You may remember we fostered a mamma dog last year who turned out to be pregnant and had 8 puppies in our home. Their 6 month birthday was February 13, and they are all doing so well! In fact I was able to gather photos of 7 out of the 8. So I figured I’d post them here.

Mama Fishbone was a mix, probably Chihuahua mixed with pittie and staffie and a whole host of other things. She had a smooth, short, brindle coat. DNA test on the puppies showed them to be very high in the poodle category which mama absolutely was not. All the puppies ended up with wiry beards now that they are older and with a varying degree of poodle like hair. They range in size from 16 pounds at the smallest to 25 pounds at the largest at 6 months old.

Dirty Walt: The grey dog. Resembles a Dachshund despite not having any known Dachshund genetics .He’s long and low to the ground and adores his older brother and Dachshund mix.

Marlin: He’s long and lanky and uses his puppy eyes to get what he wants. One of the 3 larger puppies from the start, and remains one of the three larger puppies now.

Sturgeon: Sturgeon is another low rider puppy. I adore his white blaze and his ginger coloring. He was the most vocal of the litter, quick to protest and quick to tell us what he wanted. He remains a very vocal dog, though he’s learned to have an indoor voice in his forever home which is super cute.

Loach was born the smallest of the litter, and while he remains small he’s no longer the smallest. He seems to have a good amount of poodle genetics showing up with a nice fuzzy coat.

Dace is the puppy I don’t have a 6 month photo of, her forever home isn’t on facebook. But, I do hear through the grapevine from time to time that she’s doing quite well.

Dolly Varden is another very well loved puppy, she’s another of the 3 bigger pups in the litter. She’s got a family who absolutely dotes on her and melts at her cuteness despite any puppy naughtiness.

Snook was always my personal favorite, smart as a whip and very interested in engaging with humans. She’s gone through a number of training classes now, as she may eventually become a therapy dog in a school system. She ended up with a lot of the poodle genetics, her coat is downright long and curly, which is kind of funny to see over her brindle coloring.

And finally, Goby. He was significantly larger than the rest of the puppies when he left our home, but now he’s right around the same size as the other two bigger puppies. He has a most interesting coloring, grey, almost blue, with the same color eyes and nose. And a bright white chest.

It has been an absolute delight to watch these puppies grow up in their forever homes. It isn’t always that puppy homes are so committed to staying in touch. It’s wonderful to see just how well adjusted they are and how well trained they are getting in their new homes. It is good to know all our hard work exposing them to various different situations worked wonders on them, giving them the best possible opportunity of a good life in their new homes.

We haven’t had a foster dog since the puppies and their mom left our home, I needed a significant mental break. But, at the same time, the entire experience made us feel like we absolutely would do puppies in our home again if we were to be able to foster a smaller mama like Fishbone, or even smaller. We even have a plan in place to rearrange our home for that if the opportunity arose.