As Doggy joined us now only off and on, Blacky and Babe got friendly with each other with the result that Babe got pregnant. In early August 2011 I couldn't find her at her usual rest place and asked the resident where she was. The woman told me that she had whelped and showed me the place where she was hiding.
I found her at the rear end of a narrow, concrete-built shelter full of plastic waste. That time the weather was very hot and the temperatures even at night above 30 degrees. In that hideout it was even hotter. Hidden in a heap of waste I found four black pups and a black and white one. One of the black ones was already dead and for the other four I feared the worst. Fortunately, Babe was very calm and let me take the pups out. I carried them in my shirt, took a pick-up taxi and drove together with Babe to Naklua clinic since I had no idea where else to put them.
I was very surprised how smart Babe reacted to my action. She had probably never seen a taxi from inside before and I had no hand for her to help her in. She just hopped in and followed me into the clinic where she was put into a cage with the pups.
From that day on I went to see her and the pups twice a day for three months. After the pups opened their eyes and started to get active I took them out into the clinic garden, fed them and let them play with each other. I called the males Robbie and Ronnie and the females Patty and Ruby. Robbie, Ronnie and Patty were pitch-black like their father Blacky and Ruby was black and whited spotted. Robbie and Patty were very robust and ahead in development. Ruby was lighter built as Babe is, and Ronnie was the smallest and weakest one of the four.
Mid-October the veterinarian told me that she was contacted by a farmer who would like to take all four puppies onto his farm. I agreed to his offer under the condition to talk to him first. He told me about the environment the dogs would live in and since I trusted his integrity and the judgement of the veterinarian, who knew him as a client for some time, I agreed to let him adopt all four pups.
Unfortunately, when the pickup day arrived, the farmer did no show up and when I called him the next day he told me that due to the flooding in his province he was expecting his farm would also be affected very soon and therefore could not take the dogs with him.
I found her at the rear end of a narrow, concrete-built shelter full of plastic waste. That time the weather was very hot and the temperatures even at night above 30 degrees. In that hideout it was even hotter. Hidden in a heap of waste I found four black pups and a black and white one. One of the black ones was already dead and for the other four I feared the worst. Fortunately, Babe was very calm and let me take the pups out. I carried them in my shirt, took a pick-up taxi and drove together with Babe to Naklua clinic since I had no idea where else to put them.
I was very surprised how smart Babe reacted to my action. She had probably never seen a taxi from inside before and I had no hand for her to help her in. She just hopped in and followed me into the clinic where she was put into a cage with the pups.
From that day on I went to see her and the pups twice a day for three months. After the pups opened their eyes and started to get active I took them out into the clinic garden, fed them and let them play with each other. I called the males Robbie and Ronnie and the females Patty and Ruby. Robbie, Ronnie and Patty were pitch-black like their father Blacky and Ruby was black and whited spotted. Robbie and Patty were very robust and ahead in development. Ruby was lighter built as Babe is, and Ronnie was the smallest and weakest one of the four.
Mid-October the veterinarian told me that she was contacted by a farmer who would like to take all four puppies onto his farm. I agreed to his offer under the condition to talk to him first. He told me about the environment the dogs would live in and since I trusted his integrity and the judgement of the veterinarian, who knew him as a client for some time, I agreed to let him adopt all four pups.
Unfortunately, when the pickup day arrived, the farmer did no show up and when I called him the next day he told me that due to the flooding in his province he was expecting his farm would also be affected very soon and therefore could not take the dogs with him.
The veterinarian told me that she couldn't accommodate the dogs much longer since the clinic space was very limited. She asked me to advertise the dogs for adoption which I did. After two weeks a woman was interested in taking Patty. I visited her at her house and since it was an estate with a large garden and the woman seemed to take good care to her other dogs, I agreed to the adoption. Since that day I have been looking for Patty two times and she was doing well.
Another month passed while I was desperately looking for a suitable and affordable house to rent. In mid November I found an acceptable one and I moved in with Babe, Robbie, Ruby and Ronnie. I removed all furniture from the living room and stored it into one of the bedrooms, put the kitchen table and a chair into the living room and made the second bedroom my living room. The dogs became quickly used to their new home and rampaged through house and garden.
The small terrace in front of the house was secured by a gate which I kept closed. After a few days I let Babe and the pups out and we explored the neighborhood. I found a piece of waste land where the dogs could run and play.
After we have been to that piece of land for a few times and I was sure that the pups could find their way back home I left the gate open at times and the dogs lied down close to the house wall. While doing my household chores I didn't watch them for a couple of minutes relying on Babe to take care of her pups. All of a sudden I heard a blood curdling howl of pain from one of the pups. I rushed out of the house spotting a car driving slowly right through the pups who were closely lying together.
I stopped the car, pulling the pups from underneath the car realizing that Ronnie's right leg was obviously broken. Absolutely furious I tried to open the car door to pull the driver out but fortunately for him and also for me he locked the door and drove on.
I locked the dogs into the house and took Ronnie to the next clinic where his leg was x-rayed. The x-ray view showed a broken femur. I was told that the cost for a necessary surgery would be 20,000 Baht which are about 500 Euro. I drove on to the Naklua clinic where they estimated 5,000 Baht for the surgery. The next day I picked Ronnie up. His leg had been pinned and casted. I took him home.
A few days later I received two requests for adoption. The first was for Robbie and the second for Ruby. With Robbie it all happens very quickly. A Brit married with a Thai was interested to take him. One hour after the call I met him at Naklua clinic and we drove in his SUV back to our house. Robbie understandably did not want to enter the car so I took him into my arms and we drove back to the clinic where the Brit’s wife was waiting. Robbie obviously sensed that something in his life would be changing because he was sweating and salivating what he never did before.
When we arrived at the clinic I put Robbie into the arms of the Thai woman petted him a last time and let him go. It was not easy at all.
Two days later an Italian called telling me that his girlfriend would like to adopt Ruby. I invited him and his girlfriend to take a look at Ruby since they knew her only from a picture. One week later they came and picked Ruby up. I was assuming they are good people who would lovingly look after her.
Meanwhile, I was also looking for Patty. Her new owner kindly invited me to see her; Patty seemed to be content with her new home. After one week I called the Brit and the Italian. Both assured me that Robbie and Ruby had settled in well. A year later I met the Italian guy in the clinic and he told me that Ruby was fine.