No Babies!

As I walked in the woods today I felt the sun on my back for the first time in what feels like a very long time.  I stripped off my jumper and tied it around my waist, such a simple gesture - yet it felt so good!  The birds were singing, the buds were bursting and Moss is coming into season again..

Moss’s season could have been exciting news.  We had planned for her to have one litter of puppies, we would have crossed her with a Labrador to get back to my beloved Collie/Labs, which I consider makes the most wonderful family dogs.  Wavey, our dog before Moss, was a Collie/Lab she had great emotional intelligence, yet was not as obsessive as a pure Collie.  Sadly however, we’ve discovered epilepsy in Moss’s bloodline, so we won’t be breeding from her.  Sad face.

Moss has a lovely temperament and could have been a good Mum.

I’d particularly wanted to have a litter of puppies as a rite of passage for The Teenager.  Yes, I know it’s hard work and risky and that the important thing is to breed healthy puppies, and then find those puppies reliable homes. It’s also great fun and a memorable family experience. 

I feel strongly about dog breeding.  In my twenties I had two Standard Wirehaired Dachshund pups that had to be put down owing to a rare inherited illness.  I don’t blame the breeder but it was heart breaking.  I know, as dog owners, we have to be responsible. 

So it’s no babies for Moss.   Good news though, apparently our house is an ideal site for nesting boxes for Swifts, so perhaps we’ll have families of Swifts rather than puppies!

Photo:  Mai, Moss’s Mum with her third litter, somewhere in that bundle of puppies is our Moss.