Gwennie was owned previously by someone who didn't neuter either his female or male OES. The first litter, born in April 2002 yielded eleven pups, and the second litter was due in mid-December.  A foster home was found for Gwennie to whelp the pups, and St. Monica earned her angel wings! Her devoted and tireless care for Gwennie and the TWELVE healthy pups delivered (three days before Gwennie's second birthday) will always be remembered by NEOESR and OES lovers across the country. 

In late December, various combinations of our family began traveling to visit Gwennie and help with tiny puppy care. One weekend in January, just before the pups turned six weeks, one of our sons and I gave Monica the day off. She had told us that Gwennie had gotten a little agressive with her aging OES. With a total of 15 dogs to care for (not to mention two young sons!) she and her husband agreed Gwennie either had to come home with us, or spend most of her time in the garage until the pups were ready to go to their new homes. 

It was too cold for the garage option in our view, so we agreed to take Gwennie home with us, and come back for our pup, Olaf, after his first shot. Gwennie clearly hadn't weaned completely even though the pups were happy to chow down on Goat Milk Groul, so we were a bit concerned about that. Just as we were leaving, we felt like the pups should be able to sniff Momma one last time, so we opened the entry to the puppy coop to see what would happen. Gwennie rushed in and 12 little pups immediately began to nurse. We had the camera close at hand, and managed to get a shot of seven of them - the other five were on the other side. (Our little Olaf is Gwennie's mirror image, with the dark left ear by her right rear leg.) Forty-eight hours later, the pups got their first shots, so, the engorged Gwennie in tow, our adopted daughter and I drove back to Monica's to get not only our pup Olaf, but Kasey - a little female ultimately bound for Baltimore - she stayed with us for two weeks to help the weaning process. There were never three happier dogs in the back of any van than Olaf and Kasey with ten spigots between the two of them, and Gwennie, grateful for some much needed relief.

Many of Gwennie's puppies' owners stay in touch through email and look forward to meeting one another and reuniting the litter and Gwennie at the annual picnic. Meanwhile, Gwennie is a dear, sweet soul, very glad to be off the maternity ward. And while we are sorry she had to endure her second year of life carrying, whelping and nursing a total of 23 pups, we are grateful to have one of the them, Olaf, who with his momma, has stolen our hearts. We will always remember sweet Momma Gwennie feeding Olaf and Co. for the last time.