My new project, fostering rescue puppies – the Berry litter
In my last post, I mentioned a new project that you were going to want to see photos of. Although I’m a bit later showing you those photos than I’d expected because they aren’t many free hours left in my life at the moment, here they are.
The last addition to our family, little Tucker, was a rescue that we adopted through the Yukon Animal Rescue Network (YARN), and I’ve now started working with them in a big way, by fostering a family that’s been rescued from Atlin.
I actually tried to get started with these puppies from Pelly Crossing a couple of weeks ago. When they got to Whitehorse, though, it was discovered that they had parvo (canine parvovirus or CPV), and I have neither the facilities nor the experience to deal with that awful disease. Luckily, Humane Society Yukon has both at their Mae Bachur shelter in Whitehorse, and agreed to take the puppies and the sick Mom who had been brought down as well. There’s much more to that story, but I don’t know yet whether it has a happy ending, I’ll move on to one that does.
The next request came in to foster 9 puppies (!). I found that initially overwhelming, but offered to take 4, to break into fostering. Things changed, only 4 puppies were caught, and then the mother. Then there was another mother and 2 more pups hidden under a cabin, who couldn’t be coaxed out. I agreed to take the puppies, but not the Mom, as I couldn’t figure out how to keep her separated from Bella and Tucker, whose safety is paramount.
When a photo of the family was sent to me on Wednesday via the man in Atlin who had rescued them, Cathy and I both melted and said that we’d take them all. They would be brought to Whitehorse by the rescuer on Friday.
My first requirement was to get a safe place for them. Another YARN foster family in Whitehorse had a large whelping box that was far too big for their one-day-old litter, so I said that I’d build one more appropriate for them, and take the big one.
I got the box finished off Friday morning, took it into town, and returned with it and a bag of food for the new family. The plan was to have them in the semi-heated garage initially, then see how things play out.
YARN uses “group” names to keep track of their rescues/adoptions, and mine was to be the “Berry” litter – Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry, and Blackberry for the pups, and Elderberry for Mom.
At about noon on Friday, the Berry Babies arrived, and I got them as settled as possible in the garage while trying to figure out how best to house them. The puppies were in a large kennel while Elderberry was loose. Not surprisingly, she was pretty freaked out.
The little female I named Blueberry, the only one that has blue eyes and looks like Mom, was the first one to melt my heart.
A puppy-pile in the kennel, with Strawberry at the left front.
My first job was to get the family to the vet for check-ups and shots. As soon as I’d agreed to take them, I’d made an appointment at the Alpine Veterinary Medical Centre for 2:30, a couple of hours after they were to arrive. Dr. Graham Ellingsen was wonderful with them, as always, and in an hour or so I was headed home with my confirmed-healthy family.
The second job was to get photos of each of the puppies for the adoption page. This is Blueberry again.
Strawberry…
Raspberry…
and Blackberry. I’d get a better photo of Elderberry when she calmed down.
A big part of our job as fosters is socialization. It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it! 🙂 The different personalities of the puppies was very quickly apparent – Blackberry is the snuggler.
Cathy with Blackberry.
The big whelping box didn’t work out – Elderberry said that she couldn’t get over the 2-foot-high walls. So I used it as one wall of a containment area that’s worked out very well. It has a gate, but Elderberry discovered that she can easily clear the lowest wall, which is 22 inches 🙂
Strawberry and Raspberry on the dog bed in the containment area. Everybody learned very quickly what the newspapers were put down for, making life much easier for Cathy and I.
The best photos aren’t staged, they’re records of events that just happen when you have a camera handy. The difference in the whole family is wonderful, but it’s particularly heart-warming to see Mom already enjoying her new life, and trusting that it’s all going to be okay.
Elderberry is a very patient Mom. We’re pretty sure that there are puppies from 2 litters here, though, and that Blueberry is her puppy. They have a special bond beyond what the other puppies have with Elderberry. Why she only has one puppy is one of those questions that you quickly learn not to ask in rescuing – you very well may not want to know.
We have deck chairs set up now, and snuggle puppies and Mom several times a day, and sometimes just sit and watch them. Watching the changes in them, becoming more confident and more affectionate, is a very special experience.
Elderberry and the puppies were posted on the adoption page last night, and as I write this at 06:00, there are already 3 applications in from potential adopters. The puppies are probably just over 6 weeks old, so although they can be adopted now, we’re keeping the family together for another couple of weeks (until December 15th), as Elderberry is doing some important teaching now. Then we have 2 days to get those who have been adopted to their new homes before the Christmas “no-adoptions” period. See an article I wrote quite a few years ago, Puppies for Christmas, to understand why there are no adoptions for 2 weeks.
I’m going to finish this post off with a poster I created this time last year, using a photo of baby Tucker.
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