She made herself right at home on the spacious porch despite the loud protests of the two Labrador-mix dogs inside the home. No amount of shooing or coaxing was going to convince this pretty Australian Cattle Dog to move along to another place. But hey, she’s a beautiful purebred dog, so she surely has concerned owners searching for her, right? Right?
Wrong. The porch in question belongs to my sister, Terry, and her husband, John. They live on a wonderful piece of property in the country. When the little cow dog showed up, they figured she must have wandered over from a neighboring property. However, a quick check of the area proved that theory wrong.
Ok, well, dogs can travel pretty far, pretty fast. They posted signs throughout the area and checked for lost dog listings. Still nothing. Meanwhile, our little blue-furred friend continued to occupy her makeshift home on the porch and the resident dogs continued to voice their adamant disapproval.
Since we are the family members who are long-time pet rescue volunteers, Terry e-mailed a photo of the dog to me and my significant-other, Jim, for suggestions on what to do next. Regardless of what we planned, however, one glance at the photo told me what the dog was going to do next, whether any of us liked it or not. To my experienced eye, it was clear our foundling girl was going to become a mom—and sooner than later.
So, what are the options for a stray, pregnant dog? It was late spring and area rescue groups were already inundated with puppies so space was limited to non-existent. Animal shelters will take a pregnant dog, but her long term prognosis there would be grim. A mom dog needs to have a clean, warm, safe place to whelp and raise her puppies. Most shelters are overcrowded and only equipped to house dogs temporarily.
Despite their best efforts, a city shelter would struggle to provide the proper environment newborn pups need. Beyond that, mom and babies would have to be housed for the next seven to eight weeks before the pups would reach adoption age. City shelters are just not equipped for that length of stay and the risk of exposure to disease would be huge for the puppies.
Homeless pets, purebred and mixed-breed alike, are an obvious problem in Tulsa as well as across the nation. The City of Tulsa Animal Welfare Center took in more than 14,000 animals last year alone. And frankly, those are the lucky ones. Countless animals are left to fend for themselves each year, often facing illness, starvation, injury or death if no form of rescue comes their way in a timely fashion. The long-standing myth that an unwanted pet can be dropped off in the country where it will find a wonderful home on a farm is a heart-wrenching fallacy. Dogs abandoned along country roads face numerous and untold dangers and often don’t survive.
And a dog that is not only stray, but also pregnant? Well, left to fend for herself in the country, Olive would have struggled to survive and her puppies would have likely fallen victim to opportunistic predators. Tiny pups are completely helpless for the first several weeks of life and Olive would have had a very hard time trying to protect them. The best hope for an expectant stray is a private foster home.
Fortunately, Olive, so named for the small town near Terry and John’s house, was one of the lucky ones. After it was clear she was not gong to be reclaimed by worried owners, she moved to the space Jim and I share with an interesting mix of dogs and other animals. A place where there are always several foster dogs hanging around and a momma with her soon-to-arrive brood would fit right in.
She settled into the little area that would serve as her private nursery and then we did a whole lot of waiting. The big question was whether Olive would have little Australian Cattle Dog replicas of herself or puppies of questionable paternal heritage. Did she mate with another of her own breed or did she find forbidden love with a passing Great Dane? Oh the possibilities!
Finally the big day arrived and despite two humans doing a bit of an impression of Prissy from Gone with the Wind, seven healthy puppies were born. Lo and behold, they appeared to be perfect little Cattle Dogs.
Olive proved to be a terrific mom and, for the first few weeks, our job was minimal. We kept Olive happy, she kept the puppies happy. Once Olive decided the puppies did not need her full-time care, our job got a bit more involved and a good deal messier, but a passel of adorable puppies made it a true labor of love. It also proved to be a great way to catch up on reading the newspaper in the process of “recycling” it for a noble cause.
As of this writing, five of the puppies have found wonderful new homes where they will receive proper care and lots of love. Olive is available for adoption, but unfortunately has heartworms (it does not affect the pups!) and is undergoing treatment. Once she is well and can be spayed, she will undoubtedly become some lucky family’s well-loved companion. We have one darling red girl puppy, known as Honey, still looking for her perfect family, but we doubt her wait will be long.
The seventh puppy? Well, his name is Boog. He’s quite a character and he wormed his way into a special place in our hearts early on. He’ll be staying here with me, Jim and the other critters that make up Tails You Win Farm. After all, what would a true farm be without a good cow dog, right?
Nancy Gallimore Werhane is an animal welfare volunteer, a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and co-owner of Pooches Dog Daycare, Training and Grooming facility.
Story by Nancy Gallimore Werhane
