Meet the Eastern Star Litter!

The Eastern Stars puppies were born on Thursday, October 20. Midge was due to give birth the following Sunday, but on that Thursday, Midge's breeder caretaker Susan thought that Midge might be showing the very beginning signs of labor. However, Midge was sending mixed signals, and Susan decided it was too soon for the puppies to arrive. She continued her day as usual, leaving Midge at home with her husband, Bill.

Midge hung out with Bill in his shop and took treats just like any other day. In her previous pregnancies, Midge didn't really care about food when she was in labor. That Thursday, however, she loved food! But later when she went into a strange squatting position, Bill was instantly suspicious - and it's a good thing he was watching, because all of a sudden he had to catch a puppy before it hit the ground!

After cleaning the puppy and taking care of the placenta, Bill let Susan know that Midge was, in fact, having her puppies that day. Pretty soon, the entire whelping team was on their way.

The rest of the delivery went very smoothly. Midge delivered the other five puppies quickly, and she was attentive to each puppy. She's a great mom!

We took Midge and the puppies to the Palmyra Animal Clinic the next day, and the vet gave her and the pups a clean bill of health. Each puppy had gained weight overnight, which is wonderful news.

Thank you to our whelping team and our vets at the Palmyra Animal Clinic!

The Stars puppies were named by the Eastern Star, and they selected names of famous actors and actresses who supported our nation’s veterans. Many of these actors and actresses gave their time through the United Service Organization (USO) shows, which were dedicated to support and entertain U.S. troops. Thank you to the Eastern Star for their donation and for selecting the names!

The name SSD Carol was chosen in honor of one of our puppy raisers, who passed away suddenly the day the puppies were born. Carol and her family raised three dogs for us – SSD Cypress, SSD Penny and SSD Jasmine II. She was a dedicated volunteer, and we will miss her.

Name	Color	Sex	Collar Color
Bob Hope (Hope)	Black	Female	Teal
Buster Keaton (Buster)	Black	Male	Red
Kate Smith (Kate)	Black	Female	Pink
Ann Margret (Maggie)	Black	Female	Tan
Lucille Ball (Lucy)	Black	Female	Purple
Carol Burnett (Carol)	Black	Female	Orange