A Letter to the Puppies

Friday, October 8, 2010

Dear Puppies,

It is one week since the day you were born. What a week it has been! Most of you have doubled in weight, and several of you are lifting yourself up on your front legs as you strengthen your muscles slithering all over the box. One of your sisters took her first four wobbly steps today, her little head nodding all over as she tried out her new legs. How funny she was! And one of the boys is not far behind.

This is hard work!

In the next few days your eyes will open, and then you will see the mama and foster mama who have been taking care of you. And in another week, your ears will open and you will hear your mama and Charley and Sadie and even Allie the cat. Soon we will make notes of your individual markings and give you each a temporary name so you can become unique individuals instead of one big pile of puppies. But for now, I love watching you cuddle together as you start to form sibling bonds.

Your mama is a good mama. Even though she hasn’t been feeling too well, she makes sure all your needs are taken care of. She feeds you and washes you and cleans up after you, and checks to see what is wrong if you call. You are a noisy lot, and you each make distinctive sounds as you move around your box and search out just the right place to snooze.





Now that she is feeling stronger, your mama is very protective, barking at anyone who comes near (except foster mama). She even raises the pretty red fur along the ridge of her back if she sees Charley or Sadie head toward the mudroom. And they know she is a force to be reckoned with – if she is in the kitchen with me, they keep their distance! Now that’s power! Neither of them would never be separated from potential food unless they knew they would be in deep trouble for intruding!

Yeah, and STAY out!

Sometimes your mama wants a little break from you and tonight she came to join Charley and Sadie and me in the living room for nearly 45 minutes. You were all sleeping soundly, but I know if you had cried she would have run over to check you. Of course, then I would have had to get up to open the babygate – we don’t want Auntie Sadie trying to climb in that box with you, or Charley the Cop checkin’ things out – your mom would run them right outta town!

So, little puppies, I wonder what the next week will bring? One mama dog and ten babies make a lot of laundry, and your mama’s diet means a lot of cooking and a lot of dishes. But I’m betting that once you all start running around, and wanting to try some mush or puppy food yourself, this week will seem like a walk in the park!

Love, Foster Mama

Park? Did she say Park??

Nah, she nevah takes us to the park these days!