Missing mama and 6 little orphans

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
2 days and no Nina...no she is obviously gone. I have a sneaky suspicion that my evil neighbor has done his deed again. There is also a itty bitty chance that she took off after an animal on Monday night which was the last time I actually heard her. Tony and I both heard the dogs raising holy hell in the front yard and he went out and called Buddy back in because he was barking. After Buddy came back in, Nina started barking too. I went outside to see if anything was wrong but I didnt see anything and told her to go to bed. She went under the house and I didnt hear anything else. Tony said he didnt see her in the morning when he left but he may not have noticed. Billy knows he didnt see her when he left for work at 10am and the puppies where in the yard huddled up against the house. At 1 that afternoon is when I noticed she was gone.

Now I have discovered I cannot keep six puppies in my house. I am not that good. They made simply too big a mess. Even crated they pooped everywhere. My house still smells like poo! I had planned to take them back out this morning as soon as daylight hit and it warmed up but it drizzled and it was like 45 degrees outside. I couldnt put them outside in that. So I stuck them in my pantry because its vinyl, has a light and a door. Then I fed and watered them and went to bed. OMG what awaited me when I woke up! A nightmare. Poo everywhere. 6 little bodies wiggling all over me in it. I grabbed a box, stuffed them in it and took them back outside. They are now under the house sleeping peacefully with a blanket and some other stuff and they have chosen to sleep on some burlap sacks...lol. They are eating and drinking well. They run to us and actually mine is answering to her name already. She is getting the idea that when I call Abby...I mean her.

We are going to attempt to get the people who want them to come get them now instead of waiting. They can do this as well as we can. That will also mean I can bring Abby in. Tony is now on board with Abby being a house dog if we can train her. This is summer coming up instead of winter which was when we got Nina. It should be easier. Im gonna house train her and train her to the leash so she wont get away from me.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Oh, I'm so very sorry about Nina. I was so hoping she'd show up by now. :(

I've done a dozen or more pups in the house. But it's a heckova lot of work and then some. Not so bad with Mommy around, pure hades when she won't / can't care for them. We separated Precious from her pups at about 5 wks. Not to be mean, but with her they were too cramped and making too huge a mess. I got one of those old type play yards that fold up in the middle (remember those from when our kids were little?) lined it with lots of newspaper donated via mother in law......but I ran them outside in a huge rubbermaid to potty on a reg basis to cut down on the odor and mess. Actually they caught on fast and we had no odor and mess after the first day. I don't mean that Precious didn't still care for them, just not like she had before. And with Lady....omg that dog was a major difficult child, wanted basically nothing to do with her pups from the get go, by the time they were like 3 wks she was DONE. So we weaned early and they found homes eating food well and house trained by 5 wks.

Hmm. We got Holly at 5 wks. Nursing was too hard on Mommy, she'd had a huge litter that time and the breeder had started weaning early because it was just getting to be too much for her.Some of the best dogs I ever had we got at 5 wks. So I hope all the potential owners will come pick them up and help ease your burden.

((hugs))
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Well these are absolutely adorable and should find good homes. They are very friendly and want nothing more than to play and be loved.
 

Hopeless

....Hopeful Now
Awww Janet I am sorry you have not found Nina. Hopefully all of the puppies, except your little girl get adopted soon.
 
Janet,

So sad to hear that Nina hasn't been found... Those poor puppies!! They're lucky they have you!! Hope you find good homes for the ones you can't keep ASAP. Wish I could have one!! BUT, before you get any ideas, it's hard enough finding an apartment with one dog, never mind two, lol... However, if you lived closer, I know I would have to come see the fur babies. If I saw them, I probably couldn't resist taking one home. I just love puppies!! SFR
 

DaisyFace

Love me...Love me not
Poor Nina!

I'll bet it was an animal that she got into a scuffle with....a protective Mama defending her little ones...

So sad!
 

Tiapet

Old Hand
Puppies can go to forever homes at 6 weeks so if they are pretty close to that and as you said, eating on their own already, they are good to go! :) Sorry Nina didn't come back. I think it's good you are keeping Abbey for inside. It will be more comfort/companionship for you (though raising from a puppy does mean work and I worry for you) but it also means that you won't have to worry so much for the outside issues of someone or something happening.
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
Janet, I know you're anxious to get those pups out of there, but really, you shouldn't give them away until about 8-10 weeks of age. They need their siblings. If they are placed into a strange home too early, they may develop behavioral issues, in particular, separation anxiety which will cause problems with training. Just sayin'.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Jo, I know two of them are going together as a set. I dont know, maybe I can hang on and keep them here a few more weeks. Lord if I could afford to fence my yard in I would keep them for lots longer but right now they are too little to stay in my pen...they just wiggle right under it...and I simply cannot keep them all inside. Tony is going to work on the pen this weekend to try to bury it deeper so they cant get out but it appears they are coming out at the door which is something we cant fix ..or maybe we can...who knows. I know I cant.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Janet -

My vet tech said today that if they HAD to go to homes TODAY at 4 weeks - it would be rough on them, however they could go - but without the mothers milk they're basically on their own anyway. We got Casper at 5 weeks and I knew he was NOT the 8 weeks they told us. He fit in the palm of Lees two hands. But he was better off with US than he was with 18- 20 siblings in a playpen.
 

V. Rita Ellis

New Member
Hi hun ! Hugs and I'm sorry you are going through all this. I'm in a similar with two litters from two pregnant cats my neighbors left behind when they moved. One had three kittens in my closet(seems like a good mom) with only one surviving.The other mama cat had her 6 kittens two days later in a tool shed in the neighbor's backyard on a day when it got down into the 30's. We saw her carrying around a dead kitten the next day for hours and went to check on the kittens and she had moved them to under a second car we have in our yard and she was not spending any time with them at all. It being down into the 30s at night here with the cat acting very wierd and such we decided to see if the indoor mama cat would nurse one of these kittens.She took the kitten like her own. Ultimately the indoor cat accepted all the new kittens as the outdoor cat finally stopped nursing her kittens and rejected them.As they were going 10 hrs without mama cat even going near them I took action. By Gosh it sure IS busy though! Too Busy!
Good Luck , hugs Rita
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I had miscounted and at the beginning of all this they were 5 weeks and now on Sunday they are going to be 6 weeks. I had deliberately been counting a week less for when Cory came over he wouldnt want to think they were ready to go to homes...lol. And then I lost count myself. They are doing very well. Running, playing and attacking our feet every time we go in and out of the house. The horse play with each other and growl and bark. I think the little number of 6 is perfect because they keep each other completely occupied. Always someone to play with but if one or two want to take a break its fine. The have figured out where there little space is and dont go past it. We are really working with Abby to know that she is ours above the others and to come to her name and its working out pretty well. Next week we are going to get their first set of puppy shots. Then comes the first bath and checking to see at what age they can have the first application of flea medication. I want to avoid them. Especially for Abby. Tony wants us to start bringing her in by the time at least a few of her siblings start leaving. Billy is trying hard to get one of his coworkers to take one because he has been going through a rough patch of situational depression and I cant think of anything that would make him pull out of that a pretty little puppy who would love him unconditionally instead of the girl who left him last Christmas.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
American Bulldogs are the MOST and I mean MOST loyal dogs I've ever owned. And I've raised, trained, showed dogs since I was about 5. I fell in love with the loyalty and brains of the Pitbull, then got Casper and it's over for me. I LOVE big dogs....but pits aren't big. I love DANES - but they have so many health issues and don't have a long life. I would LOVED to have had a Mastiff, but after Casper? I'm not sure I would have appreciated a 250 lb dog, and shoelace spit, and gas - because.......Pootie is calculating, and the most brilliant dog I've ever had. Her vocabulary and intelligence is unrivaled. She can figure things out if you are using gestures. Shelooks to be part Pit and part either Boston or maybe French Bulldog (something elegant no doubt) and her air is lethal. Ouixa is the smallest pit I've ever known but pound for pound her heart is the sweetest ever. Bull is all boy, all guardian, all kill. He's mellowed but it's taken 13 years and he's still going strong. I have no comment on LC as I just have NOTHING nice to say about the Arnold Palmer of the dog world. My antique quilt (the second one now) is SHOT and we were only gone for 3 hours yesterday and my front yard looks like the Masters if armagedon hit.

BUT Casper? THAT Bulldog is the most LOYAL, LOVING, FAITHFUL, FIERCE, PROTECTIVE, COURAGEOUS..Quiet...Smart.....BEST FRIEND .........ever. In my whole life. When we walk?????? WE PART crowds. lol. And he thinks that is so silly because he's such a lover.....and......HE is such a gentle giant that he has picked newborn kittens up in his gigantic mouth trying to rescue them and get them back to their mother. IF anything ever happens to him? Oh ---I'll tell ya Janet more than 1/2 of my heart will die. When that part time vet told me that rubber duck was a cancer mass? And I cried? I sobbed for hours holding him and telling him he couldn't leave me - I needed him. It was so selfish, but my heart felt like it was going to split literally in two. I looked over at him, and left the room to go outside and get air. DF came in the room and was giving him a pill and looked at his face and CASPER had tears coming out of his eyes - both of them. IF dogs cry? He was crying right along with me - and when they called and said it wasn't C? Andhe was going to be around? I was so happy. ANd every seizure he's had? I've been there to hold him, and finally told him - if he needed to go? I understood. He doesn't want to. He was having migraines. So Yeah - I'd make sure he had what he needed before I had just about anything for myself. And he DOES get me out of depression - we go for walks, and talk.....and he's funny. He likes to pretend to scare people. He's just the best anit-depressant in the world. So I'd say to your friend - GET A BOY - and get his shots and make sure he's taken care of so well - because if anything happens to YOU? He'll be there for ya....and you want to make sure that your BFFF is taken care of so he's there when you need him and nothing happens to him.


As far as the girl???? My dog is a guy magnet. Everytime I walk Casper? I'm approaced by men wanting to see "the freakishly huge dog" ------- so maybe your friend will get a girl that loves BIG FREAKISHLY HUGE DOGS.....and like the guy along the way too.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Star, if Pootie has that much of a gas problem, there has to be some Boston in there somewhere! Bostons are famous for their gas, so much so that I'm always surprised that they're not all floating up around the ceiling like helium balloons!

And OMG! I know exactly what you went through during the rubber duckie incident! I went through the same thing with my beloved Ms. Katy a few years ago! I am Katy's third owner. Her breeder intended to use her to have even more puppies. She was taken from her mother and litter mates at a very early age and was raised alone in a pen. As a result, she never learned to socialize with other dogs, never played with other dogs, never had any use for them at all and has to be kept separated from them - her only drawback but it's not her fault. But she is absolutely crazy about people! Katy loves everybody and a stranger is just a friend she hasn't met yet. Katy is pure love wrapped up in a chubby little black and white body! And she's so smart ... just spooky smart! I talk to them all but Katy understands every word I say to her and responds appropriately. And because she's so smart, she gets bored easily so she's always in to things ... she's very good at amusing herself but keeps her owner hopping. She's requires a lot of attention and supervision, like a hyperactive toddler. But to me, her antics are just funny and she's kept me laughing for six years now.

Her original owner bred her at a very early age and she had two puppies that were sold. She was bred again (all before her second birthday) and then somehow she was given (or traded) to my friend, the tech at our vet's office ... not too clear on how that happened. She had two more puppies, one that was stillborn and a second one that died two weeks later. Since Katy was a bit too much for them to keep up with, she was offered to me and I got her the day after her second puppy died. Her back pair of mammary glands were hugely swollen and they never went down, even though she was given medication. They were purple and almost dragged the ground when she walked. Then one day I felt the lumps. I had a dog before that had breast cancer and I knew what it felt like - like a cluster of pencil erasers, firm but not hard. Scared me silly! I took her right to the vet but he wasn't there that morning. Instead, there was this ditzy woman doctor who seemed less like a vet than anyone I've ever seen! They X-rayed Katy and then she showed me the x-rays. She told me that Katy not only had cancer but that it had probably spread all through her chest, as she pointed at a bunch of little white blips on the x-ray. And not only that, she said that some of her organs were pushed out of place, not exactly where they should be ... in other words, she was telling me that my beloved Katy was going to die! And not one ounce of sympathy or compassion. Instead she seemed delighted with herself, wallowing in her own cleverness at figuring all this out! I made an appointment to bring her back in a week for surgery, and it was one of the worst weeks I ever had! I couldn't even look at Katy without crying! I would watch her running through the house playing, with that happy grin on her face, and I was thinking how, in a short time, she would be very sick and in pain and I would be having to make that horrible decision about letting her go! It was awful! I brought her in for her surgery to remove the back pair of mammary glands, thankfully it was her regular trusted vet doing the surgery. I was so scared when I went to pick her up, bracing myself for the bad news, only to find that he had found no trace of cancer! He went ahead and removed the glands as a precaution and because they were such a problem ... but no cancer! That was five years ago and my beloved Ms. Katy is still going strong! But I will never forget what I went through that horrible week thinking that I was going to lose Katy, and what that stupid "vet" had put me through and her attitude. If I were to ever see her out in the street somewhere, I would probably have to run over her with my car ... or at least give her a darned good scare, just like she did me!
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Star, that will be me when Molly's time comes. She is truly one in a million.

I would LOVE to have a mastiff. I've wanted one since the first time I met one at 15 yrs old. My bro was dog sitting for a friend and brought him over to scare me. (dog wasn't mean in the slightest but they're enormous, and I'm anything but) He let the dog walk in first...........and it was love at first sight. Ten seconds later I had my arms around his neck giving him smoochies and he was eating it up, too. Oh, this big guy would fiercely protect you, don't get me wrong, but he had such manners and was well trained and was brilliant........and I was so sad when bro left with him. Oosing with personality that one.

I never got one because husband could be so surly and LOUD......and while you do need to be boss with them, I didn't think husband's personality would mesh well with one. I don't mind the slobbers at all, I mean I did own bassets for years and years. lol

Now that Betsy has integrated into her new home superbly.........and Molly's health is failing quite rapidly, along with Rowdy's...........I'm in the beginning process of deciding what type will be next. I know BIG, just not what breed or mix combo. (I've had AKC dogs and I've had plenty of mutts, honestly.....the mutts have tended to be better all the way around) I love Danes, but won't have one for the same reasons. I'd love to have a mastiff or a Pyrenees. Then again.......Molly has made me awfully partial to shepards. So I'll obviously be in the thinking stages for some time to come. And once that is done I'll have to make sure I'll have time for training and such.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
The dog my ahole neighbor killed - my beloved Maggie - was a Mastiff/pit cross. For the mothers sake I am assuming that the Mastiff was the mommy...lol. When I got her she was about 8 weeks old and already about 10 to 12 pounds. By the time the guy shot her she was the size of a beagle and she was only about 4 months old. She was born on Halloween and I got her for Xmas and she was killed in Feb. She was so pretty. A black and tan brindle mastiff but it was the darker black that was predominant.

I cant wait to post a picture on Abby so you guys can see my little girl. They are really getting to be balls of fun. I am gonna miss them. I told Tony that if I had a huge fenced in yard I would keep them all. He just looked at me like I was crazy...lol. He however, has really gotten attached to little Abby and when I suggested that since Nina got missing that I was so upset that I was almost to the point of thinking that maybe it would be a good idea just to not keep any of them if she was going to have to be an outside dog. He flat out said, well, no. We will just train her so she can be an inside dog. I dont want to get rid of her. I like her. I gave him an out.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Donna,

I have asked and often wondered if Poo has some Bostonian in her somehwere. Our vet said anything is possible, but her smarts are so incredibly freakish genius I would bank on it. For a kid that was found chained to a tree as a baby - a little, tiny baby - not even a collar on her neck - a Dollar General chain on her neck and the other end on a pine tree - no food, no water - out in the heat, and I mean 100 plus degrees, no shade - and rain storm like you can't beleive that first night Dude found her - she was covered in fleas, fire ant bites -starving, dying of thirst. Dude took her food, water and then told that whopper of a lie that he had a baby sister in the hospital in a coma - and the doctors said a puppy may bring her around. (I thought the boys tongue would fall out - but we'd surely get it reattached for that lie) Then she was STOLEN - and we found her! And DF wasn't playing when he told that woman to 'PUT THE PUPPY DOWN' (sounded like Nicholas Cage in Con Air with the bunny scene - put the bunny down) and then Dude finally giving her to me - and when he named her Pootie Star? It was just the best - and she's the first GIRL dog I've ever had. We're thicker than thieves says DF. She and I I swear can read each others minds almost. YOu know how you can look across the room at someone and make your eyes big like (COME ON) and they know to either be quiet or get up and follow you? That's all I have to do to Pootie and she gets me. I know it sounds crazy - but she never leaves my side. She's behind me as I type right now. She sits at the fence when I leave, and she's depressed when I'm not home. I try to remember to take a biscuit in the car so when I come back -I have something to give her to make her feel special. She CAN get on her high horse too - and she has a memory and will organize a ku if she has been wronged. She's not as big as the boys - but if she is wronged - you can bet your last nickle she'll organize the girls to make it a 3 on one attack - and brother will YOU be sorry - she never stops until the boys -defeated - run for the house. I don't condone the fighting - but when Bull gets bossy - and snappy? It's not a bad thing to have three little girls put him in his place - and Pootie is the little witch that will. She's fair - and she won't be abused. Makes me smirk - and makes DF angry - but when he says "SHE IS SO MUCH LIKE YOU" =he has NO idea. lol. (makes a mother proud that she won't take any of his kaka) and she waits to do it too......THATs what makes me laugh about it. She doesn't just jump up and get right back in his face when he gets on her......you can literally see the wheels in her head turning - and I know the look. ROFL......I scold her just a little - but man is she a piece of work. After all the years of him bossing everyone and biting everyone and bullying everyone and terrorizing everyone? I tell DF "I think he's got the smackdown coming." - Just makes DF mad...I don't think Pootie is doing it to be superior - I literally think she's doing it to say "YOU are not going to beat ME up, or my SISSERS up - and get away with it you BIG old BULLY -" It's dog justice - and I stay out of it. - Now Casper sees it - and will watch and if he thinks it's gotten over the top - He'll step in and when HE steps in - he just literally steps in - and then it's done. NO ONE will get between Casper. When he walks over? Everyone scatters. He's the peacemaker. Bull used to kick his butt almost daily andthen one day Casper flipped him on his back stuck a paw on his chest and put his jaw around his neck and just held his mouth there - as if to say "You're my brother mannnnn I love you - I do NOT wanna do this - but I don't wanna keep gettin bit either - so knock it off!" and with that - Bull has NEVER tried to challenge or bite Casper since. And That day? Casper could have killed bull with one bite. But he just stood there as if to say knock it off. I have never been so afraid of what one dog could do to another - and was sure after all the times Bull drew blood on Casper it was over - but nope - The gentle Giant just flipped him and gave him a life time warning - like - I could - i really really could - but I love u. And when he says STOP.....they all do.

After him? That will be my last. I think when your heart breaks in that many pieces? Nothing puts it back together. Before him I had a pit named Ugly and it took 15 years before Casper came into my life. I don't see me adopting any more kids. Casper will take my heart with him.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Ahhhh come on Star.....I have an adorable little girl down here with your name on her! If you do skype I can even show her to you....lol.
 
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