Happy Gotcha Day Noel!

MEET NOEL! We just rescued Noel and her 8 miracle babies from a north GA shelter. Noel had been a stray for a while and was finally caught in a trap during the night last week. At the time she was caught, it wasn’t entirely clear if she was still nursing, and with puppies nowhere to be found, she was taken to animal control. The next morning, AC officers realized she still had milk, so they took Noel back to the area and she led them directly to her babies. To their dismay, they were all cold and not-moving, so it was a mad rush to get them to back to safety where they could be warmed up and allowed to nurse again. Sadly one puppy passed away, but thankfully the remaining eight, one by one began to show signs that they were fighters. Momma Noel was an excellent mom and kept watch while the AC officers fought to revive them. As they began to nurse again, she seemed glad to have her little family back. Now Noel and her babies are all doing fantastic and have been released to rescue where they will have a second chance at a new life.The puppies are just now starting to open their eyes, so they are likely around 2 weeks old. They all appear to be healthy, and Noel has done a great job taking care of them. Despite her own thin body condition, she’s kept them fat and happy! A quick survey revealed there are 2 yellow pups (one boy and one girl) and 6 black pups (4 boys, 2 girls).

Noel and her babies are currently at our vets office being evaluated so we can make sure everyone is where they need to be. We’ll update as we learn more about our new little family. Stay tuned!!

If you’d like to be a knight in shining armor for one or more of these pups and Noel for the holidays, please visit https://www.labradorfriends.com/donate-2/ to donate to their care. Thank you!!

UPDATE 1/8/2019: Our Christmas miracles are doing fantastic!! They are growing like weeds, all chunky and healthy! These sweet babies will be around 4 weeks old in a few days and are starting to develop adventurous spirits. They’re crawling around and exploring their surroundings more and more each day, and of course snuggling is always a top priority! (We’ll try to catch them awake next time ) The pups will start weaning in the next week or so. Their momma, Noel, is also doing great but she’s quite the active girl so it is very hard to get pictures of her that aren’t blurry! We’ll update with some of her soon! 

For now we’d like to share puppy names with you! The 4 black boys are: Ebenezer, Jingle, Grinch, and Rudy. The yellow boy is Frosty. The 2 black girls are Jolly and Tinsel, and the yellow (white) girl is Snow. 

Once again, these puppies will not be available for adoption until they are 8 weeks old. We will make another post when they are around 6 weeks old (end of January) in which we will explain how to get on the “waiting list” to adopt one of these pups. (Stay tuned for an update on when Noel will be ready for adoption)

UPDATE 12/28/2018: Noel and her babies are doing great!! The babies all appear to be healthy and nursing well. They are becoming more active and starting to develop their tiny personalities. The two yellow pups are starting to open their eyes, so we think the litter is around 2 weeks old. Momma Noel is estimated to be around 2 years old. She’s an energetic and happy girl, and she’s been getting all the food and treats she wants to help get her body condition back where it needs to be. Her fur is kind of bleached out right now, but with good nutrition and finally being indoors, it should become a pretty, rich chocolate color. Noel is understandably very protective of her puppies right now; she will bark and growl at other dogs she sees when her puppies are near. We hope that once her puppies are weaned and she is spayed that she will enjoy the company of other dogs, but only time will tell. For now she’s just happy to have her babies with her. 

PLEASE NOTE: We’ve had a lot of messages and interest in adopting momma and her pups. For those interested, please read below carefully:

• Momma Noel will not be available for adoption until the puppies are weaned and she has been spayed and brought up to date on vaccinations. This will be in a few more weeks, when the pups are 4-5 weeks old. 

If you’d be interested in adopting Noel, please go ahead and fill out an application at labradorfriends.com/how-to-adopt. Email labfriendinfo@gmail.com if you’re already approved.

• The puppies will not be available for adoption until they are at least 8 weeks old. This will be in early February. We will not begin forming a “waiting list” for the pups just yet, but we do recommend going ahead and filling out an adoption application to get pre-approved. When the puppies are closer to about 6 weeks old, we will post again and start making a list of all applicants who make an adoption request, and those who are pre-approved already are typically considered first. The adoption application can be found at labradorfriends.com/how-to-adopt. Please email questions to labfriendinfo@gmail.com. 

We’ll update again soon as the babies grow. Check out the pictures below of a few of the little nuggets!