The Puppies

Introduction

It started with a phone call one Sunday morning; could we take 4 puppies, less than a week old, and bottle feed them until someone else could take over? Well, being retired and with nothing planned for a few days, we agreed, particularly when the circumstances were described to us. It appeared that an elderly gentleman was passing a wheelie bin when he heard a crying sound and found to his horror that inside was a plastic shopping bag containing the puppies. How anybody could bring themselves to put live creatures in with the rubbish, knowing that the inevitable consequence would be that the arrival of the refuse lorry guaranteed the animals would be either crushed to death in the lorry, or buried alive in a landfill, is totally beyond me.

Puppies at 5 days in the box

Handover

The handover complete, we surveyed the bundle of puppies and it was obvious that one of them was struggling to stay alive. We had three healthy orphans and one very poorly puppy. Now, anybody reading this with knowledge of the subject will know exactly where poorly puppy was heading. Yes, the best place and the only hope was down the front of a lady’s jumper! Joy obliged and poorly puppy was promptly placed in the appropriate location. This would be the puppy’s home for the next 48 hours as he fought to live. With only a kitten feeding bottle available we started the feeding ritual, grabbing sleep between feeds, taking it in turns to feed and stimulate bowels and bladder as both need to be evacuated.

Monday morning saw us shopping for a suitable feeding bottle for puppies and we were horrified that visits to the veterinary clinic, the pharmacy, the pet shop and several agricultural shops were all to no avail. Nobody sold puppy feeding bottles!! Finally, a visit to the Baby and Toddler shop yielded fruit. After lengthy discussions as to what we wanted we settled on a suitable feeding bottle and bless him, the man wouldn’t accept any payment. He was in fact quite fascinated. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was a vast improvement on the minuscule kitten bottle.

Poorly puppy started to thrive and was returned to the group, but little did we realise the trouble this particular pup would cause in the weeks to come. So began the endless round of feeding etc, and as time went by, the puppies’ individual characters began to emerge.

Bottle Feeding

Shackleton

Shackleton was the great explorer. I don’t know whether his sense of adventure was prompted by starting life down Joy’s jumper but if the puppies were in trouble you could be assured that Shackleton was the instigator!! He was the first to learn how to escape the night run by jumping on to the roof of the kennel. His attempt to scale the spiral staircase was only just stopped in time. Well, to be honest, he managed to get as far as the roof and was looking down on us as we searched frantically. I’m sure the little devil was laughing at us. He was also a fanatical horticulturalist with a special interest in pruning. He was the one who constantly surveyed the perimeter looking for an escape route. In fact, he was the dog that I would have adopted and nearly did until sanity prevailed.

Shackleton

Tommy

Tommy, with his size and commanding physical presence, became the self-appointed defender of the pack. Any perceived danger would see Tommy warning his siblings of the impending threat. Anything from the local tom cat arriving for his breakfast, to a passing butterfly.

Tommy

Kallie

Kallie was the leggy lady, elegant and with a touch of class, the only problem being that she wasn’t too keen on the car. If there were medals awarded for dribbling, Kallie would have won them all, so much so that I was concerned she might dehydrate when the time came to travel to the UK!!

Kallie

Nelly

Nelly was a very willing follower of Shackleton, another enthusiastic gardener who also specialised in pruning. Unfortunately, she didn’t know when to stop and to make matters worse, she encouraged the others.

Nelly

High Security Prison

I have to confess that after several weeks the strain started to tell on us and we felt that maybe it was time to hand over to someone else. However, in the time that it took to find a willing participant, we got our second wind and carried on.

As the pups grew bigger it became necessary to fortify the back terrace and it eventually took on the appearance of a high-security prison complete with searchlights, fencing and jump wires.

As time went by each puppy was allowed indoors for a few minutes each day. This didn’t impress Chloe, our very geriatric retired hunting dog who we rescued some years ago (See: Through the Eyes of a Dog) In her time with us she had coped with every stray and injured animal that we took in, but she obviously thought that 4 puppies were beyond the call of duty!!

Visits to town were the next item on the agenda and we took them in pairs to our favourite kafeneon by the beach, where they socialised and were able to see traffic and experience life away from our back terrace.

Poop scooping was a mammoth task. It was almost unbelievable the amount 4 puppies could produce in one day alone.

Finding homes was the obvious problem and the job was given to Tracee, an imposing lady who is known for plain speaking and who arranges transport for pets. Tracee Walton Animal Transport Solutions. I will leave it to you to work out what that spells!

She was once described to me as a lady with the charm of a Royal (not that I saw a lot of that!) and the subtlety of Mike Tyson (yes, I saw a lot of that!) but if you want something done then Tracee is the person to call.

Four homes passed Tracee’s rigorous inspection, but the only problem was the Covid lockdown prevented travel. The moment it became possible the arrangements were made, but unfortunately the delay caused one prospective adoptee to drop out. It looked like one puppy, Nelly, would have to stay behind.

Four and a half months after we fostered them, the puppies left for England.

Tommy’s Update

Tommy is now a much-loved family pet. His owner has informed me that he is very well behaved and happily spends much of his day on his favourite place, the family sofa!! Unfortunately, this tranquil state of affairs disappears when the children arrive home from school and mayhem ensues. Things are not improved either, when husband arrives home. To use the lady’s own words. “Tommy is fine on his own but it’s when the husband and kids get involved then it all goes downhill!!”

Tommy on the red sofa

Kallie’s Update

Kallie has also found a loving family home. Her interest in gardening continued with digging taking over from pruning. It is believed that finding Australia is the next big project.

Chasing birds and butterflies have been added to her list of special interests.

Kallie on the beach

Nelly’s Update

Nelly didn’t get left behind, her plight was heard about and a retired couple have given her a home. Ironically, they didn’t want a big dog, they didn’t want a female, they didn’t want a hunting dog and they had not even considered getting one from Crete, sight unseen!! The lady told me that she had lain awake with this image of Nelly sadly waving her siblings goodbye as they went off to their next adventure and she was left behind. As she said, silly but …. as it happens her new owners absolutely adore her and wouldn’t part with her for the world.

Nelly on the frosty lawn

Shackleton’s Update

Last but certainly not least is Shackleton, who has found a home especially suited to his needs. I was particularly concerned that any prospective owner might struggle as he was by far the most adventurous of the litter but like the others, he has found a wonderful home. Shackleton has rejuvenated the life of a very elderly boxer and is the constant companion of a five-year-old child who was mourning the loss of a beloved pet.

Shackleton with a friend

To Conclude

We were once asked why we do it, the sleepless nights, the mess, the chaos, the cost, having our entire lives run by animals who will end up living their lives with other people.