When Mama Gemma and her puppies need help, one family learns that love is always worth the risk, even when it breaks your heart.
Glenda grew up in a small farming community, where her love for animals began early and never faded. From the beginning, animals taught her about kindness, patience, and unconditional love.
As a mother to her two sons, Lennox and Hendrix, Glenda is passionate about teaching compassion through real-life experiences. Her stories are shaped by everyday moments, quiet courage, and the belief that love, even when it hurts, is always worth choosing.
Help Glenda rescue pregnant Mama Gemma from the jungle. Build a nursery, care for seven newborn puppies, and fight to save them from parvo. Make tough choices, manage resources, and experience the real emotional journey of love, loss, and hope. Every decision matters in this heartfelt rescue adventure.
A pregnant Rottweiler, abandoned and afraid, is saved by a kind mother and her two sons. As Gemma gives birth to seven puppies, the family faces joy, then tragedy when parvo strikes. Through loss and miracles, they learn that loving bravely, even when it hurts, is the greatest gift of all.
Gemma is a true story about a mother dog, her puppies, and the family who chose to care for them.
When Gemma is found abandoned and pregnant, the Bard family opens their home and their hearts. What follows is a journey filled with love, responsibility, loss, and hope, teaching children that compassion sometimes asks for courage, and love is always worth choosing.
Lennox learns what it means to care for others.
He helps protect the puppies, makes thoughtful choices, and discovers that love sometimes means doing hard things.
Hendrix leads with his heart.
Through gentle moments and quiet care, he shows how kindness, patience, and love can help someone feel safe.
If Gemma touched your heart, you’re not alone.
Stories like this are meant to be shared, remembered, and talked about.
By Jessica Thomas., book blogger
I finished Gemma at 2 a.m. with tears streaming down my face and my own dog curled in my lap. I couldn’t put it down.
This is the story of a pregnant Rottweiler abandoned on the roadside and the family who stopped for her. Glenda Bard and her boys didn’t just rescue Gemma; they built her a nursery, stayed up through the night when her seven puppies arrived, and loved those little mountains with everything they had.
Then came the parvo. I won’t pretend I wasn’t devastated. When Mammoth and Aspen didn’t make it, I sobbed. But here’s what struck me: the Bards kept going. They didn’t let loss harden them. They loved the survivors harder.
What stayed with me is this line: “Loving and losing is still better than never having loved at all.” I needed to hear that. This book isn’t just about dogs. It’s about choosing love even when it terrifies you. I’ll be thinking about Gemma for a long time.
By Marcus Webb., banker
I read Gemma aloud to my kids over three nights. By the end, we were all crying and holding each other.
The book follows a family that rescues a pregnant dog and raises her puppies. My children were enchanted by the puppy nursery, the names inspired by mountains, the boys reading bedtime stories to tiny furballs. But when the parvo outbreak hit, I almost stopped reading. I wasn’t sure my kids were ready for that kind of loss.
I’m glad I didn’t stop. Watching Lennox and Hendrix grieve gave my children words for feelings they’ve had but couldn’t name. They saw that sadness doesn’t mean love was a mistake. They saw a family holding each other and kept going.
My oldest asked me afterward, “Would you stop for a dog on the side of the road?” I said yes. She smiled. This book gave us that conversation. That’s the power of a good story.
By Eleanor C., retired librarian
I came across Gemma while browsing for something to read on a quiet afternoon. I expected a sweet animal story. What I found was something far more profound.
This book follows a family as they rescue an abandoned pregnant dog and raise her seven puppies through joy, heartbreak, and survival. The writing is gentle but unflinching. When the parvo outbreak claims three of the puppies, the author doesn’t look away. Neither does the family. They grieve openly, honestly, and together.
What moved me most was how the book handles grief without becoming hopeless. The Bards lose something irreplaceable, yet they continue choosing love. That takes the courage most stories shy away from showing.
As someone who has loved and lost animals over a lifetime, this book spoke to my heart. It reminded me that the ache of loss is proof that love was real. I closed it feeling heavier, yes, but also strangely lighter. Some books do that. This is one of them.
Glenda Bard’s children’s book Gemma, a true story of a pregnant Rottweiler rescued from the roadside, is being adapted into a 2D animated short film and an accompanying web game.
Gemma tells the true story of Bard and her two sons, Lennox and Hendrix, who rescue an abandoned pregnant Rottweiler. The dog, Gemma, gives birth to seven puppies named after mountains: Tahoe, Mammoth, Little Bear, Everest, Whistler, Aspen, and Big Bear. When a parvo outbreak claims three puppies, the family grieves openly and learns that love is worth the risk.
The 2D animated short will bring the story to life, following the family from the roadside rescue to the birth of the puppies, the heartbreak of loss, and the healing that follows.
The web game will allow children to engage with the story interactively, including helping care for the puppies and making choices about kindness and responsibility.
Both projects are in development. Further details, including release dates and platforms, will be announced.
About the Author
Glenda grew up in a small farming community, where her love for animals began. As a mother to her sons, Lennox and Hendrix, she writes stories that help children and families embrace love fully, even when it carries risk. Gemma is her debut.
Author Glenda Bard announces her children’s book Gemma, a true story about a pregnant Rottweiler abandoned by the roadside, rescued by Bard and her two sons, Lennox and Hendrix.
Gemma tells the true story of a pregnant Rottweiler abandoned by the roadside, rescued by Bard and her two sons, Lennox and Hendrix. The seven puppies, named after mountains (Tahoe, Mammoth, Little Bear, Everest, Whistler, Aspen, Big Bear), are born in a homemade nursery. When a parvo outbreak claims three puppies, the family grieves openly and learns that loving and losing is still better than never having loved at all.
What readers will find:
Why This Book Matters
Gemma shows children that sadness and love can live in the same heart. The family does not look away when things go wrong. They cry. They hold each other. They keep going. The book teaches that grief is not a mistake. It is proof that love was real.
About the Author
Glenda Bard grew up in a small farming community, where her love for animals taught her empathy, unconditional love, and quiet strength. As a mother to her sons, Lennox and Hendrix, she writes stories that help children and families embrace love fully, even when it carries risk. Gemma is her debut.
Glenda Bard’s Gemma, a dog rescue story for kids, continues to reach readers as a children’s book about loss and grief that does not look away from hard feelings.
Gemma tells the true story of a pregnant Rottweiler found tied to a post by the roadside. Bard and her two sons bring her home, build a nursery, and witness the birth of seven puppies. When parvo strikes, three puppies die. The family does not look away. They grieve together, keep loving the survivors, and ultimately keep Gemma and one puppy, Tahoe.
What Makes Gemma Different
Unlike many Rottweiler puppy books that focus only on joy, Gemma teaches children that sadness and love can coexist. It is an animal shelter adoption story that shows rescue is not always easy but always worth it. The book’s central line, “Loving and losing is still better than never having loved at all,” has become a touchstone for families navigating pet loss, divorce, or the death of a loved one.
What Readers and Professionals Are Saying
About the Author
Glenda Bard balances motherhood with writing, crafting stories in quiet mornings. She lives with her family and their rescued Rottweiler, Gemma, and believes small acts of kindness can change the world.
