Back on April 11, 2017, we took into our care nine newborn and motherless puppies who were abandoned in a box.  We thought people might like to re-read the whole amazing story from when they came to us in a box, to our struggle to ensure they survived, to their adoption day, and finally, a few post-adoption Happy Tails! We hope you enjoy re-reading this, and of course all the adorable photos!

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THE WHOLE PUPPY STORY

April 11, 2017 – YIKES

At 4:00PM, we got an emergency call – like so many calls we get – an animal needed help. In this case, NINE tiny puppies were left in a box outside, no momma dog to be found. The local animal shelter (in another part of the state) did not have the resources to care for them, so they called us. An hour later the puppies arrived, only days old. Our staff, already dealing with a full shelter, jumped into overdrive (and overtime) – ready with syringes and tiny bottles to feed the little ones. It took three staff two hours to feed all nine. The pups then went home with two staff so they could be fed during the night. Despite the odds, all nine pups survived that first night.

Faced with the fact that without their mom these puppies might not survive, we worked hard to find their mom to no avail.  We happened to have a mom dog at the shelter, she had just weaned her own nine puppies, so we tried to see if she would nurse the motherless pups.  Understandably, this mom dog was done with nursing, she successfully reared her nine and wanted no part of possibly nursing these newborns.  Now we had to decide, do we try and keep these nine alive with hand feeding, a task that will take enormous time and resources from our organization that is already stretched to the limit?  The sad truth is that animal shelters, including CVHS, are faced with such difficult decisions every day.  So many animals need help, the amount of time and resources these nine would take could easily save many more healthy, adoptable pets in Vermont and beyond.  But, we believe that the animals here at the shelter take priority, it is our duty to do the right thing for any animal that comes to us. So we decided that we had to try our best to save these pups, and we hoped our community would rally with us to save them.

Read the story from NBC 5

April 21, 2017 – A Sad Day

The puppies were growing but they were still so small, so vulnerable.  This first weekend we had them, the second smallest girl was struggling.  She went home with a staff member who fed her small meals every two hours, all day and night, and this tiny pup seemed to have turned the corner.  Sadly, despite giving her subcutaneous fluids and other supportive care, she died.  Even though everyone here knows on a rational level that all of these pups are extremely vulnerable, and it would be a true miracle if they all survived, we were all heartbroken here at CVHS.  We take comfort here knowing that in her short time with us, she knew tender care and love, was warm and safe, right up until the very end.  Join us in honoring and remembering the little one we affectionately called Little Madonna (she was so dramatic!).  The photo shown is little Madonna sleeping after she got her bottle.  we will miss her so!

April 25, 2017 – Puppy Poop!  Please Poop!

The first pup has opened her eyes, and it was not the biggest pup, it was the one we affectionately call Runtie (her actual name is Allie).  The smallest pup has opened her eyes first!  What a great day!  They are all getting individual personalities and changing every day.  We are currently struggling with them all being constipated.  It is vitally important that tiny puppies like these poop and pee on a regular basis.  Normally their mom would make sure this happens, but without mom, guess who does it?  Yup, our staff and trained volunteers.  You never know what will happen in your life, how many people think that someday they will be stimulating a puppy to poop?

May 2, 2017 – Puppy eyes and other cuteness

The eight puppies are all going strong.  All of them have opened their eyes and they have been crawling around like little maniacs.  A few of them have started scratching their ears with their hind paws, it feels like they are “real” dogs now!  They are also eating like little piggies, we have been going through a ton of puppy milk replacer.  We have started introducing them to solid food, kibble soaked until very, very soft.  The three biggest ones have shown a lot of interest in this food, while the smaller ones are much more interested in the bottle.  We are still worried about these pups, they are still so small, if they start eating solid food it will be a huge milestone for them, and for us!

May 6, 2017 – Cuteness Overload

It has been nearly four weeks now, and these pups are getting bigger every day.  Worrying about these pups has been constant for all of us, staff as well as volunteers.  We are all working so hard to try to be certain they are all fed enough and ensure all pee/poop every four hours, all day and night.  The fact that they are getting so big is so gratifying!  Their individual personalities are just starting to come out.  The smallest one (Allie) has learned to growl at her siblings and is a little feisty, and the biggest one (Cash, shown to the left) seems to be a gentle giant.   Their personalities will be changing every day as they get older.  The biggest girl, Jessie, has already learned how to get out of the whelping box.  They are all sweeties in our book!

We have a few videos of these cuties on our YouTube Channel.

 May 11, 2017  A Looooong Road

It is hard to believe that almost five weeks ago, these motherless puppies showed up at our door, needing our help. It has been a looooong road. One puppy, Londonberry, is currently in “intensive care” for pneumonia. A coughing puppy is so sad to hear, and with medication this little one is coughing less and eating better- please keep her in your thoughts. The other seven are on their way to being weaned, a huge milestone. Despite growing everyday, these pups are still at risk and so are still in isolation. It will be some weeks yet before they are ready for adoption! They know what dinner time is, as this video shows. It has taken a village to raise these pups so far- thank you to staff, our skilled volunteers and everyone who donated, you all are making it possible for us to save these precious pups!

May 18, 2017  Finally in Foster!

After weeks of 24/7 bottle feeding, our motherless puppies no longer need the bottle and now are in a loving foster home, where they will get age-appropriate socialization and other enrichment activities to help them continue to grow happy and healthy.  We are grateful for all the support we have received and again we must thank our dedicated staff and skilled volunteers who made it possible to save eight of nine puppies.  Some estimates say that 20%-40% of motherless pups do not survive.  It is such a testament to the care these pups received that we were able to beat the odds!

May 24, 2017- Puppy Jessie is doing well

Puppy Jessie had emergency surgery on May 21 for a prolapsed rectum.  Through the expert treatment and loving care at BEVS in Burlington, she came out of surgery and so far is doing well.  She is staying in a medically skilled foster home along with little Londonberry, who is recovering from pneumonia.  How cute are these two (shown to the right, Londonberry has brown markings), taking a nap together?

Jessie isn’t out of the woods, please send healing thoughts to this little fighter!  Thank you everyone for your support, the cost of the surgery was almost covered by your generous donations.  The community has been so caring, thank you all so much!

June 10, 2017 – Adoption day

Today is a wonderful day, if a bit bittersweet for staff and volunteers here at CVHS.  Today our motherless puppies went up for adoption.  We know they went to loving homes and we are so happy for both the pups and their new families!  We will miss these pups!  We are all so grateful that we were given the chance to save these little ones, and we are so grateful to our community who helped make it possible with donations and support.  It took a village to raise these pups, and our community is amazing!  Thank you everyone!

Before and after photos!

 
 
 
 
 
July 22, 2017- Growing so fast!
A few adoption updates for the motherless pups- makes our day when we get updates!

From Allie’s people (otherwise known as Runty):

From Jessie’s people (Jessie is the pup who had to have surgery):

From Izzy’s people (Izzy otherwise known as White Nose):

he is growing so fast (last weight was 30 lbs, which is 14 lbs more than his adoption weight!!!! Currently his “ear span” measures in at 14″! His appear very hard to negotiate right now as they have certainly doubled in length.  He’s a very curious and sweet little guy, and that face!!

 

We are so grateful for all of the love and care that he got before becoming a part of our family. Thank you so much for all of your hard work and dedication.
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November 16, 2017

Cash, now named Archer, is getting so big!  Here is a reminder photo of how tiny he was when he first came in, another on his adoption day, and now look at him at almost 7 months old.  Archer is one lucky pup- starting out life abandoned in box and now happy, healthy and loved.  We are so grateful to have had the chance to save these pups!

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IMPORTANT NOTE

When these pups came to us, we knew we were faced with weeks of these pups being at risk, needing round the clock feeding and care. It would have been so wonderful if whoever abandoned these pups had called their local animal shelter instead of abandoning them alone. It might have been possible to work together to keep these pups with their mom until they are weaned, or at the very least provide vital information like how old the pups are, when they last ate, and get the pups safe and warm ASAP. That is what would have been best for these pups. We believe pet problems are people problems. Whoever abandoned these pups did so because they felt they had no choice; we know life can be so difficult, and people are struggling with so much. We implore people to call their local animal shelter before abandoning an animal, your local animal shelter is there for you, as well as your pets! It is illegal to abandon an animal. Call your local animal shelter for help!

Make a gift to support the work we do for animals like these puppies, and all the other animals in our care. Thank you!

During the COVID19 lock-down, we had to develop new ways of doing business. One positive outcome is we learned that some of the changes were very beneficial to the animals. Due to our really positive learning experiences, we’ve decided to continue with operational practices that have been extremely beneficial to the animals. 

We found that the animals are less stressed and much healthier when we do not have visitors in our facility.  The occurrences of stress-related illnesses, such as Upper Respiratory Infections, were almost non-existent during the shut-down. We now know that having a constant stream of visitors going in and out of our Cat Wing and Dog Wing caused the animals a tremendous amount of stress, and stress results in illness. In fact, our Dog Wing had been closed to visitors even before the pandemic for this reason — the dogs are much calmer and less stressed when they could meet prospective adopters one family at a time in a controlled manner. We have found that cats are also much calmer and less stressed, and much healthier with our appointment system.

We also found that our return rate improved dramatically, and we believe that is because of the meaningful conversations our adoption counselors have with adopters, to help find the right personality of pet to match with your family. Matches are now made based on personality and our knowledge of the cat, not solely on looks or how the cat acts at a particular point in time. We are also continuing what we call “curbside” adoptions for cats, where adopters don’t meet that cat ahead of time. The best way to get to know a cat is in the home, since many cats act very different here at CVHS than they do in a home. All adoptions have a two-week “return” period, a time frame that is usually long enough for a pet to acclimate to their new home. If an adopter has an issue with a new pet, we always ask they call us so we can talk to them about what is happening. If it is not a good match for whatever reason, we will happily take that pet back. (On the few occasions this has happened, we were able to gather valuable information about the cat in a home, and used that information to find that cat their best match.  We also fine-tuned what the adopter was looking for, so was able to match them with another cat that suited them better.) 

Due to these really important outcomes, we are going to continue to do all business by appointment only, and continue with our successful “curbside” method.  We are doing this for the animals.  We now know that the animals are much happier and healthier with controlled contact, while they await their new loving homes.  

We handle everything (adoptions, surrenders) by appointment.  Call us at 476-3811, or email [email protected] to make an appointment. We will get back to you as soon as possible to schedule your phone conversation appointment. We have only two phone lines so sometimes you may get a busy signal if both lines are in use.  Thank you for your patience!

• We are closed to casual visitors — you must have an appointment.
• Call to make an appointment if you would like to adopt a pet.  Our adoptable pet pages on our website are updated in real time.  We will do most of our adoption counseling on the phone ahead of time. It is possible to meet a dog outside in our play yards. For cats, we are asking you to trust us in matching you with the right cat via a phone consultation.  We recognize that it doesn’t always work out, so our return policy is a full refund within two weeks, and we will work with you to find the pet that is a better match for you.
• We work hard to provide a consistent and fair adoption process.  We do not do any “holds” or take money down to reserve any animal. We schedule appointments as fairly as possible, based on received Adopter Information forms.
• Kittens are in high demand. If you are interested in a kitten you need to get on our “Kitten Waiting List.” Give us a call, leave a message at 476-3811 and leave your name, phone number and email. Even better, email us at [email protected] and we can send you our Adopter Information Form for you to fill out ahead of time. You can also find the form on our website here. Please be patient, we will call you back!
• If you need to surrender your pet, you MUST call to discuss making an appointment for intake. (476-3811). We do what we can to help animals stay in their homes, so if you are considering surrender due to having lost your income, we can help with food; please reach out to us.
• Public dog training classes are in high demand, and we have many dates and times to choose from.
• Donations are still gratefully accepted, and may be left on our covered porch at a time convenient for you. Staff checks the porch regularly to bring donations inside.

We strive to meet the needs of our community, while balancing the needs of our animals and staff.  Please understand that our protocols and procedures are thoughtfully created with everyone’s health and safety in mind.  Thank you for supporting Central Vermont Humane Society!