Maybelle has one Sponsor Maybelle is one of our Grand Old Ladies here at the farm! Back in 1998, Maybelle was a young dog when she wandered onto the school campus in Albuquerque where Ricky was teaching.  She had no collar or identification. Knowing that school policy was to send all stray dogs to Animal Control, and that most dogs taken there did not live to tell about it, Ricky kept her in his shop classroom until the end of the day, and then took her to our vet. She was scanned for a microchip, but there was none. Ricky made posters and placed them in the school and around the neighborhood, but no one ever claimed Maybelle. So she came to live with us. She was a little worse for wear, and definitely underweight, but it wasn’t obvious that she was pregnant! When we took her back to our vet for a full examination and wellness visit, we were informed that we were going to have more dogs than just Maybelle! So her routine shots had to be postponed until she delivered. We did our best to put weight on her, and gave her vitamin supplements to strengthen her. But being pregnant on the street takes a toll on mother and babies. Maybelle had seven beautiful babies. We named the four girls to honor their mommy: Lulubelle, Sarabelle, Annabelle and Clarabelle. We named the boys for the Ford family: Henry, Edsel and William Clay. Everyone seemed so healthy at first that there was little inkling of what would lie ahead for Maybelle and her pups. Our first big challenge came when Maybelle developed a uterine infection just after giving birth. We had recently relocated to San Diego and didn’t yet have a regular vet. The first vet we took her to put Maybelle on antibiotics, but told us that we must not let her nurse her babies! While Maybelle was out in the yard, we scooped up her babies and hid them behind closed doors in our spare bedroom. Imagine Maybelle’s distress when she returned to the house to find her precious babies gone! She cried and searched that whole house, room by room, looking for her babies. We thought she’d tire herself out after a while and just settle into her bed. Wrong! It broke our hearts to watch her. When I slipped away to feed her pups in the spare bedroom, she was waiting at the door when I came out, eyes fixed on mine, pleading with me to give her babies back to her! By the next morning we couldn’t stand it any longer and sought out the advice of another vet. This one told us to let the puppies nurse. His opinion was that the antibiotics would not hurt the babies. Well, he didn't have to tell us twice! Maybelle was joyous to have her babies back. She laid in her bed, counting them and cleaning them and claiming them, as they nursed. I am pretty sure she forgave us, because dogs are like that ... and Maybelle is an especially loving girl. The puppies grew and at first there did not seem to be anything more to worry about. But soon we noticed that little Clarabelle's head was growing faster than her body. The vet explained that Clarabelle was hydrocephalic. She had excess fluid in her skull, causing her head to grow larger than normal. The vet said that, if she survived, she would probably have learning difficulties and many medical issues. All we could do was wait and see. When the puppies were about 7 months old, Ricky noticed one Friday evening that she was acting differently, less coordinated than usual. We checked her temperature and it was normal, so we didn’t think much about it ... but as it turned out, she didn’t survive through the weekend! We were devastated! After we lost Clarabelle, all the others seemed to grow normally. But eventually, the other pups started developing health issues. At about a year old, we noticed that William Clay had some very strange appendages growing on his leg and hip joints. They were like little wings, poking his skin and fur outward from his body. We had him checked and the vet said they were calcifications -- like his bones had grown extra pieces on them for some reason. He could operate and remove them, but couldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t grow back. The vet’s advice was to leave it alone,  since they did not seem to bother William Clay ... so we did. Annabelle developed the same odd growths that William Clay had. And over time Edsel became very susceptible to mange. Maybelle and her babies moved with us from San Diego to Arizona, and then from Arizona to Texas. They seemed to enjoy their life together, playing and chasing one another, and piling together at night to sleep, just as they did when they were pups! We have lost all but Sarabelle through the years. Maybelle is now pushing 15 years old (at least, no one knows for sure) and Sarabelle turns 13 in 2011. Maybelle and Sarabelle are still enjoying life with us and still just as sweet as ever!  Little did we realize when we rescued Maybelle that we would also be saving seven additional lives! Smiling Dog Farms Giving hope to the forgotten, neglected & rejected... P.O. Box 743 Wharton, TX 77488 Home / Contact Us Back to Main List Be a Donor Make a One-time Donation *The selected amount will billed to your credit card each month via PayPal. You may cancel at any time. Maybelle gives many sloppy kisses and big hugs to her current Monthly Sponsors! • Paul & Michelle W. Maybelle, 1998 Sarabelle  (all grown up) A 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation                                                Smiling Dog Farms is Absolutely, Unequivocally NO-KILL!!!