A lot of people ask me on Puppy  Delivery Day, “Isn’t it hard to let them go?” “Don’t you get attached to the puppies?”

And I do get attached to them. After planning the “wedding” of their parents months in advance, watching over mom as she fills out, hand delivering each little new life and then caring for them for eight to nine weeks; watching them grow, develop, learn and play you’d think saying good-bye would be difficult.

But honestly, that’s one of my favorite parts of this life. That day is fun for me! I get to hand over these bundles of fluff to their excited families who might have been waiting a year or more or at least several months in anticipation. The smiles on their faces are priceless. And sometimes their are even tears of joy. (People don’t do that to me or my eyes will leak too.) 😉

The toughest part of this “job” is placing an adult into a new home.

Some may think it horrible that I place my adult dogs when they retire.

Let me try to explain, if I’m going to continue raising these adorable puppies for potential adopters, I have to raise more adults to be future parents. Obviously, we want our parents to have a nice life and “retire” at a nice age. So we raise some purebred Poodles and Cavaliers occasionally to step in when those current ones are ready to retire. So there are always more dogs around then just the current parents. All those dogs require attention, grooming, love, medical care, and space. And I only have so much of each. My house is small, so I can only fit so many in here with me at one time. If I could reasonably have all the dogs in the house with me I would! (Of course, my husband would probably move out and the kids would never visit! :P) But it’s just not possible when you have more than a few.

So I would much rather have an adult that is no longer being a parent, be spayed and retired into a home where he or she is the center of attention; a place where they will be doted on and spoiled. Where they can sleep on the couch, be part of the family activities and given all the attention they want. And I screen and place the dog into what I think sounds like the best home for that particular dog.

Which leads me to our future and current plans. I have two dogs now that are ready for their retirement homes.

The first is Lucy our gray and white miniature Poodle. I do have a friend that is possibly interested in her. I just need to make time to visit her with Lucy to see if they are a good fit. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll need another home that may be interested in adopting her.

Lucy is super sweet and a little bouncy. She will jump into my arms at dinner time so I can put her in her crate. And in the morning she will dive out of her crate into my arms (the crates are stacked and she’s on the third “floor”). But even with her bouncy legs she is not one of our fence climbers (thankfully). She would do fine with another dog, but I’m sure would attach herself to her new human more. She is kind of a velcro dog and loves to just sit in your lap. She’s already spayed and up-to-date on her vaccinations. Her birthdate is March 18, 2015. She’s 13″ tall and about 9-10 lbs.

Our next dog looking for a retirement home, is Smudgie one of our black & tan Cavalier girls. Some might remember the post about her last litter back in June where she ended up with a C-section and then the vet found once she opened her up that her uterus was abnormal. So we went ahead a spayed her too. She is already scheduled for a dental cleaning on October 15th but will be ready after that. She’s all up to date on vaccinations too. Smudgie (her original name was “Charity” but I called her Smudgie because of that little white “smudge” on her chin) is our smallest Cavalier and a silly girl. She is a typical Cavalier, sweet but doesn’t listen very well. LOL But she responds well, to the word “cookies” if you’re trying to get her attention for something. She is 11.5″ and 15/16 lbs and will be turning five in December. (This is Hope, Joy, Gracie, Glory and Mercy’s sister).

Remember when adopting any adult dog, it’s a bit more of an adjustment than bringing home a new puppy. The adult has lived here it’s whole life and will take time to bond and adjust to a new home and family but they will adjust.

And since Smudgie is turning five in December that means her sister’s are too. Which in turn means we will be lining them up for retirement sometime next year too, probably spring/summer.

Hazel another smaller Poodle is also coming up to retirement age and will be likely retire sometime in the spring also.

I am planning on breeding Joy to Asher in the coming months for some purebred Cavaliers. Our last purebred Cavalier litter we had was Faith and Dickens which produced out crew of seven; Hope, Justice, Glory, Gracie, Joy, Smudgie and Mercy!

And depending on what Joy does or doesn’t produce, I may breed Glory for a purebred Cavalier litter also. I definitely want to keep this line going. They have been wonderful dogs; health and temperament-wise.

So if you are interested in a Poodle (Lucy or Hazel) please email me. If you are interested in a Cavalier (Smudgie this next month) or to be put on an interest list for an adult Cavalier next year (Joy, Gracie or Glory) or you are interested in being put on a list for a “possibly” purebred Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy please shoot me an email. )I say “possible” because I would be breeding the purebred Cavaliers to keep for my program so depending on litter size there may be some available, but no guarantees. Or if you have any questions let me know. Emails are best (pinewoodcavapoos@gmail.com) as sometimes phone messages get “lost”.