Hiking with Heather: Rescue Gang Littermate Reunion

Jake, Barley, Copper, Ted and Woody

Back in February 2018, a litter of five male puppies were rescued from Texas by Rescue Gang of Milwaukee. They were originally found abandoned in a field with no mother dog in sight. In addition to being underfed, they had giardia and ringworm.

Jake and Barley get a good look at each other

Once they arrived in Wisconsin, they underwent treatment for their illnesses and began putting on weight in their foster family homes. One by one they were adopted out to permanent homes.

Woody, Ted and Jake

Ted getting excited about the reunion!

A couple of the adoptive families had already reunited over the summer. But by late fall, all five adoptive families had reconnected with the help of Rescue Gang and began planning a reunion of the boys for the end of December.

Copper, Ted, Barley and Woody

As the reunion date approached, we emailed each other with updates on our pups and realized that although they varied in weight/size and appearance, they shared many of the same personality traits - sweet, sensitive, cuddly, easy-going, gets along great with other animals, toy destroyers, bed hogs. The anticipation of the reunion grew with each passing week, but finally the day came!

Jake, Woody, Copper, Ted and Barley

On the last Saturday of December, we met at a large dog park near Mequon, Wisconsin called Katherine Kearney Carpenter Park to allow plenty of space for the dogs to run around and play while they got reacquainted with each other.

Most of the adoptive families live within 30 miles of Milwaukee, but Jake and I drove over 3 hours to reunite with the others... which was totally worth it! Plus we're used to long road trips for our hiking, camping and kayaking adventures, so the drive was totally normal to us.

Barley and Ted give brotherly hugs

Jake and I were first to arrive but Barley and his family were there within a few minutes. The two boys went about with their introductions and then Woody and his family joined us.

Barley and Jake chase down their brothers

Ted and his family were next to arrive and last but not least, Copper and his family joined us. After a lot of butt sniffing and play bows, soon all five boys were romping around the park together. They quickly formed their own pack amidst all the other dogs in the park and whether it was true or not, they seemed to know each other.

Ted, Barley and Jake

We spent almost 2 full hours letting the dogs play before the chilly temps forced us to load up and head home. Jake was so exhausted from the reunion that he slept peacefully all the way home.

The boys gang up on Ted in the middle.

From left: Copper, Barley, Ted, Woody and Jake

After sharing photos via email later in the day, it was apparent that they all had a great time playing and were completely tuckered out!

Woody, Ted, Barley and Copper with the sweet smile.
Photo credit: Jason Pinkowski

It's such a rare thing to get all the families of a rescued/adopted litter of puppies together for a reunion and the significance of the situation was not lost on us. We all agreed that we should get the boys together a few times a year and stay in touch.

From left: Copper, Woody, Barley, Ted and Jake
Photo credit: Jason Pinkowski

Even though these puppies get to be brothers for life, the happiest part of the story is that they were rescued by passionate people so they could be adopted into good and loving homes and become part of a family. So in this Chinese zodiak "Year of the Dog," we celebrated the happy fate of these five rescued puppies with their new lives in good homes.

Thank you to all the adoptive families for taking time to make this reunion happen and a big thank you to Rescue Gang of Milwaukee for putting us in touch with each other and bringing these wonderful dogs into our lives! The work you do is important and so appreciated!

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Littermate Reunion begins with three: