Cooter - RW M - Gallatin TN *Adopted*

[amurray]

Did anyone follow through for this dog? PF shows still available.

[MollyATL]

Looks like we have to hold our breath for one more day:

I am going to pick him up on Saturday the 18th as long as everything goes according to plan of course. he is a 5 year old neutered male that does not have a strong herding instinct. his previous owner was a breeder that just surrenders tithe dogs when they wont work. I am very excited and hope this adoption works out. I will post links of pictures in the event that it does.

[bnardi13]

as long as they still have him when I get there, I will be picking him up a few hours. I have to go to Vanderbilt first in order to get some things for legalities. then I will be picking him up

[ajones]

Hope everything worked out for Cooter to be adopted yesterday!

[bnardi13]

He was adopted and is absolutely wonderful with me. I was absolutely horrified at what i found though. The shelter treated him wonderfully, but his previous home... Oh my god. Both ears are split, one a few centimeters, one an inch and a half. His nose was split and healed but you can still see where it was a deep cut. When I gave him a bath, I found places on the back of his legs where hair won't grow because its so scarred. His face is all scarred up. And to top it off, he is TERRIFIED of other dogs. Not aggressive, but terrified. He will snap at them and run. Or if they are through the gate he will just snap at them. I have NO idea what happened to him, and NO idea how to fix it. HELP.

[ajones]

Thank you for adopting Cooter! I am sorry to hear he is in such rough shape, and I feel your pain on that front since Cooter's condition sounds very similar to Ody's when we got him.

My best (short) advice is to take things very slowly with Cooter, giving him lots of time by himself confined in a safe place, preferably a crate. Don't even let him meet other dogs now, just give him time to decompress and get used to his new living situation. We spent weeks crating-and-rotating before Ody met our other dogs, and he was not demonstrating the level of terror you describe--just general cluelessness and confusion.

Also, I found some good resources and advice by searching online for "puppy mill rehabilitation" and similar phrases--it is also helpful to read other peoples' stories of their processes and successes with dogs who have come out of bad situations.

Finally, you will probably get more advice here if you re-post under the "Behavior Questions" section of the board. I know I benefitted immensely from other folks' support, and I commend you for tackling this challenge. Cooter is lucky to have you!

[amurray]

gave up because the dog won't work

Now one has to wonder just what kind of work it was. Bait dog perhaps?

As I've said many times before: There are more people who belong behind bars than their dogs.

I hope you can forge a new life for him without undue stress on you both.

[MollyATL]

Adopted