Chance and Molly (the abandoned pups from the first post) were snuggly at home and settling in with my family and I got the text. The real one this time. The one saying "Okay so can you come and pick up this litter of 5?"
Sure...I can, BUT I have these other two puppies here that I didn't expect to have and I know nothing about them and...and...and...yes, just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it!
So we got Chance and Molly on Tuesday, I think. Or maybe Wednesday. Honestly, it all blends together now that it's over! And we got the text asking to come and pick up the jack russel terrier/beagle mix puppies on Friday. hahaha Yeah, sure. Easy peasy, right? What's 5 more?
WELL, what I didn't know then, but know now (and this is mucho important if you plan to foster more than one litter at once!!!) is that they cannot co-mingle. No eating together, no sleeping together, no poo'ing on the lawn together!!! TOTAL separation!!! You cannot co-mingle two different litters if you do not know where they are from, if they aren't on the same place in their vaccinations, etc. You see where this is going, right? CRAZINESS!!! Utterly fun, happy, panting, licking, tail wagging craziness!!!
Also, if you don't know, many rescues provide EVERYTHING you need to foster. Not just the puppies, but the food, crates, bedding, and X pens. Oh yes, X pens are from heaven. Especially when you need to separate litters!!!
I came home from work that day and instructed everyone, get in the van quick, we are going to get the puppies!!! BTW, vans are great, but 5 kids + 1 adult + 5 puppies and all of their gear is still a lot of stuff to fit in a mini van!
We got there and the foster coordinator said "Okay, here's all of your stuff. Are you sure?! You already have 5 kids?! Are you crazy?!" Yes, yes I am. What's 5 more?!
Oh. my. gracious! Five tail wagging, squirmy, cute little puppies!!! SQUEEEEEE! (I will warn you that this is my reaction every. time. I don't think the cuteness of puppies gets old. Ever. It doesn't for me, anyway.) They were ours for a week. One was already adopted out, but couldn't go to her home because she had to be fixed first. Between you and me, I'm secretly glad that she already had dibs on her because I was slightly attached to her. She was the cutest, smartest little Spitfire. And that's what we nicknamed her. Spitfire. We rarely know their names...whether they aren't named or we don't ask...I'm really not sure. We give them nicknames while they are here, though. Which is funny because that's what my parents always said to me as a kid and what I always said to mine...don't name them! If you name them, you will not be able to let go! BUT we name them now. And it's okay. So we had spitfire, spots, bambi (my other favorite!), shady and jumper. They were fun and chaotic and it was a really fun, crazy and neat experience.
And I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I brought them back. Not because they were bad or hard or anything like that. Simply because, in case I hadn't mentioned it, having two different litters that needed to be kept separate was really, very, difficult.
And my children? Hats off to my children. I worked all of that week and was sick as well. My children were absolute troopers. They did so much. If I ever doubted their work ethic or their loves of animals, that week would have proven to me that they were perfect.
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