When Loss Leads to Love
In my previous post, How Our Pet Journey Began, I wrote about Max. Max was a phenomenal dog and a beloved family member. When we said goodbye to him when Cancer took his quality of life away, we were devastated. When someone you love is gone, there is an emptiness around. The empty kennel, dog bed, or spot by your feet at night. Even his anxiety left a void. The house was quieter. Every time we say goodbye to a pet, we are astonished at the quiet that remains. Quite frankly, it would be enjoyable, if we weren’t so used to the noise.
Max loved everyone. He loved every dog he met, took care of every baby, comforted every sick person. The love he gave and the comfort he got from that connection were tremendous. Letting go of him at Thanksgiving, with family visiting and so much celebrating, was difficult. With the Christmas season approaching, emotions ran high. One of our local animal shelters posted about three fpuppies; Jingle Kringle and Noel. They were only 5 weeks old and needed a home for the holidays and the shelter was looking for fosters. Our family decided that fostering them would be an awesome way to honor Max and the love he gave. So… we filled out a foster application and picked them up.
My husband and I had dealt with various health issues with our dogs before, but this batch of puppies was full of challenges. They had visibly distended (round) bellies from ringworms, coccidia and tapeworms. They weren’t ready for hard food, so they ate a mixture of canned food with formula added to it for nutrients. They also developed an upper respiratory infection, which is not uncommon for shelter puppies. Because they were so young, their weight needed to be monitored to ensure they were growing well. We bought a baby scale and I kept meticulous records with photos for the shelter. I also learned how to make growth charts in Google Sheets. They fed at least 4 times a day and were on several medications. We had labeled syringes and charts lined up in our kitchen and the kids were a great help in making sure everyone got what they needed. I’ll spare you my notes on how much poop there was and how complicated.
All three puppies were very playful and affectionate. One puppy won our hearts with his cute facial markings and his temperament. He was the only one of the three who all of our pack tolerated consistently and just so happened to be the runt of the litter. He spent hours each day on the laps of our children or in a puppy carrier as they went about their tasks. We were very curious about his breed, so we sent off a doggy dna test to see what we were dealing with.
Just after New Years, we got our Wisdom Panel results. Jingle was 18% American Pit Bull Terrier, 16% Chihuahua, 15% German Shepherd, 13% American Staffordshire Terrier and 13% Siberian Husky (with little bits of Boston Terrier, Boxer, French Bulldog, Dachsund, Australian Cattle Dog, Chow Chow, American Eskimo Dog, Pekingese, and Labrador Retriever.) He wasn’t expected to get very large and didn’t have any markers for diseases. Our oldest daughter had been making her case for having her own dog for several years and finally got her wish.
On the day of spay & neuters, we dropped off the puppies and completed the paperwork to adopt Jingle. When a puppy comes home from their surgery, they are supposed to stay calm, not play with each other and stay clean. Puppies are not good at any of those things. We invested in several play pen fences and bottom liners. We got adorable inflatable cones for them and did our best to keep them calm. The puppies healed beautifully!
Jingle naturally began to separate himself from his litter mates. He still enjoyed their company, but he had access to more of the house than they did and he was more comfortable with our pack. He was allowed into beds for cuddle and nap sessions and was adjusting perfectly.
Once the dogs were fully healed and vaccinated, they were able to go outside and start getting familiar with leashes. We purchased soft harnesses for each of them and they were hilarious to watch in our yard.
Eventually, it was time to take Kringle and Noel back to the shelter for their transport to another state. Texas has horribly overcrowded shelters and low adoption rates. Dogs have much better chances of adoption in more northern states. The photo below is the last one we have of the puppies all together.
These munchkins grew so much since we brought them home and it was a fabulous experience. There was a lot of sleep lost and worrying over the minutia of their care, but it was definitely a labor of love. Jingle was a huge blessing for our little family and this experience started a pattern of saying yes to vulnerable little creatures.
