puppies!

Today's gratitude is brought to you by a litter of orphaned pups. But I am also grateful for...

Puppies * Physicians * Photography * Priests/pastors * Pets * Pizza * Prayer * Passion * Pansies * Petunias * People * Playfulness * Parents * Presents * Popcorn * Pillows * Painting * Pancakes * Pastimes * Parks * Pasta * Paper * Pajamas * Picnics * Parentheses * Pampered Chef * Process

Today it is all about puppies. These puppies.

Yesterday after lunch I received a phone call from our local canine rescue asking if I'd be willing to foster a litter of pups who were orphaned. I won't tell you how they were found, because it would tear you up! We're guessing that they're about two and a half weeks-old, eyes newly opened and ears still to come.

I fostered half a litter last year at Christmas time, and it was the best Christmas present! Those were two weeks old and I had them for a couple of weeks. The litter of ten all found homes, and just before they shipped out I went to visit them and say goodbye. They were sooo cute! I have pictures of several of them that I cherish. If they had stayed still for just a moment I would have gotten even more pictures!

The present litter consists of six pups, two male and four female, two brown and four mostly black with white or tan. They are, of course, cute. I've named the two brown ones Boris and Natasha, then Zoe (two syllables, thank you very much), Libby, Mr. Blackwell, and the last one remains unnamed at this time. She's all black, and I'm taking suggestions!

Fostering puppies at this age is somewhat labor intensive. They are bottle fed every three hours (though they can go through the night!), and they pee and poop according to their own schedule. It never fails that as soon as I clean up their area and smile appreciatively at the pristine quarters, one will poop. I've got them strategically placed in the laundry area! The blessing at this age is that they pretty much eat and sleep. Once they get mobile it's another story!

Gratitude for puppies? You bet! I am a nurturer. Caring for these little guys exercises my maternal instincts and opens a direction for the love in my heart to pour out. And out it goes! I fuss, I cuddle, I clean and feed, and each one gets time for personal attention and affection. I am denied the opportunity to dote on my grandson, so there's lots of accumulated doting just ripe for dispensing. There are so many times when I am not in a position to help someone in need, that when an opportunity like this comes around, I don't really have to think twice.