Queenie was a teen-age mom

This is the story of an almost one year old female elkhound who was surrendered to a pound in southern Ohio when she was very pregnant.   A volunteer in NY has dedicated herself to helping this poor area pound by finding rescue groups to take the animals.  The pound itself doesn't advertise or send out notices so she is the lifeline for many dogs.  JNMRF was contacted the day Queenie was surrendered.  Fortunately, we knew a special person who does pug rescue in Ohio and called them for help.  She got Queenie the next evening and took her to the vet for a general check up.  X-rays showed at least 5 pups to be born in 1-3 weeks.  Queenie was lucky that she never entered the pound and was kept overnight in a volunteer's home.  Here is the way she looked when we got her.

Queenie is a happy darling who got along with lots of small dogs and cats at her foster mom's home.  She adores people and is a great little girl.  We think she had been tied outside and left to fend for herself when an unwanted visitor got her in trouble.  No information was provided by the surrendering owners.  When Queenie started acting restless and preoccupied, her very own midwife was called in to make sure things went well.  Just around midnight, the morning of Superbowl Sunday, February 6th, Queenie started giving birth.  She had 4 boys in a row, in just under 2 hours and an hour later had a 5th boy.   Shortly after that came one lovely little girl.  By 4 am, it appeared that she was done and everyone settled down to rest.  Later that morning, when a friend came to visit, she exclaimed what a sweet mom Queenie was and how healthy her EIGHT puppies were!  Yes, this first time, teenage mom delivered two more pups in quiet fashion while her human caretakers rested there next to her.  The morning after the event, mom and family were tired and hungry!

The pups are thriving and Queenie is looking very slim these days!  Here the pups are on Valentine's day at 7 days of age:

As they grow, we will be posting photos of the pups and hope we can see just who might have been the dad.  We know that some of them have white boots and chests and also one with significant white areas on her head.  We're calling her Boston since she reminds us of the coloring of a Boston terrier.  Stay tuned for more photos!

Here's the family when pups are 19 days old!

The pups are getting teeth now and have also figured out where mom gets her food!  Soon they will be eating yogurt and puppy mush.  Queenie is looking forward to having a few less "hanging on."

When the pups were almost 11 weeks old, six of them moved to foster homes in Michigan.  After a long, rainy trip, they arrived and got to walk in the rain and wet grass for the first time.  Here is a video of the event.

At the age of 12 and a half weeks, here they are running together.

Meet Teddy, Boston, and Lee (adopted).   And here are Vinnie, Boots, and Daisy (adopted).

If you are interested in adopting one of these adorable half-elkhound puppies, please click here to fill our an application.   An application must be received prior to any discussion about any individual pup.  The adoption fee is $200.

Queenie has been adopted but her two remaining puppies, Troy and Raji, are in Ohio and available for adoption. Look for all the puppies by name under the Michigan and Ohio listings.  (return to index)