"Tula surprises foster parents"
Published in Williams Lake Tribune on Apr 29, 2004
Story URL: http://web.bcnewsgroup.com/portals-code/list.cgi?cat=43&paper=37&id=227787

SPCA foster parents provide a nurturing home environment for dogs and cats until they can be adopted. A good home environment is especially important for socializing puppies to become congenial and well mannered dogs that will have a better chance for adoption.

By Gaeil Farrar
Lynn Bell wasn’t expecting a family when she took Tula into her home for a few weeks of foster care for the SPCA.
But unbeknownst to anyone Tula was pregnant and shortly after her arrival gave birth to seven puppies.
A couple of days after Tula’s arrival, Lynn found what she thought was a rat on the step to her garage.
But on closer inspection she realized it was a puppy, a very cold, stiff puppy, which she quickly picked up and cuddled against her chest inside her coat.
She thought the puppy would die but a short while later it came to life. When Tula had the rest of her puppies a couple of hours later, the first born joined them.
That was a couple of weeks ago now, and, try as she might, Lynn can’t figure out which of the seven puppies was that first born.
They are fat, happy and healthy. But if Tula had given birth at the SPCA shelter all of the puppies might have died because one of the dogs at the shelter had Parvo virus which could have been transferred to the puppies.
Tula was found near the Wildwood dump and dropped off at the SPCA. She looked as if she might have had puppies recently, but was so thin no one suspected that she might actually be pregnant.
Since her health care status wasn’t known, Tula was immunized at the shelter.
As a result her puppies are not getting the natural antibodies from their mother’s milk that they normally would which makes them more vulnerable to disease.
Lynn is among SPCA volunteers who take animals into their own homes until they can be adopted out. .
To protect the puppies from infection she doesn’t visit the SPCA and her friends aren’t visiting her.
Both Tula and her puppies are getting the best possible care with Lynn.
Tula is getting loving and affection in a family setting with other pets and her puppies are learning to live in a natural home environment.
“Three to 13 weeks is a crucial time for the socialization of puppies,” says Lynn. “Hopefully if you have a social puppy that is happy in a home environment it won’t come back to the shelter.”
Puppies left alone with their mother for too long will hide from human contact or jump out inappropriately at visitors.
At first Lynn set Tula and her puppies up in a spare bedroom, lined with plastic and an old carpet, and inside a large wire cage.
Well socialized puppies will sleep comfortably dotted around their cage and huddle together when they are cold. They will also do their business on the outer edges of their cage making cleanup easier. So far, so normal for these puppies.
Right from the start Lynn also had friends come in to play with the puppies.
“They have to be handled by a number of different people on a frequent basis, especially children,” says Lynn.
After a couple of weeks in their quiet back bedroom Lynn moved the puppies to the kitchen so they could hear normal household sounds and see things going on. Once they are old enough she will take them for walks outside.
Lynn and her husband already have two dogs, a cat and a horse so they are hoping homes will be found for Tula and all of the puppies.
Tula is very good natured, says Lynn. She loves people and is gentle, devoted, quiet, obedient, impeccably clean and has excellent house manners.
She doesn’t chase their horse, loves their dogs and cats and travels really, really well, lying down quietly in the back seat.
Since no one has claimed Tula, Lynn thinks she was probably abandoned because her owners knew that she was going to have puppies that were not pure bred.
By her condition, she says it looks as though whoever owned Tula was breeding her every heat and allowed the puppies to feed on her for too long.
Before going to a new owner Tula will be spayed