Originally Posted by Grace and Anne  That's so much for the overwhelming outpouring of support. Being so new to this forum, I never expected such!
I hope I don't miss any questions. I typed this out earlier and somehow didn't get it posted....So let's try it again. I hope this isn't too long, but I thought I would give you some more information on her and on us.
One of you asked if I have other dogs. We have 5 of our own dogs. Jake, (Alaskan Mal/German Shephard mix, our 1st foster, for about a day, husband fell in love immediately, he was 2 weeks when we got him, 10 1/2 months later we got to experience hip surgery, he was born with out a hip joint, he is now almost 2)Jenny (a undefined mix breed, almost 2, rescued and adopted on the spot), Gracie and Annie (my beloved Yorkies-Birthday presents for the past 2 years, and Lily (orphaned with 6 siblings on day 6, I took them on, and adopted them all out but her. She is completely blind. Was born with no eye tissue at all. She's a blessing!!!)
Although I have done several (11 successful adoptions in 6 months) foster dogs,This one has me very nervous. I don't want to fail her! I love all dogs, but Yorkies have my heart. So my answer would have to be yes....and I guess that would be an understatement....LOL
As far as Dolly's History....Well, we only know as far back as a week and a half. She appeared out of no where at a lady's house. She started comin up everyday when she fed her dogs. They tried for a week to make friends, but it just didn't happen. So I got the call. We worked with her for 4 and a half hours and finally at dark we had to resort to more aggressive measures. Not at all what I wanted to do.
Is she a puppy mill puppy....I have never had one, have only read about them. But here is what I have observed.
1. She is apparently 4 or 5 years old. But she has doesn't have bottom teeth on one side. (probably due to poor diet?)
2. She has been completely shaved, but she is scared to death of people.... (I can't imagine shaving my beautiful babies)
3. She has very bad skin (again probably due to poor diet)
4. Her nipples are enlarged, yet they show no signs of milk. (could that be a sign of overbreeding?)
5. And lastly...The big one....I think. She walks in circles. That's the one thing I saw most in descriptions of puppy mill breeder dogs on Petfinder. At first I though it was because of her eye. Our blind Lily does that. She marks her path and then runs it over and over to insure she doesn't run in to anything. But I am now sure its not the same.
Now for an UPDATE:
Got her yesterday morning. We have made her a temporary home in a 10X10 pen in the back yard. We don't know for sure how long she has been livin outside, but I am fairly sure she hasn't lived in a home enviornment, so we decided it would be best to slowly introduce her to everything, rather that give her overload by going at her with too many changes at once.
I'm not happy that we have to do this right now... With the weather like it is here. But we don't really have any other option. And we are trying to make it as easy on her as possible. The pen is on a concrete slab under a crape mertle tree. We have her a dog house (she has no idea what it is). We have her a bed (again she is clueless), water dispenser, and a rug for her to lay on. Then in the heat of the day, I string a extension cord and put a fan out by where she lays.
She has met all the other dogs through the fence and she seems to be very comfortable with them. Her health, beyond the removed eye, is still questionable. We will take her back to have her stitches removed in about 10days, at that time they will deal with more issues.
I went in and sat for about 20 minutes with her. I didn't approach her at all. I just sat with her. She actually relaxed enough to lay down!!! Tomorrow before we feed her, I am going to try to the treats
Thanks for your words of encouragement and advice! |