Tags

, , , , ,

Before we go any further if you have tuned in here expecting cute puppy pictures you are about to be disappointed. There are no pictures, nothing to see here. You see apparently the only cover that Sabina is fit to be on the cover of is National Geographic. That’s right you heard me right, National Geographic. Oh how I loved that magazine. I used to pour over every issue with amazement and wonder. One day I thought – I will be a photographer and if I am lucky enough I will take a cover shot. Then I learned that for every one photo that makes it in to NatGeo (as it is now affectionately called) the photographer takes something crazy like 1500 other shots. No big deal you say – let us remember that when I was having these daydreams we were still in the magical days of Kodachrome not DSLR. But I digress.

When we became breeder caretakers I thought about how wonderful it would be to have a house full of puppies, to have great photo ops, and did I mention have wonderful puppies. Oh I knew it would be a messy, sometime smelly, often sleep deprived time. I planned on days filled with worrying about the little puppy, making sure everyone is gaining weight, peeing, pooping, blah blah blah. What I didn’t know is how interested and more specifically how much everyone would want to talk about Sabina’s boobs. That’s right people my pregnant and now nursing dog has big boobs. Maybe it is because there are so many of them or that they truly are so big, or that – wait for it – you can actually hear them slap together when she runs – I don’t know. All I know is that I am ready to stop talking about her boobs and start talking about almost any other thing on the planet.

When Sabina was pregnant with her first litter and about a week away from delivering I was out walking her downtown on a break at work. We were out on the street busy with people when this woman I had never seen before stopped me to ask about her. In her best outdoor voice she says “well I just HAD to stop you, I could completely tell your dog is pregnant. Do you know how I know?” At this point I am thinking – uh because she big as a house and waddling around like a penguin? No it couldn’t be that simple and she then says “She has National Geographic boobies! Saw those boobies from across the street and then I knew!”  Yep, she crossed the street to use that line on a complete stranger. I have this vision that she was a party once and someone used the “National Geographic boobies” line and ever since she has been waiting for a chance to use it. I was that chance. Lucky me. Now I am rarely rendered speechless but truly the entire street got silent and everyone looked at me and my dog with the National Geographic boobies. I just walked back to work, did I mention I was  speechless?

Since then, with every pregnancy, there is a ton of conversation all the time about Sabina and her boobs. Seriously it is like she is the only dog on the planet to give birth or at least have these ginormous ta-tas. Here is the deal I am a firm believer in having frank honest conversations, I believe kids should be taught the correct terms for our bodies not ta-tas or boobies. However, when it comes to Sabina I really don’t want to talk about her boobies – National Geographic or otherwise. I don’t know why, maybe because she is like my kid. Trust me I know ALOT about her ta-tas. I am the one who checks them everyday to make sure they are healthy and that mastitis hasn’t set in, and when it does I am the one who packs them with warm compresses and massages them.

Thankfully, this too shall pass as this is her last litter. We have just over a month before the puppies turn in and get ready to start their journey as puppies-in-program for Canine Companions. Then there will be a month or so of “are her boobs going to shrink back up”, or “wow her boobs have really shrunk back up”. Then Sabina, people will stop seeing just your jugs and go back to just seeing you – the strong willed, super smart women you are. Oh and stop talking to me about them. That is when we will all be happy.