Archive for the ‘Bella’ Category
Pippen is 4 years old now
Pippen in 2005
I received a set of photos from a puppy adopted nearly 4 years ago from our first pregnant mama dog (Bella) fostering experience in 2005. Bella was the mama and the puppy’s name is Pippin.
Notice the shared likeness to Hermes, Pippin’s brother and even to her mama, Bella. It is crazy how similar and how different puppies look from one another and from their mamas. Genetics…crazy.
It means so much to me to get pictures of and updates about my adopted puppies, thanks to Pippin’s family for emailing this to me!! Please send in your stories and photos and we will post them!
Feature Article
Elburn Herald photos by Sarah Rivers
There is a feature article in the current edition of the Elburn Herald, a local paper that has been publishing for more than 100 years. Susan O’Neill wrote the feature and Sarah Rivers took the photos. Fun!
Read Giving Puppies a Chance for Life
Update: The Elburn Herald is updating their website, so you can try this link also. Or just navigate from www.ElburnHerald.com
It’s a really good article, farily long too. We kind of weave through the story of our foster experiences as well as our own dogs. Enjoy – and submit your comments at the end of this post!
Good Books and What They Don’t Say
I love my books. I have used two to help me understand what things to expect as I work with my foster mamas. Neither of these books are the definitive, must-have reads that some of my books are to me. But they are sound books with good advice and they are books I happened to have around or were able to find on a quick run to the bookstore. They are:
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However, there are some things that they don’t tell you in books:
• Mama dogs have loose stools, like soft serve ice cream (sorry, sort of gross) especially if you’re feeding them a rich diet. Expect this and don’t assume there is anything wrong unless it is clear that the mama is lethargic or unwell, or if the poop stinks to the high heavens of if there is blood in the stool. All of these are signs of illness (likely parasites) and need to be addressed by the vet. A good rule of thumb is to get a stool sample tested by the vet right when the mama arrives and another a few weeks later. Don’t assume a clear sample is really clear. Some of these parasites take awhile to show up. And don’t assume that you can’t catch what the mama has. Many parasites are transmittable to humans. Something I learned all too well over the summer when I caught giardia from Sweetie. The treatment was effective and I’m fine now but the medication was so strong it literally took me months to feel normal in my gut again.
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