October 7, 2007 DAY TWO

I'm already getting requests and even a "demand" for adoptions of these babies. I have to keep reminding people that they will not be ready for adoption until they are spayed and neutered at 3 months. I wish people were as concerned with Scarlett as they are with the puppies. People keep forgetting the madness she and the puppies have already been through and that they are not even out of the woods yet. Adoption is the last thing on my mind right now. We need to get them healthy first.

Last night was a little hairy. Scarlett kept covering her babies. I was scared that there was something wrong with them, so I kept putting them back by her hoping she'd allow them to nurse. She did every time. Today, the puppies are making "puppy noises" for the first time. They don't do it a lot, but I feel a little better about them. Scarlett is eating very well. She's eating a mixture of high-protein dog food, raw egg, cottage cheese and milk supplement for dogs. She's eating about 3 cups per day, and finishing every bite.
She is super smart, too. She has not pottied in her x-pen at all, and even used the doggie door to go outside and potty. She is keeping her babies very clean. She keeps licking them and she's been laying with them all day.

She'll go with her puppies tomorrow to the vet to be checked over.

She'll need a heart-worm test, skin scrape (to determine exactly what is causing her hair loss), vaccinations (appropriate for a whelping mother) a good worming, and an over-all check up.

The puppies will get a once-over and a worming. We'll get a better idea about everyone's ages. I'm guessing the puppies are about 2 weeks and 1 day old, since their eyes just opened yesterday. I'm guessing Scarlett is about 3 or 4.

She is amazingly sweet despite all she's been through. I wish I knew who did this to her. I'm tempted to take out an ad in the newspaper offering a reward to find out who did this.

To leave a mother and 6 new-born puppies in a pet taxi in the full-blown heat is criminal. One way or another, I hope they pay for what they did.


Here is the crate they were "dumped" in and left for dead in the scorching heat:




Momma and babies





Staying strong, despite the odds: