Hi, Sorry I have been gone so long. It has been a busy summer, apart from gardening (another post said not about gardening, so I will try) In early August, I was out mowing my yard, and putting some gas in the mower, when two adorable little German Shepherd mix puppies showed up at my feet. They had not eaten in several days and were quite hungry. I named them Ginger and Ruby. I think they are mixed with Golden Retriever maybe? They have a lot of yellow with the GSD markings. Back then they were maybe 8 pounds and perhaps 6-8 weeks old? I guess they were born in early June, and are about four months old now. I splurged and bought a large training crate, partly because I have 3 male dogs, two of whom are not yet neutered and partly because this is a 100 year old house and the floor in my kitchen is terrible to try and keep clean. Also, partly because if I have to come out here at night, I do not want to go slipping and sliding in doggy messes, or have them help my other dogs eat the floor. So crate training is necessary for now. They are growing like weeds, and well over 30 lbs, but they are so wiggly I don't know exactly. They can now reach my shoulders if they stand on their hind legs (even though I am trying to discourage them doing that). I am trying to train my other dogs to stay DOWN, and teach them basic things. And I am getting up someplace around 3 am for middle of the night walks since puppies cannot hold it all night long. And getting up about 7ish when I can wake up to take them outside. I have 5 dogs in the house (and cats), so I try to let them out to relieve themselves all I can. I plan to get them spayed as soon as I can arrange a ride (the vet I will use has appointments two months out), and I no longer drive, so transportation is a must so I can do it. She is 50 miles away also. The local vets need bank loans to pay their fees. That is a big reason they are in the crate for now. Two of the males are too nosy... Other than puppies and gardening, I also had a concussion trying to undo some boards I had nailed wrong--and DS said I needed to redo it, plus two friends also said I needed to redo it. Humph. Next time I nail any boards wrong, they stay nailed wrong unless they want to fix them. I am trying to rebuild part of the shed, and the chicken coop is falling down. Raccoons got some chickens this summer. DGD is wanting some nana time, she is doing very well now and talking etc.
awww. you are a wonderful keeper of the lost. I know around here there are lots of helpers for animal care for rescues. maybe there would be a local rescue group who would help you get them to the vet or even help with the expense of it. we have ONE german shepherd and thats enough for me. thats a lot of dog hair. I can't imagine 5 dogs. take care of your self. I had a fox get in my chicken yard a couple weeks ago and killed 15 of my girls. pretty stressful for all of us. chickens and humans and the dog too.
There is one rescue group locally that helps with spaying and neutering. However, I would hate to put such a huge expense on them, and they would still want me to pay half, which is still enormous. I can't blame them wanting people to pay half. One local vet charges $400 for one puppy!!! I can get it done at this other vet for $50 each. We used to have another vet closer to home who rates were less expensive, but he got sick and died. He had worked with a group that would take your pet/s over 300 miles one way and back to get spayed neutered, but I refuse that one. I am sorry about your chickens. I have mine caged until I can get a new coop built, or the one that my kids ordered would actually arrive. They ordered a very nice chicken coop for me in August, but it has yet to arrive. My son went digging on their website, and their phone is deep in central China, so it is not likely to ever arrive. They have never emailed them either other than to confirm the order. They do not have an email address listed (I guess the confirmation came from PayPal, and not the company?) so it is frustrating. It was supposed to ship from CA. None of us speaks Chinese. (My current coop is falling down, and that is how the raccoons get into it.) I hope everyone here is well.
Wow ! You are just as animal poor as we are ! I only have two inside dogs but there are 7 outside ! When my hubby was going through Chemo and radiation he drove around on these country roads and came home regularly with cute puppies people had dumped ! They have now grown a bit and weigh between 60 and 80 lbs ! All but one are 10 years or more now ! I can give you a tip about training and house breaking puppies,, invest in a good strong spray bottle that either streams or sprays ! When you see that they are about to go potty,, hit them with a good stream of water then ask them if they need to go outside and take them out ! When they jump up on you a spray of water to the face as soon as they jump up ! Then tell them NO ! The water changes their way of thinking and does not hurt them ! Just redirects their attention !
I use spray bottles with the dogs and cats. It is a big help. I put a wee bit of dish soap in for color so I know what is in the bottle. My pets are nearly always rescues too. Freddy was beaten and dumped out of a moving vehicle in heavy rains. He is a good dog, but has trouble making new friends. I lost 3 dogs in 2020, and Freddy was alone and mopey. My friend is even more animal poor than I am. Buddy had been dumped on her nearly starved to death, and she fattened him up good, but she has so many dogs, she cannot keep them all. She gave me Buddy, and one of her puppies that I named Louie. She has a lot more dogs and cats and other animals than I do. I love them all.
I was finally able to arrange a ride to the vet, and get appointments today. My ride also wants some females spayed. (The one who is more animal poor than I am.) It is not quite so far as I thought, so that will help.
Bless your big heart! The puppies knew where to go, didn't they? I hope the vet's appointment went well.
