Hi all, dogmomma here (and yes, Joty is right-I was not the one deemed very pregnant).  Elie was basically abandoned in a back yard of a soon-to-be-foreclosed on home in town and the prior owners were less than responsible-the sad thing is that they have four kids too!  They swore up and down that Ellie was never around another dog (guess we should change her name to Mary, huh?).  The vets are so booked up right now that it takes me about a month to get an appointment once I receive a dog that isn't fixed, and by her appt. time she was too far along to be spayed.  I agree, I wish the puppies had not been born, because to me that means that every puppy that gets a home here in town, that is one less of my current foster dogs that will NOT get a home for awhile.  Joty and I have already discussed getting Ellie spayed as soon as her milk dries up after the puppies leave her and Joty does not have any intact male dogs at her home.

I want the folks here in town to know that I will be sending whatever puppies do NOTget adopted here down to the Castaic Animal shelter in LA County, where they have a mandatory spay/neuter law and there is a serious shortage of puppies and kittens (like there shouold be!).  And before you lambast me that puppies do not usually belong in a shelter environment-YOU ARE RIGHT, BUT they will all get adopted within 24 hours.  The shelter has a 95% adoption rate (as opposed to our near 95% death rate here in Kern County) and a vet on staff to spay and neuter them immediately so they can get outta there ASAP! They will go through intake, get photographed and put on the internet immediately where people who truly want a puppy will scoop them up and practically fight over them. They will more than likely be put into a foster home through the wonderful volunteer program Castaic has so they will be safe.) 

There are young 7 month old not-yet adopted puppies (Onyx and Socks) at the THS and three puppies being fostered by Shawn's daughter (12 week old, 5 lb. terrier mixes) and they need homes too!  And people advertising puupies on every buletin board in town, so check them out first if you truly want a puppy and can deal with the responsibility.  If I can help someone out of town get a puppy while increasing the chances of the ones already waiting for new homes, that's a good trade-off in my mind.

Anyway, I had forgotten how truly beautiful Ellie is, Joty, she is so lucky that you found her and are waiting to give her a forever home.

P.S. Loki the beagle is moving to the bay area tomorrow when his new Mom drives here to town to pick him up!  And Thumper the shepherd is meeting a potential new owner today-that I met quite by accident at Canine Creek yesterday while getting Ellie's milk replacement.  Isn't chance a wonderful thing!  And the new home for Ben may not work out so he may still be available-spread the word!  Wasn't that a nice picture in the Tehachapi News?

Leslie at snow-covered Canine Canyon Ranch

The previous owners of Ellie were, to be nice, losers. Leslie was taking Ellie to be spayed when the vet said she was very pregnant (uh, Ellie, not Leslie)...so after she weans her babes and her teats recover, I will be having her spayed. I'm very excited about my new 4-legged kid.

Dogs have masters, cats have servants (at least that's my Meescha claims).  :)

By the way, Shawn... I forgot to tell you.  I've been in touch with the Tehachapi Humane Society about Ellie's puppies.  I believe their SNAP program can help to defray the cost of getting the puppies spayed/neutered before they are adopted to their forever homes.  I'll send you a private email with the details.  Susie

I agree with you, Jen.  People of all ages benefit from the love of a pet.  Before I moved to Tehachapi from Acton, I was involved with the Therapy Dog program, where I visited senior housing, nursing homes and hospitals with my Labrador Retriever, Brando.  Unfortunately, there does not seem to be such a program here in Tehachapi.  If you know of any senior center or hospice facility directors who are interested in starting a Therapy Dog program for it's residents, please ask them to contact me.  It would take a bit of work to get a group of volunteers together, but I'd love to get started on that.  Susie

Shawn:  I've called all of the other "Ellie grannies" now.  I know that Ellie's new adoptive mom (Joty) already knew because she has her computer working more than I have-snow on a satellite dish isn't a good thing.  I hope that you will be willing to share more pictures as the puppies grow older.  I'll be giving them all shots when the time comes-they should be getting lots of wonderful immunities from their mommy now.  I was thinking that you could put 3 different colored neck ribbons on each set of four and then you could tell that everyone gets enough milk from mom.  Just an idea.   They all looked so healthy and not a runt among them.  And I guess we'll never really know who daddy was since they all look beautiful like their mom.  Thanks for everything Shawn.  Keep a list of who wants puppies!  From Leslie

I just want to say thanks to everyone that has helped and given advice.  Without all of you caring people, nothing would ever get done and all of these animals that get saved daily would starve.... This is an amazing group and network of people.  We should all be proud the puppies lived and now we just need to find homes....  Like I said earlier, there are 8 girls and 4 boys which look to be all boarder collie just like mom.  We will be keeping the puppies up to the 8 weeks mark and let them go to homes.  So if we could have homes for most or all before then, that would be great..... Good Luck to all and thanks to Leslie for bringing puppy chow and milk replacement to help Ellie produce more milk.....

Thanks for your support and may you have the love and support you need as a senior too.... Thanks for reading there will be more to come.......

TWELVE puppies...omigod, my poor Ellie.

Shawn, I'll be over this weekend, I'll give you a call before I come.

12 puppies...oh man.

Great job, Shawn.  Must have been a long night!  Do we have homes waiting to adopt any of the puppies yet?  Or do we need to start looking for 12 permanent families now?  The 8 weeks release date would be March 24th, but let me know if you plan to keep the pups with mom longer than that.  Susie

Hooray!  Good job, Ellie!  And thank you again, Shawn, for taking care of her in her time of need.  You've done a great thing.