Serving In The Gambia: Puppy update

Our puppies our now 2 1/2 weeks old and are beginning to open their eyes! The other week our neighbor Linda had mentioned that would like to move them to a different location. We searched and didn't find a nice place for them, so they stayed where they were. Being "wild" dogs, things are a little bit different than when we prepare a nice place for them to have their puppies in the states. We usually have a nice big box or pen with some old blankets where they can be comfortable. I would have loved to put a nice blanket down for our furry friends, but we don't have an old one and we don't have a nice place indoors for them. We hate to see them crawling around in the dirt becoming more flea infested by the day, but that is life here and we need to accept it as it is as they will have to learn to find food and fend for themselves as they get older.
Now back to moving of the location of the puppies. Our mama, Tia, had chosen a nice concealed area, but unfortunately the path was becoming quite worn from all the visitors, making finding the pups a bit too easy. Lately some of our dogs have been digging in our flower beds for some reason. Therefore I didn't think too much of it when Tia came around last night, dug for a bit then laid down and stared at me. She didn't stay long and then she was gone to check on her babies. This morning however, I heard the squeaks of puppies quite loudly from my bed. I wasn't completely awake so it didn't register that they couldn't possibly be that loud from their prior location. Elias then came in the room asking if I was awake and telling me to look out our window. I sat up, put on my glasses and looked outside to find the litter was now sleeping peacefully under one of our plants in our flower bed.

We haven't completely figured out the reason for this move, but Tia has not enjoyed being so far away from us and the rest of the dogs. She has been coming around more and more often to just sit and be with us and her siblings, leaving the puppies alone. We think that she just wanted to be closer to us and the rest of the dogs. We have to say we don't mind the puppies being close by to keep a watch on them and visit them as often as we like, but it did come as a bit of a surprise. Unfortunately, since the move we did lose another pup. She was our favorite and this morning when I went to go see her she was cold. We have since wrapped her in paper towel and laid her in a shallow grave, marking the location with a cross that Elias made. We aren't sure what happened, but Elias is convinced it's because Tia leaves them too often and isn't a good mother. I'm not sure how wild dogs mother so I'm not convinced it's because of that, but there is no way for us to know. Here are some updated pictures of our little cuties: