The Lucky 7 Puppies

I had no sooner announced that I absolutely had to take a break from fostering (68 puppies since May is a lot!) than we were contacted by a person in NE Georgia begging us to take a litter of 7 puppies. This area is so rural that they do not have a shelter. They have one animal control person who takes the animals to a vet where they are held for 5 days and then, if not claimed, are euthanized! Oh no!!!!!! What to do? What to do?

Enter our wonderful Cynthia and her equally wonderful husband Tex. They have fostered our adult dogs but bravely offered to take in this litter. Joy!!!! Sara, the volunteer for Georgia, drove them down yesterday on her way to Disney with her family. Woken up by the litter this morning at 6am, Cynthia and Tex got to enjoy the sunrise with a cup of coffee!

We believe that these beautiful babies are Border Collie/Australian mix puppies. Whatever they are, they are stinkin’ cute!!! 5 girls, 2 boys, let me introduce you then keep reading to enjoy Cynthia’s diary:

Queen of Hearts has lovely subtle markings. She is self-confident and has an independent streak, however she is also a great little cuddler. She has a calm and fun-loving nature

Miss Reno not only looks like her sister Vegas, but acts like her too! Very lively, she jumps up and down with Vegas, putting on a funny show!!!
Adoption Pending

Joker is a sweet boy with very soft fur. A playful fellow, he sometimes seems a bit overwhelmed by his littermates. He loves to be held but be warned ~ sleepy head near ‘nough passes out in your arms! The gentlest of the litter. Adoption Pending

Cher is the smallest of the litter, just half the size of most of the others. Her fur is silky smooth. She has a feisty spirit but simply adores being held. Something tells me this one is destined to be spoiled!!! Adoption Pending.

If you are considering one of these puppies for your family, please read about our adoption process and then e-mail holly.thedogliberator@gmail.com

Here is Cynthia’s diary. Enjoy!!!

Notes from a first time Puppy Foster.

01/05/11: Commit to taking 7 count them 7 puppies. Nothing like diving in feet first. I’ve always done that. BUT thought I might know better by now!! Holly gives me an excellent crash Course in Puppy 101.

01/06/11: Learn late afternoon that the puppies are coming tomorrow!! Hurry up and get ready!

01/07/11: Drive to Ocala (3 hrs.) meet Sara the transport and her family. Had to try to convince Sara’s crying 7 yr. old boy that the puppy he fell in love with ” Queen of Hearts” needs to come home with me…and told him all about the “Little Dog Liberators” I know about. He had good taste, she seems to be everyone’s favorite! His Mom said he’ll be fine as soon as they get to Disneyworld. Drive home was long, too much traffic this time of year. Babies get here and enjoy dinner and their outside playpen and sleep fairly well til morning.

01/08/11: Tex wakes them up at 5:45. This is Saturday!! The reluctant puppy foster couldn’t wait. That’s the LAST time he is going to do that! They are now our morning entertainment. Who needs the T.V. news anyhow, it is depressing. We take photos and video with friends and do more introducing to our girls. I swear they feel that “The Aliens have Landed” More friends stop by in the evening and we have conversation about the state of shelters,and why our dogs cost so much, etc. I thought they would be tired and sleep well. I was wrong. Meanwhile photos and video are already posted.

01/09/11: Wake up was 5:30. We are early risers, but now I am seriously tired ! They seem desperately needy today….lot’s of cuddling with each one…Miss Reno and her cohort/twin Vegas are jump and climb experts and the big ones, Lucky Lady and Gambler learn to dig…so we do upgrades to the outside playpen. It amazes me how much food and water these pups ingest and how quickly their little systems expel said material. They need a lot of attention all day. We took them into the living room around 7:30 and they played hard for 1-1/2 hrs. Bella and Evie were there also, Evie escaped the alien invasion to the safe outside world. Bella needed a few corrections, then decided to work with them. We enjoyed seeing her begin her herding with them! She would push the escapes back with her nose, or a look from her eyes…it’s working! I had hoped the puppies would give her mental stimulation as we have never had 7 moving, squirming critters here at one time and our experiment with the two chickens a couple yrs. ago did not go as planned. The puppies sleep really well.

01/10/11: Wake up was 4:30. Tex had to get up real early and enter some data into the computer before work , and the puppy crate is in the office. Puppies all ran out as they are hard to carry…Bella did well keeping the strays together til we could pick them up and get them in the pen. She now lays a few feet away to watch over them. I love that. Evie continues to avoid the aliens. They seem much less starved for attention today and are happily amusing one another and everything is much better. At 10:30 a.m. it actually looks like I can get some work done in the studio, maybe a nap first. Their playpen is right outside my studio so Bella and I can both keep an eye on them. Their little personalities are definitely showing. That is the fun part. I feel they are already feeling so much more secure. The next two weeks their personalities will really develop. Looking forward to evening playtime. So far we have gone through 14 puppy marrow bones. The grocery raised their price on marrow bones recently! Everything goes up in season. The puppies enjoy music, marrow bones, balls, toys, everything else and everybody.

1/12/11: We are starting to figure out this baby thing !! This morning is the first day I actually feel well rested. Puppies waited until 6 a.m. to go out and that is our normal wake-up time anyhow. And they were not pitching fits in their crate last night. Yesterday I started taking two at a time out of their outside playpen to allow them to run around in the larger yard, and gave Bella the opportunity to do her “puppy nanny” thing. She has really gotten it down. She stands guard and let’s them do their thing but pushes them back together with a look and various other postures if they run too far, and if one is too out of control she lays it down and puts her head over it until the puppy “gets it” I am so pleased with this. She needs an immense amount of mental stimulation and physical, but she has really started to be less demanding now that she has a new job to do. Evie continues to avoid “the drunken midgets” at all costs, except to keep an eye on them from a distance. The comedian Tracey Ullmann once used that term to describe her children when they were all under the age of 6 and it stuck with me!! It definitely fits puppies! I think all three cats are simply appalled at this new turn of events!

Evening romper room (living room playtime) is very fun and tires them out for bedtime. I think I can hear them growing! They are mastering such skills as “stalking anything and anyone”, “climbing in laps and getting the prime spot,” “leaping to tremendous heights, and then landing with grace” (NOT).
Their personalities are really developing. Joker and Cher are the sweetest snugglers and play more gently. They are the smallest. Gambler and Lady Luck are in cahoots and run everywhere and always test the boundaries. Vegas and Reno are the twin masters of trouble, and Queen of Hearts just sort of confidently runs the course of whatever anyone else is doing, and when she is done she passes out right in the middle of everything, oblivious to mayhem.

January 31st Update – Cher:

Things went really well!! Last night she slept in her crate, next to my bed, from 9:45pm to 3:30am then after a potty break slept from 3:45am to 6:00am! From 6:00am on..I fed them and let them play. Boy does this girl like to eat, she will have her “Buddha belly” back in no time!

I figured out a name… Nala. She kinda reminds me of Nala from The Lion King. In Swahili, Nala means “gift.” ..think its perfect! 🙂

Her lil personality is starting to show more and more. It’s so funny!! She just pounces around the room when she wants to play Hahahahahahahaha then just crawls in my lap when she’s done and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz falls right to sleep!!!