A lady I know on another forum has a black lab. He hasn't been neutered (he's a year old) because he's had health problems that the vet wanted to sort out before doing it. A while ago, a stray looking very like a GR (who I am therefore calling 'the GR' even though there's no way of telling if she really is) who was in heat dug her way under the fence to get to her dog and was empregnated.
I can hear you all groaning, and by this point in the story, so was I.
But the GR decided to have the puppies under her porch, and while she was skittish she was friendly, and allowed the puppies and herself to be moved into the garage (3 of the 7 puppies died before she was moved as it's apparently still quite cold where she lives - in the US).
I gave her some advice on befriending the mother and asked her to please please please get her dog neutered (he's scheduled) and to ring a rescue for help so the mother could be spayed.
She's decided she will find homes for the puppies (and is already looking for potential owners since I suggested that she start now
) and she's keeping the mother - she's contacted her vet about the best time to do this, what with the puppies. In the meantime, the grown-up dogs aren't allowed to be near each other.
Mummy dog is getting less skittish already, and the remaining pups are doing really well.
Just another way an imperfect situation turned out to be best for all involved
