Daneland has gone to the dogs - German Shepherd Dogs

After Della's puppies were adopted last summer I expanded the space to about three times its original size, incorporating what had been Sparky's kennel years ago. It's a great grassy space and we've called it Daneland as it has housed mostly Great Dane fosters since then. But now it's divided into two spaces and it's full of German Shepherd Dogs: Two adults, four six-month old pups, and three 10-day old newborn puppies.

I guess it was back at the beginning of May when I had a call from the local shelter about six shepherds that had been seized and were on a hold pending the outcome of a court case. The case apparently came out correctly and after the appeal period expired, today, they were transferred by the shelter to Promises Animal Rescue. But, there were nine transferred, not six, because the adult female had given birth at the shelter to another litter of pups. There were only three born live, but that's plenty, given the complete lack of care and prenatal nutrition the dogs had received before coming to the shelter.

So the nursing female and the three newborns have the puppy shed and a piece of Daneland, just for mom at this point. The other side of the new divider is occupied by daddy dog and the four, six-month old pups. Now, there's good news and bad news.

The good news is that everyone seems very happy to be out of the shelter and reunited living in better conditions than these dogs have ever known. The four adolescent pups immediately began running and playing with each other.

The bad news is that these dogs came from abhorrent conditions, living in a basement 24/7, never seeing the light of day or grass. The room they were confined to was completely covered in their waste, they had no appropriate place to poop or pee. When they were rescued, they were coated in it. The six month old pups had lived their since they were born so they had never known anything different. They obviously didn't get any of the early puppyhood enrichment and training that we gave Della's puppies last summer. They've never been crated, they've never been on a leash, never had a clean place to sleep, and never learned to defecate in any particular place. They were, for all intents and purposes, feral. The folks at the shelter did a remarkable job I think in the time that they were there. They were taken outdoors on leash, and given play time in a clean outdoor area. When they were in the kennel runs, however, they would still poop and pee at random and they laid in it rather than using the elevated beds that were provided. They had little human contact until the shelter too, so they still have varying levels of fear and anxiety around humans, although this was much better than I expected.

What all this means is that these dogs need time in rehab. My hope is to transfer daddy dog and the four adolescents to other foster homes who can give them one-on-one time and attention, teach them the basics, and assess when they are ready for adoption. None of them seem fear-aggressive, which is good. Daddy Dog is a resource guarder so I'll start crating him at meal times to give the others a chance to eat.

The nursing female is very protective and hasn't yet learned to trust us, so she's pretty much on her own with the three new born puppies for now. She seems to have plenty of milk and is a very good mother, as this was obviously not her first litter.

They are good looking dogs, although the years of stink still lingers with them. Daddy Dog is the most friendly and outgoing. He's also the oldest at about nine years. The female is friendly when she's away from her puppies, but her trust must be earned. The four adolescent pups are basically friendly, with varying degrees of shyness. There are three males and one female in that group. They had no names. The shelter gave them some but they don't know them of course. I'm just calling them all Trooper for now. Whoever ends up fostering them can decide what to call them.

Busy days ahead.

This is Daddy Dog. He was resource guarding the water
tank so I added a second one.

All four Trooper dogs in one shot.

Backside of the dog, obviously, but you can see the
good form this one has.

Daddy Dog has this weird little tuft of light colored hair
that grows out of his face below his left eye.