The story began with a phonecall from Sandie. I have 6 dogs to come over can you cope? The dogs were Alice, Lisa and Carrie who had been rescued by the ISPCA from horrendous conditions in a dreadful puppy farm and they had been placed into Sandies care for rehabilitation and rehoming. The others were Duke, Simba and Poppy.
Colin transported them over from Dublin to Holyhead on the ferry and drove them down to Oxfordshire where Duke and Poppy stayed with Julie and Simba went to Gill for foster.
Pauline, Joy, Julie, Gill and Colin were all needed to gently coax the 3 terrified girls from Colins van into Paulines van as they clung tightly to one another and refused to budge. In the end it was Poppy who told them all was OK and they could come out..first Lisa then Alice and then Carrie. Pauline then took them to London and they spent their first night on UK soil huddled together under Sandras table.
Sandras story
It was Friday morning, Pauline had left with Carrie and I was getting ready for work and upstairs in the bathroom when I heard squealing noises and one of the dogs barking. I thought it was something on the television upsetting the Alice and Lisa. It sounded like dolphins talking. I ran down the stairs to switch the television off, thinking it was that, to be greeted by a puppy on the floor. I thought I was seeing things and I went into total shock. This puppy was to be called Teddie (now Jumble).
I called the vet..... the conversation was very disjointed with them and bordering on gibberish. I asked if they could come to my home as I have no car or anyone around close by with a car but unfortunately, Rory (the chief vet) had a day off and they were short of staff and advised me to try and get over to them.
When I got off the phone, Alice by now was very distressed and was very rough with the puppy and after watching from around the corner of the door, I decided to put the pup in a towel and in the bath for safety. I then tried to get a taxi.. imagine asking for a taxi and telling them that there is not only a dog, but a dog giving birth……….. it was a tad difficult to say the least. I begged and pleaded and eventually they send round a small van.
When the driver saw the situation, he was not too keen....but we put sheets in the back and then off we went, only 2 mins down the road, to the vets. Well, Alice was going berserk, wanting to come to the front to get her first pup, meanwhile she was giving birth in the back of the van to the second pup! The driver was now quite upset to say the least so I tell him, whatever his damages, I will pay!!
We got to the vet and created mayhem there of course. They advised me that Rory, who was on his day off, is on his way to my house with a nurse, which was very nice of him so they called him on his mobile and he was now on his way back to the clinic. We tried to get Alice out of the van without her running off meanwhile the van driver is standing there, disgusted by the smell in the back of his van. I was shaking like a leaf, thinking I need a brandy (this is 9.30 in the morning) . We found the second puppy had been hidden under the floor boards of the back of the van, we could hear the squealing. I thought. Thank god, now the vet can take over.
We called this pup Rory after the vet who helped to save him. One more very tiny pup was born, this was Rupert, then another arrived but he was still-born so we called him Angel . Some time later the vet informed me that they need to do a caesarian on Alice as there is one more puppy to go, but this one was also still-born sadly. We called him Hope.
Alice went back home the same night but the vet advised that we could not leave the puppies with her as she was very distressed and handled them roughly and possibly might even try to eat them. They had kept them separate from her and had been bottle feeding. The advice was to keep them separate from her, to feed the puppies off her if we could but if not to bottle feed and to make certain to keep Lisa well away from her and the puppies.
Melissa, my neighbour, helped with getting us all home, and as she has had cats with kittens, and was used to feeding, she stayed and helped with setting up a system. I had put Lisa in the sitting room, but Alice, who depended totally on her, was looking for her and getting very upset. We decided to take a calculated risk and took Lisa out of the sitting room into where Alice was and a joyous reunion took place.
With her friend (or we suspected her mother) Lisa nearby, Alice was now much calmer and Melissa and I placed the puppies with her, ensuring that we had control of Alices head in case she suddenly attacked the pups. She did have a go a few times, then all settled down and the puppies began feeding well. All of this was happening underneath the kitchen table which had become sanctuary to Alice. We spent the rest of the evening under the table, having a few heart attacks every so often as we were still worried that she might still hurt them.
The next morning, Saturday, it seemed Alice was a bit more settled and by the afternoon, she was with her pups all the time, pups were feeding and she was cleaning them lots. We were constantly monitoring her thought..I was absolutely knackered by now, as I had had very little sleep, doing the assisted feeding throughout the night.... but it was so very rewarding.
There were two occasions when Alice told Lisa it was now time for her to back off as she was now OK. Up until then Lisa was next to Alice and this gave Alice the support she needed. You can see from the picture of the two with the 3 puppies how sweet they were together.
Saturday night, I slept downstairs with Alice and pups in a box, but she is not settled, and keeps on getting up, getting agitated so I decided to put the puppies back in their box and leave mum in the kitchen with Lisa.
At 6.30 am, all is going well, we have had another major feed, which went very smoothly and you should have seen the puppies, they are all very gregarious. Teddie, the first born and biggest one, is the size of a big hamster and looks a bit like that, the other 2 are much smaller but seem very strong and forward. Rory the vet said that Rupert was bossing Teddie around.
I wrote this sitting at the kitchen table, the puppies in their box, fast asleep, Alice and Lisa, fast asleep as well at my feet under the kitchen table.
Update on the surprise puppies in London.
On day 11, 25 October their weights are: Teddy 1060g (increased his weight by 685g) Rory 845g (increased his weight by 570g) and Rupert 680g (increased his weight by 455g) over 8 days! We are well pleased. They are looked after well by Alice, the mum. She is often with Lisa but checks on her babes regularly and when they need feeding or cleaning she jumps in the box and tends to them. This was different to when the pups first were born, when she was very aggressive with them due to stress and we had to keep them separate from her and watch her when we helped her feed the pups. But now, she is such a lovely mum. It brings tears to my eyes when I see how lovely she is with them. Rupert looks like mum, he has a black nose and dark around the mouth. Lisa and Alice started wagging their tails a few days ago, which was such a step forward. Now Lisa can not stop wagging her tail. Alice is also still very traumatised with her past in the puppy farm but she is getting better every day. We almost had play started today. I think it will not be long before play commences!! Carrie, the third companion, who is being fostered with Carol, is also still so very traumatised by whatever abuse they had to all put up with. But now they are all safe and surrounded by love and good food!! Alice loves her food. A few days ago I was just about to have a coffee and biscuits, I had left the biscuit jar (closed with lid) on the table, when I realised she was walking around with the lid in her mouth. How did she manage to do that? Lisa and Alice are still holding their wee for long periods and I really need to coax them on this, but we are getting there. I feel that they had to hide that in the puppy farm or else they would get into trouble with probably nowhere to go. So whatever they did they would get punished. Initially they were very submissive and they would hang their heads and not look at you as if I don't see you, you can't hurt me They have been very good with visitors and everyone thinks they are beautiful and especially the puppies of course. They are so chilled out most of the time. Thank you to Pauline and Christine, Pea and Nix and Kaz who have or will be puppy sitting. For me, it has been and still is, a wonderful experience I would not have missed for the world.
On Saturday 14 October 2006 it was the surprise puppies first birthday, would you believe! How time flies......
We had a great afternoon with Brenda, forever mum to Alice, as you can see from these pictures on
flickr
Update on Rory and Rupert
A sad change in his familys circumstances has meant that Rory had to seek a new home but, much to our delight, he has gone to live with his brother Rupert with Nigel, Sheila and Anne-Marie. Nigel says How good can our lives get with these two around us, they have so much fun together and play beautifully out with other dogs, and tonight, La piece de resistance, synchronised pooing whilst on lead. How sad can I get? Loving every minute, except when I am away from them.
JUMBLE THEN AND NOW
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