waiting, hoping & more waiting

Tuuli watching the blackbirds feeding their babies

You may or may not be aware that we've been getting mighty broody for puppies around here for the last few months.  And you may or may not have seen on my website that we are planning to have some puppies this summer.

I say 'planning' because that's all you can ever do with dogs.  You hope they will come into season on time.  Then you hope the male is fit and man (dog) enough for the job.  Then you hope you get at least 1 good mating.  Preferably 2, but 1 will do when you're living on hope.  Then you hope that the mating works and the bitch gets pregnant.  Then you hope for healthy puppies, all born easily and alive.  And more than, say, one.  Or two.  In fact, you hope for at least enough of them to fulfil the additional hopes of all those families patiently waiting for their puppy to be born.

In the meantime, Tuuli carries on her normal daily routine of playing, eating, walking, running, more playing and more eating, completely oblivious to all these hopes pinned onto her tail.  And completely oblivious to the fact that her season is now officially LATE.

Now I don't want to alarm anyone, but it is not unheard of for a bitch to have irregular seasons.  In fact, it's not unheard of for a bitch to have only 1 season a year instead of the expected 2.  I've warned Tuuli that if she plans to be one of those once-a-year kinda girls, then she can go back to Sweden where she came from.  Just kidding!  You didn't believe that, did you?  No?  She didn't either.

And so we wait.

And the great irony is that she is now not allowed to start her season for at least 2 days.  You see, I'm going away for a mini-break with a good friend and Tuuli simply cannot be in her fertile period while I am away.  So although she is now acting suspiciously subdued, and although Keskiyo is showing a bit of non-brotherly interest in her, and although we really, really want her to be a 2-seasons-a-year girl, we now hope that she will wait just a few days before starting her season. 

Snoozing in her makeshift den with her duck

Cuddle time

In her favorite spot with Maija behind in her favorite spot

After a run in the long, damp grass.

No wonder all the dogs have hayfever!

Tuuli playing in her favorite river & taking a little swim