Wendy's Story

[Heatheranne]

Hello to everybody,

I have never been part of an internet forum before so this is new to me - I was surprised to see so many responses!

To answer your questions -
Prior to Wendy, I had a Westie named Darby. He was also a rescue, I got him at 10 months. Sadly, I lost him to age-related kidney failure about a month ago. It was his death that precipitated my search for a new doggie friend which resulted in Wendy's arrival.

Poor Wendy has had quite a rough life, I fear. Here is the way the story was told to me.

Wendy had been a puppy mill producing female, forced to have a litter every time she went into heat. She was kept in a chicken wire enclosure only 24" high with a thin piece of plywood over the top. She was left out in the elements year round, in heaven knows what kind of conditions. Presumably she barked because she was miserable and needed attention. Apparently this bothered her owners because they had her vocal cords severed.

Wendy was removed from her situation and went into foster care where she had surgery(ies) to repair damage caused by having so many puppies. As a result of the damage or surgeries, she became slightly incontinent. This made her difficult to place in a permanent home. She was in foster care with a startling number of dogs for several years. I know it was good care, but her foster mom felt that she would do much better in a one-on-one or family type environment.

Because of the debarking, she is fearful around other dogs, probably because she cannot vocalize as a warning (she can make a little hoarse barking sound, but not what you would expect from a dog her size). Also, from not having had family experience, she is not bonding instantly, however I see small signs every day that she is feeling increasingly comfortable in this environment.

She is very gentle with my kindergartener, which is great.

Regarding the weight, the picture I posted yesterday was one that the foster mom sent me. Apparently it was an older photo, I'm attaching a current belly-shot. I weighed her on the bathroom scale last night and came up with 39 lbs. (I guess she didn't call Jenny yet!) We're headed to the vet tomorrow, my guess is that he will give us a diet and fitness plan.

Interestingly, my grandmother in Northern Ireland bred Pems when I was a girl; in fact one of her pups ended up with Queen Elizabeth - neat, huh!

Thanks for welcoming me, I'll keep you all posted on our progress!

[ZdogZ]

Poor, Wendy! That story broke my heart. I'm glad that she has you now! Neat story about your Grandmother.

[Chip's Mom]

That is a real sad story - poor baby. she is very fortunate you found her.

[Dillydoodle]

oh my goodness...poor Wendy, her story is heartbreaking. There are some really cold hearted and horrible people in this world that would do something like that. I am so glad that you took her in and are giving her a loving home. I am sure she will continue to come out of her shell as she learns that she is now in a good, happy and safe place with people who love her. Also, the weight will come off with a good diet, there are some threads started here about good ways to help them shed the pounds.

When people wonder why I constantly harbor on the fact about people getting dogs from reputable breeders and never getting a puppy from a pet store, this is why...there are people who are only interested in the money and don't care about the wellbeing of the dogs they are breeding or the health and welfare of the puppies they produce...and when they are done breeding and have lost their value, they are tossed away like garbage...I am so glad that there are people who will rescue these poor dogs and find them loving homes for the first time in their lives.

I look forward to hearing updates about Wendy. She is a really sweet looking girl.

Emilie

[milosmom]

Wendy's story is heartbreaking, poor baby. I am so glad she is having a happy life now, and bless your heart for giving her a loving home. She looks like a sweet baby. Isn't it amazing how we humans can be so cruel to a dog and yet a dog will still have the capacity to be trusting and affectionate towards us? We can learn a lot from animals.
Best of luck to you and Wendy and welcome to the forum! Please keep us posted about Wendy and let us know how she is doing!

[darci]

You have such a big heart and I am so glad Wendy has found her forever home with you.

Her story is so sad...

I am excited to see and hear of her progress with your family.

[Jane Austen]

Heatheranne, I had to get up to reach for some tissues.
Wendy looks like her belly is touching the floor. You will soon have her trimmed down, just remember not to take it too fast. ( I am not an expert)
How are you dealing with her incontinance? Is it enough to create a problem? Almost any amount would be I expect, unless you make special arrangements. Echoing the blessings wished to you for being such an angel, adopting a corgi in distress.

[glencorgi]

Heatheranne,

Hopefully once Wendy's weight comes off, some of her incontinence issues may get better. I've found it rather common as a secondary health issue of obesity, to have uti's occur, especially in the females. Lack of air circulation and not being able to clean themselves are contributing factors. UTI's are also causes of more frequent urination too.

If you will look in the archives in the Diet and Nutrition forum (I think ), you'll find a post I did about taking the weight off of a 56 pound (yes, that was FIFTY-SIX POUNDS) foster girl I had. It took around a year and a half or so, but I got 30 pounds off of her.

In the avatar she looks much lighter, did she gain the weight while she was in foster care?

Debbie

[tandemgal]

Heatheranne,

deleted by T-Gal

[Heatheranne]

Thanks all,

Yes the avatar photo was sent to me by Wendy's foster mom. Either it was a very favorable camera angle or it was the beginning of a before/after situation that had a lot of snacks in between! Foster mom told me that Wendy weighed almost 30 lbs., but I had to lift her into the car and it was readily apparent that either the Earth's gravitiational pull had increased or she weighed substantially more than 30 lbs. Turns out she weighs 39 lbs., so we will be exercising religously and making good food choices.

Her foster mom says that she is predisposed to getting UTI's and also that she has a history of sturvite crystals in her urine (anybody know what that is?) Both her food (Nutro holistic) and her Bladder Strength (all natural) pills have cranberry in, hopefully that will help reduce the number of UTI's. Dropping some pounds would also help, I'm sure.

Regarding the leakiness, yes it could be a problem since my house is carpeted. At present, she has taken up camp in the kitchen which has hard floor. She sleeps there overnight and also stays while we are gone during the day. When we're home, I put her in a cotton diaper and she can run the house. Trouble is that the diaper doesn't stay on very well. I tried the fancy pants for dogs in heat and that didn't work either. For bedding, I sewed plastic sheeting over her dog pillows, then put removable/washable absorbent layers (one terrycloth and one fabric to match the room) over that so there is no runoff. That seems to be working well. I also ordered something called "tinkle trousers" online. It is designed to hold a diaper onto a dog. It looks like it would stay on. For dogs 30-40 lbs., the price is $52 plus s/h, so if it does NOT work, I will be sore. If it does work however then she will likely get the run of the house as long as she is wearing it. If I stick with the cotton baby diapers in it, hopefully the UTI's won't get too out of hand.

Heatheranne

[Lady's Daddy]

Bravo Heatheranne. I just wish all people in the world were like you. Like world peace, I don't think that wish will ever come true.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by Heatheranne

Because of the debarking, she is fearful around other dogs, probably because she cannot vocalize as a warning (she can make a little hoarse barking sound, but not what you would expect from a dog her size).

IMO, she is NOT fearful of other dogs because she's been debarked. I don't want to get into a discussion of opinions of debarking but I'm going to state some facts.

Many show dogs or dogs from kennels are debarked. It does NOT change the dogs life, just makes them quiter, so the neighbors don't complain.

I have owned dogs that have been debarked, I have had some dogs debarked. (I no longer need to debark my dogs but that's another thread.) The dogs are in no way harmed by this. They can still bark, the other dogs can hear them and they are not in any way fearful or compromised from vocalizing. They live normal lives. They do not care that they are not as loud as they used to be.

Wendy is fearful because of the lack of socialization and/or being attacked or harmed by other dogs. It was due to the way she was raised and housed not from the debarking.

Sometimes there is a need to debark a dog and better a dog be debarked than loose his happy home because the neighbors complain.

Yes, I've been rather strong in my wording, as the debarking thing is one thing that pushes my buttons. It's an area where I don't think you should judge until you've been in an owner's shoes who's had to use debarking.

Also, from not having had family experience, she is not bonding instantly, however I see small signs every day that she is feeling increasingly comfortable in this environment.

This is also from her upbringing, lack of socialization. That she's slowly improving is a very good sign.

Peggy