A litter of rescue puppies – the Fabric litter
I’ve been mentally ready to foster another litter of rescued puppies for a few weeks, and when I saw that YARN (the Yukon Animal Rescue Network) had a litter needing a Whitehorse foster, I offered. I’ve had a new puppy facility in my head for a while, and quickly built it. A roll of 4-foot-high-wire, a sheet of plywood, and a few 2x4s were turned into 80 square feet of indoor space (in my double garage) leading through a door to 100 square feet of outdoor run, and a doghouse with a heated floor. The total cost was about $300.
On December 3rd, 5 puppies arrived – the Fabric litter consisted of Lace, Vinyl, Textile, Rayon, and Suede. Lace had already been adopted and I would just have her until after I took them to the vet for a checkup a couple of days later. In the next photo, Textile is in the back – we thought at first that he might be sick, but he turned out to just be painfully shy.
Bella has a strong maternal instinct but is even more so a rule-enforcer and a herder. She was happy to meet them with a fence between them 🙂
Here’s a look at the indoor part of the facility. The doghouse has an electric heating pad in a space below the floor, keeping it cozy.
I see my job as foster dad to keep the puppies healthy and safe, to socialize them and make them adaptable, and to teach them about love and security. We have friends who are happy to help with the socializing and love parts. Cathy, in the background, is on crutches for a month due to a knee operation (that went very well).
Setting boundaries: “Don’t even think about it you little bastard, or I’ll rip your eyes out and eat them!” Oh Molly! She has always had a love/hate relationship with puppies. The puppy is Lace, by far the most adventurous of the litter.
This is Rayon (“Ray”), a very terrier-looking boy. Mom is a Lab cross, but there’s quite a mixture in the puppies. Ray is the puppy whose character developed the quickest.
Played out 🙂 From left to right, Vinyl, Textile, Rayon, and Suede.
I have a particular soft spot for puppies who need extra help, and Textile (“Tex”) responded wonderfully to extra time and separate feeding.
The next two photos were shot during a very busy day! Bella had her paws full trying to herd puppies and teach them the rules, but she sure had fun 🙂
My friend and pet photographer Gerry Steers came over for some play and portrait time, and captured some wonderful images, including this one of Tex and I.
Another evening, friends brought their 3 dogs over – all rescues, 2 from YARN, and one a previous foster of ours – and built pizzas to get the party started!
Rosie was a YARN rescue, and now has the life she deserves. She is such a love!
What a wonderful night, with 9 dogs (all rescues, 7 of them from YARN) playing in the house. Rosie had her first experience with puppies, and was amazing – you’d think she was born to the business of taking care of them.
The puppies were all adopted quickly, and went to their new homes on Friday night and Saturday morning. On Sunday night, though, I got a call that one of the adoption hadn’t worked out – would I take Rayon (“Ray”) back for a while? Of course I would.
On Monday morning, right after Ray’s return, I took Cathy into Whitehorse for an appointment and did some shooting around the SS Klondike while I was waiting.
Being the only puppy with a couple of adult dogs now, Ray is learning lots of important skills for being part of a strong pack.
I got a call on Tuesday asking if I could babysit another former foster dog for 3 days. Heck yes! Klee, mother of my Berry litter of rescue puppies from two years ago, fits right into our family, and is always a pleasure to have here. She immediately took on the job of puppy-protector, spending much of her time at Ray’s kennel door. Ray is a house dog now, learning a new skill-set to help him move on.
I never tire of watching the interaction, and the rapid development of puppies. Klee plays rough, and I’ve heard a couple of yelps from Ray, but it’s all part of the learning process. Ray was housebroken incredibly quickly – he’s one of if not the easiest puppy I’ve had.
And there we go, all caught up. Well, sort of – there has been a lot more than this going on. I post frequently on my Facebook page – the smaller things that don’t call for a blog post but are important in my life.
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