Tuesday, October 17, 2006

A JACKET FULL of PUPPIES … 1973


In 1973 my family and I were living in a small town in upstate New York. We didn’t entertain like we had while living in the city but on this particular night we were having a sit-down dinner for 12 couples.

It was a snowy November evening and all of our guests had arrived, but where was my husband? He and our oldest son had gone out hunting early in the day. Now it was well past dark and still no sign of them.

I was starting to get panicky but then I heard a car door slam and knew they were home. We all went to greet them and watched as they carefully lifted Dick’s hunting jacket out of the back of the Blazer. It seemed to be heavy and it took the two of them to carry it inside.

That was when we heard the tiny yapping sounds and we realized that his jacket was full of newborn pups. There must have been 7 or 8 of them and Dick explained what has transpired.

He had noticed a pregnant dog about 4 weeks earlier and every time he went into the woods he would call to her and they became friends. About 2 weeks before our party Dick noticed that the mother would not come to his call and he assumed that she must be having, or already had, her puppies.

So it was a shock when Dick and Mark stumbled onto the body of the mother. She had most likely been killed by a ruthless hunter who saw movement in the brush and assumed that it was a deer. They were devastated and then their next thought was, “where are the pups?” They finally located them scrunched into a hollow log covered with snow and they extricated them one by one and bundled them in Dick’s jacket.

You can imagine the rest of the story. We took turns sitting on the kitchen floor, fancy dress clothes and all, cuddling the pups and feeding warm milk to them. So it became a “sit-down” dinner party after all.

And, to top it off, one of the guests was a journalist. He wrote an article that tugged at the heart strings of many readers and all of our little “orphan pups" were adopted into good homes.

13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a lovely story Ginnie. Shame you didn't get to keep the puppies but wonderful that you got them all into safe homes.
Rachel
http://www.firstmemories.blogspot.com

5:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a sweet story! And the journalist in your midsts reminds me of bloggers today. Although there were no bloggers back then, if there were more stories (and photos) would have been written.

Even in my dream last night, I recognized a good blog story and went to get my camera!

6:22 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Huge dog lover that I am...you have to know I LOVED this entry! What a great story, Ginnie. And how nice all the pups were placed in a home, but I was surprised you didn't keep at least one of the pups.
Loved the photo too...pure joy.

6:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wonderful! Did you keep one?
We'll be getting a puppy in less than 2 weeks! Timely story for us.

8:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a wonderful family memory and a beautiful story. I am so glad the puppies all got good homes and that your dinner guests had not only a great time, but the opportunity to add their love to the moment.

8:15 AM  
Blogger Ginnie said...

Thanks for all the comments. We did not keep any of the puppies because we were already overrun with 5 dogs, 1 horse and a hampster. !!

10:57 AM  
Blogger Maya's Granny said...

And isn't it always the case that the family with five dogs, a horse, and a hamster is the family that rescues the orphaned pups? Same sense of values and love of animals in the one as in the other.

10:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Ginnie,

That's a beautiful story. I find that animals bring out the best in people. I have picture on my desk of about 30 people helping to comfort a beached whale. What is it about animals that makes us go the extra five miles?

11:13 AM  
Blogger Redhead Gal said...

thanks for sharing that lovely memory.

6:33 PM  
Blogger Anvilcloud said...

Aw, that's a heart-tugging story. Have you read James Herriot, the Yorkshire vet and author?

11:06 PM  
Blogger Ginnie said...

Yes, Anvilcloud, and I like the TV version too...I believe it is from the BBC.

4:25 AM  
Blogger thailandchani said...

Thank you for your nice stories! I find it delightful to come to your blog first thing and read with morning decaf. It just sets a good tone for the day. :)


Thailand Gal

~*~*~*

11:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh I have tears in my eyes. Such a sweet story. How wonderful of your husband to go to all that trouble to find the pups. I can't think of a better way to spend the evening than helping those babies.

Thanks for sharing such a nice story.
Take care,
Connie

2:28 AM  

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