It’s funny how suddenly life can just switch on a dime. I was at the pinnacle of excitement last week. Cheeky had come in season and I just KNEW it was a gift from Karma. The excitement of breeding Cheeky was going to get me through what I knew was going to be a bad day/week/year — December 29th would mark a year since Karma died in my arms. But Cheeky being in season! That requires so many trips to the vet to check progesterone and planning that I would certainly have a lot to be excited about!
However, Cheeky coming in season signaled something totally different to Marc. It made him realize that he didn’t want us to have any more dogs together. And what did that mean for us? Our split was inevitable.
So here I am a week later with Cheeky in a hotel room in Minnesota. What transpired in the last week is a total blur. I wasn’t going to breed as I was trying to find a new place to live. Vail seems like the obvious answer, but there was a blizzard and so it wasn’t an immediate option. Then friends found out I wasn’t going to breed, and they pulled out all the stops. Reminded me I had been waiting a year for Cheeky to come in, offered up their homes to whelp puppies, and poured over a 100 pedigrees. I wanted to pick a new sire as the one we were planning to use had been picked out by Marc and had a very emotional tie. And here these friends and mentors were, helping me find my way through what now seems had been destined.
A dog that I knew I wanted to breed Cheeky to someday had JUST turned two right before Cheeky came in season. Luckily, he already had OFA prelims that were rated Good, Penn Hip results, and his owner was able to get his basic cardiac exam completed before I hit the road. So here we are in Minnesota. Hoping to get a couple breedings done this week, and hopefully, a new chapter of my life will be starting with a litter of babies out of my Cheeky Baby.
Fingers crossed. (And BTW — I’m switching this blog to first person now.)