

Solo

I don’t have much to write about today – not much that I feel like setting down in print, at any rate. Solo goes home on Sunday, and I know that it’s for the best, and I know that it’s a great home, and I know that part of being a breeder is making the tough decision about winnowing pet from show and placing puppies accordingly.

I know all of that. I just don’t care.

I don’t care about it being logical, or rational, or about the fact that I’m at my ‘dogs I keep just as pets just because I want to even though they’re retired or defective or whatever’ limit. I know all about the dangers of kennel blindness, or the more appealing danger of fooling myself into thinking a dog has ‘potential’, when what I really mean is ‘I just love them, that’s all’. I know.

But after two short months, don’t believe it isn’t possible for us to fall head over heels madly in love with one small puppy. And it isn’t just me, either – Solo has an entire fan club, who’ve supported me when he was sick, and rooted for him as he got well, and enjoyed watching him as he grew up.

Still. When you’ve stayed up nights, nursing a puppy through times when you’re afraid he’s never going to start gaining weight, you’re going to lose your heart. The first time he starts gazing into your eyes while you bottle feed him is when you know you’re in deep trouble. You’ve fallen in love with another puppy, long before it’s logical for you to do so.

Of course, according to the ‘experts’ over at Peta or the HSUS, I’m just in this for the money. I’m cold and heartless and making myself rich off of puppies like this – never mind that my recent math on this litter shows us just under $2K in the hole for it. If you’re a breeder, you’re supposed to see dollar signs instead of puppies, and handing them over should be no problem at all.

Except it is. And I guess I really did have something I wanted to write about, after all.

A new photoset is up on Flickr – random shots of the dogs being crazy nutjobs, with Delilah, Bunny, Dexter, Penelope, Fanny and (of course) Solo all featured. Link here, thumbnails below.

Here’s Solo’s last video, taken two days ago. We’ll miss you, baby boy.

Flashy Solo…

Dexter and Solo

A little flash gallery of Solo photos, along with a handful of Solo and Dexter together.

Click here to open in new window.

Bad Weather = More Movies

Pool House with SnowMy internet connection has been up and down all day long, due to the absolutely unbelievable amount of snow we’re getting. When the snow piles too high on the satellite dish, or the weather conditions are anything less than perfect, I lose my internet signal. Sweeping snow off the dish sometimes helps, but not always, and not today.

Little puppy, big snowSo, what to do when you can barely even get your email to load?

Yup, it’s time to shoot more videos of Solo.

Take a look here —

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN9EbN9ipKA


Or watch the embedded video after the cut.

Oh, and I managed to get this entry, and the videos, uploaded by the simple expedient of starting the process, then leaving for a few hours to go shopping, meet a new web client and have some lunch. After all that, most of the first video was almost done loading.

Whee! Country living is great.

Embedded video after the cut.

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