Roll with the punches- idiom

Literal meaning- based on boxing, step back or to one side as you are being hit so that you do not receive the full force of the attack

Figurative meaning- to adjust to difficult events as they happen, especially by being flexible

That’s what I’ve been trying to do the past few days. Figuratively, of course.

Previously, we had been using a stud from Whistle Hill Kennel named Rusty to breed Mia. We were very pleased with the puppies we got from them. However, Rusty was unavailable this time around. (He is vacationing away from home with some other ladies for the week.) We had two other options. Whistle Hill has a young male who is ready to stud out for the first time, or we could use another local breeder, Mr. Beiler, who has a red miniature poodle. I decided to try Whistle Hill’s young stud. I am familiar working with the folks at Whistle Hill, and it’s also a little bit closer to home. (I prefer not to board Mia away from home when she is being bred. I’m afraid it would stress her too much, and I would miss her if she were gone for a week! So I choose to drive her back and forth. It’s more time consuming, but it works best for us.)

Anyway, yesterday (Monday) evening I took Mia to meet with her young friend, but things didn’t go as planned. Mia was very interested and did her part flawlessly. However, the male was not interested. He was too busy dashing around the yard. After trying various methods for an hour, we gave up. This young guy was clearly too inexperienced and immature to accomplish his job.

By now, though, I was in a dilemma. As some of you may know, the northeast is getting hit by winter storm Stella. We are expecting over a foot of snow today, and the snow was already starting last evening as we watched this happy little guy bounce all over the yard. We talked about bringing Mia back the next day and trying again, but with the snow, there won’t be any traveling today. It also wouldn’t be wise to wait another two days until the roads are passable to try again, especially if our attempts are still unsuccessful.

So at 8:00 yesterday evening, we called up Mr. Beiler. Thankfully, he was able and willing to help us out. As I drove through the snow on little, windy back roads through Lancaster county farm country, I had to chuckle. I patted Mia as she sat contentedly on the passenger seat next me. What I wouldn’t do to find you a suitable mate, Mia!

I was also very thankful that I had left a bottle at home for dear baby Reese who was spending the evening with her daddy!

I now have met Mr. Beiler and his little poodle, and I am happy to say that my evening improved at this point. I was very pleased with this stud. He is older and has successfully sired good, healthy litters. His offspring have been known to be sweet, mild-mannered puppies. Oh, and he “did the deed,” which was a huge relief for me now that we are holed up at home for the next couple of days.

Although our breeding didn’t go as planned, I am still happy with the outcome and optimistic about the results. In the end, I’m thinking it’s maybe for the best we ended up with this particular male, rather than a young, unproven male.

If the breeding was successful, we will be expecting a litter to be born around May 20th. For those of you on our waiting list, you will be receiving an email with more details and updates about the litter. If anyone has interest in being added to our waiting list, you can email me at miasmunchkins61414@gmail.com.