Tag: puppies

Edith Wharton, fosterdogs, fostering, oph, poop, puppies

Puppies Ruin Your Life

Cara Achterberg

After over six weeks with these pups, here’s the thing that is getting to me—there are so many of them. Yes, yes, I know. I knew there were twelve when I picked them up. But back then they were tiny. Their little shiny bodies could be held in one hand.

Having fostered a litter of nine puppies last spring, I really thought that twelve wasn’t that many more.

It’s just that it is.

Twelve is a lot.

Adjustments have to be made. Not just enlarging the pen, but in terms of equipment and strategies. You can’t feed twelve puppies with a couple dog food bowls. There would be a riot and little Georgie might get trampled. So, instead, we use a plastic veggie tray which is large and round with six sections, plus another three section serving tray. (Don’t worry— I probably won’t use either again at our parties!)

dsc_5402

A water bowl also won’t work for twelve puppies, so instead I use a big, tall-sided plastic chip and dip tray, filling the chip area with water so that six or ten puppies can drink all at once. Puppies tend to do everything enmass. (Again – I promise you probably won’t see this dish at our shindigs!) The chip/dip tray works great unless the kennel attendant steps on a side of it. If that happens the room is flooded and the freshly laid puppy pads are soaked. The residents find that to be a fun situation. Continue reading “Puppies Ruin Your Life” →

Edith Wharton, fosterdogs, fostering, heartworms, oph, puppies

Pint Size Puppies and Gallon Size Hearts

Cara Achterberg

“They are so much smaller than they look in the pictures!”

This is pretty much what everyone says when meeting the puppies for the first time.

To me, they’re giant poop-filled monsters compared to the little moles they were when they arrived five weeks ago. At that point most of them weighed less than a pound, with tiny George weighing just 10 ounces and Beatrix weighing the most at 1 pound 1 oz. Hemingway is now the biggest puppy. At nearly nine pounds, he’s four pounds bigger than George. According to the lab growth charts he could top out at 82 pounds! That’s a big dog. Whoopi-size.

So, to give you some scale, I took a few pictures of the puppies with random items. I used Virginia in the first two pictures because she is one of the average size puppies. In the third picture (you’ll note my attempt at free advertising in this one), I used Beatrix because in my absence there had been a rumble and she had the least amount of poop on her. Beatrix is one of the largest puppies, generally trading off second place with Zora. Continue reading “Pint Size Puppies and Gallon Size Hearts” →

Edith Wharton, fosterdogs, oph, puppies

The Real Poop, I Mean Scoop, on Fostering Puppies

Cara Achterberg

Each time I think about what I should write in this update on Edith and the Dastardly Dozen (or Darling Dozen depending on the moment and the audience), I can’t seem to begin anywhere but with the poop. I’m not trying to scare you or discourage you from fostering puppies yourself, but there truly is no way around the poop. (I know there are several other OPH foster mommies who will back me up on this.)

My first litter of six shocked me with the sheer quantity and variety of ways that puppies can poop. But I survived it and the puppies more than made up for their messes with their sweetness and puppy breath.

DSC_9245

I was ready and knew exactly what I was getting into when I volunteered to take half of Lily’s litter off Chris’ hands last winter. I think that month with just five in the pen was oh-so-manageable.

DSC_1913

When Schuyler’s supposedly three puppies morphed into NINE puppies I was decidedly overwhelmed at times, but again I survived and lived to tell. Plus those Hamilton puppies were something special.

FullSizeRender

But, can I just speak frankly here? Continue reading “The Real Poop, I Mean Scoop, on Fostering Puppies” →

Edith Wharton, fosterdogs, oph, puppies

Puppy Progress

Cara Achterberg

It’s been a big week for the pupperoos. They are growing and changing, and believe it or not, getting EVEN CUTER.

They have yet to breach the wall, but every day more of them look longingly across it.

dsc_5024

I know it’s only a matter of days (maybe hours) before I walk into the kitchen to find them on the loose. Which is why I’m preparing the puppy room. The puppy room has been empty since spring and in the interim has filled up with all manner of flotsam.

The original use for the puppy room was as a “mud room.” When we renovated our house, we planned to put a large closet with a small sink in our front hall. That way everyone traipsing inside with muddy boots and mitts would have a place to IMMEDIATELY clean up. Best laid plans, you know? Continue reading “Puppy Progress” →

Edith Wharton, fostering, puppies, Uncategorized

Expecting

Cara Achterberg

Not much has gone as expected for the past few days. Okay, well, a few things. My husband took off for France. Ian won his soccer game, and Addie got the part she wanted in the school play (of course it wasn’t the part I expected she’d get as she’ll be Blackstache instead of Molly or any other part normally assigned a girl in Peter and the Starcatchers). The tomatoes continue to produce, as do the horses, and now that school has started pretty much no one puts their dishes in the dishwasher. Those things I expected and they happened. Yay, life behaving itself.

What hasn’t gone as expected is most everything having to do with our 50th foster dog.

d7a808ab676a10047f2aebbdf32009866e1c78db

I’d painted this lovely romantic picture in my mind of our 50th foster dog, Edith Wharton, giving birth to a handful of puppies in our kitchen as we all watched and were amazed by the miracle. What a great experience for our milestone foster. I was so ready.

I borrowed a really nice handbuilt whelping box from my neighbors (who at this point are probably beginning to wish they lived on a different road as I hit them up for pretty much every dog dilemma I have). We set it up in our kitchen and Nick ran to the hardware store and bought foam pipe insulators to cover the top edges so Edith wouldn’t rub her heavy belly on it when she climbed in. I set down a layer of soft things and puppy pads in preparation.

I looked through my calendar for the next week or so, making sure I could be home if necessary, already preparing my excuses (“Sorry, you’re on the own. Gotta go. There’s a dog giving birth in my kitchen…”)

I read about puppy whelping and even watched a few badly made YouTube videos of it actually happening. I gathered advice from my knowledgeable dog-breeder neighbor and made a list of the supplies I’d need. A box of some of those supplies arrived from OPH (thanks Gina!) and pretty soon I was ALL READY. Edith was due to arrive in less than 24 hours!

And then I checked my email.

Apparently Edith was not made aware of my preparations and my whelping box and she gave birth to the puppies at the shelter that morning.

I was disappointed and a little bit relieved.

Here’s the other unexpected news – Continue reading “Expecting” →

adopters, fosterdogs, fostering, Lucy, Oberyn, oph, puppies, Rooney

50th Times the Charm

Cara Achterberg

Our house is much quieter. (for now)

Rooney finally went home with her new forever mom after a long wait. They met over a week ago and fell in love, but we had to wait for Rooney to finish her antibiotics and be 100% healthy so she could go home. Which she did on Friday. And we all miss her. My little brother will be very happy to know Rooney is in the Air Force now! Her mom is one of America’s finest.

dsc_4523

Before she left, she, Lucy, and Obie had a fun week.

Here’s Obie and Lucy sharing a stick:

And here’s Rooney and Obie not sharing a pumpkin: Continue reading “50th Times the Charm” →

fosterdogs, oph, puppies, Uncategorized

When Three is Really Nine It’s Good to have a Solid Marriage

Cara Achterberg

The email said, “Jen just posted a momma and 3 pups on Facebook.”

Mindy knew I was jonesing for some puppies, so I appreciated the heads up. I checked the page and there was a picture of a momma and there were five pictures of individual puppies. I examined them and decided that some of the pictures were just different angles of the same pups.

And the pups were adorable- only two weeks old, their eyes barely open. Like human newborns, unless they’re yours they all do look kind of alike.

And mom even looked a little like Lily.

944340_10154039807634513_1697945327153506684_n

I’ll take ‘em, I said. Yay puppies for Easter!

I went for a bike ride with hubby and broke the news. Continue reading “When Three is Really Nine It’s Good to have a Solid Marriage” →

Begonia, fosterdogs, Foxglove, Hadley, Lilliana's puppies, oph, Pigweed, puppies, Snapdragon, Sneezewort

Puppies!!

Cara Achterberg

The puppies have arrived! The cuteness is pretty much unbearable, so it’s good that they stink pretty bad.

DSC_1711

At five weeks, they have no qualms about walking through, playing with, or even sleeping upon each other’s poops. I’m trying to stay on top of it (so to speak), but with the Christmas chaos, visitors, my own work, Hadley, GRACIE (no, we haven’t forgotten our own personal pup), and the fact that I have to bake six dozen cookies and package them beautifully for a cookie exchange tonight, it’s pretty much impossible to keep them poop-free.

My five little charms are half of the litter of pups that I witnessed Lily give birth to back in November. They are growing fast and resemble little bear cubs. While I’ve only had them 24 hours, here’s what I can tell you about them as individuals- Continue reading “Puppies!!” →

Uncategorized

Last to Go

Cara Achterberg

DSC_0581And looks who’s left…..

I thought Chism would be the first one to go. I did. I figured a dog like her – gorgeous, unique with a HUGE personality – she’d be scooped up quickly. But now it’s just me and her.

Without her herd, she’s a much calmer dog. She actually sleeps. Her manners are much improved. I just checked and her morning breakfast is only half-eaten. There’s no need to gobble it all down in 20 seconds if there’s no competition. Left alone, she’s much more mellow. I may have to take back all that stuff I wrote on her profile about her being such an INTENSE, HIGH ENERGY dog. She’s taken to lounging on the Frank bed for hours at a time.

All of this behavior makes me think she’d be better off as an only dog.

Chism has gone from ADOPTABLE to ADOPTION PENDING and back two or three times now. She scared off two adopters because she has a mild obsession with cats (as in – she’d like to chase them down and lick them all over and probably won’t kill them. Probably.) If she sees or senses or even imagines a cat on the porch, she’ll bark nonstop and claw at the door until she’s put in restraints. I’ve wondered if she might chill out if she finally got to meet a real cat. Maybe she’d find out they aren’t really that interesting and they have pointy parts. My cats are not game to take part in the intervention. They aren’t interested in a relationship with Chism of any kind, at all, ever. In fact, since Chism moved in one of my porch cats has moved in with the barn cat who isn’t so happy about sharing her domain. Continue reading “Last to Go” →

Uncategorized

Is Anyone Getting Anything Done Around Here?

Cara Achterberg

DSC_0512Having a house full of puppies is like having several hundred toddlers pop in for a visit.

It’s loud. It’s messy. Things break. But gosh, they’re so darn cute. (Thank God they’re leaving.)

We are entering week three of the puppydom. Some of us are growing weary of the efforts. As veteran parents, we are accustomed to the work that comes with caring for toddlers. We even understand that sometimes a toddler might bite you. They can pee on the floor on occasion. They don’t take direction well. These are known facts accepted.

Even so, with all that cuteness, one still can become resentful. Shut up, I think, when I hear Chism holding forth. Sure, she’s barking at a butterfly or a cat wandering across the yard. Cute. Yes. But loud. And I’m trying to write, here. Continue reading “Is Anyone Getting Anything Done Around Here?” →