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GSRNE took in a young emaciated female from
a shelter in CT. She passed through a couple of vets along the way, and no one
realized she was pregnant. Then, once settled with her foster dad, there
were suspicions as her belly began to show, and so a vet appointment had been made for an ultrasound
for the following Monday. It was believed
that if she truly was pregnant, they had at least several weeks to plan.
Frieda at intake a few weeks before whelping. She
looked fairly "normal"
because she actually was so emaciated (which we found after she whelped)
In the meantime, several days prior to the vet appointment, her foster dad,
Danny, had a commitment to attend a weekend convention in Alabama, and left
Frieda under the care of his roommate and an excellent dog sitter, who is
also a Husky rescue volunteer.
Now comes the fun part. After working a 14 hour night shift, I had pulled
into my driveway, turned the key off, and took a catnap. I ignored the
ringing of my cell phone until they called for a third time in a row. It was
a frantic dog sitter on the other line to proclaim that Frieda was having
puppies (on roommate's leather couch) and she needed some direction. She had
been summoned to the house by foster dad's roommate, checked the foster's
contact book for GSRNE, and started making calls to everyone on the list. I
then got a hold of a board member and told her I was on the way down, and
she in turn called the dog sitter for support, got the wheels spinning
within the rescue, and prepared for a road trip.
Before heading out, I ran into my house, changed, settled the dogs, picked
up another volunteer to help keep me awake and a large Dunkins along the way,
and arrived with camera in hand. Although we've taken in litters, GSRNE has
never had a pregnant dog in the history of the rescue, so this is a first.
And this was MY first time exposed to puppies this young.
The photo story is to follow....
Day One: Saturday, October 10th
I started
photographing just before noontime.
"Hi, I'm Frieda, and these are my hours old newborns,
three boys and one
girl."
"At THIS point, I think the miracle of life is that new moms are able
to
survive the miracle of birth."
"You look NOTHING like your father."
"Wait, who am I kiddin'? I have NO idea who the father(s) of my children
is...are."
"Does NOT smell sweet down there. Maybe I'm lost."
"Hey, quit pushing me out of the way."
"There BETTER be some milk left for me when I get in there!"
"I'm Barbara, the proud dog sitter who stayed with
Frieda as she delivered
her pups."
"You guys stay right here while auntie Barbara freshens up our bed."
"Thanks for moving us upstairs to the comfy crate, Barb.
That red leather couch was SUCH a poor delivery choice."
"Look at how cute they are."
"I'm so glad your mom made it out of the shelter, just on time, little one."
"Shelter! NO, we could NEVER survive in a shelter."
"Yeah, we would get very SICK."
"Hey, not me, I'm a lot tougher than you are, bro'."
"Don't you worry, Frieda, you and your babies are safe with us now,
forever
and ever."
"You guys were definitely born into the right family."
(Day two coming up next)
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