I received a note from Ashley this afternoon, asking if I would like to trade Spencer for three 2-day old puppies. We were going to send Spencer to a new home on Saturday anyway, and I really like taking care of puppies, so it was a no brainer.
This afternoon, Spencer and I took our last ride together and I left him at the SPCA Thrift Shop where, presumably, someone has picked him up and taken him home. I do miss the little guy, but I don't miss the problems he has been causing the last couple of weeks.
Then I drove out to the animal shelter to pick up the little puppies.
Megan came out from the back hold this tiny little bundle in a towel and said that they were still moving so she was hopeful. Apparently the Mom hadn't been taking care of them. I carried the tiny bundle to the car and put it on the floor of the back seat and opened it to see what I had.
I only saw 2 pups (there are actually three) and when I touched them they were very cold. They needed a heating pad NOW.
We drove home and I left them in the car in the sun (where they could keep warm) while I washed out a carrier and fixed it for bedding and a heating pad. Then I brought the package in and let the other dogs sniff it. I finally settled the pups into the cage and made some formula, 1 Tbsp of powder which makes 2 Tbsp of liquid formula, and dug out my baby bottle with the smallest nipple.
I took out the first pup. All three are kind of a dark chocolate brown (Ashley says they are shepard mixes). Two have tails and one does not (which seems strange). I had to figure out a way to tell them apart, so names were obviously the first order of business while I fed them.
The first pup I picked up had kind of a star on his chest, so I called him Star (all pups are referred to as "he" now because I haven't figured out what the gender is). Interestingly, he is the only one of the puppies who has no tail.
He ate the best of all three at this first feeding, but when I went to feed him 2 hours later, he wasn't looking good at all. He seemed to eat, but then didnt seem to be able to get his tongue back in his head and began a gasping sound that I've seen in dying puppies before. Then his body went totally rigid. Legs straight out, tongue hanging out of his mouth. No matter how I moved him, he didn't change that rigid position. I told Ashley it was like he had died and went into rigor mortis instantly. But as I massaged him and talked to him, his body began to soften. When I checked him an hour later, he seemed just fine.
The second pup I picked up looked like he had an upside down map of Australia on his chest, so I named him Ozzie.
Ozzie is the biggest and most active. He weighs 6-1/2 oz (the other two each weight 6 oz). This photo is blurry because he was flailing arund in my hand.
The third pup has a very red mouth (almost looks like he's wearing red lipstick) and red paws, so I named him Red.
An hour after their first feeding, he was whimpering, so I picked him up and he became "floppy," reminding me of puppies I've known who have died. By the time I fed them the last time, he was just fine and ate well.
I know that things can go sour with newborn orphans in an eyeblink, so I'm going to be watching these guys very carefully. I had a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, but I rescheduled and am going to be at home, keeping a very strict 2-3 hour schedule and giving them lots of skin stimulation throughout the day.
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