Zaras List

29 Oct 2007

I've been writing this email for at least 12 hours. It's the miracle of emails that you can start and stop and then come back to finish. What started out as an email to just a few has turned out to be a rescue wide email. So here are the latest in our rescue and some introductions.

I now remember why I don't do pregnant Moms. THEY ALWAYS WHELP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! Last night at 2:36am, Momma whelped her first puppy, a female. Next came a second female and we thought we were on a run with females but alas Momma had 2 males to round the pack out. She is an awesome Mom and cleaned them right up and was done by 5:30am this morning. Of course she's sound asleep and now I'm comatose with a whole day in front of me. Sleep may allude me until tonight but there are 4 brand new pups that are healthy and in the end that's all that matters. Momma is doing wonderfully and was a trooper. Now I need your help.

At 2:36am on 10/29/07 our little Pumpkin whelped her first little girl. Little sister came next, followed by 2 brothers and were finished and snuggled into Mom by 5:30am. Why do dogs whelp in the middle of the night? Just to ensure we don't get sleep?!

We met Pumpkin at the shelter. She was a cutie pie and a little love bug but we were pretty full at the time. She was small and petite and we assumed would get adopted by the public. After all, she's under 7lbs, female, young, she'll get a home, right? Well. Wrong. She got kennel cough and they authorized her for euthanasia. It broke our heart but we still didn't have room and so we were going to have to let her go. A great kennel attendant took her in the back and started to nurse her back to health when she realized she sure was gaining a lot of weight rather quickly...Yeah. That happens when YOU'RE PREGNANT. And so we got a call if they could get her through kennel cough, could we take her in then? We couldn't make promises because now we'd have to look for a foster that would do a Mom and pups, not just a regular foster. But we said we'd try...

And so we took her in on 10/28/07 thinking we'd have a week or so to get her ready. Well, not quite. Within 24 hours we had pups. And now we have Pumpkin and the Pies:

Black/White female: S'more Pie
Black tan male (bigger one): Chocolate Satin
black tan female: Mudd Pie
Black tan male (small one): Rhubarb

Momma Pumpkin is a great Mom. She continues to take great care of her pups and watches out for them closely. She loves her short jaunts out to escape the pups for a few moments and run around the house and the yard. She plays well with others and has a grand time with them. But quickly she wants to run back to check on the pups. They're still so tiny. No one has reached the 1lb. mark and it doesn't look like they will anytime soon. Momma is a small girl herself and the babies are just tiny.

16 Nov 2007

Thought you would enjoy a photo of Pumpkin enjoying the great outdoors. She loves going outdoors. If she can find an owner who is willing to walk her or give her unlimited and secure access to the backyard, she will be in heaven. I would walk her but don't want her picking up cooties that can be transferred to the pups.

Pumpkin has learned to sit/stay before going outside or coming inside. Clever girl is not bolting or attempting to bolt out the door anymore. Now we're working on "down" so she isn't jumping on people or furniture. That one is a little tougher cuz she is such a little love bug. It's always harder to reinforce down cuz you think it's just a little dog. I've discovered that in the process of training Pumpkin that Allison also has to be trained. I think the dog is easier =)

All 3 pups are thriving. Rhubarb is still the runt but he doesn't know that. He is probably the most fearless of the group. We've been calling him "Rhu" since that fits his size for now. He needs to grow into the big name. Chocolate is dwarfed by sister Mudd. She has her mother's good nature but is also a bit of a fusser. She pops up when you touch her and will try to come to you. Chocolate is just a couch spud. He is quite content to eat and sleep.

Will send pictures next week!