UPDATE!! Every puppy found a home! Thank you to the sweet families that took these little guys, and thank you to everyone who shared the post!! God Bless!

Sooooo, my husband and I were hitting the ol’ Kings Fairgrounds Swap Meet to look for some cheap and / or free furniture for our new house this past weekend. Even though the majority of the vendors speak mostly Spanish and I speak, well, about 99.9% English, I’ve found that it’s a great place to find hidden treasure and sample the local taco truck flavor (I recommend the Tacos el Chilango truck). There’s always some great bargains at the Swap Meet, and sometimes people are just eager to get rid of some really decent stuff. Ya know, the whole “one man’s trash, another man’s treasure” jargon. (Hopefully this proves to be true on an epic scale for what we unexpectedly found “trashed”!)

Anyhoo, this past weekend my dad met us there in his own car and brought his dogs Bella and Chanci because he likes to play Frisbee with them in the big field. It’s kind of like their weekly “thing” that we sometimes tag along for. So instead of parking near the Swap Meet, we both parked our cars waaaaay out in the field, out in the open, and just walked to the Swap Meet.

Well, after finding nothing to buy, we headed back to our cars. But on our way back to the vehicles Jonathan notices, “Ummm, there are some puppies huddled under our car.” Whaaaaat?! Sure, enough, four frightened puppies were taking shelter from the heat under our car. In the middle of the big empty field. Obviously dumped and abandoned.

WHAT THE !@$#% IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!

The puppies were heartbreaking to look at. They were terrified, covered in mud, fur matted, eyes runny, covered in ticks, and shivering and whimpering. They were so scared of me they kept running from side to side of the car, and were so difficult to catch I had to literally crawl on my belly under the car to pull them out. Two of the puppies screamed and peed themselves when I caught them, clearly unaccustomed to people handling them.

They were shaking uncontrollably and their noses and tongues were caked and dry. Jonathan and I scooped them up into the trunk of our SUV and poured them a bowl of the emergency stash of bottled water we keep in the trunk of the car for our dog. They were clearly dehydrated and abused.

Now, those of you who know us, know that Jonathan and I are huge animal lovers. (Mostly cat people, but who can say no to puppies?!) And we have a soft spot in our heart for abandoned animals. We do everything we can to assist with animal rescue and try to do our part to stop the cycle of abandoned animals in our local community. So of course these boogers were coming home with us.

Once we got home, we fed them (poor things were starving), pulled about 20 ticks off the four puppies, washed them, combed them, treated them for ticks and fleas and treated them for ear mites. By the end of the first day, the poor things were still scared of us, huddling as far from us as possible.

But the very next morning, HOLY COW, major turn-around! The puppies saw me walking up and all began barking and whining, tails wagging, and eager to come out. I thought, “Okay, so they’re not scared anymore. I wonder if they’ll be friendly…?” I was about mid-sentence in my thoughts when I opened the cage, and I was suddenly COVERED in puppies crawling and climbing and leaping all over me, trying to kiss my face and wiggle into my arms.

They were fighting over tummy rubs and wouldn’t let us walk a foot away without chasing after us. Without any kind of transition time, they went from terrified of us and shivering in fear to acting like the ideal and cliché mass of wiggling puppies desperate for love and affection! They are now clean, hydrated, well-fed and as healthy as can be.

The three tan puppies are all boys, and they appear to be pit bull / shepherd mixes (the smallest one MUST be predominantly Chihuahua it is so tiny, however the larger bone structure of the other boys makes me think they will be medium to large sized dogs and I don’t see any Chihuahua in them.. so I’m a little puzzled as to how THAT came about…). The largest puppy is a girl, (she doesn’t look like she’s from the same liter, though she’s roughly the same age) and she appears to be medium to long haired German Shepherd mix.

They all get along great with my dog Thor, a massive Golden Retriever, and they are gentle with my baby girl Tessa (eight months old). SO NOW!! It’s time to find these poor abandoned babies some forever homes!

Here’s who is up for adoption and awaiting their new forever family!

Scrapper – The largest of the tan puppies, Scrapper is all muscle and was in the best shape of all the liter. He has no discernible scars or markings and is rowdy and precocious! When the whole bundle of puppies were scared and shivering, he was the least fearful. He’s usually the first out of the cage, and he has great situational awareness, he’s also the first to notice when someone is approaching. He is going to make a GREAT guard dog! Scrapper likes to practice his “big dog” bark, which is adorable beyond belief. He plays harder than all the other puppies and is always the first to fall asleep of all the puppies. He plays hard and he sleeps hard! (I like to pick up his paw and watch it drop limply back down when he’s asleep, it’s hilarious!)

Butch – Butch is the medium sized one out of the tan puppies. He was in the worst shape of the liter, covered in a larger number of ticks, and with a faint, fully healed but permanent looking scar running along his forehead – it looks like a larger dog must have given it to him as a young puppy. Butch also has SIX toes on his back right paw and his tongue is speckled with black birth marks! He has loads of character! While he likes to act tough, he’s really a sensitive puppy and wants to cuddle about as much as he likes to play and roughhouse. He also likes to practice his “big dog” bark, but if he can’t get your attention, he still does a baby puppy whimper and whine until you cuddle with him. It’s heartbreaking!

Cuteness – This is the teeny tiny itty bitty unbelievably small puppy of the three tan pups. I would never have suspected Chihuahua in the older two tan puppies, but there is no way this puppy ISN’T part Chihuahua. It’s so small it is literally the size of my dad’s pet rat! This puppy was the most terrified and frightened of the liter, and was still shivering in the back of the cage and yelping in terror when the other puppies were happily leaping on us and kissing our faces. Then suddenly.. he just stopped being scared! Now he hops along after everyone, begging to be picked up. When he can’t get your attention he stands on his hind legs and “dances” till you notice. He’s quiet, cuddly, and loves to give kisses. I’m not a fan of small dogs, but this guy is impossibly cute in the way he moves, gives and receives affection, and plays. He will need a home with lots of lap time and possibly one of those Paris Hilton dog purses in his future.

Bumbles – This is the oddball of the liter, and we’re not even sure if she’s related to the three boys! Bumbles is the only girl, the only dark one, and she is fearless and sweet and gentle. We call her Bumbles because she doesn’t run, she doesn’t walk – she bumbles! She was the only dog to approach me back when we found the liter dumped under our car, and she is always the first to crawl up into my lap for cuddles. She is super fluffy, with a soft sheep quality coat, and she loves her tummy rubbed… she even does the classic kicking leg when scratched! She is always giving dopey, open mouthed doggy grins, with a huge tongue that lolls out when she smiles. Her style of roughhousing and play is MUCH softer and gentler than the boys, so much so that I let her play with my little 8 month old and give her kisses without having to worry about pulling her back! (The boys have a bit rougher and sharper of a puppy play bite!) This girl is going to be an AMAZING family dog. If we weren’t going through some major life transitions right now, we’d be keeping this sweetie for ourselves!

Do you think one of these puppies may be your future furry baby? PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT GINGIFREEMAN@GMAIL.COM IF SO!

My husband and I simply CANNOT keep these guys. With five cats, one dog, a baby and a new home, we’re not in a position to keep them. But we’re doing what we can, including covering all the out of pocket expenses (food, tick and flea treatments, ear mite treatments, etc.) to wash these guys up and get them forever home ready.

There is no adoption fee for these guys, we just want to see them in a GOOD home. If you think you might be a match, or if you know someone who might be, SHARE THIS POST!! I DO NOT want to take these guys to the pound, but we cannot keep them once we close on our new house (in about two weeks). So the clock is ticking.

Thanks for sharing, and helping us do a small part in ending this senseless cycle of animal cruelty in Kings County.

E-MAIL: GINGIFREEMAN@GMAIL.COM