One Year Old!

Joely and I were having a chat the other day (sometimes I just have to talk to my dogs!) I posed this question to her: "Joely, do you miss your babies?" They are afterall, a year old now.

That is amazing to me. I reflected on the birth of those five gorgeous puppies - Hobbes, Kida, Copper, Nutmeg (Meg) and Bailey. Being the first litter for Joely and me as well, it was a little scary. Over 22 hours in labor and no puppies got me worried. At 5am I finally took Joely into the hospital where I was told their ultrasound machine was at another location! Crazy...I chose to wait there for the next few hours where at least Joely could be monitored until our regular vet opened at 7am. Then we rushed right there. The first ultrasound was not very good, only three heartbeats were detected. The puppies were in distress and the head vet was preparing to do a C-section on Joely.

He gave her a shot (I cannot recall what it even was) to move the contractions along. We waited in the "Quiet Room" - the place where I was given Rudy's remains after he passed away unexpectedly. The same room where Libby, who is now also gone, nearly passed away and struggled to just get her strength back up. And now I was with Joely. So she and I had a chat then as well...I knew the cost of a C-section would be high and it also made me concerned about putting her under. The vet gave her another shot and told me she had 15 minutes to give us a puppy or he was scrubbing in. "C'mon Jo-Jo...let's have a puppy!"

Finally, Hobbes was born but whisked away and cleaned up by the techs before Joely ever saw him. He was a big boy, over a pound! He was the one that was holding up the show, that's for sure. Then a few minutes later Kida was born. Joely was cleaning her off when Hobbes was brought back in and placed next to her. Joely wasn't sure what to do with him and watched Hobbes out of the corner of her eye as she cleaned Kida. Then a light went on in her head. Joely realized that Hobbes was the same as Kida and she allowed him to come over and nurse. He was a strong little guy, pulling himself to her with his front legs. Amazing...

A short while later came Copper and I immediately noticed the little white "collar" and the little white speck near his tail. Just like his daddy, Bronco!

After that it took about two more hours before Meg and Bailey were born. Joely was such a good mother. That first day at home she never took her eye off them and only left to barely make it off the back step to pee. The funniest thing I saw Joely do was when I caught her sitting up in the kennel...with the puppies all nursing...and Joely was leaning against the wall of the kennel...sound asleep! Poor little girl!

But those pups grew up and brought so much fun to our home! It was busy too! I remember especially at night when it was time to put the puppies to bed at night. Hobbes especially had a hard time. Listening to a puppy lullaby CD (yes, it worked!)I would hold each of the puppies and rock them for a few minutes until they settled down. But Mr. Hobbes, he was a different story. He would whine and cry and whimper. Eventually Hobbes would fall asleep but we spent a lot of time together. We really bonded!

Those times, and all the other fun I had with those adorable little beagles made it hard to say goodbye to them. But as they now have a full year of their lives behind them, I'm grateful to their forever families who love them and keep me up to date on how they are doing.

I'm sure Joely...and Bronco...miss their babies.