Puppy Love

Before we moved to Toronto we had gotten our dog Chase. He was a mix of Chihuahua and Jack Russell. Besides being a bit yippy, and loving to escape hes a great dog. We decided when we found out we had gotten this house that we would look into getting a 2nd dog.. Why? I'm not really sure, I didn't actually think we would find the perfect dog so I wasn't too worried about it.

We lived in an Apartment and a week before we were to move into our house my husband was coming home from the store. He opened our door and said "I found you a puppy!" I didn't think anything of it until a girl came in behind him, with a dog and she was carrying a fashion bag. I looked at the dog and thought "Huh? That dog is at least two!?" little did I know when she put the bag down two little heads would pop up..  Coco and Chanel.

Coco was white and had brown markings and Chanel was blonde. Shih Tzu's. I was IN LOVE.

Of Course, I wanted. They had a pretty big price tag, but I didn't care. I had to have her.

My husband said, which would do you like.. I jumped up and over she came to me! "THIS ONE!"

We bought her, meet Chanel.

 Isn't she darling?

Well fast forward to the summer. We had never had a female dog before, I've always had males. So I was oblivious, and pretty dumb to be honest. We had scheduled her spay for later on in the summer (little did I know, sooner the better!) but RIGHT before that could happen, she fell pregnant. AWFUL I know, I'm still mad at myself for it. We know how awful it is, the risk and what bad doggy parents we were. No need to remind.

Chanel & Chase.

She went to the vets a few times during her short pregnancy, and even an ultrasound to try to help us determine how many puppies she was going to have. October she was due. I had made her a Whelping box, had everything ready that she needed. I had done tons of research and informed myself the best I could. The vets couldn't tell us how many puppies she had inside her - 5 possibly 7. Take a look at her sonogram photo, I was in SHOCK I had never seen an ultrasound of a dog before.

October rolled around and she had been spending lots of time in her Whelping box (normal) but I knew it was coming. We had been tracking her temp, and the night before the big day I knew it was coming she was right where she needed to be temp wise, she was panting and restless.

October 6th, dinner time we were sitting down to eat our Thanksgiving dinner and Chanel let out a HUGE yelp and noises that instantly brought me to tears. I checked, she was fine. I went to unload the dishwasher and our oldest yelled "Chanel has something black shes licking!" I came running - sure enough, puppy #1! I was in shock.

640p a tiny itty, bitty little blonde puppy - a male - was born. He was adorable. So it began. Husband got the kids bathed, and ready for bed while I sat with Chanel, cheering her on and being the best support for her I could. I was so nervous, and basically a wreck. My poor girl was a trooper though and finished giving birth just before midnight to 6 absolutely perfect, stunning puppies.

The kids and I named them all. Theodore, Thomas, Leo, Ace, Skyla and Butterscotch (was the runt!) She had 4 boys and 2 girls (kinda like someone else I know, eh?) This started our journey to making sure these puppies got the best care, and would end up in the best homes possible.

BOY OH BOY ARE PUPPIES A CHORE! But - I wouldn't change it for the world. This is an experience I'm glad I got to go through once in my life, but won't ever do again. Ever.

Watching them grow, learn to walk, learn to eat/drink was absolutely an incredible experience. Chanel did amazing nursing them all until it was time to get them on solid food. She didn't neglect any of the puppies, and we didn't lose a single one. All 6 survived and thrived. My kids helping and being able to see all of this as well was truly amazing for them. They loved every second of it.

I didn't want to let them go, any of them. So I originally said I wasn't letting them go to homes before 8/9 weeks, but by 6 weeks we had amazing homes for each and every single one of them, they had been to the vet's twice and were all perfectly healthy, had their shots and were ready to go. 7 weeks they all went to their new furever homes. It was the most heart wrenching experience of my life to date. As each one left, I cried and cried... It's amazing how attached to these little creatures one can get.

We didn't want to make money off the puppies, just enough to cover their vet trips and shots so we charged a small re-homing fee, and checked into the families, all of which agreed to keep us updated on how the puppies are (they ALL have except 1 family) The families they went to are incredible. I even have one on my instagram, she even made HIM an instagram account too so we follow him along his life too!

We decided to keep 1 puppy, Butterscotch but we didn't end up keeping her because I had become strangely attached to a different puppy, Ace.  Something about his eyes really had me attached to him, and its funny because now hes so attached to me its like he has had this bond with me since his birth, and its something I've never seen before.

So yes, we have 6 kids and 3 dogs... This is our family, and it's absolute chaos but I love it! These dogs, are apart of our family, they are apart of us! So now you know them, here they are... Chase, Chanel and Ace!

 

(side note: Chanel was spayed shortly after the puppies left, and Chase was fixed right before so no more puppies will ever come into this household.)