When we bought our first female standard poodle, Molly, life was good. She was easy to train, and a fun companion. I planned to keep her in the house with me, frequently bathed, and yes, groomed with fufu cuts.
A year later we bought our male poodle so Molly could have a dog companion, too. And, maybe have puppies someday in the future. My plan was to also have the male poodle obedience trained, kept in the house, bathed frequently, and well-groomed.
The Inside-Outside Layout
My husband is more of an out-door dog person. So he made the poodles a wonderful, fenced-in, brick patio/play area just for them. They even have their own gazebo, wooden dock area to lay on, and a long, covered rain porch that serves as shelter from both the rain and the sun.
Then there is the kiddy pool, which we have to replace every 3-4 weeks, because they like to chew up the sides and spring leaks. Actually, it’s our golden retriever that does that. When he’s not tearing up his toys, he’s tearing up the kiddy pool.
It’s now been three years since the purchase of our first standard poodle. We’ve had two litters of ten puppies each, and because the puppies were so adorable, we now have 5 dogs. Two males and three females. One of our males however, as I mentioned already, is a golden retriever. We got him in exchange for a poodle puppy.
The dogs are still bathed…on occasion, groomed when I get around to it, fairly obedient (it’s a work in progress), and yes, they are still in the house more than they are outside. I consider myself a companion breeder because I am more of a companion dog owner than a breeder, but since I do let my dogs breed once in a while, that makes me a breeder too.
Life is so busy. I currently have 3 large kennels in my front room, all occupied. There are two more in the room I’m sleeping in. We have another family temporarily living with us, so there is no where else for me to sleep. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, our guests have 2 standard poodles as well! That brings us to a total of 7 dogs in my house. Big dogs! They aren’t Great Danes, or Irish Wolfhounds, but big nonetheless. Right now I’m sure they feel bigger to me than they are, though. I also forgot to mention, in case you were counting, besides the dogs sleeping in kennels, we have 2 others not in kennels. They are free to roam the house at will. Both are female, because we can’t let the males run loose. They pee on everything that has legs. The couch, the coffee table, the entertainment set. You get the picture.
What is My Day Like?
At 5:30 each morning I wake up to the two youngest dogs barking at me wanting to go outside. That, of course, wakes up all of the others. By 7:00 a.m. they have eaten their first meal.
It’s hot and humid here, so the dogs have to be rotated back and forth, inside and outside, so no one gets too hot. This happens every 2 hours on humid, hot days. In between, I do obedience work with at least 2 of them, and I get our golden retriever out to play ball in the yard. Nothing makes him more happy than chasing that ball!
That is a good day. Uneventful, yet full of excitement. Then there are the days like today. Like every other day, still half asleep, I got up and took the puppies out at 5:30 a.m. It was dark and quiet, so I went out in my pajamas and opened-toed shoes. I didn’t know it was raining until I stepped out into it. Now I was awake!
It rained off and on all day. The dogs now had that “wet-dog” smell that can make even the hardiest person gag, and my house smelled like a cross between wet-dog and poop (someone stepped in wet dog poop and brought it into the house on their paws). Needless to say, there is a lot of cleaning and washing of dog blankets, towels, etc, that goes on frequently in this house.
This evening, when I went out to get the dogs and bring them in for the night, I let one of our youngest females out to run for awhile. We have two acres that we let the more obedient dogs run on occasionally. This particular female is okay by herself or with the older two females, who keep her in check. She will stay within sight and comes when called. If, however, one of the males gets loose, as they occasionally do, she will run with them into the trees and only come back when they feel ready.
Awhile later, I went out to play ball with our golden retriever, forgetting I still had our young female loose. The golden retriever usually stays close to me, unless someone else is loose–that encourages him to run the land. That was tonight.
As soon as these two saw each other, they were off. Praise God we have plenty of land for them to run and chase wildlife without getting into trouble. Tonight they decided 30 minutes was enough and came back to the house.
My day wasn’t over yet.
After the two “runaways” came home, I put them inside in their kennels and let our oldest female out for her last time of the evening. She has become an avid rabbit hunter this year, and rather than going out just to relieve herself, she now routinely checks all of the prime spots for rabbit nests. When I stepped outside to call her in, it was getting a little dark and I noticed she had something that looked like a stick hanging out the side of her mouth, and dried grass on the front of her face. She is a black standard poodle so it was hard to see clearly what it was in the evening light.
She quickly trotted past me and into the house, with her head down as though she was avoiding me, I thought.
Then it hit me: that wasn’t a stick, it was a leg. And the “dried grass” wasn’t grass at all–it was rabbit fur.
I spun around and looked at her again, and sure enough, there was a dead rabbit about to drop on my living room floor. I immediately sent her back outside to get rid of the rabbit.
What a day. I remember reading a comment by a dog breeder a couple of years ago, that being a dog breeder was not for the faint of heart, that it’s a lot of hard work and more for the love of dogs than for any money that might be made. I now know what she meant. This is hard work, even when there aren’t puppies. It’s much like raising children. Then when the litters come, the work, as well as the joy and satisfaction, also increase.
I thoroughly enjoy our dogs, and can’t imagine my life without them as crazy as it is some days. I don’t even mind being referred to as “the dog lady” (my neighbor informed me this is what I am now being called). I trust God has a plan in everything we do, and this was definitely His plan. Never would I have thought I would have this lifestyle, yet here I am.