Del Mar Dogs: Covid Babies
- Jennifer Lonbom | Stratford Park Circle
We were new to the world of dogs when Autumn joined our family but we quickly came to love her. She was the most adorable Golden Doodle puppy ever: soft, fuzzy and all cuddles. The love and loyalty she brought to us was unending and contagious. We soon found ourselves hopelessly devoted to that wavy haired blonde, whose list of favorite things was topped by cuddles, followed closely by lizards, and last but not least, treats!!
Our hearts grew along with Autumn, and eventually we began to dream of Autumn puppies. What a love fest it would be for our family to have all her babies running around and to allow the lineage of “the sweetest dog to ever live” to continue. And how beautiful for our son to experience the gift of life and to foster that life with his own caring hands.
We educated ourselves about responsible breeding and consulted with vets, all while searching for a healthy and happy dad, that had an extra large “twinkle” in his eyes. Just like for people, finding the perfect mate turned out to be the hardest part of all.
We searched for years, and finally when Autumn was nine years old, she got the chance to start a family of her own.
While Autumn’s belly grew so did our anticipation. We learned everything we could about raising pups. As we carefully planned for the big event, we spent a small fortune on birthing and puppy supplies and “baby proofing” the house. Guided by divine powers, we even best-friended a neonatologist neighbor who offered to be on call for the births. This was clearly all meant to be, then Covid 19 struck. The news of the deaths in our state and around the world made headlines every day, and eventually we started to hear rumors of a lockdown to help reduce contagion and slow down the death rate until a vaccine could be developed.
One month after lockdown started, six sweet little balls of furry energy tumbled into our lives. As it turned out, Autumn’s pregnancy and delivery meant more to our little community than we ever could have imagined. Amidst the isolation of Covid, grew the love and happiness for which puppies are so well known. Every morning, we awoke to the joy and wonder of six babies getting to know the world, each other, and us. Very soon the joy spread to our neighbors and friends as, home from work and school, they visited for their regular doses of puppy play, happiness, and love; one family at a time, and always outside to be safe.
Eventually, the puppies went to good homes. One sibling lives just around the corner and another sibling went to Autumn’s grooming family at Curry Comb in the heart of the village. Of course we kept one baby ourself, Summer Flash. She has doubled the love in our home. Autumn and her puppies, like all loved babies, brought the best of gifts, with the added bonus of getting us through lockdown. The universe has it all over on us when it comes to planning. Ha!