the final epic union of ruby & baxter

we knew we wanted to have one more litter of puppies. maybe next year. not any time soon.

rewind a few months to those dreadful hot 120 degrees days of summer, being over due, everyone around the house was a little on edge.

i walked in one day to a blood smear on the floor. i was a little perturbed (over due preggo mind, not the most compassionate) who is bleeding? can i leave for an hour without coming home to someone bleeding? who is bleeding? then i proceed to walk around and inspect all the children. not me! not me. they all said... well then who???

then it dawned on me. oh my gosh. it had better not be that dog!! we were unclear on when she would be in heat next... she goes into heat every 6 months. we weren't sure if it would be 6 months after her last time or 6 months after the last puppies were born. well anyway... sure enough it was her. such bad timing, we were about to leave for the hospital at any moment. someone was going to have to come and take care of our whole house & kids and now this? it was an impossible situation.

when ruby is in heat, it makes both of the dogs insane (and they are pretty much insane anyway.. this intensifies it 200%) we had to keep them separated and keep ruby diapered so she wouldn't bleed all over the floor. she is fertile for 3 weeks... that means this would be a constant struggle for 3 WEEKS. they are both big wild dogs. so when ruby needed to go out to the bathroom, we would have to get baxter inside. that was impossible. he would run away & bark because he wanted to be with ruby. and i'm talking all the time. he had no shame. he was on her like bees on


honey. it was pretty disgusting.

as i sat there and cried, paul would try to manage the dogs. he put an old pair of underwear with a big pad inside with a hole cut out for her tail on her. well, ruby could sense the tension so she was a little skiddish. when she would dash around the house, it would come off. and whenever we let her outside baxter would rip it off of her.  we thought that would deter baxter but not so much. so mumbling a few choice words under his breath about changing bloody dog pads, he decided that it would be a good idea to duct tape the diaper around her. well then when she had to go #2, he couldn't get the tape off fast enough so then he had a HUGE mess. all while both dogs are constantly barking like two young pathetic lovers desperately wanting to elope. oh boy was he happy about that.

it was a nightmare. over the top.

it was enough for us all to fall apart at the seams. with the house, the kids, work, the impending new baby... too much. if we could not handle the situation, how could we expect someone else to handle it for 3 days when we were to be gone at the hospital? AND it was 120 degrees outside!

we had to make a decision. i think paul even impulsively listed to dogs for sale. when we had no takers on that, we had to figure it out.

we decided to let them just be together. we knew that it meant our lives could once again be very complicated in a few weeks... with an 8 week old baby and puppies. but desperate times call for desperate measures. we turned on the sprinklers, undiapered the dog & let them loose in the backyard. oh man were they happy. the barking stopped. no more dog blood or poop in the house. we had to turn our heads away several times... a day. we even closed the shutters as to not traumatize the children. it was like watching the blue lagoon with dog actors. we just prayed that she wouldn't get pregnant.

alas, we were able to let it go and focus on the baby. we went into labor, natalie came and took superb care of the kids & house and threw some food out for the dogs.

we came home. all was good.

meanwhile the dogs were a hot mess. happy, but a hot mess. they were muddy from the constant sprinklers, ruby's hair was matted. they both smelled horrible.

and ruby's middle section was getting a little bigger.

we knew what was coming and paul set up ruby's birthing center. she had a home birth :)
this part was kind of fun since we had just been through it ourselves. i think paul even put on his scrubs to play the part. now the waiting game began once again.

sure enough, in the middle of the night 9 weeks later.... we heard baxter barking like a maniac. paul ran outside. he came back in and said "i think ruby is in labor." i asked why? he said "because there is one already out."

oh my.

she was under the swingset in the back yard. so much for her fancy birthing center set up inside. so we had to just wait. he would check on her every 30 min. or so.

2 more!.... 1 more..... 2 more!!.... 4 more!!!! 

10 puppies!

omg. that is so many. finally after 2 hours & no more puppies he transferred ruby and her 10 puppies inside.

she was much more comfortable this time around. a few days later we took them in to the vet & had everyone checked out. baxter got neutered and ruby will go in once her milk is all dried up. all was good.

they are adorable and the kids are in heaven playing, naming, brushing and loving the puppies.

hearts broken every time someone comes to buy one. they have thought up some new tactics this time around.

like leaving prayers taped to the door for prospective buyers to read. tying notes to specific puppies. hiding specific puppies....

paul promised the kids a trip to disneyland after all the puppies are sold. that took care of that. they got over it.

now... only a few are left.  who's in the market for a labradoodle???