December 15, 2005 Issue
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December 15, 2005 Issue
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About Us Chestnut Hill Local Webmaster Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or ©2005 Chestnut Hill Local
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Friends, family and neighbors help save 10 puppies
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These 10 brothers and sisters came into the world on Nov. 10, and lost their mother Abby two hours later.
Their father Max is “a wonderful father who almost never leaves the pups’ side,” said Andrew DiPasquale owner, along with his “life partner” Leah Caldwell, of the German shorthaired pointer puppies. “They weren’t given much of a fighting chance.”
“We had the vet tell us that without their mother, they just wouldn’t make it,” DiPasquale said.
“A breeder told us we’d be lucky to have five of them survive, and here they are, all 10 of them,” DiPasquale said.
And then, as the word went out, friends, relatives and neighbors, even strangers, came to help.
“It was incredible,” said Andrew’s mother Theresa who lives in Conshohocken with her retired physician husband Urban.
“These precious pups brought out the best in people,” Theresa said.
The pups sleep peacefully in a spotless whelping box watched over by their mother, whose ashes are in a small container at the top of the box. “They probably survived because Abby is looking over them,” Theresa said.
The pups were temporarily named according to markings on their backs.
Freckles, born at 15 oz., has been named appropriately; Snoopy has the replica of Snoopy (the cartoon character) on his back, and Butterfly has the markings of, you guessed it, a butterfly.
There are Stepping stones, Monty, Brutus, Rocky, Phalla, Cupid, and Sweetheart.
The four males are Freckles, Snoopy, Brutus and Rocky.
“This isn’t so much about the pups as it is about the wonderful, unselfish people who have come in to help,” Theresa said.
“Some people even bring food for us, because we just don’t have the time to make ourselves something,” Theresa said.
Andrew and Leah are completely devoted to the pups, going so far as to purchase special puppy milk which is costing them about $350 a week.
“The pups are so lucky to have Andrew and Leah,” Theresa said.
The whelping box is just off the kitchen in this Lafayette Hill home. Theresa and/or her son sit by the box at all times. They keep a devoted and loving eye on each pup as he/she sleeps next to, on top of, or curled around each other. The pups have also taken to cuddling the stuffed animals in the box with them.
“We keep close tabs on everything about each pup,” Theresa said.
And, sure enough, there, taped to the kitchen cabinets, are charts with each pup’s name, weight, feeding time and amount of liquid last taken and who the “angel” was who took care of the pup.
In the first few hours of their lives, some of the pups had to be given IVs to hydrate them. They were also fed with a tube every four hours.
“People would walk into our house, round the clock, and do what had to be done,” DiPasquale said. “It’s a labor of love.”
Three days after their birth, the pups were brought back to the vet to have their tails clipped. That makes them pointers, DiPasquale explained.
These pups will grow up to be wonderful gun dogs, who have a reputation for their superb behavior around children; their cleanliness endears them to adults.
DiPasquale’s plan is to keep two of the pups and sell the rest.
“This has been such a positive experience, I just want others to know how wonderful it is,” DiPasquale said. These pups have changed so many lives. It’s not easy to explain.”
“It’s going to be a very difficult decision,” Theresa said.
“I don’t know how Andrew and Leah will be able to choose which pups to keep. Look at them. They’re all so adorable,” she said.
The phrase heard often in the house is: “Did you wash your hands?”
This is before the pups are touched.
Theresa said the people who care for the pups “hold them, rock them and talk to them. These pups are growing up with an awful lot of love. A family will be lucky to have them,” she said.
