Betty’s Puppies FAQ

MARCH 24, 2024

RESCUE STORY: To see how the story of Betty and her puppies unfolded, visit their web pages here: BETTY & BETTY’S PUPPIES

ADOPTION APPLICATIONS have already started coming in! Wow!

WHAT WE KNOW (and don’t know) so far:

- There are five puppies who will be available for adoption - 2 boys, and 3 girls.

- The puppies were born on February 18, 2024, exactly one week after Betty was rescued.

- Due to the risk of Parvo, the puppies should not NOT have paws on the ground in any public areas until they’re appropriately vaccinated. Parvo can live in the soil for up to seven years.

- It should be safe for them to start going on walks one week after their second set of vaccines has built antibodies.

- No meeting any other dogs or puppies of unknown health. Distemper can be transferred via airborne transmission. This restriction can be lifted one week after their second set of vaccines.

- These puppies DO shed, they are NOT hypo-allergenic!

- We don’t know who the puppy-daddies are, but it’s apparent that there were likely two male dogs who inseminated Betty several days apart, which increases the mystery as to the puppies’ potential breed mix. Betty appears to be a Cocker mix, but we don’t know what mix of breeds the puppies will end up being. (It would be fun if any future adopters did dna tests!)

- We do not know how big they are going to grow up to be. The best way to make an approximate guess is to double their weight at sixteen weeks of age. (They will likely already be with their new homes by then.)

- PLEASE, DO NOT ASK TO ADOPT A PAIR! This is setting them up to handicap their development and can lead to Littermate Syndrome. It is a cruel thing to do to two puppies and people often don’t take it seriously until they experience how emotionally painful it is for the dogs. Littermate Syndrome sometimes doesn’t present symptoms until the dogs are three to four years of age and by then, the developmental damage has been done. Think about it this way: imagine you were raised with a twin sibling (or another child close in age) and as you grew up, you were never allowed to have your own friends, your own interests, your mental and emotional experiences were always with your sibling. You would become co-dependent on one another, you would lack confidence, you would be terrified to be away from the other, one of you would become the dominant one while the other would have their own personality squashed. It is not mentally healthy and you will never reach your full potential to figure out who you are away from your sibling. This is what Littermate Syndrome is. Please don’t do this to two puppies. There are many breeders and rescue groups that will not be honest with you about the dangers of Littermate Syndrome, so it is up to you to make kind compassionate choices when you adopt.

CAMP COCKER RESCUE IS BASED IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA AND DOES ADOPT ALL OVER THE U.S.

We do not ship dogs, we do not bring them to you, we do not allow third parties to deliver a dog to you. Please don’t ask. You must be enthusiastic enough about adoption to travel here and meet your dog or puppy in person to complete an adoption. (if you do not want to travel, please consider adopting a puppy at a local shelter, the shelters all have large breed puppies that need homes!)

We do not sell dogs, so please don’t ask us “how much?” This can be offensive to rescuers as it indicates you are viewing a live animal as a product with a price tag. The adoption donation is explained in the adoption process. (Purchasing Puppy food, beds, toys, wee wee pads, x-pens, crates, etc, can get very expensive!). We do not “make money” on puppies. Our other adult dogs and major medical rescues will benefit if there are any puppy donations that can roll over to them.

PLEASE READ OUR ADOPTION PROCESS AT CampCocker.com/adoptionprocess

- Each puppy will be adopted out with a strictly enforced spay/neuter agreement. The adoption agreement is conditional upon the spay/neuter being done between five and six months of age. This is the age that most vets recommend and this is our policy. (you can adopt a puppy from anywhere else if you are uncomfortable with our conditions for adoption)

- Microchips will be provided to have your vet implant when your puppy is under anesthesia for the spay/neuter.

- We expect to receive a LOT of applications on these puppies. It is not first apply, first get. We will be thoughtfully matching up each puppy to the home that will be the best match, based on their temperament.

- We will let each and every applicant know of our final adoption decisions once they are made and adopters are notified. It is common for us to receive many good applications for our puppies, many more good applications than puppies, and we sincerely hope that you won’t be offended if your application is not chosen as being the best possible match between a puppy & their adopters.

- We are assuming that everyone who applies has a good home to offer and lots of love to give.

- Adopting out puppies is actually quite a bit more challenging than you might think. Our goal is to find “puppy appropriate” homes, which is not an easy task.

- Puppies do not come potty trained, they will potty in your nice home. They will potty on anything at ground level: a throw rug, a bath towel, clothing that is left on the floor, shoes, toys, a purse, etc

- Puppies have needle teeth and are not appropriate for homes with very young children or very senior people (fragile soft skin can get easily punctured by a puppy’s teeth, ouchie).

- Puppies will do property damage, they are like little baby beavers with their teethees! They like to chew floorboards, doorways, legs of furniture, corners of couches, kitchen cabinets at ground level, electrical cords, computers or iPads or cell phones, shoes, children’s toys, blankets, your prescription eye glasses, jewelry, etc. Adjust your expectations so you can puppy proof and mitigate the damages. There will be property damage so just be prepared.

- Puppies can make a senior dog miserable. If you have an elderly dog in your home, be kind and consider how stressful a puppy is going to be for them.

- If you already have a female dog in your home, it is smart to avoid adopting a female puppy. There can be a power struggle between the two females and your current female could end up losing their position as top dog. Male dogs rarely have the same power struggles that female dogs do. Having a female/male combination usually lets the female be secure in her position as leader. Male dogs tend to be more easy going and accepting of a female’s position in the home. Think of it like teenagers, girls bring the drama and boys just want to have fun without the drama.

- And finally, we anticipate that Betty’s puppies will be ready to adopt in May. We hope to be able to make decisions about adopters for each of the five puppies sometime in April, though we can’t anticipate exactly when that will all come together.  If you will be submitting an application for one of the puppies, please stay tuned to hear from us sometime in the latter half of April to let you know about our decisions.  We will be notifying all applicants of our decisions once we’ve selected adopters for all five puppies. Follow the puppies on our website by starting here!

PLEASE HELP US TO SPREAD THE WORD & LET’S FIND FIVE OF THE MOST AMAZING FOREVER HOMES FOR BETTY’S PUPPIES!