You Know You’ve Fostered Too Many Puppies When…

Maybe you’ve had too many puppies funnel through your home when you have to schedule ‘puppy socialization’ into your day and beg your kid to play with them. My two older kids were home briefly before taking off for more exciting destinations and neither of them even went in the puppy pen while they were here.

Ian’s a great photographer, so I keep bugging him to take their picture, anything to give them a little attention. (If you want to follow his 365 project on Instagram, look him up at iachterberg_photo – he posted the BEST picture of Gracie yesterday and sooner or later the puppies will turn up I’m sure.)

Having failed at getting Ian to take the puppies’ photos and running up against the deadline for them to go out to the Puppy Waiting List (the people who are approved and get first dibs), I decided to do my own photoshoot. I know I could make a last minute call to Nancy Slattery and she would have come through, but first, I decided to see if I could get some pictures.

These pups are all shades of the same dark color (brown almost black) and getting pictures inside proved impossible, so late in the day I carted them all outside in a bin (they are so little I can carry them all at once!) and commenced taking pictures in the puppy yard.

It just so happened that it was that perfect light. Nancy has mentioned this perfect light to me multiple times, but until I saw it through my own lens I didn’t get it – it does make for amazing pictures, and even the most hapless amateur will get a few good shots. The best shot I got came after I put the puppies away and I snapped a picture of Daisy B (who is STILL available for adoption!):

The Road Trip Pups are five weeks old today. They are named after some of the members of the OPH Rescue Road Trip –

Jen Squared – the only girl, very mellow and sweet.

Fitz – simply gorgeous, splashy boy who is the independent one.

Jess – beautiful pup who loves to be loved and will make an excellent snuggle buddy. He will also make the best ‘puppy model’ as he’s very easy to take pictures of.

Matt – the largest, but also very gentle and easy-going.

Slat – the smallest, but the firecracker in the bunch.

My biggest frustration with these pups is that I haven’t been able to convince them to eat puppy kibble, they much prefer mom. I’ve tried all kinds of concoctions, but they just nibble a few bites and wander on to other things, knowing if they hold out long enough, mom will appear. We are down to Thelma going in the pen twice a day for about five minutes – standing painfully while they nurse before hopping back out of the pen. And still they barely eat kibble.

I think Thelma is anxious for them to eat too because this morning when I let her in the pen, instead of racing to their full bowls and gobbling their food, she stood stoically while they nursed for only a few minutes and then high-tailed it out of there without eating their untouched food. At five weeks of age and full mouths of teeth, there is no reason they can’t be eating real food.

They are little fatties, so I have no doubt that they will eventually catch on, I’m just not used to such a struggle to convince puppies to eat.

If you’re local and you’ve got time on your hands for puppy socializing – give me a shout. They are in desperate need of someone other than me to hang out with, though I am a rock star in their world and they get almost as excited to see me as they are to see Thelma.

And if you’re looking to adopt any of these fat fatties, you better jump to and get that application in as they will go quickly. Not only are they beyond adorable, they are not going to be big dogs. I’d guess they will grow up to be about 35 – 40 pounds. Add to that that they are sweet little love bugs with an easy energy.

Thanks for reading!

If you’d like to know more about my blogs and books, visit CaraWrites.com or subscribe to my occasional e-newsletter.

If you’d like to know more about the book, Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs, visit AnotherGoodDog.org, where you can find more pictures of the dogs from the book (and some of their happily-ever-after stories), information on fostering, and what you can do right now to help shelter animals! You can also purchase a signed copy or several other items whose profits benefit shelter dogs!

If you’d like to know how you can volunteer, foster, adopt or donate with OPH, click here. And if you’d like more pictures and videos of my foster dogs past and present, be sure to join the Another Good Dog Facebook group.

I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to comment here on the blog, email carasueachterberg@gmail.com or connect with me on Facebook, twitter, or Instagram.

Best, 

Cara

Released August 2018 from Pegasus Books and available now