Adoption: Initial Challenges adopting Betsy

I would not lie to you: Adopting a dog is challenging. Sure adopting is usually cheaper and sometimes free of charge rather than buying a puppy from pet shop. But there are more challenges that you have to face. And you have to understand that dogs in their juvenile age (1-5 years old) are like human TEENAGERS!


So what were the initial challenges that I faced when adopting Betsy?

Betsy had health issues. She would vomit and have diarrhoea very often. Her stomach could not take any other food besides one brand of dog food. And even with that one brand, she would still vomit and have diarrhoea once in 2 months. Worst thing is, she methodically hid her vomit in the crevices of the sofa. Yuck!

On the behavioural side, she does not bite people nor Mimi (the maltese). She does not bark annoyingly. She could distinguish if the strangers in the corridor are just passing by or really want to come to our house. So she would bark before our guest or the postman would press the doorbell. But she would not bark if there is a random stranger passing by the corridor.  Those were the plus points.

However on the leash, she was not disciplined. Her herding instinct coupled with her low centre of gravity and strong muscles made our walk seem like a wakeboarding activity.

Were we annoyed? Of course.
Did we give up? No.

We prayed to God how to solve both the health and behavioural problems and we had the answers. We learnt a lot from Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, how to carry out the walk. That solves a great deal on the behavioural side.

For the health issue, I would credit my grandma for telling me to feed our dogs with fruits. We started out cautiously with apple and pear. Both did not produce her to be bloated. Then we upgraded to papaya, which we know for ourselves is great for digestion. We slowly introduced cooked food into her bowl until she could be 100% be on cooked food. Along the way, we realized that she is allergic to chicken meat and chicken egg. She would get red rash after eating chicken. Pork and Beef are ok.

We will be putting up more posts under the Training label/category. If you find yourself stuck in some of the dog problems, do not despair. There are answers and solutions. With patience, determination and the right techniques, you could overcome the challenges of introducing your dog into your family.

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