Close but No Cigar

Mary-Ann Sontag May 21, 2020

The temperature is stable as of 5:30 a.m. and so we are safe to keep cleaning and prepping for another 24 hours.

WHEW.

In spite of clearly being uncomfortable — and all you moms out there can SO relate — Daisy remains her usual cheerful self. She is very, very hungry but space is clearly limited and so we are now feeding her in five meals per day.

I posted a similar photo to the one above on Facebook and invited guesses for number of puppies. I then did an analysis of those guesses — one of my favorites: “40 pug puppies.”

Oh dear! Daisy would have some explaining to do…

The most frequent guess was nine puppies. Interestingly, the number on either side of nine received an equal number of guesses — both eight puppies and ten puppies were guessed 11 times.

My highly scientific Facebook survey appears to validate my own guess, which has been 8 - 10 puppies, although I suspect closer to ten than eight.

The whelping crew is ready.

Suzanne and I had a whelping strategy meeting yesterday as we walked; Dear Husband will also be involved.

Looking at Daisy, I am starting to wonder if she will make it until Sunday — but I still have hope since that temperature remains up. If it drops today, this post will be revised with the news.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Ethics and Oxygen

Mary-Ann Sontag May 20, 2020

Yesterday I braved the Great Viral Unknown as puppy prep continues here in western Montana.

This was one of my early stops and unfortunately, it presented a dilemma.

In spite of their sign, I was not there to buy a missile nor is safety one of their primary concerns. I was there to pick up a small tank of just-in-case oxygen for the puppy arrival(s).

I went in to discover the employees were not wearing masks.

Mind blown.

I had not considered calling a medical supply place to ask if their employees were masked — I simply assumed they would be, given the nature of their customers. Not many people need medical supplies unless they are in a vulnerable group, after all.

How could I give them my business and feel okay?

But I needed the oxygen and it was by prescription — walking out would have felt righteous in the moment but required yet another trip to Missoula and I was already there and…

My mom used to note I have a tendency to cut off my nose to spite my face and while I am still not 100% sure what that means, I believe it involves a certain willingness to do something rather dumb to prove a point.

My mother was correct — the truth is I usually make the point and to heck with my nose BUT after much internal weighing of the options and — seriously — agonizing about this, I elected to simply ask about the masks, express in a respectful way my surprise that they were not wearing masks, and get the oxygen.

And write this post.

In the future, I will call all business to ensure masked employees — lesson learned.

The CDC “…recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies)…”

The employee who handed me the oxygen did not have freakishly long arms — she absolutely violated socially distancing guidelines.

I observe that masks have become an interesting litmus test for me. I am still trying to decide if this is fair or not, reasonable or not, but in general I see people wearing masks as belong to my “tribe” — and those who are not as people who are unsafe, for all kinds of reasons.

Daisy’s temperature is holding steady — nothing imminent in the Puppy Department. But if needed, they have oxygen — and I have a bruised conscience.

Silver and Gold

Mary-Ann Sontag May 19, 2020

As much as we celebrate new life, we celebrate our experienced lives perhaps even more. This is Maddie from the F Litter — she is 11 2/3 years old.

Barb sent along a delightful update about all them — thank you, Barb! I love getting updates.

She shared this about Maddie: “She has her schedule and the house revolves around her. I know she still enjoys her walks because she demands them in no uncertain terms. She may not dance gracefully with excitement, but she sure stomps and pounces! We go out every morning to fetch the paper, but she makes me carry it in and still demands the cookie.”

Miss Maddie is “…still eager for Life and all its activities, even if she sits down more. We are relishing this time of life together.”

Lucky and Blessed Dog. Thank you Barb — for everything.

I remember well the day I handed over littermates Zed and Maddie to Terri Z. and Barb — we met in Spokane for the fun and fluffy exchange.

Zed died just months before we lost Terri Z. I still cannot believe she is gone and that I will never again hear her voice on the phone greeting me by asking, “what are you doing?” as if she expected I was engaged in nefarious activities.

This is Zed as an adult — Terri’s last Berner. She loved her flowers and her dog.