360 pugs rescued since October, 2005
Betty is such a delightful dog. From the minute she got here, we have all been smitten. She gets along fine with the whole family, as we all do with her. She loves her walks around the neighbourhood and meeting the dogs of our subdivision. Betty is learning to calm down in the car, and so far, loves the family dogs and they, in turn, love her. She is a big suck for Mommy, and I am loving finally having my girl. She snuggles into bed with us at night and cute little happy snores ensue. She acts as though she has always been here, and we feel like she has as well. Her happiness when we all come home is welcoming and so funny. Betty is perfect for our family and we are so lucky to have her as the newest member.
Betty has made a full recovery from her surgeries and is ready for her new home. Although she integrated well with my 2 dogs, I think Betty would be most happy as a single dog. She just has so much love to give that she may have difficulty sharing it. She loves to be front and centre, giving you her undivided attention and affection.
Betty is part Beagle so she loves to have a good run around. She really enjoys her long walks in the morning and evening. She is good on leash and is working on her "I see a squirrel" reaction. Betty has been known to dash across the grass to get the squirrel early in our relationship. Since her surgeries, I've kept her on leash and have been working with getting her to chill when she sees a squirrel.
Betty is fine with other dogs in the park. She is not aggressive by any means -- preferring to go on her back to show her submissiveness. She has been doing a little resource guarding with the bones at home but has learnt to stay in her own area and no one will bother her.
She is a little snuggle bunny and likes nothing better than to be by your side -- that is the pug side of Betty. She has often circled around close to me and then lay down with her head butting my tummy or thigh.
Betty is the first to greet me when I come home from work. She is always right by the door. I have to give a little hello before I open the door and I can hear her moving out of the way. Betty does her little happy dance, which is to run in circles to catch her tail. When I call her, she immediately stops and lies on her back for a belly rub.
When Betty first came, she did have some house training issues. I had to have her wear britches and a pad. After a couple of weeks she got into the routine of regular walks and relieving herself outside. She would probably be best to wear the britches in her new home for the first couple of weeks to avoid any accidents and allow her to get used to the new routine.
Betty is in very good health. She had remarkable recovery from her various surgeries. Last week, she stepped on a bee and got stung. By the evening she was fine as if nothing happened.
Betty really enjoys human contact and interaction. She will make a wonderful addition to any family.
Betty is now recuperating from the surgeries on August 6th. Thanks to all who supported her with good wishes and donations. She is recovering well and enjoying life.
The growth on her belly was a hernia. Some fatty tissue and part of the uterus had pushed through a large hole in her abdomen. The hole is normally very small to allow blood vessel and nerves to pass through, but for some reason, her's wasn't. Thankfully, Dr. Usher did the spay and repaired the hole. Betty has 2 incisions and we will be going back in 2 weeks to have the stitches removed. In the meantime, she is taking it easy so as not to pop the stitches.
We have been getting up early to go for nice, long (but slow) walks in the cool morning air. Then it's breakfast along with the pain medication and then a long nap.
That does it for Betty and her surgeries. Below is a picture of her eyes so you can see the improvement and how beautiful her face is post-surgery. Once we have the stitches removed from her latest surgery, she will be ready for adoption. As always, she continues to be a joy to have, a real snuggle bunny.
Betty had a laid back kind of Sunday at Pug Island. We organized a Pugalug group to head over to the Toronto Ward's Island for an afternoon. Betty did some socializing with both humans and dogs, but she preferred to stretch out on the grass and enjoy the cool breeze as you can see in the picture.
Her surgery went well. It was about 3 hours with most of the time being spent on her dental. One back tooth was infected, but the condition was not known until all the tartar had been removed. You can definitely tell that her mouth is feel much better now that it has been cleaned up. In total, 7 teeth were removed.
The cherry eyes have been corrected and the sutures were done so that the knots were on the outside so as to not rub against the eye. When the anesthetic wore off, Betty was up and barking for her breakfast. She had a remarkable recovery over the following two days and she has been good about getting the ointment medication in her eyes as well.
We have a follow up visit on the 17th and then we will determine when the next surgery will be.
Betty has developed into a little love-pug. I don't know if it is because she rarely received affection before, but she is lapping it up now. She was hanging out with a group on Pug Island because the woman had treats, but Betty was very gentle and loving with them. They all wanted to take her home.
She has had only a couple of peeing accidents in the house. She is regular with her walks and doing her business outside. As a former puppy mill dog, I expected to have some transition issues in terms of house-training, but she caught on to the routine quickly. She is a smart little cookie too, successfully doing her first "sit" on command yesterday. We've been working on that since she got here and finally understands what it means.
Betty does enjoy running after squirrels so I have to be watchful on the walks. I've been working with her to not lunge when she sees one. Otherwise, she is very good on the leash and walks quietly beside me.
I will have another update in a couple of weeks when we know about the next surgery procedure.
Betty had her second vet visit to get her rabies vaccination and blood drawn for the analysis. The folks at Pugalug and Dr. Usher have been discussing the best approach for sweet Betty. She is going to need 4 surgeries - eyes, dental, tumour removal and spaying. As you can imagine, her previous veterinary care was sadly lacking which has resulted in her current condition. It is going to cost a fair bit to help Betty get back on the healthy track and ready for adoption. If you can help Betty in any way with a donation, we would all be very grateful.
For those who have never dealt with cherry eye, it occurs when the tear gland of the third eyelid goes into a prolapse state. The only way to correct it is with surgery. Betty's prolapse is not the large but it still needs to be done. Dr. Usher will repair it in the first surgery session.
Her mouth is in terrible condition. The tartar buildup has caused gum recession, which is undoubtedly uncomfortable or even painful for poor Betty. Once the tartar is removed, there may be additional work and teeth extraction that will need to be done. We think it best to have the dental and eyes done in the first session, which will allow her six weeks of recovery before going in for the tumour removal and spaying.
Below is a photo in which you can see the large mass on her belly. The mass is about 8 cm round and there seems to be a thick stalk running from the mass to the body wall of the groin. Like many pugs, Betty loves her belly rubs and, while disturbing to see it each time, the tumour does not bother her so she does get belly rubs each day.
Betty is very gentle in nature. She does react to squirrels in the park though. And the other morning, as we were doing an early morning walk, a rabbit ran by us, about 10 feet away. Well, that really made Betty's day and she wanted so much to go introduce herself to Bugs Bunny.
One of her most delightful behaviours is the way in which she shows her happiness. She spins in circles trying to catch her tail. Sounds pretty ordinary until you see her in action. She did it in the park the other day and the other dog owners were amazed. I thought she was going to start hovering like a drone. I will record it and upload it to Youtube for the next update.
Although she might be silly and spin like crazy at the park, when we're at home I'll sit on the floor and call her. She will stop the spinning, come over to place her paws on my shins and then press her head into my chest for a pet. It is really quite sweet.
That's it for now! I will do an update after July 5th, when she goes in for the first surgery session.
Meet Betty, a delightful pug mix who is estimated to be around 6 years. She was surrendered to a shelter, but now is in the care of Pugalug. Betty has a number of health issues that we will need to resolve. She has had several litters, but her veterinary care has been lacking.
Betty has had her first vet visit with Pugalug and weights 8.7 kg. She has a large tumour in her belly area - about the size of an apple. It does not bother her, but it has to be removed. She will also need to be spayed. However, she is in the early stages of coming into heat. If she does, then we will hold off on the surgery until after the heat cycle is complete. Betty does have a bilateral cherry eye so that will be taken care of as well along with her teeth. She will need some major dental work as she has so much tarter built up that it is pushing on her gums.
Needless to say, this little girl is going to need a lot of health care to get her ready for adoption. Fortunately, she was very good at the vet visit, allowing Dr. Usher to examine and investigate her various issues.
Her behaviour is gentle in nature. She has integrated well with the 2 resident pugs and is good about meeting new dogs and people in the park.
She has a wonderful way of greeting me when I come home. She chases her tail, running in circles very fast, while growling at it. When I call her name she stops and rolls on to her back for a belly rub. Makes me laugh out loud each time.
She also likes to come to me when I'm sitting down, placing her paw on my shin and resting her head on my belly for a head pet.
Betty appears to be house trained. She had a couple of accidents the first day, but has now got the rhythm of the walks and we've not had any problems.
It will be a joy to have Betty as part of our household for the summer! She will be scooped up in no time by one special family once she's available to adopt!
