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:decision:
Some of you may remember me talking about Labs- last week I had finally narrowed down the breeder search and was seriously deciding if it might be the right time to put a deposit on one of the pups.
and then I got on facebook.
Somehow first thing on my news feed was this tiny little corgi looking dog- at one of the animal controls (within an hour of my house). The short description was that she had been dropped off, had a litter, and was now looking for a home. It was urgent- she had already been at the shelter for a month and was probably not going to have more than another few days.
Normally I don't cave with dogs- of all the puppies we've fostered over the past 8 years, we've only adopted the service dog that flunked out. Something compelled me to drive down to the rescue and tell them to hold her until today when I could get her to my parents house (I'm in college and can't have dogs where I live this year, but next year we can have breeds under 40 lbs, so I had been looking at dogs that might fufill this in case I wanted to bring them up for a weekend or something.)
So many dogs at the shelter were brought in that she was moved to a crate in one of their volunteers houses- but she is fostering quite a few other dogs and seemed to have it suprisingly under control for a litter of puppies and about five other dogs- I was impressed.
So in short- dog (we need a name) was dropped off at the shelter on 1/17. She gave birth on 1/20. Her milk began to dry up and they tried to use surrogate mothers, but the last of the puppies passed away about a week ago. I then saw her at the shelter on Monday, she was moved to a crate in the garage tuesday, and has been crated pretty much all week.
She's so scared. I know it takes adult dogs a month or two to settle in, and I'm just the type that panics when there's no need to.
Im exhausted, but I was hoping I might get some pointers for tomorrow. I couldnt get my vet to squeeze in an entire wellness visit but we are going to get her bloodwork done to check for heartworms.
-Her stomach is super gurgly. like LOUD gassy noises. She was on cheap purina, we feed Kirkland (I know, not excellent but better than purina) and I was wondering if I should give her puppy or adult. She's a good weight now, but does she need the extra puppy food even though theres no more puppies? Her teats are still big. Should I do rice and chicken with some nutrical for a few days and then switch over to dry? She's just been so many places and so stressed out I'm wondering whats best.
-How long would you normally wait from the date of whelping to spay her? Our two dogs are neutered, but I really dont want her to go into heat again. I didn't want to do it at the shelter because her teats are still big- about when do they return back to normal and would making a spay appointment for the end of March be too soon?
![]()
I know this was all of a sudden but something was gnawing at me and I had to get her out of there. Normally I feel like I know exactly what to do with my fosters, but the pregnancy and after effects I know nothing about.
If anyone else wants to throw in anything that'd be great! I'm just tired right now and she really wants to sleep next to me. I normally dont let our dogs on the bed, but I think (hopefully?) it might help her to just feel more secure.
In general- what can I do to help this very rocky transition. I'll put up better pics tomorrow.
Some of you may remember me talking about Labs- last week I had finally narrowed down the breeder search and was seriously deciding if it might be the right time to put a deposit on one of the pups.
and then I got on facebook.
Somehow first thing on my news feed was this tiny little corgi looking dog- at one of the animal controls (within an hour of my house). The short description was that she had been dropped off, had a litter, and was now looking for a home. It was urgent- she had already been at the shelter for a month and was probably not going to have more than another few days.
Normally I don't cave with dogs- of all the puppies we've fostered over the past 8 years, we've only adopted the service dog that flunked out. Something compelled me to drive down to the rescue and tell them to hold her until today when I could get her to my parents house (I'm in college and can't have dogs where I live this year, but next year we can have breeds under 40 lbs, so I had been looking at dogs that might fufill this in case I wanted to bring them up for a weekend or something.)
So many dogs at the shelter were brought in that she was moved to a crate in one of their volunteers houses- but she is fostering quite a few other dogs and seemed to have it suprisingly under control for a litter of puppies and about five other dogs- I was impressed.
So in short- dog (we need a name) was dropped off at the shelter on 1/17. She gave birth on 1/20. Her milk began to dry up and they tried to use surrogate mothers, but the last of the puppies passed away about a week ago. I then saw her at the shelter on Monday, she was moved to a crate in the garage tuesday, and has been crated pretty much all week.
She's so scared. I know it takes adult dogs a month or two to settle in, and I'm just the type that panics when there's no need to.
Im exhausted, but I was hoping I might get some pointers for tomorrow. I couldnt get my vet to squeeze in an entire wellness visit but we are going to get her bloodwork done to check for heartworms.
-Her stomach is super gurgly. like LOUD gassy noises. She was on cheap purina, we feed Kirkland (I know, not excellent but better than purina) and I was wondering if I should give her puppy or adult. She's a good weight now, but does she need the extra puppy food even though theres no more puppies? Her teats are still big. Should I do rice and chicken with some nutrical for a few days and then switch over to dry? She's just been so many places and so stressed out I'm wondering whats best.
-How long would you normally wait from the date of whelping to spay her? Our two dogs are neutered, but I really dont want her to go into heat again. I didn't want to do it at the shelter because her teats are still big- about when do they return back to normal and would making a spay appointment for the end of March be too soon?
I know this was all of a sudden but something was gnawing at me and I had to get her out of there. Normally I feel like I know exactly what to do with my fosters, but the pregnancy and after effects I know nothing about.
If anyone else wants to throw in anything that'd be great! I'm just tired right now and she really wants to sleep next to me. I normally dont let our dogs on the bed, but I think (hopefully?) it might help her to just feel more secure.
In general- what can I do to help this very rocky transition. I'll put up better pics tomorrow.
