Well, I feel like I'm starting the year off right - doing something new and something I love, even if it is a little crazy! I've been fostering dogs for
Life Is Better Rescue since early last year. I've fostered a one/two-ish year old lab mix named Aspen, and a three month old lab/Australian cattle dog mix named Ella. I get emails a lot about moms and their babies needing fostered, but I've never had the courage to try it out (plus they usually find fosters pretty quick, so I often miss out on the opportunities). On Friday morning, I got an email saying there was a chihuahua mother and her five puppies that needed a foster home for about 8 weeks. For whatever reason, it instantly tugged on my heart, so I gave my sister a call and told her I was thinking about it. (since we live together and she and I both have dogs, I figured I better get her permission before I brought home six new dogs) She thought I was crazy, but eventually I got the "permission granted" and sent a quick reply to the email. A few minutes (which seemed like hours) later, I was responded too and informed that they still needed a foster, and if I was interested they'd get me in touch with the lady who was currently housing them. I literally started jumping up and down, called my Mom to share the news and was beyond ecstatic. I got an email from the woman who had been fostering Abigail ("Momma") with her phone number. I gave her a call and learned that the puppies had been born THAT MORNING about six o'clock. I spent all of my free time for the rest of the day researching everything you possibly can research about caring for a new mom and her babies. (quick side note, when I was 11-13 I used to go out to an Alaskan Klee Kai breeder's home and help her with babies and mommies, so I remembered some things from that - I wasn't totally clueless. I also have attended the birth of some friends puppies, and (NERD ALERT) I used to watch hours of Bringing Home Puppy on Animal Planet, haha) Saturday morning I headed up to Lakewood with my friend, Alex, to pick them up, excited but nervous and a little bit scared out of my mind. I had been praying all night and all morning that they'd be healthy, that Momma would be a very attentive mother, that I wouldn't mess anything up, etc. Over and over and over I asked for God's wisdom and guidance and selflessness as I care for these sweet ones. (still praying!)
When we first picked them up, Momma was at the very back of her kennel, curled up in a ball on top of the babies growling and scared to death. I'm so glad that Alex offered to drive because I spent the majority of the trip back peeking in at them, trying to get a glance at the babies, and whispering what I hope was comforting words to Abigail. Alex dropped me back off at my parents house just as my parents were getting home from running their errands. They'd picked up a heating pad for me, and a new pillow for my boys (since they'll be sleeping in their kennel for the next 8+ weeks instead of on my bed). I packed up all the supplies I needed from my parents' house (well, my dad and my brother loaded it all up for me), and headed home.
The last five days have been absolutely incredible. Momma and I have definitely been bonding; it took a while before she would let me touch her, and even longer before she would let me touch her babies. BUT we've gotten there; in fact, as I'm writing this she is taking a break from her motherly duties to snuggle next to me. (I may have a harder time saying goodbye to her than her babies!) She is an absolute sweetheart, and I'm already praying that she will find a great home when the time comes. I was given a list of five names that start with A to assign to each of the puppies - by the way, they're ALL boys!
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| Meet Abel - the first born, the smallest, and the only one close to Mom's coloring! |
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| He currently weighs about 9.5 ounces. |
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| This is Andy, cute little guy, who is only slightly longer than Abel but weighs about 11 oz. |
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| I apologize for the quality of these pictures - they're from my phone and taken on Snapchat/downloaded because my phone memory is currently full - haha. |
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| This precious face belongs to Amos - who has a pretty chocolate coat. |
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| Amos loves his food and usually has a big ol' belly; he weighed in at 11.1 oz. this afternoon. |
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| This is Archie - one of "the twins." He is a little bit lighter than his brother, Arnie, but they both have white blazes on their chests. Archie weighed 11.4 oz this afternoon. |
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| And last but definitely not least is Arnie, the other "twin" who has a little bit darker coat, and a much bigger white blaze on his chest. Arnie weighed 11.2 ounces this afternoon. |
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Momma is definitely very attentive and has been an excellent little mother so far. She's very protective of her sons, lets them nurse all day long, and snuggles with them in the sweetest ways.
Long story short, I'm in for an exciting eight weeks, and I'm (so far) loving every minute of it! This has already been an incredible experience, and I'm so grateful to my family and friends for their support/advice/and help!
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| This photo is from day one - I can't believe how much they've grown and changed already! |
