This February we have partnered with the Petbarn Foundation to donate $200,000 to 20 of our rescue partners to help them save more dogs and puppies from local and regional pounds.
Dusty Paws Dog Rescue works with rural pounds all over the country and was in the middle of organising a pound run when someone very special showed up who needed help.
We spoke to Crystal from Dusty Paws who gave us the full story....
"We were just about to finish organising our pound run when the ranger asked us a HUGE favour.
Could we take in a pregnant dog that had not long been surrendered… of course we had to say yes, neither of us wanted her to have babies in the pound.
So we quickly booked another spot on transport for her, while we didn’t know much about her or when she was due, we just couldn’t bear the thought of her having puppies by herself.
When she arrived in care she received a much needed bath to get all that pound and travel smell off her. She went straight to one of our experienced whelping carers after a check over at the vets. It turned out she wasn’t far off at all from having puppies.
Churro was named because honestly there are just too many delicious names we could choose for her puppies. Late one evening just as everyone was getting ready for bed Churro was making her nest all ready to give her carer a really long night… and we mean long.
While she was panting and trying to get comfortable all night and kept the carer on edge it turned out she was just making sure the whelping box was ready. Then the next morning when neither one of them had slept it started, at 5.30am puppy number one arrived, a bit later number two, and steadily they kept coming and coming and coming.
Everyone was exhausted, the carer helping with some as poor mumma kept pushing them out. When would it stop we all wondered? Then at puppy number 9, Churro was done.
She didn’t care any more; she was too exhausted to even bother with this one.
In jumps our wonderful foster mum Lisa, rubbing the pup to stimulate him, giving some rescue breaths and a bit of CPR. It was a rough few minutes but the pup took slow breaths.
A sigh of relief fell over all of us but Churro wasn’t done yet, puppy number 10 popped out and we all thought surely that’s it, but no… Churro and her foster mum were totally exhausted, the whole day spent giving birth and being there to help.
When finally puppy number 12 was born…. we couldn’t believe it, we had to ask for a recount… and yep sure enough baby 12 was born at 5.30pm. A very special dinner for both Churro and her foster mum was much needed after that long night and day.
A watchful eye was kept on all 12 puppies and mumma, over the next few days to ensure everyone was getting what they needed.
Puppy number 9 was now doing well after a scary start to life but thankfully Churro had the help of a very dedicated carer by her side to help out.
This is definitely the biggest litter we have had born in care and for Churro it will be her last. No more babies for her and for her puppies when the time comes everyone will be desexed so that there isn’t a repeat.
Mum and babies are doing well now a week on, but the story won’t stop there. There are 8 weeks of watching these beautiful babies grow, learn new things, play fight with each other. Also 8 weeks of cleaning, enrichment, desensitisation, socialisation, vet trips and the list goes on.
The puppies will then be split up and sent to other carers to gain confidence away from siblings, grow their personalities more and start preparing for their new fur ever homes."
A huge thank you to Crystal and the Dusty Paws team for their incredible work and for sharing this special story with us!
If you're interested in adopting one of Churro's pups please keep your eyes peeled on our Adopt-A-Dog platform or follow Dusty Paws on social media to see when they are ready to find their very own homes!
Your support of our February Pound Pups Initiative helps us help dogs just like Churros! To get involved buy SavourLife during the month of February at Petbarn or City Farmers stores, and you'll save 20% off your dog's favourite food at the same time!
