Pregnant dogs are often the first to be considered for euthanasia at shelters because they’re hard to care for, especially after puppies are born. The additional mouths to feed and medical care to administer adds up. Vicky’s Pet Connection takes in a lot of pregnant dogs from area shelters or dogs that have young litters of puppies.
Our current foster dog, Honey, is one of those rescued moms. She was brought into a shelter about an hour away as a stray. I suspect that her previous owners found out she was pregnant and abandoned her not wanting to have to care for or deal with unwanted puppies.
Honey had her puppies once she was in the Vicky’s Pet Connection program. She had nine puppies. Last week the puppies were put on Petfinder so that they could find forever homes. Honey was then able to be placed in a foster home.
It’s too bad that Honey’s previous owners did not care enough about her to have her spayed and cared even less about her (presumably) when she became pregnant. She’s got a great personality. All she wants is attention and love. She’s attentive and learns quickly. She’s also housebroken and gets along with cats and other dogs. It’s too bad her fate would likely have been death had a rescue group not taken her in.
Honey has been through a lot in the past months. The family she knew let her go. She had to spend some time in a shelter before being rescued. She then gave birth to a litter of nine puppies and cared for them for eight weeks. She deserves to have a home where she will be spoiled.
Andrew and I took Honey in on April 30. She adjusted quickly to our home and our dogs. Beacon and Haven clicked with her right away. We’ve had her out on the trails off leash with our dogs, which is something we rarely do with foster dogs. Most of them I don’t trust enough during their stay with us to let run free. Honey is the second dog that we’ve let run with our dogs on a hike.
Honey will spend a week with us. Today Andrew and I met a retired couple that I’ve been corresponding with via email and on the phone. After meeting Honey they decided to adopt her. She’s scheduled for her spay surgery on Tuesday so we will keep her until then.
From our experience with Honey and other fosters that have become moms in Vicky’s program I’d say that they’re worth saving. They shouldn’t have to be punished for irresponsible pet ownership.
Great blog – nice to read others experiences with dog fostering. I’m thinking about fostering a pregnant dog – I’d love to hear recommendations or advice you could offer… my only experience thus far has been with fostering adult dogs!
Great article, I have an expecting dog, we are all excited.