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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.