The last day.. and a trip to the vets

It's almost the last morning of cacophonous squeals, of rushing into the kitchen to be greeted by 11 pairs of appealing eyes, and a perfume you'll be glad I can't describe.
It's my job, the early morning one, and I attacked it with relish this morning. Put the kettle on! I know my priorities. Fresh liner in the bin, gloves on...and...

No! I won't spoil it for you. These pups are delightful, so full of character, you don't need reminding about poop scooping! Plenty of time for that. A lifetime.

It was grooming time this morning, we felt our vet deserved to meet the pups at their best, so wash and brush up it was. All clean and fluffy, but not for long.
Baby wipes are brilliant. As are Les Pooches brushes.

Are you wondering how we would take 11 pups to the vet? In a huge basket we borrowed for the purpose from Andy, our vet, and in batches. These pups now weigh on average 4 to 4.5Kg so we really struggled to carry the basket with 5 pups in.

Bit of a squash in there....We have a single carry box for our cats, so we took one pup in that. So 6 boys came on the ten minute journey to our vets. All quiet, even driving over the very many sleeping policemen (traffic calming measures) - not really running over the old bill! So all was well, we were even there on time. Result!

What a fuss everyone made of them - we're struggling to carry this crate in through the door and people crowd round all saying "Aaaah!" Yes, they are beautiful, cute, gorgeous... but they're also heavy.

Andy was waiting, and had the vaccinations lined up, along with the paperwork, how do you spell Shamus and what colour would you describe him as? Brave boy, stood on the bench with his tail firmly between his legs. As if he knew. Andy declared both testicles where they should be, hips ok, heart ok, no cleft palette, eyes clear, weight a stonking 4.672Kg more than 10 times his birthweight of 410g and declared "Nothing wrong with him then!"

That was repeated 4 more times and I thought that was it - but Andy had one more injection so who had we missed.... Dylan, of course. So he was finally seen and all was well. Then we had a mad rush back home, to change over. At least some of the girls were lighter so not quite so heavy this time. 

Margot wasn't impressed, but the other girls were quite excited by the outing. Lots of waggy tails. In fact I was particularly pleased to see no one was sick, or distressed by travelling in the car. An adventure, yay! 

Our older dog Maya used to be horribly ill when in the car as a young puppy and it wasn't much fun for any of us. Luckily she got used to the motion and now she loves it - as does Bella. They travel for hours at a time up to Yorkshire or down to Cornwall several times a year with no problems at all.

Andy declared all 11 pups healthy and they are all now ready for their next big adventure, going to their forever homes. But before that, Alan and I have one last day to cuddle and photograph - and clean up after all eleven!

I can't say I have loved every moment - but I wouldn't change it.... 11 more healthy, happy, very much wanted and loved puppies, 11 happy families. Bella has coped much better this time, and is eating well, and not so overwrought. We will not put her through it again though, the idea of those poor breeding bitches in kennels and puppy farms having litter after litter, just breaks my heart. Bella can be what she has always been our very precious girl, and get lots more attention.

Hasn't she done well?