Day 59 A.M. & P.M.

Mary-Ann Sontag July 24, 2020

Some of you know I am a Big Fan of Montana-made PLA3 Dresses — Berkeley has a collection, and it all started with this donut dress.

Dear Friend Ellen, a neighbor to the dressmaker, spotted it on Facebook and the rest is history — Berkeley has a collection…

There is a point to this — hang on!

It turned out the dressmaker is not only skilled in creating wonderful clothes for small humans, she is also my colleague at the University of Montana.

So we had those connections and then sadly, developed another one — almost 14 months ago her husband was diagnosed with Glioblastoma.

Laurie has continued to sew, work as a professor, and manage a New Normal nobody wanted. Finding resources lacking, she also got involved/active in a Glioblastoma organization and long story short — in the middle of the Wildflowers, Laurie and I started a five-part series intended to provide information, support and resources to people dealing with Glioblastoma.

We hope the videos will help someone; you can watch the first one HERE.

And if you have a small human who needs an awesome dress/leggings/etc. and also want to help Laurie with her self-care, which involves sewing, you can check out her website HERE.

And if you do not have a small human handy, I can lend you mine — she has outgrown most of her current PLA3 dresses.

Kids and puppies — they do not stay small for long.

Three puppies will leave us today, including that one.

I realize that while I am sad, of course, the bigger emotional experience for me is anxiety.

More on that later or tomorrow but in the meantime, please stay safe — especially the Wildflowers.

EVENING: PHOTOS FROM A BUSY DAY

Major stopped in to visit his kids.

And then Team Sundance and Team Major practiced a freight haul on the driveway…

No puppies were damaged taking these photos!

And then Larkspur left to live with Major and his wonderful family in Great Falls.

Sage is on his way to his new home in Indiana with Bridget and Bob — much happiness all around.

I drove to Dillon, Montana to meet the Kings — they had a dog from our E litter named Aspen and now they have Lucy Clover King. This is an amazingly perfect match…

And then there were three sharing the fan…

You can see the gray undercoat on Mallow — very cool.

Good Night, Friends.

Day 58 A.M. & P.M.

Mary-Ann Sontag July 23, 2020

Clover is a chill, confident puppy who will meet her new family tomorrow.

Pete wishes to henceforth be known as The Leader of the Pack and prefers to have his theme song played when he arrives…

Larkspur will also be heading to his new home tomorrow — Sage will leave tomorrow or Monday. Wildflower placement decisions are still sorting out…

Clarkia is a spunky, happy, friendly and bold puppy…

Clarkia is another one of the Undecideds. They all have homes! We just do not know which home it will be for four of the puppies, although tomorrow will reveal all.

Clarkia and Buttercup balancing with Clover underneath.

It is sweet, outgoing and fun Buttercup who will start her new life today…

Both Marija and Eden sent good reports about their puppies yesterday — Kadi (Mariposa) and Something (Paintbrush) are doing just fine in their wonderful new homes. After living and breathing these babies for weeks and weeks, I am so grateful for the updates and photos I receive.

I hope your day is full of what you love.

EVENING PHOTOS

And then there were six.

Another Wildflower has left to start her new life…

Buttercup will be having her interesting life in Washington with Patty and Georgia.

Buttercup’s name will be…

…Buttercup!

I sure will miss my fun little friends.

Good Night, Friends

Day 57 A.M. & P.M.

Mary-Ann Sontag July 22, 2020

Gone are the Cuddle Days of Summer — the Land Sharks have arrived with a vengeance and I am completely outnumbered.

Puppies speak a very different language than we do; their language involves teeth. The assault on my pajama pants is not bad behavior — it is a Bid for Connection in the language of a puppy.

Keep that term in mind because if we correctly translate the language of a puppy, we will behave in ways that foster and support engagement. A person who responds to Bids for Connection with negativity will have a puppy who stops trying to engage.

This does not mean we accept the teeth in our shins because trust me — they are not very good at grabbing just the pants. What it means is we correctly interpret the intention (Bid for Connection) and respond to that with redirection and engagement.

Prevention is also important and I have two ideas for this.

First, don’t wait for the puppy to make the Bid for Connection — initiate engagement with something you deem suitable. For example, hold an appropriate toy and let the puppy chew while being petted or play a very gentle game of tug (gentle being the operative word and keep puppy head level or below her shoulders).

Second, get the chews out first by giving the puppy a bone or a bully stick, for example, before starting human time. I feed breakfast, and then let them have chew time — this makes the start of the day easier for all of us.

It strikes me that Puppyhood is a chance to put our commitment to honoring Diversity to the test. After all, expecting a small baby puppy to only speak our language — and not their own — is a wee bit ethnocentric, wouldn’t you say?