LC and Her Super Hero Crew

August 27, 2014

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As most of you know, I took in a mom and her 9 pups about 8 weeks ago. Let me tell you how much I knew about newborn puppies and momma dogs….NOTHING. All I knew is that this mom and pups needed some shelter or they were going to the pound which pretty much means death. I had the room in my house and that was good enough for me to take them in. After all, with all the volunteers at, Priceless Pets, I had plenty of help to coach me through this!

I decided to name the momma, LC, which was short for, Lynda Carter. For those of you who don’t know, Lynda Carter played, Wonder Woman, in the 70’s. The puppies were all named after superheroes. LC was not a big dog at all, and the fact that NINE puppies came out of her certainly deemed her a worthy, Wonder Woman!

LC and her puppies were abandoned and the people that found her were not able to keep her. When they brought her to my house, LC wanted nothing to do with me. She liked Paige, Terra, and the other Pittie Crew girls that were at my house awaiting the puppies but she looked at me like I was the one that abandoned her! Terra told me, it would take a while for her to warm up to me. Well, we had nothing but time. I set her up in my laundry room with her 9 tiny puppies that all fit in this tiny little basket.

I remember feeling a bit overwhelmed. I had just pulled Jude from the pound but there was no way I was not going to help this momma out, even if she didn’t like me. Luckily for me, LC would be doing all the work the first 4-5 weeks. All I had to do was take care of her and she would do the rest. The first week she was here, all she would do was let me feed her. If I even looked at her babies, she would growl at me. Every time Penny got within 20 feet of her she would growl at her too. She didn’t seem to have a problem with Elvis or Wally. I guess she didn’t want any other female or human male around her pups. In fact, the first 2 days she was here she never left the room, not even to relieve herself.

After those first few days, she would only growl at me in the morning. Maybe she was just not a morning dog but I just ignored her, fed her and walked away. Eventually, she let me know she needed to go out. I put her on a leash and took her out. Let me tell you, I’ve never seen a dog do her thing so fast and then bolt right back to where she needed to be. I knew this was going to take patience to build her trust and slowly but surely that’s exactly what happened. She started to let me take her on longer walks. She started to let me handle her pups. She slowly started to like Penny. It’s amazing what a dog shuffle can do for multiple dogs in the house (that’s another blog, though!).

After about 4 weeks, she was done nursing and I was warned when she was done, she was DONE. The puppies started to grow teeth and she was just over it. It was time to take her to, The Orphanage, to find a home. It was hard to leave her there and every time she saw me, she would FREAK OUT. I know I was a familiar face to her and I smelled like her pups. And as hard as it was, I knew it was the right thing to do. LC wasn’t even there for 2 weeks and she got adopted! Now, I haven’t been in animal rescue all that long but I’ve never seen the mom get adopted before her babies! I was not there for the adoption but her owner brought her in one day when I was there. She did not freak out and was calm as could be. It just happened to be the day that everyone that would help take care of her was there, too. She calmly went up to all of us, gave us kisses and went right back to her owner. I’m telling you, it’s such a beautiful thing seeing a foster go to the right family. And, LC had found hers.

Since, LC, has been gone it’s been all me and the 9 pups. I take that back. It’s been me with plenty of help and the 9 pups. It’s been a constant routine, though. My day starts at about 6am for the “1^st shift” and ends between 10-11am, I get a 3 hour (break) and then it’s back at it again. My day stops around 7pm. Lots of baths, lots of poop and lots of food and water, is involved. Keep in mind, I still need to give Wally his meds, take care of Sully & Lilly, and then there are these other dogs in my house named, Penny & Elvis. Man, I have much respect for LC. These puppies take a lot out of you!

Since this is my first experience with puppies, I’m assuming I’ve done a good job with them being that they’re fat, loud and eat like crazy! And the fact that their mom got adopted so quickly probably says a lot about how these pups are going to grow up. These pups will be looking for their forever home this Saturday at, Priceless Pet Rescue!

The funny thing is, about 20 minutes before these puppies came into my life I had told my friend, and I quote, “I never want to foster puppies.” But this has been such a rewarding experience. These puppies get a fresh start at life and I can honestly say I helped out with that. They’ve made me smile when I’ve had a bad day. They’ve exposed a very maternal side of Penny that I didn’t know existed, as well. I would be surprised if I don’t adopt out all 9 puppies this Saturday. Not sure what I’ll be doing with my mornings when they’re gone but something tells me another foster(s) is waiting for me!