Warning: this post might not go over well with some of my animal rescue friends. I’m sorry about that. I believe in the work you are doing, but I also think that responsible dog breeding is okay, too. My best dog ever was a mutt bred on purpose on a horse farm from two border collie mixes.
A quick refresher on how we got Columbus….Tracey’s dog Stella had puppies at our house. Stella almost died and had to get spayed in the process. Tracey wanted to keep a puppy to continue Stella’s line. She couldn’t afford it. Andy and I could and told her we would keep one of the puppies and she could breed it in the future and get a puppy from that litter.
And so here we are. We’ve gotten Columbus’ hips, eyes, and heart checked. He is in good health and good physical condition. I had no idea how to breed a dog, but Carlos, Berto’s dad, told us that he should be bred with an experienced female his first time. And so, about a week ago, I got a call from MJ (Berto’s mom) asking if Columbus would like to come for a honeymoon.
And so, off he went, for a week on the farm.
It took him awhile to figure out what to do. But he eventually did. And hopefully everything works out and there will be puppies. Maybe even a Columbus look-alike!
While he was there, he jumped over two 4-foot fences and got into a fight with his father. Maybe I should take him to agility classes….I’m not going to do that, but I think I’m going to get him back into obedience classes.
Because, here’s the thing. Even though he is jumpy and hard to handle at times, he also is this huge calming presence in our house. I never realized that until he was gone. Boy did we all miss him. Well, the cats didn’t, but Andy, Koda, and I did. So, if I can just get him under control at all times (and he is getting older and out of the puppy stage), maybe he can be a therapy dog. I know that Tracey was told by multiple people that Stella should be in therapy work, that she had a calming way about her. The doctors at the emergency hospital she worked at would go out and just be with Stella to plug into that calmness.
MJ and Carlos think that we should keep Columbus as a breeding dog. They also mentioned his calmness. So I won’t be neutering him right away. I’m going to see if he can keep four on the floor around new people (that’s really his main issue) and remain intact.
When Columbus came in the door tonight, Koda was so excited to see him. They both were excited to see each other and started running around playing with each other. And Columbus was very interested in her backside. Always has been, really. I’m sure if he tries any funny business now that he knows what to do, Koda will let him know in no uncertain terms that he’s stepped out of line.
And so, we have our sweet golden boy back home. He had fun on the farm, but he’s glad to be back in his familiar digs. And he did plenty of purring tonight to let us know that.
(Thanks, MJ and Carlos, for teaching Columbus what to do. And for letting us know how it’s done for the future.)