Sponsored by: Friends of Flicka
Rosie has been in her new foster home for only one week, and she's already making tremendous progress adapting to life outside of a Tennessee puppy mill. Even though she has always lived outside with very little shelter and had never received a bath before coming into RAGOM, she is very well-behaved in the house and loves to be brushed and groomed.
Rosie is 7 years old and was used for breeding. Her front upper and lower teeth are worn down to the nubs from chewing on her wire cage. The nerves are exposed in those teeth, along with two canine teeth, which are broken in half with the roots exposed. She needs to have the teeth pulled, but her blood test results show some problems that must be fixed before she'll be strong enough for dental surgery. After the teeth are taken care of, she'll need to be spayed.
One of the blood tests showed that she's anemic, and we're hoping that will get better now that she's been wormed. The hookworms and whipworms are cleaned out of her system, but it will take a little time for her to recover from that. The vet is concerned about another blood test that measures liver and kidney enzymes. Hopefully, a urine culture will give us the info we need to get back into balance. Rosie also has a staph infection on her skin, which makes her a bit itchy. She's taking antibiotics for the infection.
While we work on building up Rosie's immune system, she's on pain meds for her teeth. She eats soft food, and her appetite is good.
She's got a great attitude -- very affectionate and friendly, and curious about new experiences. Rosie is getting relaxed in her foster home, and she even played with a soft squeaky toy yesterday! She acted like a little puppy, and was able to chew on the toy with her side teeth.
Sometimes she gets bursts of happiness and jumps around in the yard, or rolls around and groans with ecstasy at feeling safe, well-fed, clean, and comfortable. She loves to have her belly rubbed and her butt scratched.
Even though Rosie has great social skills and is adjusting well, she needs some special things as a puppy mill rescue. She has always been with many other dogs, and has never been alone. So she needs to be in a home with other dogs. Her foster mom doesn't leave her and her dog buddies alone without a human for more than a few hours at a time. Also, she needs a yard with a secure physical fence to ensure her safety.
Rosie is great with kids and cats, although she probably shouldn't live with kids under 12 years old. She's also afraid of certain hand gestures and body movements, but she's becoming more relaxed and trusting of people she knows.
She has no bad habits in the house -- she lets us know when she needs to go outside, and she doesn't counter-surf, chew on things, or get into the garbage. As she becomes more relaxed and playful, though, we're discovering that she likes handmade knitted things like scarves and hats. We simply trade these things for a stuffy toy, and she's happy.
Rosie needs to lose about 10 pounds, which will be no problem with the proper diet and exercise. Her muscles are weak, but she's getting stronger every day as we go on gentle walks. She gets excited at the sight of rabbits and squirrels, but doesn't pull very hard on the leash trying to chase them. She found a big puddle in the park today, and like a typical golden retriever, laid right down in it. Rosie is a gem, and she will be a fabulous family dog when she's ready to be adopted.
From Skye and Scout
