Today is the “expected” day to be thankful for something-and although I am thankful for so very many things in my life I always hope that I can be thankful every day for things around me and not have to wait for the one day a year a holiday reminds me to do so. But today reminds me to be thankful for the incredible service these dogs provide to the clients and forever homes they are placed with once their training is complete; to be thankful that their are organizations like this that somewhere in their past saw a need to help others, found that dogs indeed do have the capability to provide that help in incredible ways, and then found a way to make it a reality. In addition, then there needs to be whelping homes to help fulfill the need so that hopefully waiting lists can be eliminated in the future for people waiting to receive a dog.

They love hiding under a variety of items in their whelping box for comfort!

It is the job of the whelping home to teach these “puppies with a purpose” to navigate through the waters of being an assistance dog in training and eventually a full fledged assistance dog; to weather the learning curve of bumps and bruises along the way by hopefully teaching them resilience.   As you’ve seen in earlier posts, training begins on day 3 for these pups and the learning process will continue even past the day of graduation when they are placed with their client. Training has no finite end, but rather it is an infinite loop of learning- learning the appropriate reactions to stimuli(sometimes a training day can ONLY be about not chasing squirrels!), learning tasks that will help their client lead a life of freedom from the things that were creating a struggle for them previously, learning how to “work” when their cape is on, and learning that being a regular, everyday dog that loves to fetch a ball, play tug of war and swim in the lake is just as important!

It is 400am, and as I sit here and watch trying to get their legs underneath them to acquire the accomplishment of learning to walk I realize once again that these puppies have NO idea how special they are! They will be happy doing what they learn because their whelping homes, foster homes, puppy raisers and trainers will spend 2 years or more encouraging them to learn a huge variety of tasks in a fun and engaging way and that is all they’ve ever known!  It won’t seem unusual for them to be under a table at a restaurant during a meal or walking through a crowded mall when they are still a young puppy because they’ve never known anything different.  They will need to be in a variety of homes with a variety of opportunities so that nothing surprises them.  The statement that it takes a village is no truer than it is with teaching these dogs.

And so, today, they will hear MP3’s of noises lightly in the background that will help them gain that resilience; busy city noises, trains, honking horns, loud noises and more. They will add those noises to their data bank of learning and those noises will just be white noise in the background to them hopefully as they encounter them in the real world down the road.  In the future, they will be able to continue to focus on their client because they have experienced so much in the past and they understand it’s nothing to be afraid of but instead something to ignore and move on. They will work to become the champions of greatness that all of us who volunteer in this organization know they can be, and they have a section of cheerleaders on the sideline, numbering in the hundreds or more, waiting to see them cross that stage one day with their forever person and change their lives in ways we can’t even comprehend-and THAT is hopefully their destiny!

One of the unique aspects of this litter of Sugar’s is that another volunteer and talented videographer with many credits to his name on a variety of higher profile projects and shows is planning to do a documentary on Sugar and this litter; he will follow their progress through all of the stages of development including puppy raisers, fosters, and the prison program or wherever they may go all the way through to final training and placement with a client at graduation!  He has been taping from the day Sugar got pregnant and he was at the vet for the ultrasound to confirm her pregnancy, the x-rays, at the delivery for the c-section and has made a number of trips to our house to chronicle the journey from puppy to placement!  We are honored and humbled to be even a small part of that journey and to have the privilege to watch the progress of the documentary and see where it takes him!

The daily routine is setting in nicely now-bio sensor training, nail trims and filing so that they don’t scratch up Sugar’s stomach or create issues with infection, tracking their weights, and waiting for the next stages of their development.  As I was filing their nails, I snickered at the fact that they have already had more manicures in one week than I have had in my whole lifetime!  They have a very special purpose to fulfill, and their care and treatment along the way is of utmost importance to everyone who comes in contact with them!

Their ear canals have opened because they now have startle reactions to noises in the vicinity of their box; their eyes should be opening this next week and Orange already seems like his right eye is thinking that he wants to see the world; and they should be able to support their weight on all fours in this upcoming week as well.

I actually got two individual chunks of 3 hours each of sleep last night which is a first in 8 days! I’ve become an expert at 10-15 minute cat naps over this past week during the nighttime hours and I’ve been a little surprised at how little sleep you can really function on 🙂 It’s not hard to go without sleep when you look into the whelping box and see these incredible creatures just learning about life!  I should be a test subject in a study about the positive effects on humans when surrounded by a newborn litter of pups-a calm, peaceful feeling even though things haven’t been perfect. Maybe that’s a thesis paper for a college student in the future!

This is the 1 week old birthday of these beautiful puppies!

Today is the first day where I really feel that things are going in the right direction without any emerging issues that are going to need my undivided attention!  That’s GREAT news for me! Today I’m going to revel in thinking about mundane things, like “what’s for dinner”, and “has the dishwasher been unloaded?”  I’m going to spend some time in the kitchen cooking and I’m not going to complain about the opportunity to do so!

The puppies are all doing really well-Purple has been having what seems like the sniffles a little but it doesn’t seem any worse and it’s not really anything that is on the radar-just typical puppy things.

We continue with Sugar on her regimen of medications and every day I see a little more of her spunky self returning.  Today, for the first time in over a week, she went to her toy bin and brought me a toy of hers and tried to engage me in some tug of war.  How could I say no to that? It’s amazing that a simple gesture like going to her toy bin brought a wave of relief that things are good today!

In my nightly email update with the breeding coordinator I sent her this as a side note with all of the pertinent information about how the puppies and Sugar are doing-and I’m sure she realized that things were going much better in my house this evening:

“Fact of the day: This is why I get nothing done during the day; I live in a whelping box with 7 unbelievably adorable puppies and their momma …..and I’m not complaining 🙂 (but Ken on the other hand….)”

This is the joy of being a whelping home; the days that you wait for, like a present waiting to be unwrapped.  Where you sit in a 20 sq ft space with them and you watch in amazement at their development-you don’t notice that you’ve worn the same jogging pants 3 days in a row, but what you DO notice are the smallest things of each puppy, and even though they’re only a week old you pretty much have already discovered some traits in them that allow you to give them nicknames.  Because there are 7 of them, I  felt inclined to give them one of the 7 dwarfs names as well:

• Like Mr. Blue/Clutch/Dopey, who is small but mighty; he was the smallest in the litter, weighing in at 454 grams (1 pound) but he is the one that is continuously working his way around the box looking to stir up trouble with his siblings, waking them up and getting them chirping for their mom so they can get another meal.  If I want the litter to stay sleeping, I place him in an area of the box away from his litter mates and gently rock him to sleep so everyone can have some quiet time; In a clutch,(thus his nickname) I would want him on my team because he just keeps searching for the solution to whatever his problem might be at the time!
• Then there’s Mr. Red/Grumpy; we affectionately call him Mr. Trouble because he came out loud and he hasn’t stopped since. When he wants something, YOU KNOW IT!  Don’t even TRY to hold him if he hasn’t eaten recently or anything with skin is HIS!
• Or Mr. Yellow/Happy, aka Chunky, who was the biggest in the group and maintains his stature as the chunk ball of the group. He “chortles” in his sleep and it is ADORABLE! His face is extra “smooshy” with extra skin, and I think he will have the extra face skin like his momma and I try to kiss that beautiful face as much as I can;
•  Mr. Orange/Sweetie/Doc:  I’m not sure what it is about him, but I feel a special warm spot in my heart for him and I have ever since he was born!  He’s quieter, he’s happy with a corner and a “snake” (the tubes we use so that they will build muscles by climbing over them).  He never instigates anything and he’s happy for me to just hold him;
• Ms. Purple/dollface/Sneezy:  I gave her a purple collar because I thought she would be spunky, which has been the personality of many of the purple collared pups in the program.  But she is quiet and content and unassuming. She loves to stretch out just outside of the perimeter of the heat lamp as she sleeps the day away.  I think about whether she will keep that trait or become chaos on four legs very soon!
• Ms. White/Hunny/Bashful: I think this dwarfs nickname fits Ms. White well.  She’s unassuming and seems reluctant to draw attention to herself which is the definition of the word. She loves being close to her siblings, and her favorite position is with her back legs draped up and over one of the “snakes”.  I laugh every time I see it!
• Mr. Green./Junior/Sleepy:  He’s the one that I’m always looking for throughout the day when I’m constantly doing my 1,2.3.4.5.6…………oh 7 count to make sure they are all accounted for in the box. (I’m not sure where I think they would go as they can’t even walk yet; #theworriesofawhelpingmom)

And, so today I enjoy the lack of craziness, the contentment of time, and the joy in the smallest of things; and I wonder what tomorrow will bring!

Today, the unimaginable happened….my dryer broke-actually, not so unimaginable since it is going on 27 years old, but the timing is very unfortunate to be sure with so many loads of puppy laundry to be done every day in addition to regular life laundry!

And then, something absolutely AMAZING happened!  I thought I would post an update in the life of a whelping home on my Facebook page, some type of “life happens” entry:

“Litter of 7 assistance dog puppies under a week old……doing up to 4 loads of puppy laundry a day……dryer just broke……home Service Plus says they are booked until next week…..#lifesneverboring“

Literally, in a flash, offers started coming in from people commenting on my post-Fellow Can Do Canines volunteers, friends, family, neighbors, high school friends and acquaintances!  I seriously could NOT believe what I was seeing! Out of the generosity of their hearts, people volunteered to come to my house, pick up my laundry, dry it, and BRING IT BACK TO ME! Initially I felt bad because I didn’t want people to think that’s why I put it on Facebook, but then I realized they would know that wasn’t my purpose and that they really are just THAT generous.  My heart literally melted as the comments starting pouring in throughout the night and into the early hours of the morning.  It dawned on me that Thanksgiving was another 3 days away, and that was just too far off to wait to be thankful-today was my day to take some time to appreciate all of the special people in my life that are willing to jump in and help someone whenever there is a need.  I am so very fortunate to know each and every one of them!  By 730am a family friend had seen my post, called me and stopped by my house to pick up a load so he could bring it back to his house and throw it in the dryer.  Then he said “get another load washed and when this one is done I will stop back and switch out bags”.  The broken dryer gave me a gift that is a priceless reminder of how to be there for others no matter how small the problem may seem.

As for Sugar, the breeding coordinator came out this morning to see how Sugar was doing and we went over some of the things that I had mentioned to her in the email update last night-mainly that her incision continued to have a smell about it and I wanted to make sure it was healing okay.  She looked carefully at it and thought that there was some signs that would indicate she would need to be put on antibiotics.  Another round of contacting the vet for a consult and sure enough she had to come to the house again later in the afternoon to bring me the antibiotics.  I can’t imagine doing her job! So, for now, Sugar has 2 more medications added to her regimen to get her back to 100%. We will continue the process of adjusting meds, food, and watching for signs of improvement or lack thereof.

However,  slowly but surely I am starting to see the twinkle in her eyes again and I am hopeful that this is her turning point! I want her back to her happy, energetic, and fun-loving self again and I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens as soon as possible. Being a whelping home is extremely rewarding for me personally; but it also has a level of worry about Sugar and her pups that is unsettling at times. In talking with other whelping homes, I know they struggle with the same thing.  We love what we do and we love animals, and that is what makes it stressful sometimes.   I do my very best to keep my concerns and worry under control, but thank goodness the breeding coordinator knows me so well. She can help me navigate through those difficult times without losing my perspective of why this role is important and why staying calm even when the chips are down is the best thing I can do for Sugar and her litter of precious pups!

Now it’s time to go back in the whelping box to enjoy these beautiful babies!

The growing list of meds that Sugar needs for her recovery

lunchtime!