[Mishmash] Backfire

[LCR at rochester.rr.com]

Someone talking about rescuing animals reminded me of a personal experience 
a few years ago.

I had a dog that had a dog house outside as he was a semi-large dog and I 
was unable to keep him inside the house.  A stray female dog wandered into 
our yard one day and made friends with him.  We would often see her with him 
and then she would leave.  One day I looked outside as I heard a loud 
whining.  My dog had pulled straw out of his house and was laying on the 
straw outside the doghouse.  I went outside to see what he was whining about 
as he had his nose up in the air and he was quite loud.

When I looked inside the doghouse, the female dog was in the doghouse and 
she was giving birth to puppies.  She was doing ok so as it seemed to alarm 
her I moved away and talked to my dog and he quieted down.  I went back into 
the house and later in the evening i looked inside the dog house and she was 
sleeping with the puppies.  Their seemed to be several of them.

The next morning I looked out side and she was crossing the street.  I went 
outside and looked inside the house and there were 7 puppies.  I left plenty 
food for my dog and her and went back inside.

Coming home from somewhere the next day, i cried out with pain, there in the 
street just before I got home was the female dog.  You could tell she was 
dead, someone had hit her.  I went home and cried, first for her, then the 
puppies, then went out and looked inside the dog house at the puppies.  I 
knew that she had died sometime that day because she wasn't there during the 
morning.  My dog kept whining because the puppies were awake and grumbling a 
little.  He sure didn't know what to do.

I called a local vet and asked him what to feed them because I knew they'd 
die before long.  He told me and I made the mixture and got a box and went 
outside and got the puppies and brought them into the house.  He told me to 
get a eyedropper and feed them.  I did.  Sometimes they rejected the mixture 
but I kept trying until they learned that was it, they better take it.  It 
didn't take long for them to start grabbing it with their mouth.  When they 
got older they would bounce out of the box and come into my bedroom and yip 
at me until I got up and fed them.  They were the funniest little things.  I 
had some funny moments raising them.

I fed them until weaning stage and called the local Friends of Animals ( a 
wonderful organization) and they found homes for all of them. I watched them 
go one by one, and it was a little sad as I had bonded with them.   I was 
worse than Mother Hen, I wanted to give all of the people a background check 
but that wasn't feasible.

The friends of animal eventually had to disband there, just my intuition, 
but I would say probably for lack of funds.  I think it was great what they 
did for animals in that area.

The thing that puzzles me the most is how smart they were.   Did she make my 
dog leave his doghouse, or was it his idea, and I was amazed that he pulled 
straw out of the doghouse to lay on.  He left her some too.  Smart dog.  I 
eventually gave him to my family who lived out of town where he could run 
free instead of being tied up. It was the best thing for him.

Linda

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Susan Flewelling" <kmm at nucleus.com>
To: "Mishmash" <mishmash at mishmash.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 11:02 AM
Subject: Re: [Mishmash] Backfire


> At 08:50 AM 2/16/08, you wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>Linda
>
> Thanks, Linda - made my day!
>
> Susan
>
>
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