Happy 8 week Birthday to the pups today!

New Year's Day babies, Ms. Bruiser, Pinky, Siouxsie Sioux, Ruby Sue, Spot, Crane, Kink, Winey, Black Eye Pea and Kaiser are 8 weeks old today and all are doing might fine!  What a difficult and fulfilling journey - I think we've now counted more than 14 people (including those very important foster families of which we can proudly say we think we've passed our newbie foster initiation) who have all been an integral part of getting momma Sweet Pea and all of her 10 pups through to this point.  There are many more that donated gift cards, funds and helpful items along the way. 

With the help of Animal Humane New Mexico, Sweet Pea had a successful spaying surgery this past Monday, Feb 21st and they will also be handling the spay and neutering of the pups this upcoming week.  Since we didn't win the lottery we're unable to build that HUGE forever home for all 11 but fortunately some very suitable potential adopters have come forth to offer to give loving, committed and caring forever homes to some of these pups and I'm sure they'll be some strong competition for the rest of them! Even though they are some of the most social and well adjusted pups you may ever come across, they'll all need at least basic training and will be most suitable to those forever homes who will give them everything they need and then some to help them grow into the best little pitty mixes they can be.

There are foster families (include our own) that have incurred expenses beyond their typical monthly expenses for the benefit of this momma and her 10 pups. We've decided to gather up those receipts and hold a combination Foster Fundraiser (to help reimburse them for these expenses) and Animal Foster Care Needed Supplies Donation Drive and Drop Off so that we can help Animal Humane New Mexico gather some of the needed supplies on their current foster care supply list.  We've set a date of Saturday, March 26th to host the event.  More information will be forthcoming. (For those foster families who have not been in touch with us about your receipts, please click here to contact us.)

With gratitude,

The Animal Foster Newbies

we ♥ these puppy pics!

The 10 pups are now about 6.5 weeks old and we sooooooo miss them all each day but it's been great receiving photos and updates from their new fosters along the way.  They are all now exploring, playing, snuggling and learning new things each day. With just 2 being a big handful to handle at one time at this age, they are now paired up, 2 each with 5 giving and loving fosters.  Below are new pics of Crane and Spot. (We even heard baby Kink had a local radio debut today?!...)  Enjoy!!

YAY!!

Momma Sweet Pea had a normal CBC across the board with her blood work at the vet today - YAY!!! Her platelet count has gone from 84 to 359 (normal is 200 to 500) -  (and she weighed in at 58 lbs!) - whew! ...what a perfect ♥ Day present!

~ The Animal Foster Newbies 
(p.s. Sweet Pea would like to thank Auntie Marie for the chic pink threads)

Siouxsie Sioux + Ruby Sue!

Thanks to Michael Blanchard of Prudential Sandia Real Estate for helping with fostering these 2 sweeties (Thanks to Marie for top photo of Siouxsie Sioux!)

Sweet Pea + her 10 pups' new video channel

Videos files were too large for direct upload on this blog so we created a video channel on You Tube for Sweet Pea and her 10 pups: http://www.youtube.com/user/SweetPeaand10pups   Enjoy!

~ The Animal Foster Newbies

more fun pics

for those about to adopt a pet or considering pet adoption

We've learned a tremendous amount about caring for puppies and also older dogs over the past 4 weeks.  One of the most important things that stands out (that at least we hadn't understood amongst all the chaos that this particular family of momma + her 10 pups has gone through) is the vital role that all the volunteers and fosters play in ensuring that all adoptable animals actually make it to the adoption stage.  Many animals don't make it and some have very close calls along the way.  The volunteers and fosters that care for these animals in their offices and homes are many times, the lifeline between those wanting to adopt a puppy, dog, kitten or cat and the adopted.  These most generous people endure sleepless nights (sometimes weeks of sleepless nights), meds administration and overall care, loads of stress and mess, socializing assistance, etc, etc, etc.  It's really, in many cases, a full time job on top of what each individual volunteer and foster is already handling in their lives.  It's pure giving and solid commitment and stewardship on their part. When you adopt one of these pups, or any other animal, if possible, find out who played a role in making this adoption possible for you and thank them.  It's surprising how it literally does take a village.

~ The Animal Foster Newbies

Pinky, Spot, Kaiser, Crane, Winey!

updates + new pics!

Lots of good news since our last posting and yes, we are still behind on posting photos - unfortunately, our videos seem to be too large for this blog format but we'll gather them up at You Tube and then post a future link here.

The pups:  Now at 5 weeks of age - HUGE, I mean HUGE strides for the health and growth of all 10 pups under the care of Boni and Marie with Animal Humane New Mexico.  Some are still fighting runny noses, etc. but everyone is thrilled that they are all now beyond the bottle and eating kibble and gloop mixture very well - resulting in surprisingly good weight gain. Black Eye Pea weighed in at 7 lbs. - Kink weighed in at 6.5 pounds!!! (who back at 1 week of age we were scared of most losing because he was so tiny - round the clock teet management with momma Sweet Pea and Marie's loving care has really helped).  Miss Bruiser (also under Marie's care) weighed in at a whopping 7.5 lbs!!!  All of the pups are doing well in their growth and development. They are all loving, playful with each other and with people since there's been a concerted effort to socialize them all very well beginning from the first day we got them on Jan. 5th through now.  Boni says the pups under her care love romping in her kitchen play session with toys - especially paper bags - sometimes the paper bag wins :). They are all discovering new bits of the world each day and we're fortunate to continue to get to see them and help out at least a few times each week. They are all beginning to show their individual personalities and there was an exciting reunion of the pups yesterday where they got to see their brothers and sisters again.  Lots of tail wagging and good poops (Those with fostering in their backgrounds get very excited by good puppy poops!)

The momma: Sweet Pea continues to take her meds and supplements very well.  Her breathing has become a little more normal each day since Feb. 2nd so we are assuming that her severe anemia is getting better.  Her coat is finally beginning to look healthier and her energy levels are up. She has her next lab work done in about 6 days so we're keeping our fingers crossed for a big increase in her platelet count but we'll be happy with any signs of progress that her blood tests might reveal.


Enjoy the pics below - we'll post more soon!: