Fostering Puppies

By: Eloise Bessler

I was staring out the window, excitement exploded inside me, waiting for the puppies and their mom to arrive. My family was fostering five baby chihuahua-mix bread puppies and their mom this winter for a month or two. I was so unbelievably excited! We have fostered a lot of puppies in the past but not more than two at once, especially not five babies and their mom. I was so excited when the puppies arrived. I remember this conversation happened when the puppies arrived:

“MOMMM THE PUPPIES ARE HERE!” I screamed through our house.

“PUPPIESSSS!” my little brother, Jax screamed running to the front door, followed by my other little brother August. 

“Everyone calm down, we don't want to be too loud for the puppies or upset them,” my mom said trying to get us to calm down. 

“BARK BARK!!!” Charlie, our dog barked running up to the front door. 

“Go put charlie in her crate,” my mom said to me. 

My brothers and I eagerly stood by the front door as my mom let the lady with the puppies in. They were in a dog carrier and my brothers and I were trying to peek in to see them. They were all so cute smushed together in a big bundle. They were all crawling on top of each other and trying to dig their way out of the carrier. They all looked pretty similar, but their fur were all a little bit different shades of color, they also had some different features.

We got them settled in a baby pool in our living room covered in blankets, and let the mom, Honey, outside to use the bathroom. My mom didn't let me or my brothers hold or touch the babies till the next day so they could get settled in, but I was hovering over them watching them crawl on top of each other the whole night. I noticed that there was a smaller one who seemed to be the “runt” of the litter, sometimes struggling to nurse. I could pretty much tell them apart because they all had a bit different features, one had a light pink nose, one had this white stripe down his head, and also they all were a bit different in size and color. 

I remember once it seemed like the babies were not getting enough milk from their mom, so my family and I bottle fed them. It was adorable, but they didn't like it much. Another adorable thing is sometimes I would take one or two up to my room, and while I was doing online school have one in my lap.

One of the biggest troubles fostering these puppies for us was our dog, Charlie. She wanted to be friends with the puppies and their mom, but Honey didn't like that idea. Honey was very protective of her babies and would bark at Charlie if she went close to them. Sometimes when Honey was not in the room, Charlie would go to the babies and sniff them and try to play with them, but as soon as Honey came back, Charlie had to leave. The baby pool the pups and Honey were staying in was surrounded by this baby gate, so Charlie couldn’t get in, and at night Honey couldn't get out. One time Honey was nursing her puppies in the baby pool, they were so cute and calm. They were all snuggled up together and My brothers and I would occasionally check up on them to see how they were doing. 

But then disaster struck. No one was paying attention to Charlie, and while we were not looking, she entered the living room. Then she went over to the baby gate very close to Honey and her pups. Honey immediately noticed and got up from nursing her babies. A few tumbled away and some still held on as honey stood up. Honey started barking at Charlie and Charlie barked back. Honey got out of the baby pool and slipped past the baby gate and Charlie and Honey started barking at each other. They were almost about to fight each other, but then quickly everyone ran to the living room to separate them before anything bad could happen. Then I took Charlie into the other room. Honey and her babies settled down and it ended up being okay.

Another time, we had these baby gates separating our living room from our kitchen so Charlie didn’t get to the babies. Honey would sometimes be in the kitchen with us, but then use her nose to slide the gate open a bit and then slip out. She did this multiple times, and it was kinda funny to watch. 

Another cute detail, and something I wanted to mention is the puppie's names. Honey was the moms name, as I have mentioned, but all the babies were named after different types of honey. There was Dandelion, Blueberry, Buckwheat, Tupelo, and Linden. It was so adorable. 

It was so sad when the puppies had to leave. My brothers and I were begging my mom to keep them longer or to get another litter soon, but she was saying how hard it was to foster them and how much work it is. Eventually we gave in and helped my mom get ready for them to leave. 

Fostering a litter of puppies is definitely adorable, and a great experience, but not for everyone. It is a lot of work, and responsibility. I learned a lot from my experience fostering these puppies and other dogs in the past, and it was a mostly positive experience for me. Fostering dogs taught me patience, waiting for the puppies to arrive, taking turns holding the puppies with my brothers, and caring for them. Fostering also taught me responsibility, taking care of the puppies, refilling their water and food, taking them on walks, and being careful to not drop them. Fostering also taught me a lot more, and was an amazing experience I wouldn't trade for anything.