Video: Mama Holly is awesome at nursing her eleven 23-day-old pups.
Video: 24-day-old puppies on the loose.
Video: Holly's puppies are 18 days old.
Eleven Puppies, Black Lab mix, ~6 lbs en route to 70 lbs, born May 8, 2026
Background: This beautiful female Lab mix was picked up as a stray in Stanislaus County... and taken to the Modesto shelter. Shelter believes she is ~3 years old. She delivered eleven puppies at the shelter on Friday May 8th. We got her into a foster home in Clayton on Monday May 11th where she and her puppies are thriving. Seven females and four males.
What Their Rescue Rep Says: Mama and the squeaky puppies are doing great. They are all growing steadily. Eyes are open -- and the wrassling/romping has begun. They just started eating esbilac/kibble mush. We'll invite prospective adopters to meet them when they are ~6 weeks old (around 19 June). We will adopt them out when they are ~8-weeks-old... after their first vet visit (and puppy vax #1). We think mama, Holly, is a Lab/shepherd mix -- no idea what breed the father is.
We want the puppies to go to homes where the people are around a lot. Would be fine in homes with another (adult) dog and children. Adopting a young puppy is much like having a newborn baby in the home: very demanding for care and attention. Young puppies quickly grow up and become big rowdy juveniles that need lots of exercise and structure and patience from their humans.
Several puppy handouts from Marin Humane are fabulous reads:Puppy World
Puppy Health
Puppy Socialization
Medical: The pups appear to be in fine health. They will need to be quarantined in their homes and backyards until they receive their final puppy vaccination (~28 August) so they are not exposed to parvo and other nasties. The existence of a safe/secure backyard may be a factor in selecting adopters.
Located In: Clayton
If you want to adopt one of Holly's puppies, please contact Rescue Rep Dave at david.c.ely@sbcglobal.net
See other Labs Available