Sweet Home Alabama

Here's one more puppy to update so I think that brings us to 9 recent photos of the puppies. Cash lives in The Valley and is quite a large boy, as a few of them seem to be, but he is all love so that makes it okay. His Daddy Boy is certainly something to live up to if you want adoring and beautiful! Cash looks like he's well on his way. He gets to go visit his Mommy's horse who is beyond gorgeous so one day I'd like to photograph the two of them, for some reason dogs and horses just go together and Cash is no exception. His ears slay me!

He also has an orange vest because here in Nova Scotia it's hunting season. I walk the dogs on town property and have never heard gunshots nearby. However, just because I am within town limits it doesn't mean people won't still hunt there so I really must get orange vests for everyone ... including me!

I love to update the blog with how the puppies are doing since their owners are so proud of them but a recent incident on Facebook (completely unrelated to me but involved people's statuses and comments that I could read) reminded me that I do not need to be in my puppy owner's back pockets. I don't want to hassle people, I don't want anyone to feel they need to update me every moment. I have made my decision to sell someone a dog and after that transaction has ended, the dog is their property. And make no mistake, the dogs are property and you want them to stay that way under the law ... but that is a different subject for a different day.

Still, I am interested in their livelihood, how they are maturing, if their owner has any questions or concerns I am happy to help and I am certainly interested to hear from puppy buyers any time they want to contact me. It helps that of the almost 40 puppies I've sold at least half of them are contacts on Facebook. I don't necessarily use this tool to 'spy' on anyone, it's just a good way to stay current, and sometimes I do sift through photo albums to catch glimpses of my puppies in their everyday lives. I am delighted to spot the dogs in some photos in the background, as the subject, with comments attached, and just living their everyday lives.

Not everyone is on Facebook so I get occasional photos from people via email and that's fine too, it's a slightly more personal way to contact me and I appreciate the effort. Hearing from puppy owners is important but if I don't hear from someone I do not immediately assume the worst. What I assume is that the people who bought the dog are carrying out their daily lives with their dog as part of it and the person who sold them that dog is not part of the daily, weekly, or monthly functioning of that family. Every person who has one of my dogs should not feel me breathing down their neck, they should simply know that I am here if they need me.  I have had people only contact me once a year to let me know that the dog is fine, they are doing great and thanks so much for the awesome Ridgeback. There is nothing wrong with that scenario and there is no reason to panic.

I always breathe a sigh of relief after the first year is up because let's face it, the first 12 months of owning a puppy is absolutely the hardest. Particularly a breed like the Ridgeback who can find itself on the wrong side of the law a lot in those formative 'years'!  I have been incredibly lucky with my puppies, so far none have been returned, shown up on the doorstep of Rescue, or found themselves in trouble and needing assistance.  Given the wonderful people who have given my dogs great homes, I am confident the trend will continue!