The Lily-Cooper puppies begin going to their new homes tonight.

Tonight the first of the Lily and Cooper puppies go to their new homes.

Niko "Red Boy" (AKC reg name: Tamarack's Baby Blue Eyes) goes to his forever home tonight. He will be owned and loved by Shelly and Kelly of Lakeville, Minnesota.

Friends and others always ask Betsy and I if this is a sad day. It can be, but it is more of a celebration for us and for the new owners. We look forward to the smiles on the new owners faces as they set off with their new family member who brings with him or her many, many happy moments, some challenges as they raise the puppy into a well socialized and obedient dog and some heartache as they never live as long as we would like. The good news is the happy times, affection and companionship outweigh the sad parts by a lot. The other dogs going to new homes will head out over the next 10 days with the last of the 4 leaving on Saturday the 15th. Betsy and I are keeping 2 from this litter.

We obviously aren't breeding dogs for us to own every dog that we breed. And at the same time we are not breeding just so we have puppies to sell to new people. First and foremost we breed to improve the breed and to progress toward the long term goals of our breeding program. We will never breed just to produce puppies to sell!

Each time we breed we have a specific improvement or goal in mind. We are looking to improve on the mom and dad and bring a new dog into the world that hopefully helps us head in the direction that we have established for our line. Betsy and I sit down before each breeding to discuss what we want to improve upon in our dogs. Based on those established goals we decide who to breed, what to look for in the puppies and eventually what puppy we will keep based on it meeting those goals.

We truly love each and every puppy that we have helped get started for the first 10 weeks or so of their life, and yet we look forward to the day that they start their life with their forever home. We enjoy seeing them return to our home with their owners and really enjoy seeing how much they are loved and how they share that love back.

I offer you one of my favorite quotes related to dogs by the great Roger Caras who you probably have heard. He was the voice of the Westminster Kennel Club until his passing a few years ago.

"Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made." ~Roger Caras

May all of Betsy and my love be with Cooper and Lily's puppies all of their days. They hopefully know how much joy they have brought into our life. Good Luck to all of you.