Weaning and Vaccinations for our Seven Puppies

Hello and good evening from the puppies and me (puppy foster mum).

Sorry still no company sponsors so this part is still blank.

Sorry this has taken so long to write, it’s been nonstop as I’m sure you can imagine. I’m a single mum to an amazing little boy, he’s 9, he helps when he can and he loves these puppies greatly. But having little help means typing this blog has fallen behind.

Everyone is doing brilliantly, I’m so very proud of them, but what a battle it became when it was going so well until Vaccination day came along at almost 9 weeks.

Weaning started aged around 4 weeks, they continued to bottle feed as well until 6 weeks and then realised it’s much easier to drink milk from a bowl and they could drink as much as they wanted, even more than when using the bottle. Our babies weren’t babies anymore, yeah they still needed us just as much, but those little puppies very quickly became huge puppies. We love watching them, whilst playing, whilst learning ‘sit’ and ‘paw’, chasing us around the room, showers and baths, every moment we spend with them our hearts grow more, we absolutely adore them. They all have their own personalities which helps us match them to homes.

Homechecks began, only two to start off with. One who we know as they have adopted another dog from us who want Purple, and one who we met at a coffee morning who was following our puppies online. My heart sank when she said she wanted Pink, I said ‘that’s if I can let her go’, because I didn’t know if I could. I lost my Springer Mia a few years ago, and little Pink could have helped to fill a bit of the empty space in my heart if the bond was the same. I already felt very close to Orange who reminded me of the dog who made me start the rescue, my gorgeous Benson, rescued from a pound in Doncaster on his last day. I was toying with the idea of who could stay, or if both could stay, I had time to decide so I focused on making sure they were ok. The day of Pink’s homecheck came, it was a challenge to prepare for potentially letting her go, but within 30 seconds of walking into the home, I knew she would be loved dearly, as much as I would love her if she stayed with us. I told my heart that we needed to let someone else love her, so we still had a space for someone else who needed us – I’m in tears writing this, I will miss her so very much but I know she will have an amazing life with her. We give 24 hour back up and visit the dogs during their life, so it’s never goodbye.

Vaccination day came, our gorgeous puppies were given a full check up and were thriving, everyone was a great weight with Orange topping the scales at almost 7kgs! They were vaccinated with Nobivac DHP and Lepto 4. We were very grateful to have help from the two families mentioned above. They got to meet them for the first time, fall in love and have long cuddles with them. Juggling puppies is easier with more hands too. Confirming they were happy with the puppies they’d hoped were their match. Purple and my little Pink had families ready and waiting for them when the time was right. We went home, gave them their tea and went to bed happy.

The next morning I was woken up by Orange being sick at 5:40am, rapidly followed by Green being sick and then Yellow having diarrhoea. One by one everyone became very unwell, Red had an upset stomach but no vomiting, Purple managed to escape all symptoms and seemed unaffected. We went to the vets that evening when they could see us. What a change, it was like they were a different litter of puppies. Very depressed, unwell and quiet, these weren’t the puppies we brought in 24 hours earlier. Four had antibiotics and fluids under their skin. The other three didn’t seem as badly affected so the vet didn’t give them anything. Orange had lost around half a kilogram, 500gs is a lot for a puppy to lose in a day. Our poor puppies were back in danger of not surviving, I was crushed, we did everything right for them and the next step was vaccinations, and now they are at risk of dying in my arms again. We have to vaccinate, we have no choice, but it’s not supposed to cause illness. Purple’s family came to help, they couldn’t believe the change in them either. I don’t have help often so it is very much appreciated when I do, and I can’t thank them all enough.

Back to the vets for day 3 and one of the many reasons why we need a van, four puppies had horrendous diarrhoea, two were sick – they were covered, the crate was covered, the car was covered. My poor son sat in the back watching them and taking note of who was sick, who pood and what it was like, the smell was awful. Pink’s family met us at the vets to help, I’m so very grateful that she could, having someone else help to clean them meant the world to me, normally I’m the only one getting covered in poo. I held them for the vet, I couldn’t ask her to do that, although I’m sure she would have. The pooey tail across the face was unappreciated (I won’t name names), but a waggy tail was much better than the day before. Thankfully with syringe feeding, putting them back on milk, wet gastro food and giving puppy starter mousse they had all gained weight within 48 hours, they hadn’t gained what they lost but they had all put on which was great. Orange had put on 350gs. No further vet treatment was given, the vet was amazed at how well they had done. I am good at what I do, that’s why I do it. And I’m so very proud of them all for fighting to thrive once more. I’m very happy to say, poos firmed up with the help of probiotics and they’ve all gained lots of weight.

I’ve done firework sound training with them, I do for everyone but with bonfire night approaching I made sure everyone was calm and relaxed for the night. It wasn’t just one night, it was many nights, but as the Facebook video showed, they were calm and usually asleep while I played the noises. Bonfire night was last night, they were all superstars and weren’t effected. Very proud Mum moment.

I’ve spoken a little about Orange already, he kind of stole my heart very early on and I started to find thinking about letting him go too hard. In almost 20 years of fostering I have never adopted a dog that I’ve fostered, every one of them found a loving home and another came to take their space. I don’t like the term ‘failed foster’, no one failed they just couldn’t let their foster go, so they became adopters. That’s what I’ll be doing for Orange, who is now called Nero – I can’t let him go. He reminds me of my boy and he’s so very smart, he’s what I’ve wanted for a while. Finding a second Mia is most likely impossible, but I didn’t think I’d find a second Benson, and Nero is like him with some of his mannerisms, so maybe one day I will. We’ve been doing some training, he does ‘sit’, ‘paw’, ‘other paw’, ‘lie down’, ‘up’, ‘cuddle’ and sometimes ‘speak’ on command too. All of the puppies can sit, do paw and most lie down too. Nero will be an assessment dog like Benson was, he’ll help to rehabilitate animals that come to us. He’ll help to raise awareness and he’ll help with training videos for fosters and adopters. And yes, there will always be space for another dog (or litter of puppies) to come.

Their second vaccination is on the 19th of November at 5pm. I am terrified but I’m told by a few different vets that they shouldn’t react this time, and if they do, it won’t be as bad. I hope and I pray that is true.

Donations towards their care can be made via Paypal to info@chesterfieldanimalrescue.org.uk or via bank transfer to Chesterfield Animal Rescue, Sort Code 20-20-50 Account Number 93038009

You can drop items off for them at 3 Loundes Road, S18 4DE but please do let us know when you’re coming so we can make sure someone is there.

Thank you so much for your help and support, it means the world to us