A Sad Start with a Happy Ending

There once was a stray dog that was dropped off on our property in CA. We saw the dog and had planned to call animal control to come get it because it looked so frail and thin. I was on my way out our lane to work when I saw this dog and I called my husband from my cell phone and ask him to please call animal control. He said he would but got side tracked by a phone call or something and he forgot. We didn't see the dog again for about a week and then there she was again. This time it was my fault. I had planned on talking to my husband about the dog when I returned home from work. Again I forgot.

Then one day when my husband went down to the barn and was getting ready to load his trailer for a Corvette Show when he saw the dog underneath his trailer. She had gave birth to 7 puppies! 4 boys and 3 girls.

He immediately came up to the house to get me to show me the puppies. We took her some food and water and she was very shy and so very thin. He built a dog house out of a huge cardboard box he had to keep the puppies out of the elements. We left her alone and the next day we checked on her and she had eaten the food and drank the water but she was still bleeding and I thought it was from the birth of her puppies so I didn't panic. We again gave her food and water and the took a bowl of milk for the puppies seemed to be nursing okay but I wondered if they were actually getting any milk. We stuck their little mouths in the milk and they lapped it up just like big dogs. It was so cute.

For the next 2 days we took food and water but she stopped eating and she was so weak and still bleeding. I am talking a pool of blood! We put her 7 puppies in a laundry basket and put her on the front seat of the truck and drove to the Vet. Ma Ma dog was so weak we had to carry her into the Vet's office.

He took a look at her and said that she had been poisoned and he didn't think he could save her. We had her put to sleep and that was a really hard thing to do.

He then checked the puppies and he said they seemed to be okay and gave them a special medication in case they had received any poison through Ma Ma dog's milk. He said he thought they were about 4 weeks old. Okay, I have 7 puppies to raise, what do I do now?

Well, we managed. We took the puppies up to the house and put them in a dog pen in our attached garage. Then we took turns feeding and caring for them since I worked outside the home and my husband worked at home. He spoiled them. He would fix their formula and got 2 round shallow pans for the puppies to drink from. You should have seen them, it was like watching a merry-go-round. They would push each other out of the way and it made the bowl move around and around. That was not going to work so he got them 7 little bowls and that was much better. As they grew and were able to eat solid food, my dear sweet husband would mix the formula and some puppy food and he actually cooked chicken breast in our slow cooker to mix in their food. Spoiled? Naah! He felt they needed the extra nutrition.

They were growing so fast and they were all so cute. I would go out in the garage and let them out of the pen to roam and boy did they roam. It's funny how hard it is to keep an eye on 7 of these little things.

Okay now they are 6 weeks old and trying to get out of the pen by their selves! I hated to think it was time to adopt them out but I had to do something. 7 puppies are to many for any one person to handle. I had several people at my place of employment that tried to find homes with no luck so I called the adoption department at Pet Smart and the lady there was so nice and she said bring them in and I am sure I can find homes for these little orphans.

My husband said we could keep one. I never wanted a dog! I actually didn't like dogs! BUT these 7 little puppies changed my mind and my heart. We kept 2 of them and they are Sampson and Petey. 2 male Rodesian Ridgeback Mix dogs, that are as close as you can get. They eat, play, and sleep together. They are actually inseparable. They never fight and they are so happy together.

We love these dogs like our own children and actually they really have only had me for a Mom since they were 4 weeks old. Sampson and Petey have become the center of our retired lives. They are so well behaved and they are really good loving dogs.

I am not sorry we decided to keep them and by the way, I called the lady at Pet Smart the next day because I was missing my babies and she said she had homes for all of them. What a happy ending huh?