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A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message
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Corinne
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Member PageMember Page January 23 at 16:40
A note to the foster moms

Danielle wrote this note to the foster moms and I asked if I could copy it here.. it shows many of the difficulties they are going thru for these puppies..
not the least of which is that Athena probably would not have survived this birth had she not come to us when she did....
Corinne

Danielles letters
Dear friends:
On behalf of everyone who is part of our CRM family, I would like to thank Kaaren and Richard Jones and also Karen and Bill Parrott for FIRST OF ALL, volunteering to take a pregnant Mom and be their birthing Mom . . . with ALL the work and loss of sleep and worry that goes into this. I KNOW what this is like, and unless you have personally been involved with whelping a litter and then caring for the babies for MONTHS, you really have no concept of how the Mom and babies take over your lives. WE ALL love the babies and the puppy breath . . . this is a fact of life. We see the pups, we admire their adorable pictures on the website or if you are lucky enough to see a litter in person . . . and . . . then, just as Grandparents for human babies, we kiss them good-bye, off we go and the responsibility still doesn't stop for the human Mom's.

I HAVE BEEN SO PROUD . . . so VERY VERY proud of Kaaren and Karen since these to wonderful ladies got Athena and Madison. Their positive attitude and willingness to get nursery's set up, Mom's taken care of, their own personal schedules changes, and then shopping with a HUGE LIST of "you might need this, you absolutely need that . . . don't forget to get puppy formula and feeding tubes . . . don't worry you can do this, I learned how over the phone.

When George and I have bred our girls, we keep a calendar that looks like we are responsible for scheduling Christmas. We have a hundred notes on when our girl came into season, exact times and dates annotated on when we did the breedings . . . all the dates extrapolated across 9 weeks in the calendar showing first possible whelp date . . . the last possible whelp date for the last breeding. We figure out when 28 days would be and Mom goes into the Vets for a sonogram. THEN the extra push starts here with a month to go getting things set up perfectly . . . changing plans around the birthing date.

Karen and Kaaren DID NOT HAVE the luxury of even KNOWING a first whelp date OR a last date Mom could have the pups by. Karen had NO indication of when Madison was even in season, never mind whelp. Kaaren had one date written on a sticky note, with NO indication as to first breeding, last breeding, who knew what this meant. They have been keeping temperature charts for 10 days now that would rival a rocket scientist, and annotating ever change in the Mom. THEY DID FANTASTIC in EVERY SINGLE THING THEY DID. I could not have done it better, and I say this as the greatest compliment to them, since you all know how I am.

Kaaren and Karen . . . you are "THE WIND BENEATH THEIR WINGS" and we stand and applaud you with our most heart fealt appreciation. You are our heroes who stepped forward and said "I'll take one," and even with the many many emails and instant messages that have transpired, you NEVER ONE TIME said "gee, what did I get myself into." YOU NEVER ONE TIME said "if I would have known that there is a great chance that NO pups would make it, I wouldn't have taken the Mom," you never one time said "I can't do this, I can't get up 10 times a night to check Mom and take her temperature one more time. YOU ARE ANGELS.

Nature is wonderful and strange thing at times. It is said that there are four different steps in the life of new born puppies. The first is making it to the birthing stage. Some pups are resorbed and you don't even know that the Mom had more than the amount she birthed. This is one reason we do sonograms here, for the head counts. THEN the pups have to be born. Nature will take care of some dogs that never would have made the birthing process and they may be born dead. Other pups are what are called fading puppies or pups that probably should not have made it, but they did . . . you work your buns off for these and you sob when they die . . . and many do. Next is the three day period. Most dogs that show no sign of distress after three days are doing good. Breeders celebrate 7 days since the death factor changes more at this time for the pups to live, rather than the pups dying.

We have a LOT of stages and phases going on right now. The ONLY things that won't change are these. FIRST, WE . . . ALL OF US, made it possible to get two breeder dogs who were very pregnant out of a mill situation. THIS IS THEIR LAST LITTER EVER . . . we saved their lives of doing many more breedings, and we have given them freedom. THE furry MOM'S ALWAYS COME FIRST . . . we have told every vet this in every birthing situation that George and I have been involved in. THE MOM'S COME FIRST, the pups come second. Then we work and we pray and we do our best for the babies . . . Kaaren and Karen need our prayers and our strength given to them now. They are exhausted and they feel the loss of the pups deeply . . . these are THEIR Mom's after all. What our human Mom's have done for their pregnant Mom's, I would not have done any differently . . . their birthing is the hardest kind of all. You really need to depend on Mother Nature to guide the vets on when is the right time to step in or you loose the pups from having a C-section too early. It's like juggling balls blindfolded when you are dealing with puppy mill breeders . . . the poor moms are in deplorable conditions, their nutrition is horrible, they are subjected to chemicals and improper food (no amount of trying to get good food into the Mom's is going to undo what they went through prior to Kaaren and Karen getting them . . . however they have run a Gourmet Kitchen for them).

Dear Moms. We don't know yet how many little ones will survive . . . but we do know that YOU were the "Wind Beneath Their Wings" and YOU made this possible.

With our love,
Your friends in rescue on Cairn Rescue Mentoring

Beth
January 23 at 16:50
Re: A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message

I have to admit my ignorance on the whole birthing process. Kudos to Kaaren and Karen ... what they have done is amazing. Bless them for being willing and able to take on this enormous responsibility and being in the process of raising two little puppies at the moment myself at the moment, bless them for being willing to take on the work that still lies ahead. Even if none of the puppies survive they are life-savers to those little fur mom's who I believe would not have survived the delivery if they had been left at the puppy mill ... Bless them both.

Beth
Eve
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Member PageMember Page January 23 at 17:24
Re: A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message

I set here with tears hoping these two ladies know they are Angels and how I wish Stormie and Mandie's breeder would have felt just a third of what all of you feel.
I just found out this so called breeder says you should not take a dog to the vets because this is why they get sick.
Please, someone give the foster moms a very big hug and take them out to dinner.
Lynda and the Minkies
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Member PageMember Page January 23 at 17:32
Re: A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message

A beautiful letter. Kaaren and Karen and their families are both doing a splendid job and we salute them from across the miles.
XXX.
MacKenzie's and Tobey's Mum
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Member PageMember Page January 23 at 19:23
Re: A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message

Those two ladies and their hubbies are all angels. I cannot express how warmly I feel about these people. They are truly a gift from God.

Please express to them my personal thank you's, a million times over.

MacKenzie's Pam
Theo, Sara and Casey
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Member PageMember Page January 23 at 19:44
Re: A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message

To quote Beth "I have to admit my ignorance on the whole birthing process." Never realized how involved it is.

Kaaren and Karen, you both (and hubbies)deserve medals for taking on such a tremendous responsibility.

I'm sorry to hear Athena lost her pups, but an idea has come to mind. How far away are the two moms?? Would it be possible for Athena to nurse some of Madison's pups???? It would give the pups a better chance and take some of the strain off Madison.

Much love to all you girls,
Theo, Sara and Casey XOXOXO

Kelly O
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Member PageMember Page January 23 at 20:29
Re: A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message

That's an interesting thought. I'm curious to see what they think. Seems like it would be a good idea to me but I have zero experience in this.

Eve
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Member PageMember Page January 23 at 20:28
Re: A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message

I was wondering the same thing.
Corinne
January 23 at 20:57
Re: A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message

Madison is in Mississippi and Athena in Kansas.. might be too far to take the tiny ones.
corinne

Theo, Sara and Casey
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Member PageMember Page January 23 at 21:32
Re: A note to the foster moms Reply to this Message

Thanks for the email Corinne, I was forgetting about Athena's surgery. Hope she heals quickly so she can get on with a happy life.
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