Dolly found herself homeless, alone (and pregnant!) on the mean streets of the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex when a Good Samaritan scooped her up and helped her find her way to Texas Sporting Breed Rescue where she could give birth to her litter in the warmth of a cozy foster home and ride out the holiday season in style!
That was November 10th and so began the "Dolly Watch" on TSBR's Facebook page with everyone breathlessly awaiting the birth of the litter and wondering how many puppies were in her huge belly.
The days ticked by. It looked like November 15th might be the day, but alas not. After another false alarm on the 16th, everyone thought that Dolly might just be enjoying the personalized attention she was getting. Then, around 1:30 am on the 17th she got busy and over the next 24 hours, along with a helping hand from her foster mom, delivered 11 perfect little brown and yellow baked potato-sized puppies into the world.
I met the puppies on December 30th so a New Year's theme seemed appropriate for this crew.
(click on any image to view full screen)
The Final Count, Eleven Adorable Chocolate and Yellow Lab Puppies
Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Dolly's "Grand Ole 11"
The Boys (named after singers who sang duets with Dolly)
The mission of Texas Sporting Breed Rescue, Inc. (TSBR) is to provide for the welfare, shelter, and adoption of lost, abandoned, neglected, or homeless dogs and puppies, specifically; the American Kennel Club (AKC) 30 defined sporting group breeds - Retrievers, Setters, Pointers, Spaniels, Vizslas, Weimaraners, and Spinone Italianos; to promote the responsible care of companion animals, to actively promote spaying and neutering as the most humane means of animal control; to support heartworm education and treatment; and to provide training and education to the public related to topics such as animal welfare, responsible dog ownership, and breed information.
Founded in early 2011 to address the continued shortage of rescue organizations available in Texas to support the 30 AKC-designated Sporting Breeds, TSBR is a relatively young rescue group. Anyone involved in rescue has seen it time and time again, people fall in love with a cute puppy and hear great things about certain breeds, like Labrador Retrievers but quickly learn they are in over their heads with some of these high-drive dogs that are not suited for a couch-potato life.
TSBR has carefully chosen a group of highly experienced, animal welfare-driven, fiscally responsible community-based volunteers to lead their organization and to help bring their mission statement to fruition.
Their leadership is comprised of both a board of directors as well as a critical advisory committee, bringing together the experience and expertise of veterinarians, corporate CFOs, accountants, lawyers, dog trainers, as well as representatives from the sporting community.
One of the things that I've wondered about since working with TSBR is the term "Troopie Land". Whenever a new rescue is taken in, or a puppy is born into the group, they always say "Welcome to Troopie Land", so I did some digging.
In 2014 TSBR took in a dog that the local Animal Services thought was dead after neighbors had called multiple times reporting animal cruelty. Upon arriving at the home, they found an emaciated, but ALIVE yellow lab. The heartbreaking story was picked up by a local group named "Clayton Nation" (who themselves are famous for rallying around an English Springer named Clayton - you can read that amazing story here), which got him on the radar of Texas Sporting Breed Rescue who took the dog and named him Harley (scroll down for the rest of the story).
At that point, Harley had quite the following numbering into the thousands and regular updates about him were addressed to "Harley World". The followers dubbed themselves "Harley's Troopers" and TSBR "Troopie Land".
Harley knew love, warmth, medical care, chicken nuggets, and more great stuff for the next few weeks until his medical problems became insurmountable and he was given the gift of a peaceful passing. Even though Harley had crossed the Rainbow Bridge, "Troopie" stuck and now TSBR is known as "Troopie Land". A fund named Harley's Hope was created in his honor so that we'll never forget him.
We're ringing in the new year this week in the pet photography blog circle, next up is Las Vegas photographer, Nicole, of Pawtraits by Nicole rings in the new year by giving away $6,000 in prizes with her annual Dog of the Year Contest and then continue clicking on the link at the bottom of each post until you land right back here, then you will have completed the circle!
Tracy Allard of Penny Whistle Photography is a Certified Professional Photographer with the organization Professional Photographers of America; a designation held by fewer than 2,000 photographers nationwide and a hallmark of consistency, technical skill, artistry, and professionalism. Tracy donates a significant portion of her time to helping out local DFW rescue groups like Texas Sporting Breed Rescue, and shelters with quality of the pets in their care.
Penny Whistle specializes in both on-location and studio photography providing pet, equine, family, couples & engagement, and high school senior portraits as well as corporate headshots and commercial photography services in her studio located in historic downtown Carrollton as well as on-location in Coppell, Grapevine, Southlake, Flower Mound, and surrounding communities in Dallas – Fort Worth, Texas.
5 Comments
Jan 8, 2023, 12:04:33 AM
Nicole - 11 puppies! Wow, poor mom. They are adorable!
Jan 6, 2023, 12:30:54 PM
Elaine - So my question.....uhm....do they adopt to Pennsylvania? I loved every minute of this blog.
Jan 6, 2023, 11:34:06 AM
Holly - Omg!! A whole pile of puppies! Thank you for sharing this story. I'm sure forever homes are out there for all the pups and their mom.
Jan 6, 2023, 7:13:54 AM
Nancy - They are so adorable
Jan 6, 2023, 4:43:00 AM
Erin - What a most fun way to kick off the new year!! How adorable are they?!?!?!