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11-06-2010, 07:51 PM
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#1 |
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 Introducing Meia
A week after our Trudi died my wife and I were contacted by a friend who knew sooner of later we would want to adopt another rescue and suggested we contact the Hudson Valley SPAC in New Windsor, N.Y., saying they had numerous Pits there in need of adoption. Neither of us was really ready to consider another dog just yet; however the next morning, unable to deal with all the empty spaces in our home left behind by Trudi, I made the call.
As fate would have it I was told that just the day before the shelter acted on a tip that Pit Bulls were being kept in deplorable conditions in a building in nearby Newburgh by individuals connected with the illegal fight rings prevalent in that city. Among the dogs rescued in the ensuing raid were two four-month old APBT pups that were timid, underfed, flea infested and caked with feces up to their shoulders. I was told the person who tipped off the shelter had applied to adopt one of the pups. Thinking of Trudi, I heard myself asking what color the remaining pup was and we were emailed this photo… Only 24 hours after rescue By the time the photo had been taken the pup had already been bathed by shelter staff, fed and watered and given it’s frighten state and young age, was being held by shelter staffers rather than caged. She had been treated for fleas, inspected by a local veterinarian and given her puppy shots. Heidi and I looked at the photo, especially the eyes, and within an hour we had filled out an online adoption application, forwarded copies of Trudi’s past vet bills, agreed to a background check for animal abuse and supplied contact information for the shelter manager where we had rescued Trudi, her vet and two of our neighbors. By three that afternoon the call came in that we had been checked out and approved. Although the shelter normally closes at 4:30 pm, given the situation and the distance we had to travel, the shelter manager told us she would wait until 6 pm for us to arrive. We arrived at the shelter to find the shelter manager sitting at her desk cradling the pup in her arms. When placed on the floor for us to observe she was skittish; started by any loud noise. She was very thin, and the fur on her snout near the nose, her around her chin and along the knuckles of her front paws is worn away, perhaps from her trying to escape from whatever cage she had been kept in or even the room where she was found. It was speculated that prior to the rescue, this dog may have never seen the light of day. We had brought a pet carrier with us, but decided one of us would hold the pup on the ride home. Several stops had to be made along the way. All of Trudi’s toys, food, dishes and so bad been donated to the local shelter where we had adopted her, so everything this pup would need had to be purchased. As my wife shopped the pup would periodically rise up from my lap to look around watch people and cars as they moved around the parking lots and twisted her head toward every new sound. Once home, she was walked, then wearing her new collar allowed to explore the house, cautiously peeking inside every opened door. Meia-48 hours after rescue, checking out her new home Meia, exploring her new world We are not novices when it comes to rescued dogs, so a blanket throw was placed on the floor of the family room where we both sat beside her to get acquainted. This security blanket would then be placed in her crate each night for her to sleep on and will be used to transport her to upcoming vet visits or other times of possible stress. That was seven days ago. We named our new pup Meia (German, pronounced Mee-ya and meaning strength). She was also given another bath her second night here and did well with the experience. She has been on a strict housebreaking routine of being walked every hour on the hour, is holding when crated for the night and we are happy to say she has had six days accident free. Next week we will adjust the timing to once every two hours and she will permitted free run of the house nights once she graduates housebreaking school. Meia is fed five, one cup servings of puppy food throughout day. She now weighs 24 pounds and knows where her food and water dishes are and will visit them as the mood strikes. You can no longer see her little bones sticking out. She has so far been given two raw eggs to return the shine to her coat and help with some of the dander and is on a de-worming regiment. Meia has already learned her new name and comes when called. She has also mastered several commands including ‘no’, ‘sit’ and runs to the door when told its time to ‘go out’. It took this pup several days to learn that her toys are meant to be played with, but that my wife’s pair of caged love birds do not need to be constantly barked at and the gold fish in the indoor pond are not for sport. More importantly, however, Meia is gaining confidence. She has already met several neighbors, welcoming them into our home with wiggles and puppy kisses. She now barks a warning at unfamiliar noises she hears outside and this morning, began to challenge white tail deer she meets while being walked to her designated area. The deer, for the most part just ignore her. Get out of my yard! The three of us are not out of the woods yet. Meia still has some baggage we need to work on with her. When walked she will urinate with no problem, but she will not void until the last possible moment, and then only after darting about nervously before she can perform. Afterward, she will drop her head and ears and slink timidly pass whoever is holding her leash. She is also still startled by noises such as the buzzers on dishwasher or cloths dryer, doors closing or even sudden changes in volume of the TV. Sadly, the worse display was two days ago when Heidi pulled a broom from the laundry room closet to sweep leaves from the deck. On seeing the broom Meia cowered, then fled into another room. On top of the neglect, this pup had been physically abused. If any of you have had any experience with such matters, and can share some insight on helping Meia over these issues, any advice given would be greatly appreciated. |
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11-06-2010, 08:00 PM
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#2 |
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I don't have time to comment on the confidence building this very second but you are overfeeding her. Don't try to make up for her lack of proper nutrition by fattening her up she looks way too heavy for a pup. 5 cups of food is an insane amount for a 24lb pup, how old is she and what are you feeding her?
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11-06-2010, 08:03 PM
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#3 |
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I don't have time to comment on the confidence building this very second but you are overfeeding her. Don't try to make up for her lack of proper nutrition by fattening her up she looks way too heavy for a pup. 5 cups of food is an insane amount for a 24lb pup, how old is she and what are you feeding her? What would you suggest? |
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11-06-2010, 08:06 PM
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#4 |
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Beneful is not a good food it's mainly carbs fillers and the equivalent of cheetos and french fries every day with a deep fried cheeseburger thrown in. Go to any feed store and pick up a bag of Taste of the Wild or Diamond Naturals Puppy even or if you want a more premium food Innova Puppy or Orijen or Canidae. At 4 months Puck was eating about a cup and a half of Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete which worked for him and was still a cup under the recommended so you have to experiment with amounts as well.
She doesn't look like an AmBully so 24 pounds at 4 months is a lot, Puck who is a big guy weighs just over that at almost 5 months and he is lean. The more a puppy (over)weighs the more stress it puts on their joints and developing bones. |
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11-06-2010, 08:08 PM
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#5 |
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I don't feed dog food, because most of it's crap (look into orijen or taste of the wild, they are decent from what I hear), so I can't give good instructions on how much to feed, but I know that the bags almost always tell you to overfeed. But I'd be giving about 1-2 cups or so a day if it were me.
She is beautiful! thank you for helping her. |
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11-06-2010, 08:09 PM
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#6 |
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11-06-2010, 08:11 PM
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#7 |
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As far as voiding and running around, she may be nervous but pups will also self exercise to get their bowels moving. Just keep praising (and treating if you do that) every time she goes. Also don't let on you feel bad for her past, she will pick up on that and it will make her nervous. The more confident and upbeat you are the more upbeat she will be. Drop treats like crazy and introduce her to new things every day and every occasion you can. Broom comes out nearby? Treats end up on floor in front of her. If she won't take treats she is too stressed in which case you'll have to take a few steps back and introduce from further away or slower.
I think I understand you only have had her a week? She is still adjusting, just make everything positive now and soon you will have a happy puppy. It just takes time and love but she will learn to trust you the more she learns no bad things come from you. |
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11-06-2010, 08:12 PM
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#8 |
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Wanted to say the amount you feed can vary depending on how much exercise she gets... Seeing some rib is not a bad thing, especially for a puppy. You want your pup to be lean and not overweight, it's too much stress on developing and growing bones and joints.
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11-06-2010, 08:20 PM
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#9 |
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Beautiful pup
Have you tried crating her while the broom is in action? Pretty soon, she should realize the scary looking thing has nothing to do with her. *that's just what I've done as none of my pups have ever liked brooms for some reason* |
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11-06-2010, 08:22 PM
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#10 |
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I would definitely get her on a better food. Even Diamond puppy is better than that, Diamond puppy I believe is like $30 for a 40lb bag. 5 cups is way too much, my dogs are grown and one eats 2 and the other eats 3. But way is way too much, you will be causing future problems for her if she doesn't get some of that weight off, she cannot develop right, I am not saying make her lose weight, cut the food amount in half I would say or go by the back of the bad on the new food, she has plenty of weight now so she will be fine
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11-06-2010, 08:23 PM
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#11 |
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Beneful is not a good food it's mainly carbs fillers and the equivalent of cheetos and french fries every day with a deep fried cheeseburger thrown in. Go to any feed store and pick up a bag of Taste of the Wild or Diamond Naturals Puppy even or if you want a more premium food Innova Puppy or Orijen or Canidae. At 4 months Puck was eating about a cup and a half of Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete which worked for him and was still a cup under the recommended so you have to experiment with amounts as well. Four months I am sure is an age estimate, she may be a month or so older. We will cut back and reevaluate amounts as time progresses. Thanks magdalena! |
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11-06-2010, 08:24 PM
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#12 |
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aggghhhhh beneful=poison You don't have to go at high-quality as Orijen, but man..NO beneful!
That was a great rescue story! Give her a potty command when you want her to go- it'll help potty training. So, say "Go potty" or what have you until she starts to go. When she starts to potty, give her a calm, soothing, "Good potty, good girl". She'll start to learn that you like it when she potties in designated areas. ALWAYS give her a kind, open heart to turn to, but don't coddle. She'll get used to noises just from exposure. It'll take her awhile, but she will. Don't stop at exposure from normal things though- once she's comfortable with normal sounds, move into strange situations. When things really scare her (like a plastic bag tied to a fence waving in the wind), give a cookie when she will calmly look at it from a distance. Slowly move closer to it over time and continue with verbal praise and cookies when she makes a big improvement. You can get her to the point where she'll walk easily past something and not care when it touches her. Patience is key and so is love. Exercise can be tremendously helpful in overcoming fear. Walking in new and different places at odd times of day helps to create bond and trust. Give her time, she'll be your best friend ever. |
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11-06-2010, 08:27 PM
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#13 |
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Well I feed DNEA because Puck gets a super workout every day (age according) and we are always on the go, most of the people here feed TOTW (which I didn't think was all that exciting) which any Tractor Supply will carry (along with Diamond) but most pet food places will carry the latter. I switched to DNEA when I had another dog here and she wasn't taking to TOTW.
Also remember to transition slowly when introducing the new food, add maybe 10% of new for a few days then 20% then 30% etc over a week or two. Some dogs can switch over cold turkey but since she's had it so rough I would try to be as gentle as possible with her. |
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11-06-2010, 08:28 PM
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#14 |
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As soon as I saw that first picture, tears welled in my eyes for you guys!
 Meia is such a cutie!! I'm so happy for you guys! Trudi would be very happy knowing you rescued this little girl!! Here's some links that may help you get started... Kibble recommendations: http://www.pitbull-chat.com/showthread.php?t=37349 Overcoming fear: http://www.pitbull-chat.com/showthread.php?t=34196 Housebreaking tips: http://www.pitbull-chat.com/showthread.php?t=63511 |
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11-06-2010, 08:28 PM
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#15 |
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Wanted to say the amount you feed can vary depending on how much exercise she gets... Seeing some rib is not a bad thing, especially for a puppy. You want your pup to be lean and not overweight, it's too much stress on developing and growing bones and joints. But yes, lean is what we want. It was not only ribs showing when she first came here, but spine and tail bone as well. Thanks Poisoned! |
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11-06-2010, 08:30 PM
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#16 |
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Have you considered feeding Raw?
It's actually cheaper in the long run... I can get a 10lb bag of chicken for $4-$5, and the rest of the things you need can be purchased in large amounts from butchers or raw feeding sites, and, pound for pound, it's cheaper and goes father than dog food. because the dog uses more of pure meats than it does fillers like corn a grains, an flour or whatever they put in dog food. |
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11-06-2010, 08:31 PM
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#17 |
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You got that covered up two days later? Good lord I would LOVE to get weight on Destiny that fast!! lol
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11-06-2010, 08:32 PM
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#18 |
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Taste of the Wild is an excellent kibble, it's an all life stages kibble, so she can stay on it from puppy to senior years.
Wellness Core is a good one that's sold at PetCo, so is Solid Gold, another good one. Tractor Supply carries TOTW, Orijen, Innova, Evo, and Canidae all are specialty store kibbles around here. You may have to shop around some. If you have a specialty kibble store, they will most likely order whatever brand you are wanting.
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11-06-2010, 08:35 PM
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#19 |
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11-06-2010, 08:39 PM
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#20 |
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As far as voiding and running around, she may be nervous but pups will also self exercise to get their bowels moving. Just keep praising (and treating if you do that) every time she goes. Also don't let on you feel bad for her past, she will pick up on that and it will make her nervous. The more confident and upbeat you are the more upbeat she will be. Drop treats like crazy and introduce her to new things every day and every occasion you can. Broom comes out nearby? Treats end up on floor in front of her. If she won't take treats she is too stressed in which case you'll have to take a few steps back and introduce from further away or slower. ---------- Post added at 02:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:36 PM ---------- As soon as I saw that first picture, tears welled in my eyes for you guys! And thanks for the links!!! |
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