A playful story about one lively St. Patrick's Day at the kennel and the kind of chaos only puppies can organize.
Nobody at this kennel officially organized a St. Patrick's Day parade.
The puppies took care of that themselves.
It started the way most funny kennel stories start: with one puppy doing something suspiciously confident and the rest deciding that looked like an excellent bad idea. I had barely finished morning chores when one bold little pup trotted across the room carrying a green bandana I had set aside for pictures. Behind him came the others in a lopsided line, each one convinced there was important business to attend to.
If you have never seen a group of puppies march with total confidence and absolutely no plan, you are missing out.
One had part of a toy hanging out of his mouth. One was trying to bite his brother's tail. One kept wandering off to investigate a sunbeam on the floor. But together, somehow, they moved like a tiny parade route through the puppy room, around my boots, across the blankets, and straight into my morning.
I laughed so hard I nearly spilled my coffee.
There is a lot I take seriously in this line of work, and rightly so. Health matters. Temperament matters. Cleanliness, structure, socialization, records, placement, all of it matters. But days like that remind me that joy matters too. Puppies are not little machines. They are full of curiosity and nonsense and charm, and sometimes the best thing you can do is stop for a second and enjoy the show.
St. Patrick's Day has always been one of those lighter holidays to me. A little green, a little luck, a little fun. At the kennel, though, it also makes me think about how grateful I am for the small blessings that are easy to miss when life gets busy.
A healthy litter.
A mama dog doing well.
Puppies learning, growing, and gaining confidence.
Families counting down the days until pickup.
The simple privilege of doing work that is demanding, exhausting, and still worth it.
People talk about luck like it just falls out of the sky. I do believe some blessings arrive that way. But I also believe a lot of what people call luck is really care repeated over time. Clean the space. Watch the details. Learn the dogs. Do not cut corners. Keep showing up. Eventually, that steady work looks like smooth routines, happy puppies, and stories you get to laugh about later.
So no, I did not plan a St. Patrick's Day puppy parade. But I did get one, and I am not mad about it.
Around here, the luck often shows up with floppy ears, muddy paws, and absolutely zero respect for personal space. I will take that kind of luck every time.
The puppies took care of that themselves.
It started the way most funny kennel stories start: with one puppy doing something suspiciously confident and the rest deciding that looked like an excellent bad idea. I had barely finished morning chores when one bold little pup trotted across the room carrying a green bandana I had set aside for pictures. Behind him came the others in a lopsided line, each one convinced there was important business to attend to.
If you have never seen a group of puppies march with total confidence and absolutely no plan, you are missing out.
One had part of a toy hanging out of his mouth. One was trying to bite his brother's tail. One kept wandering off to investigate a sunbeam on the floor. But together, somehow, they moved like a tiny parade route through the puppy room, around my boots, across the blankets, and straight into my morning.
I laughed so hard I nearly spilled my coffee.
There is a lot I take seriously in this line of work, and rightly so. Health matters. Temperament matters. Cleanliness, structure, socialization, records, placement, all of it matters. But days like that remind me that joy matters too. Puppies are not little machines. They are full of curiosity and nonsense and charm, and sometimes the best thing you can do is stop for a second and enjoy the show.
St. Patrick's Day has always been one of those lighter holidays to me. A little green, a little luck, a little fun. At the kennel, though, it also makes me think about how grateful I am for the small blessings that are easy to miss when life gets busy.
A healthy litter.
A mama dog doing well.
Puppies learning, growing, and gaining confidence.
Families counting down the days until pickup.
The simple privilege of doing work that is demanding, exhausting, and still worth it.
People talk about luck like it just falls out of the sky. I do believe some blessings arrive that way. But I also believe a lot of what people call luck is really care repeated over time. Clean the space. Watch the details. Learn the dogs. Do not cut corners. Keep showing up. Eventually, that steady work looks like smooth routines, happy puppies, and stories you get to laugh about later.
So no, I did not plan a St. Patrick's Day puppy parade. But I did get one, and I am not mad about it.
Around here, the luck often shows up with floppy ears, muddy paws, and absolutely zero respect for personal space. I will take that kind of luck every time.