[alisagirl127]

Hello All,

I wanted to post a quick progress report... I will get to pics later to night, but need to finish getting everyone settled in and then,I need to catch up on some the work (from my day job) that I missed today. LOL

So everyone is 100% safe and with me :-) The shelter was no frills and Jeff was easy to work with when I got there this morning. I was there before they opened and I was in and out in about 20minutes. There was one other rescue there waiting to rescue a lot of the puppies that were available as there were TONS of them! So Sad :-(

We have decided to name the mother "Nadia" as she has 8 healthy and strong pups and we think she is a better mother than the crazy, human octo-mom! LOL She is an excellent mother. She had them all tucked away and happily nursing this morning. She was very good to me and let me handle both her and the pups easily. She has such a sweet disposition - very even tempered. We will see more personality as we go as I am sure she is shelter shocked and worn out. She is very young - only about 1.5 years at best guess. She is very, VERY skinny - you can see every bone jutting out of her hips and rib cage. Needs to build some muscle mass in the back, but that will come as she recoup time, great food, and excersise (when she is up to it) - she has a slight uterine infection (pretty common) and is still bleeding a bit and also, has some sort of small skin infection so she is on antibiotics for both of those. She had lots of ticks, too. Gross! :-( Vet said it was fine to use some Frontline Plus. We bathed her to make her skin feel better and she was very good. Had a hw test done - will not know the results until tomorrow as Dr. Regina sends her tests out to a lab and has to wait overnight to get them back. More than likely, she has them - but the good news is that her lungs sound clear, and she has a nice strong pulse. She is nursing well and seems to be producing adequate milk for the pups - Dr. Regina said to keep an eye on it and weigh them every day to make sure they are gaining weight, steadily. She gave me a growth chart to follow. Also, gave me dewormer and instructions for both mom and pups to start next week. In spite of it all, "Nadia" is a gorgeous dog and very sweet. Can't wait to see her personality develop as she settles in.

As for the puppies - well, there are 8 gorgeous little ones! 6 boys and 2 girls :-) Look like little sables and one is more black with a bit of white on the chest. Def have the shep ears. :-) They will be 1 week old tomorrow. Dr. Regina checked them all for heart murmers and cleft pallets and tested reflexes in each of them - they all passed and she said they all appear to be the size they should be and very strong/healthy. They are very squirmy. :-) Only bad thing is that the top layer of skin on the little pads of most of their feet are worn off due to trying to crawl around on the cold concrete. Dr. Regina said to keep an eye on them for infection but they should heal naturally. We have not named the pups, yet - want to see what sort of personalities develop.

Anyway, thank for all of the support and well wishes! It is amazing what happens when people come together - yay!!! :-)

This is going to be such a neat experience. I am excited to see how they grow and change.

I will post pictures later tonight.

Alisa, Nadia, and puppies