Puppy Tales!

Hello lovely Mutts friends. I emerge from the land of the lost (in my case, South Carolina) to check in and give you a bit of news from here.

Some of you may recall that three years ago (almost exactly) we left suburban Atlanta to come and take care of my husband's aged mother and the family property. At the time I think we envisioned calm country life, but what we found has turned out to be more work than we could have realized. Those among you who have been primary caregivers will completely understand some of what I'm saying. My mother-in-law and I have never been close, and doing the 24-7 while continuing to work full-time (my employer has been generous in allowing me to continue to work remotely) has not been an easy one! I've dropped in here from time to time, but I have always been too rushed or exhausted to fully keep up.

A HUGE bright spot over the last year has been the story of "Smeagol the Beagol!" Last March we found, sitting as pretty as you please, a stray and very pregnant beagle parked in the back yard. We called vets, did signs and asked everybody we knew to ask but were unable to find her people. On April 13, she produced eight very healthy pups!. These babies immediately became a big part of our daily life. Smeagol was a great mom, and she and the pups were an absolute blast! Those of you who have seen my facebook page have seen some of these beauties.

We have a neighbor who coordinates with no-kill shelters in some very nice places up in the northeast, and we do know that 3 of the pups as well as Smeagol were adopted lightning fast from North Country Animal League in Vermont. Roscoe the pup is still with us, and the rest are in the homes of our friends and family. We get to play with the locals every now and then.


This is Smeagol the Beagol. The vet thinks she was about 2 or 3 and in remarkably good shape. Fortunately she was negative for heartworm. Her demeanor, though friedly, suggested that her previous people may have been a bit rough. She tended to cower a bit. By the time she left us in July, she was over that. We hear that she is doing well in her new forever home !


This is the first of the eight pups born on April 13, 2012.

This is one of my favorites. We laugh and say it looks like the frat house lawn on the morning after a kegger!

Saying goodbye to 3 pups heading north on the puppytrain. Recognize the T-shirt?

Roscoe, Junebug and Maggie saying goodbye to their brother Guinness the Muinness. They all look so sad, but Guinness lives nearby and gets to come over an play sometimes! Junie also lives with neaby friends, and Maggie now lives near DC with our daughter. Roscoe has become a (mostly) happy house doggie and weighs in at 42 pounds!!

From what we could tell, the pups were a truly mixed lot. Smeagol must have been a very naughty girl before she found us. Three of them appeared to have some black labrador heritage, three were some derivation of black and tan hound, Junie looks most like her mom (though taller) in beagleness, and Roscoe looks pretty definitely like a springer spaniel cross. There is a rural hunting culture around here. The way some folks treat their animals is simply shameful, so there's just no telling what Smeagol's real history was. I have to think, despite the cowering behavior, that she was at least fed, medicated and socialized. She had no problem with us handling her pups and all were born heathly. Part of me wishes that we could have found her people when she wandered up here. My heart of hearts tells me, however, that things worked out for the best. As young as she was, it was clear that this wasn't her first litter. I'd hate to think of what her life with litter after litter would have been.

And the bonus for is us that we have ROSCOE the houndy dog!

Wow, what a story. Wish I could've seen the pics. From your description those pups were all cute no matter who their daddies were.

Beautiful pups! And glad to see you back here too!

I am so happy Smeagol found you and that she and her puppies all have homes.

I loved the pics! So cute!

I LOVE her name! The story is absolutely wonderful. I'm glad she found you.

Glad you are back. Sounds like you've had an exciting hiatus. Hope
everything is calming down.

They are all so cute! Thanks for emailing the pics so I could see. I am very happy they all have good loving homes. Hard to believe that teeny tiny pup by your hand is Roscoe. He sure grew!

The Kegger Pic was aptly titles. Grats to you to for being brave enough to take care of an in-law who was never really that close. Things between you have hopefully gotten better!

Speaking of puppies......my niece adopted a chocolate lab puppy. Named him Gunnar. My lord how he's growing! And such a laidback little soul too, but loads of puppy energy all the same. The tiniest puddle draws him like a magnet. Loves to play in the snow too. I can imagine him now this summer....even bigger and jumping into my sis' hot tub to swim around. He's getting this ridge of stiffer, thicker, slightly curly hair down his spine. We think that's his adult coat growing in and he's teething up a storm. Tried to run off with both of my shoes, the little rascal. My sis has been posting a video of him on her facebook page every week, going through Maggies' doggy door. Last week he'd grown just enough that he doesn't fit through it anymore. And he's only about 3 months old.

How funny. Have the puppy and Bijoux meet yet.

Labs and Chessies are some of the best doggies ever! Every one I've ever known has been really laid back and easy to train. They are mouthy as kids though.

No, they haven't and it's not likely. Gunnar is NOT a service dog so is not allowed in my mom's building. Plus he's much too big and full of puppy energy to not scare the bejessus out of Bij.