Integrity Golden Retrievers

107 days til Christmas.

107 days til the deadline for completing the new puppy space.

For our first litter we removed our dining room table, installed sheet vinyl over the hardwood, installed a gate between the kitchen/dining room and then added a plastic exercise pen fence between the dining room and living room.  All that was good and bad.

The good:  the puppies were by us constantly, easily accessible, “easy” to care for them.  The bad:  puppies (and all their stuff – which by the way they have about as much stuff as a new baby) invaded daily life.  And the smell – even though we cleaned constantly, we could never get on top of it and our house always smelled like pee and poop.  Yuk!

The really bad:  our floor ever so slightly sloped, which meant pee occasionally would get under the vinyl (which we didn’t discover until after puppies were gone and we removed the vinyl), essentially ruining a section of our hardwood.  BUT – Bob the Builder to the rescue (aka my husband, Bob).  After all puppies went home, we (I mean he) cut out the bad hardwood and replaced that section.  So it’s all good now AND I will get refinished hardwood, stained to the dark color I wanted which would have never gotten done as a “gee, I’d love to have….” project.

NEW PLAN:  build a wall in our garage creating two spaces.  The front half to house all necessary tools for our other company, Integrity Building & Remodeling and then finish the back half to house Integrity Golden Retrievers.  I cannot even communicate in words HOW EXCITED I AM FOR THIS NEW SPACE!!!

Radiant floor heating by the whelping areas for that extra cozy warmth needed for the babies, another washer and dryer, closet to house the hundreds of towels we go through each week, a separate sink for bathing puppies and filling water bowls, bathroom exhaust ventilation for the smell, counters, upper cabinets for extra storage, large food containers to keep food easily accessible and fresh, plus a bed.  This past litter someone slept near the puppies for the first 5ish weeks.

So now, for your part…….we need a name for this new space.  Like our page on Facebook (@Integrity Golden Retrievers) and comment on the post that has a picture of the whiteboard sketch of the new space.  I’ll post the picture today, Sept. 10th.

Until next time….