Drew and I got to be a small part of something very special over the last few days: we temporarily fostered a mama dog and her ten puppies. We've wanted to foster a family for a while now; this was our first. Mama dog looks SO much like our Oliver. It's uncanny. We were immediately drawn to her and really wanted to help. We weren't in a position to take on 11 extra dogs without a rescue commitment. Thankfully, a wonderful rescue group in Social Circle, GA called Pound Puppies N Kittens said they'd take the family if someone could give them a place to crash for a few days while they prepared. We knew we could do that! We are just so incredibly thrilled to play even such a small part in mama and pups' journey. It's the very least we could do to help out Oliver's doppelganger.
The puppies were born on August 31, 2013. Somebody dumped the whole family at DeKalb Animal Services on September 5. I picked them up on September 11. That is A LOT to go through in two short weeks. Mama was so scared and nervous. Once we got home, it took a good hour to coax her out of the truck, into the house, up the stairs, and into the "nursery". A friend from school was kind enough to come help. She really worked magic on mama. It was not an easy process. Despite all the stress she'd been through and the scary transition we were
forcing upon her, mama never snapped at us. She had every chance and reason to be reactive, but she showed nothing but sweetness. Such a precious girl. Once we got everyone in place, mama hunkered down in the corner behind the baby pool full of pups. When we checked on her a little later, she was in the pool feeding everyone. She knew that no matter how nervous and unsure of things she was, she had to carry on and do her job. That's pretty amazing. A lot of people I know, including myself on some days, lack that sense of duty and responsibility.
I got the puppies at 12 days old. Their eyes and ears are still shut. They have no teeth. They chirp instead of bark. Only a few of them crawl or roll. The biggest one is about the size of a guinea pig. The smallest fits in my hand with room to spare. The pups are in much better shape than mama, thank goodness. Mama's pretty rough. She's got roundworms, tapeworms, probably heartworms, a mouth injury, a nose injury, fleas, and ticks. She's emaciated and undersocialized. AND she's got ten parasitic puppies stealing what minimal nutrients she has left. All of that, and mama is only two years old. Fortunately, she and her pups all eat like champs. A little capstar and pyrantel for fleas, ticks, and roundworm has mama in slightly better shape than when she first arrived. The rest will be taken care of when she gets to the rescue group.
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| Look how much Mama (top, at AC intake) looks like Oliver (bottom)! |
I was told there were 11 pups. When I took the first head count, I only counted 9. I only had paperwork for 9, too. After double checking with the shelter folks, the consensus was that either they'd miscounted or that two died at the shelter. Ok, 9 pups then. Well, later that afternoon as I changed the bedding, I heard some invisible squeaking. I counted once, twice, three times. I had all 9 in front of me, yet there was some unidentified source of chirping still out there. Lo and behold, a thorough pat down of the comforter revealed a magical 10th surprise puppy! I messaged everyone involved saying, "Ten! There are ten!". I felt like Nanny Cook in 101 Dalmatians. How cool! I still don't know if the 11th ever existed, but it really is amazing that 10/10 (or worst case scenario, 10/11) survived the awful conditions they faced. Such little troopers!
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| ^Trixie, the only girl^ |
Out of ten pups, there is only one girl. She is the biggest, hungriest, porkiest, most mobile of them all. The rest are boys. All the dogs are named upon intake these days at animal control, so these guys came to me with some interesting monikers. They named mama Sadira, the lone girl Trixie, and the boys as follows: Gideon, Edison, Rowan, Osbourne, Hal, Tom, Noah, and Peter. The 10th pup didn't have a name because I didn't have paperwork on him, so I was kind of calling him Magic. Because these aren't the greatest names ever and because it's always better to name things after seeing their little personalities develop, I'm sure they will all get new names once they get to Social Circle. Mama is renamed Molly. I can't wait to hear what the puppies are called!
Mama is a shepherd/hound/retriever mix. I have no idea what the pups are. It's practically impossible to tell when they're so young and underdeveloped. They kind of look shepherdy, but a few look a little pittish to me. We shall see. All I know is THEY ARE CUTE. I just loved having them. I spent hours just sitting up in the closet staring at them. Now I'm not a maternal person at all, but having this little family in the house brought such a great sense of peace and contentment over me. I've heard of zen gardens, but I wonder if zen closets are a thing...? Teeny tiny immobile puppies = instant de-stressors. Mama did so well at our house. She didn't mind me handling her pups, busting in a million times a day to clean, or insisting that she get up and out of the baby pool so I could change the bedding. She didn't mind visitors coming to gawk at her adorable gaggle of grunting "guppies", as Drew calls them. She even let Oliver come in for a very brief visit! This morning when I went in to clean, she looked up at me and wagged her tail real big! My heart just about melted.
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| Oliver meets the pups! |
Then, just like that, it was time to say goodbye. A rescue friend was kind enough to pick them up and drive them to Social Circle this morning. An hour and a half later, I got word that they'd arrived safely and settled into the rescue "barn". The puppies will stay with mama until they are old enough to get their shots and go up for adoption (usually 8 weeks). I can't wait to see all the pictures of them as they grow!
While ten puppies sounds like A LOT of work, it was really no trouble at all. The pups are so young (only two weeks old) that mama still does everything. She feeds and cleans them and since they can't walk yet or anything, that's really about all they do. Eat, sleep, chirp, and poop. All I had to do was clean up after mama and change their bedding every day. It will be a totally different story in a couple more weeks when they become mobile and begin to actually make some noise. Then I'd definitely notice that I had 15 dogs in my house. But at this early stage, no one would ever know there were 11 upstairs. My usual 4 are the rabble-rousers! I'd love to do it again. It was truly an amazing experience. But for now, I've got a really smelly closet to clean out and a whole ton of adorable pictures to sort through. Good luck, mama and pups!
First up: Miss Katie Holmes, now Kit! Judging from these pictures and her mom's correspondence, Kit is as adorable and feisty as ever. Kit's mom says her skin (remember how awful it was from the flea bites?) is doing pretty well overall. That one bad spot flared up a little due to the super cold weather, but with continued fish oil supplements and an antibiotic shot from the vet it seems to be under control. Wearing sweaters helps keep Kit from scratching and prevents flare ups, too. How conveniently cute! Love it. She's settled in beautifully with her new siblings. Check out how pawsome she looks in her fancy Christmas dress and Santa suit!
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