A Day in the Life
- bramblymountainfarm
- Nov 4
- 3 min read
What does a day in the life of a Brambly Mountain puppy look like? After the first 4 weeks of essentially living and breathing mama and littermates in the whelping box, life changes dramatically for these little guys. Last season, my husband and older son built a “puppy shed” and fenced area which has been a game changer! We no longer have a litter of puppies taking over the center of our living space for 2 months! Once they develop past the mama-phase, we move them outside to their own space. However this doesn’t mean they no longer interact with us. We think it's important to have plenty of time in the home acclimating and desensitizing the puppies to the hustle and bustle of a household, the noises (blender, washer, hair dryer, etc), and interacting with family members and friends. So here’s how a day in the life of one of our puppies tends to go:
9am Kids are up, we’ve gotten a little school under our belt, so as I make breakfast, the kids start their chores. While the chickens are being fed, the kids let the puppies into their yard so they can use the restroom before coming indoors.
9:30 Chaos ensues. Puppies that have been hunkered down in a little shed all night now have FrEeDom! Anything that could possibly be considered educational comes to a halt. Puppies are everywhere. Children are running and screaming and having a wonderful time. I try to get everyone to eat breakfast and clean up without losing my mind and stepping on a puppy or a puddle. Yes, whatever you may imagine about what 6 puppies and 4 kids in a house might look like is probably accurate. I am reminding myself that this season is short, it’s a lot of fun, and it’s worth it to have the pups inside with us despite the chaos and the mess. Some mornings I can embrace it better than others lol.
Here’s a recent video of you can get it to work! I haven’t been able to get most videos to load on the website lately which has been frustrating!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQVgDsHDC6g/?igsh=MWFmYnhud3A0aWtvdw==
10am Puppies are fed breakfast while I train the older pups to “leave it” and oh, man, nothing looks better than the food they can’t have! The kids wrap up their morning chores and start pulling out books.
10:30 Things settle down. The puppies have exhausted themselves into little heaps throughout the house, or have been tucked into an arm or two during reading or math. The quiet means we can get back into a little more school work… much to my children’s disappointment, but a plus for my sanity.
1pm After a few hours of interacting here and there with puppies that decide to rouse from their warm naps and cleaning up the accidents now and again, we put them back in the shed or yard for the afternoon. This gives us a chance to put the house back together. It’s definitely impossible to clean around puppies in any way. Trust me, I’ve tried. They chase the broom, pee where I just mopped, tear toilet paper through the newly swept floor, knock the bag of kitty litter over…you name it, they do it. So I am grateful for that outdoor space to contain them!! The kids might go out to play in the yard with the pups if the weather is nice. The draw to the puppy pen is pretty irresistible. They’re just so gosh darn CUTE at this age!!
6pm After dinner we bring the puppies in for the evening to have a little more interaction time. More romping ensues. Add some music and maybe a friend or two and you basically have a party! Finally, as all energy is expelled, we all settle into some reading or snuggle over a movie until it’s time for bed.
10 pm We move all the puppies back into the shed for the night.
Puppies will be heading to their vet for their health check and getting their first round of vaccines this week!
This is when my kids start begging if we can keep them all. It’s hard to believe there’s only 2 weeks left!