Back in October 2021, GSD Welfare Fund received a call from a local vet asking us to take two German Shepherds that had been presented for euthanasia - a male of 2 years and a female of 18 months. The reason given was that a strange man had approached them in the street and kicked them so now they were aggressive towards men. The vets (quite rightly) didn’t think they deserved to be euthanised.
When we arrived at the vets we met two very traumatised dogs. Both dogs were terrified. They informed us that the female was in season but they didn’t know how far along. Eventually, they were put in the van separately to start their journey to the boarding kennels. There we could rehabilitate them and help them to begin their new life. Within days they’d started to relax and making progress and continued to thrive over the next few weeks.
On the 10th of December 2021, we visited the kennels to see our Welfare dogs and check their progress. Apollo (the male) was brought out and it was like seeing a different dog. The kennels had worked wonders with him and he’d put weight on, appeared happy and behaved more confidently.
Apparently, Lexi (the female) had also gained weight - which we were all pleased about. They went to bring Lexi out, and then suddenly called something that I couldn’t quite catch, so with the kennel owner we went to see what was happening. Lexi had just given birth and with another rapidly on the way! You can imagine how shocked we were as from the time we collected them from the vets they’d been kept separated.
We estimated that she’d been mated in the few days before being taken to the vets. To say we were surprised and unprepared is an understatement! At 4.30 on a Friday afternoon, there are few places to go shopping for whelping equipment. Our first thoughts were “Oh no. This isn’t right”. Unfortunately, a pup born in rescue is not the best start in life. Also, sadly at 18 months, Lexi had already given birth to a litter of puppies previously according to her vet record, so it wasn’t fair in her.
This said a pup is already here and more on the way. There wasn’t anything we could do about it so we had to do what we could. The idea of an unwanted life coming into this world is an awful thought. We decided to embrace it and welcome these lives into our welfare family. We sourced a heat lamp, ran to a DIY store and bought wood to make a whelping box. Luckily we already had vet bedding. We also moved Lexi to a quieter kennel so it would be less stressful for her.
Ideally one of the committee would have liked to take Lexi home so the puppies could be reared in a home environment, but she wasn’t used to us and attached to the kennel staff so it would have been too distressing for her if we moved her. Lexi gave birth to nine puppies. Sadly one of them has since died, Lexi and the other eight pups are thriving and she is being a marvellous mum. She receives her own Tesco deliveries of chicken; fish and other nutritious foods so she provides enough milk to feed these gorgeous babies. They have been named with a Christmas theme, and we look forward to sharing some of their progress as they grow.
Please note that we are not looking for homes for these puppies at the moment. If you are interested in adopting a German Shepherd with us then take a look here: Adopting a German Shepherd
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I’m so pleased Lexi and her babies are safe and well xx
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