Boris, our wonderful and faithful dog is getting on too and we know we could be targets for robbery so we knew that we would have to get another dog sometime soon.
My husband has been researching breeds and we decided that an American Bulldog would be perfect for us. They are loyal family dogs and protective. He also wanted an all white one. Unfortunately, they are a little pricey. We have been checking out rescue places to adopt but have never found one.
My husband was browsing Craig's list on Tuesday and came across an advert for a white puppy American Bulldog in a town not too far away.
She was 5 weeks old, which we thought was a little young to be being sold but we went ahead and texted the owner that we might be interested and we got a reply right away.
She had told us how much she wanted for the puppy which wasn't outrageous by comparison to what we knew was the going rate. We offered her less if we liked her. She accepted and we arranged to meet.
The owner didn't want us to go to her place, she wanted us to meet her in the local Walmart car park and bring the puppy. Umm!
When we saw the puppy we were smitten. My husband's birthday is soon and he said he would be happy to have her as a birthday gift. This is great for me as I don't have to worry about what to buy him now.
The owner told us she breeds these puppies but we suspect she is not a professional breeder. The puppy had three patches of what looked to be some sort of skin infection and the owner told us she had taken her to the vet and the vet had told her it was a bacterial infection and to bathe her twice a week and apply the ointment which they prescribed for the puppy.
That seemed to be reasonable but when we got home and checked the ointment it was out of date.
The next day we had a hospital appointment so we took her with us in her crate bed. I stayed with her and let her out to do her business and gave her her food while my husband went and got seen.
I called our vet and made an appointment for the next day as we needed to know she was OK and to get the skin patches treated.
We took her to the vet and they gave her a good checking over and proclaimed her to be in perfect health. Phew! They took some swabs from the patches and could not find any sign of a bacterial infection so they suspect it may be ringworm and gave us medication to treat her. She also got her first shots and they wormed her. They also told us not to bathe her unless she got dirty. The seller I think had come up with her own diagnosis and treatment so I am glad we got it checked out straight away and have the correct treatment.
Her tummy was a bit upset Thursday and yesterday, I suspect from the shots meds and worming but today she has been much better.
She eats very well and we have her on a schedule whereby we are taking her out often to potty with Boris and she does her business outside when we do. There have been a couple of accidents but we are still getting used to her and her to us and I am confident she will get the hang of the potty thing very quickly. She is very bright and very energetic and loves to play but she also naps in between feeding followed by play sessions. She sleeps in her crate bed at night and I do have to get up and take her out usually about 1am to potty but she goes right back to sleep afterwards. She is a bit of a chewer so I dug out Boris's toys which he never really played with and put them through the washer and she loves to play with them.
So, so far, so good. We named her Maggie. The extra exercise is good for me too, I am walking a lot more than usual which can only be good.
Boris isn't too impressed with her yet, he is keeping his distance. She is trying to be friendly with him but I think she isn't endearing herself to him when she tries to bite his tail. He has already blogged about her!
www.boristhehandsomestdog.blogspot.com
Soooo, I don't think I am going to be getting up to my sewing and knitting room much for a while so I guess I will be making a lot of granny squares which is OK for now.
Welcome Maggie looking forward to hearing of your adventures baby girl in your new home. At least this mummy and daddy really want you and to look after you. Maria xxx
ReplyDeleteAfter we got her I read your post about when you got Dexter and how you had checked out both the Mum and Dad dog and everything else I realised we had done everything wrong. But she is a lovely puppy and she will be loved and we'll cared for. Progress is also being made with Boris and her and I am sure they will become good friends. Boris isn't daft either he is loving all the extra attention he is getting because we don't want him to be put out.
DeleteMaureen is was so different for us because of Sophie's autism....we just wanted to research his nature as much as we could as I would of hated it if we had to re home him because she couldn,t cope with his nature...maggie is beautiful , I so want another dog, if anything happened to Dextie it would break the kids hearts. Maggie was meant to be yours...thank goodness you found her..... I know she was young to leave her mum but better for her to be in your loving home. and handsome Boris of course...he will enjoy having her around , they always do...Maria xx
DeleteThanks Maria. Maggie is beautiful and we have been researching about socialising and older dog with a puppy and Boris's reaction is quite usual. We know better now how to deal with it. It says it takes about three weks for them to get used to each other and for Maggie to know what her limits are with him. She sees him as another puppy dog and he has to let her know what is and isn't acceptable to him. Walking away is one way he deals with it. He has snapped a couple of times too and that is his way of saying enough is enough. It's like having a baby at home all over again. My youngest is nearly 25 so I am a bit out of practise lol.
DeleteWhat a lovely cutie, I am sure Boris will become a fantastic friend to her, We have toyed with the idea of a pup but I cant spare the time at the moment so we will stick with the oldies, they need a good home too, although its hard because you dont have them for so long, Kara we lost after 8 months, I hope you all have many years of happy adventures together :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Dawn. Just wrote a reply and deleted it as I had repeated myself three times. Must be the old age! Puppies are like having a baby in the house we have found out. We had previously decided that we would want an older puppy say about a year old but fate intervened and we now have Maggie. It's a learning experience for us all including Boris. Our children range between 49 and 24 so we are way out of practice!
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