Beth Isenhower has always had a penchant to help an animal when she sees one in need. She and her family have rescued a few stray cats and dogs over the years and on Nov. 10 the chance presented itself again.
Driving home from her son’s basketball tryouts at Oak Hill Elementary School shortly after dusk, Beth and 10-year-old Mack spotted two small black puppies in their path on Pitts Farm Drive, not even a mile from their home. After scanning the roadside nearby they did not see any sign of littermates or a mother dog. They took the puppies home without hesitation.
Beth Isenhower phoned her husband, Eric, on his way home from work to give him the news and alert him to keep an eye out in case more puppies appeared.
Mack Isenhower tagged along with his dad after work, a couple of hours later, to make one more effort to look for more pups. They did indeed see another small puppy running along the road near their home, and this one was followed by an adult Labrador retriever mix, the mother.
The mother dog and all three pups, well-tempered but very hungry, were welcomed into the Isenhower home that night and the family decided they would do what they could to foster the animals.
In the light of day, as Beth, Eric and Mack Isenhower began their weekday routines, they decided to keep the mother dog in a fenced dog lot inside their fenced backyard while they went to work and school. The young puppies, guessed to be about 7-weeks-old at the time, were kept inside the home.
When Beth Isenhower returned home from work, she was disappointed to discover that the mother dog had not only chewed her way through a bungee cord to open the latch on the gated dog lot, but she had also pushed her way between the latched gate and fence opening to escape the backyard.
The next hours were spent searching the country road where the Isenhowers live, calling for the escaped canine, where many of the homes have plenty of wooded acreage. They did not find her.
Surprised to hear a scratch at the Isenhowers front door at 8:30 p.m., Beth opened it and mother dog rushed inside with three more puppies in tow.
Now, two weeks later, the Isenhowers are busily keeping up with mother and all six puppies as they foster the dogs. The mother dog has not made any further attempts to escape now that she appears to have her family back together. All seven dogs are fatter, de-wormed and full of playful energy.
After inquiring around the neighborhood, the Isenhowers have not found a pet-owner claiming the mother dog. They have since discovered, however, that a 7-year-old neighbor on their road also found a seventh puppy and took it in with plans to keep it.
The Isenhowers will keep a puppy as well, and will now begin to search for good and safe permanent homes for the rest of the bunch.
Contact Beth Isenhower at 413-4536 to express interest in adopting a puppy and to learn more.
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Mother dog does the unexpected
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Mother dog and puppies play and nap in the Isenhowers backyard on a mild fall day. Credit: Jennifer Frew | The News Herald
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Mother dog and puppies play and nap in the Isenhowers backyard on a mild fall day. Credit: Jennifer Frew | The News Herald
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Mother dog and puppies play and nap in the Isenhowers backyard on a mild fall day. Credit: Jennifer Frew | The News Herald
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Mother dog and puppies play and nap in the Isenhowers backyard on a mild fall day. Credit: Jennifer Frew | The News Herald
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Mother dog and puppies play and nap in the Isenhowers backyard on a mild fall day. Credit: Jennifer Frew | The News Herald
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Mother dog and puppies play and nap in the Isenhowers backyard on a mild fall day. Credit: Jennifer Frew | The News Herald
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Mother dog and puppies play and nap in the Isenhowers backyard on a mild fall day. Credit: Jennifer Frew | The News Herald
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Mother dog and puppies play and nap in the Isenhowers backyard on a mild fall day. Credit: Jennifer Frew | The News Herald
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Mother dog and puppies play and nap in the Isenhowers backyard on a mild fall day. Credit: Jennifer Frew | The News Herald
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Morganton News Herald
Published: November 25, 2010
Published: November 25, 2010
MORGANTON --
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