unexpected pup

[troop-leader]

I was pushed, by my boyfriend, into giving up a pitbull puppy I had taken in. I understood where he was coming from...I already have an American Bulldog male that is iffy around other dominate males...the agreement for living together was that each have one dog, I have my dog and he has his....
So poor lil' Pip went to a new home.

I was in tears over giving the pup away when my boyfriend decided to buy a puppy from a man at a flea market. A tick infested, dirty, never dewormed, no shots, gimpy mutt!!

He figured I had helped the little pup so I could help this one, too. He loved her blue eyes and thought she was just the cutest thing.

So now we have a female greyish brown mutt with an abnormal gait. I've dewormed her and given her her first shots. The ticks have all been pulled and I'm hoping she'll understand that she shouldn't lay in her poo in the middle of the night.

My biggest worry is that she walkes funny. Her hind legs seem wide apart and she kind of reminds me of a monkey swinging her hips when she walks. She bunny hops when she gets som speed going. Half the time she walks normally.

Has anyone dealt with this in a pup of 6 weeks? My last dog (olde english mastiff) had joint issues and my boyfriends old dog has hip dysplasia, but both of them were fine when they were puppies.

If the x-rays show anything, does anyone out there have any experiance with doing surgery on a young animal?

 

[adojrts]

Sorry no, not with a young pup. Having her checked by the vet and having x-rays is the only way you will know what is wrong with her and how to correct it.

Good luck and let us know what the results of the vet check is.

Lynn

 

[Barb04]

I would just say to keep the new pup away from your other dog until the pup is checked out by a vet to make sure it's healthy.

 

[fillyone]

I don't have any experience with hips but just wanted throw a site out there for you.
http://www.germanshepherds.com

Though the site is German Shepherds everyone is welcome there and in the health section there are all kinds of threads about pups and dogs with bad hips and the different surgical options.

Be sure to have the pup x-rayed by an ortho vet and get second opinions!

 

[lizzybeth727]

OP, I'm very sorry that you're in this difficult situation. I just wanted to let others reading this know about "rescuing" puppies from flea markets (or back yard breeders, for that matter). Please know that I'm not lecturing you, I'm sure you understand this, I just wanted to let others know:

Someone knowingly bred this puppy, just so that he could make some money off the puppy. I'm quite sure there were no health checks on either parent, and it's likely the female was too young/old to have a litter of pups. Most likely the litter was born and raised outside in a kennel, with little human interaction. Yes, the puppies are in a difficult situation, and it's exceedingly difficult to look at one, especially knowing what conditions they probably came from, and not want to rescue one. But remember, to rescue this puppy, you're paying someone to breed him, and encouraging him to continue breeding. In training language, you just gave this breeder a huge reward for very bad behavior.

As difficult as it sounds, and cold as it seems, the best thing to do when you see puppies at a flea market (or box in front of the grocery store, or in bad conditions at the breeder's), is to walk away and spend your money elsewhere.

Again, OP, I'm not criticizing you, I'm saying this for anyone else thinking about getting a puppy.

By the way, is your boyfriend going to keep this puppy, after he wouldn't let you keep a puppy? Just curious....

 

[troop-leader]

I completely agree. I have a strick adoption only policy. I refuse to support any breeder when there are so many dogs out there that are in need of a good home. The man who breed this dog and her brothers mixed his pit bull and his cane corso to make a bigger, meaner looking bully type dog...I'm sure he is aware of the dog fighting problem around here...I can only assume that he couldn't care less about the future these poor pups have.

The man that bred this pup doesn't about it's well being at all. He didn't ask us a single question about ourselves beofre handing the pup over to my boyfriend. I guess he didn't really care where these pit/corso mixes ended up. He also grabbed the dog by the scruff and SHOOK her to show us what a good dog she was. He stated that his dogs had never been dewormed or given any shoots and they were fine....it makes me so mad. He's just going to breed those dogs again, and again, and again.....

She's been given her first shots and checked out. Of course, she didn't gimp around at all to show what I was talking about. She wouldn't do it when I had the camara out, either...figures. She hasn't been doing it as much lately. I'm starting to think she was injured during her flea market experiance.

I'm going to do some research on the best age to do surgery if needed. I've been through the differnet types with my past dog, but he was older before these issues started coming up. Because she isn't in any pain at the moment, I'm going to hold off on x-rays for the next three weeks to see how she does.

Also, she is terrified of everything. I've been taking her on walks where I just carry her in my arms and let her look at everything, but if I put her down in the yard she cowers. The leaves scare her, the cars scare her..OMG was that a shadow?!!..under the nearest bush she goes.

As far as crate training goes, she couldn't care less if she slept in her poo. Which was pleasant right after she took the dewormer.

 

[lizzybeth727]

Poor puppy! Keep in mind that you're both (you and your boyfriend) going to have to work twice as hard with socialization as you would with most puppies! It sounds like this one hasn't had any! Until she gets a little older, don't take her anywhere there may be sick dogs (except the vet, of course), but do take her outside a lot to get used to everything out there. And I'd keep her on the ground as much as possible, and reward (praise, treats) whenever she shows any sign of being brave - coming out from under the bushes, even walking a step or two if that is hard, sniffing leaves, watching a bird instead of running away, etc.

Given the breed, too, you'll need to socialize a lot with other dogs and people. You can start researching puppy socialization classes now, although most won't let you start until she's about 9 or 10 weeks old.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

I would dump that jerk of a person you call a boyfriend so fast it would heat a frying pan. What a JERK!!!!

Hope the puppy does well, but I tell you right now, his behavior is an indication of his value of you and what you are and what you love.

Get rid of him. :X

 

[misticaleclipse]

He's just going to breed those dogs again, and again, and again.....

Yes.... he will, and unfortunately more money was just put into his pocket when your boyfriend bought this puppy.

I know its hard to pass them by, but find its pretty sad that you gave up
one dog for him just to have him turn around and get this puppy to have you take care of....
Animals are not disposable.

 

[troop-leader]

I knew I couldn't keep the male pitbull. I had every intention of finding him a good home, but I started getting attached.
I was pretty depressed about not having a pup in the house, so I guess my boyfriend thought he was doing me a favor. He found another dog that needed help that I could actually keep and boughht it for $60. I'm mad at him, but I understand he did it with the best intentions.

I've been taking the pup everywhere I can and just holding her. I don't want to let her run around when we're out for walks yet. She has been playing with my American Bulldog. They get along well. He basically sits there while she attacks him and takes what ever he's playing with. I'm a little worried because she's so vocal and aggressive. She bits down on his face and neck and rags him. He doesn't stop her, so I guess it doesn't hurt and it's all in fun. He's also desperate for a playmate since we don't go to the dog park anymore.
I'm going to take to puppy obedience classes after she's had all her shots.

Here she is giving the boyfriend's hair a taste.

 

[HarleyD]

She's cute. She looks like a Lab mix.

 

[Barb04]

Oh, I've fallen in love with her sweet face!

 

[LilyoftheValley]

WAIT, so he would NOT let you have the pitbull and maid you get rid of it, but then bought another puppy? WTH? I'm not trying to be rude, but if he was my boyfriend, he would be out of house SO fast it would make your head spin... This does NOT sound fair...

 

[troop-leader]

He also went out and bought a $20,ooo car that we can't afford and don't need. Then he told me he was depressed and going through a rough patch. Like that makes it all better.

The pup is a handful. She will wake up, pee, snuggle up in her puddle, and go back to bed. She couldn't care less. It makes crate training a bit hard.

It might sound crazy, but I put her in a diaper when I can't watch her. My mother used them on her stubborn maltese a few years ago and I figured I'd try it. She will whine if she has to poo and the diaper is on. I'm crazy busy for the next few days and the boyfriend doesn't keep an eye on her when I'm not around. I'm sick of coming home to quater sized puddles everywhere. I feel like a nut when I'm changing my dog, but so far it's the best I could come up with.

 

[Sweet72947]

Hey you're not crazy, we put a diaper on Benji when we were houstraining him because he would never let us know when he had to go, he would just find a spot and go. We knew when it was time to put the diapers away when Benji kept chewing it off and leaving it in shreds around the house...

 

[PAWZ]

As a mill puppy she more than likely never had a mom to clean up her messes or her for that matter, she has not learned this behavior to keep the denning area clean. While in a crate make sure its not too big, that she has enough room to sleep, stand and turn around until she is crate/house trained. The diapers sound like an interesting idea. I would explain to BF that two wrongs 1)Forcing you to rehome the PB 2)buying a pup from what I am guessing is a puppy miller do not make a right.

 

[LilyoftheValley]

your bf sounds like an @$$ and you can tell him I said so... I would take the pup to a vet and have her looked at. When Sadie was a puppy, we got her from an abusive mill, she could not use her back legs well either, it turned out she needed a surgery to take out an extra disk that was their due to over or inbreeding. I'm not saying this is the case for you, but you should def get her looked at. Also, she looks kind of pitt bullish to me.. She us a cutey!

 

[troop-leader]

She's stopped her funny walking. It looked like she was spreading her hind legs to far apart, but now she doesn't do it. She's due for another shot next week and I'll bring it up again. MAybe it was an injury or she was weak from lack of exercise? As long as she's not limping I'll wait until she gets spayed to x-ray her.

We were told she is a cane corso/ pit mix. The man said that the mother has a good temperment and the father was aggressive.

She's getting braver. She sticks close to her big brother (my AB, Ruckus) while outside and feels safe. I'll have to post pictures of her and Ruckus. The two of them are trouble, but they have so much fun together.

 

[LilyoftheValley]

Thats good that her little leg problem stopped. She is very cute. I love that grey blue color

 

[showpug]

You couldn't keep a pitbull puppy, but then he went and bought another pitbull puppy? Sorry, but that pup looks almost all pitbull to me. Cute puppy. I wish you luck with everything. The whole situation is just unfortunate.

Oh, I forgot to add the the number one sign of poor structure and possible hip problems is a dog that bunny hops as it gaits. A dog with balanced structure will trot, not bunny hop. I learned this from Pat Hastings who is one of the top dog evaluaters in the country. Nothing you can do about it now, just be extra aware if the pup shows any other signs.