We've got puppies!! 8 of them!!

Happily, we will only have them for a few weeks. On Tuesday I read on facebook that the local Humane Society was in need of a foster family for a nursing mom and pups. I have been to their facility and know that it is not a great place for a litter and it broke my heart thinking about it. You know, when you read or see something and you know instantly, in your gut, this is something for you. Well, it was like that, and luckily, Bruce felt similarly (o.k. or maybe he just wants to keep his wife happy and if 6 weeks of cleaning up puppy poop will do it....) So, yesterday we went over to the shelter and picked them up.
This is the mom, Griffin calls her Sunblossom, Bruce and I tend to call her Big Mama. She is doing pretty well, all things considered. About 10 days ago she was found in the drop box when the employees opened up the shelter. 2 days later she had 8 puppies. This is when her history starts...isn't that sooo sad. Who knows what she has been through before that. She has been tolerant/friendly of the humans here at our house. I am guessing she has been an outside dog up until this point as she is somewhat detached from us. She is not totally thrilled if we touch her puppies in front of her, but not aggressive. She will let me pick them up if I really need to, as they tend to roll away from her and she has trouble nudging them over the blankets back to the puppy pile. We don't let the kids in the room with the puppies unless Big Mama is outside. The shelter staff warned us that they didn't know if she was potty trained or not. Happily, she is. She will whine a bit when she needs to go outside. She kind of whines when we take her out, always looking back at the house, thinking of her puppies and so eager to get back to them. She has had two big accidents in the house but we are hoping that is due to stress, us missing her signals and the change in diet.
We originally had her and the puppies gated into the dining room. Unfortunately as soon as she saw Lottie on the other side of the gate she got super protective of her puppies and actually jumped the baby gate to get to Lottie. We have moved her back to our laundry/art room. This room has a door with a window in it connecting it to the kitchen and it's own door going outside which is working out perfectly. We will finish getting my craft stuff out this weekend and the puppies will have the whole room to themselves. I am a little sad that Big Mama won't be able to be more apart of our family, but I think this is the safest option for everyone. Since being moved back there she has really settled in and is taking good care of her puppies.

The kids are absolutely loving interacting with Sunblossom and the puppies. Lucy is constantly asking to go back to be with the puppies. They are only 8 days old today, they don't walk, don't even have their eyes open. I am hoping that as they get bigger and more mobile, Sunblossom will relax around them and we can all interact more.

Last night the kids held the puppies while I changed the blankets. They have been so gentle. I think this is going to be an awesome learning experience for them. I hope they learn how to respect a mama animal and very little babies, are able to observe the physical development of the puppies, understand that doing your part in the community is not only important but rewarding, and learn that there are things that are only a part of your life for a short time (we are not keeping any of these puppies!) and that we need to enjoy them and then let them go.
I already posted this on fb, but in case you missed it, we are in dire need of more towels and comforters. I am going to have to be changing and washing bedding every few hours for now. I also need lots of newspaper as it is quickly becoming apparent that I need to ring their nest in newspaper and also set up an area for Big Mama if we are not there when she needs to go.
I can pick them up or if you can drop them off that would be so rad! If I don't answer the door, just leave them on the front porch - I will be checking often.

Thanks so much for the support. I will be posting lots of puppy pictures over the weeks to come, to be sure. Big Mama is already committed to a forever home - YEAH!!!!- but these sweet puppies will all be available for adoption once they are weaned in 6 weeks or so. Please mention them to your friends and family that might be looking for the right puppy to bring into their family. I will be posting updates and pictures here on my blog so they can watch their puppy develop. Let's try to get all these puppies spoken for so none of them have to go back to the shelter!!! All perspective owners will need to go through the Hopkins County Humane Society for the adoption process.