Luna's boyfriend Ray

Back in November, my parents had the brilliant idea of putting Luna in underwear and shorts when she was in heat. It was also during that time that I began attempting to find a stud for her so we could do puppies once, just for the experience. Her heat was so dang long that I hoped I could work it out quickly. Unfortunately it didn't, but I did end up with a contact. I advertised on a couple of Facebook groups and then on Craigslist. One person did end up calling me after her husband saw my Craigslist ad. I told her I'd contact her when Luna next went into heat. She even texted me months after getting a new phone to make sure she's be available.

Fast forward to July and Luna went into her third heat. 

I contacted Candice right away! These are the pictures she had previously sent me. Ray, her dog, is on the left. His father is the gray poodle and his mother is the Mini Australian Shepherd. So, he's an Aussie Doodle. I had wanted a mini poodle but this was the closest I could get. He was such a great dog though!

We lined up a meeting on July 1st at old Storybook Island.

He was a very good boy. So friendly, with a soft coat. 

He was extremely interested in Luna but she would not let him near her. She's try (and succeed sometimes) to nip at him, telling him to stay away. Here he had just jumped away from her, ha ha. 

They are pretty much the same size and weight, 27 pounds. We hung out for an hour or so and nothing happened. It was too early in her cycle. 

Candice brought Ray to our house on July 6th and things looked promising but nothing happened.

Here are a few video clips of those first two meetings. 

Finally on July 11th, it worked. They connected. I have pictures and videos that make me laugh but I won't actually post them. The whole thing is hilarious though. 

Such a good boy! He made it happen! Only because Luna let him though. 😂 

We had them over again on July 15th because I had heard from my breeder and research that one pairing is sometimes not enough. It worked again. 

After that I was hoping for some immediate signs of pregnancy like weight gain. She didn't have any until about halfway through her pregnancy (only nine weeks total), so we had Ray over one final time. 

It was passed the opportune time though so we just had to hope it worked. It did! Luna had seven puppies on September 11, 2019...but I'll share those posts for later. Doesn't Ray look happy?