Estelle

Please read our dog bios carefully to be sure that the dog you are applying for suits your family and lifestyle. At Pound Dog Rescue, we believe in the benefits of post-adoption training for our dogs and their families. This allows for continued socialization, and learning and helps to create a well-mannered and balanced dog. Post-adoption training is a requirement in our adoption process.

Introducing Estelle! This sweet potato has it all. A prototypical Pug, Estelle is fawn coloured 3yr old girl who weighs 18lbs , has tiny ears, and big expressive eyes. Estelle is a former puppy mill momma who is taking quite the shine to living the good life of being a family dog. Although everything about the last 2 months has been new for her, Estelle is confident and eager to meet new people, and experience all that life has to offer. She is incredibly sweet and affectionate with everyone she meets.  It only takes moments for her big personality to shine to new people.  Estelle has also bonded quite well with her furry foster sister and enjoys making new dog friends.

Due to her previous life, and the nature of her breed Estelle has had several medical procedures since entering rescue. She has been spayed, had an extensive dental cleaning, and received surgical corrections for her breathing. Her dental work has left her with only 3 teeth, but that has not slowed her down! The veterinarian has classified Estelle as severely brachiocephalic. While surgery has greatly helped improve her airflow, her forever family will need to pay close attention to things like heat and humidity when it comes to walks or playing outdoors in the summer months (which is typical for short faced dogs).  Estelle’s big beautiful eyes convey all of her thoughts, but unfortunately they also are not covered entirely by her eyelids when she sleeps, so she receives medicated eye drops 3 times per day to help prevent dry eye, as well as possible vision impairments. Estelle has also been on a diet since coming into foster care. So far she has trimmed down a few pounds but her forever family will need to stay dedicated to her diet plan to help her reach her ideal healthy weight. 

Since coming into rescue Estelle has been slowly learning how to be a dog in a home. Despite the circumstances of her first few years of life, Estelle is incredibly personable. She adores being around people and making new friends. She loves pets and snuggles although she will opt to move to her own space if she gets too warm. Estelle has also made a few tiny friends and has been very gentle and playful with the children she has met. A home with older  children over 6yrs of age,  would be a possibility for Estelle. When it comes to training she has learned to sit and wait.  She is working on laydown and perfecting her recall. Estelle has also been crate trained, she is happy to curl up in her crate while her foster family is gone, and sleeps there overnight. Her potty training remains a work in progress. While she is making progress Estelle still struggles to let us know when she has to use the bathroom. We have found that consistency is key in this regard, and offering her frequent opportunities to go outside has been very successful. She also has a time limit on how long she can be crated without a relief break, and if left too long she will have accidents in her crate. To combat this we try not to crate her for longer than 6 hours at a time during the day, and take up her water dish in the evening to help her be successful overnight. This has been working quite well. Estelle’s best fit for a forever family would be with someone who works from home or on a flexible schedule where she has the opportunity for more frequent bathroom breaks. Along with this line of thinking, apartment life will not be best for her as she will need to have easy safe access to an outdoor space for potty time, sometimes with short notice.

While in foster care Estelle has grown to love going on walks and small hikes. She walks well on lead but does need to take her time and go at her own pace. On longer walks she often needs an opportunity to sit and rest and catch her breath. Hopefully as she continues to recover from surgery she will be able to explore more freely. She loves to play chase and wrestle with her foster sister but has not taken much interest in toys. This could continue to evolve as she gets more and more confident in her new life. 

We can’t say enough good things about this sweet little pug. It does not take long to see how charming and special she is. She would make an excellent addition to a family who is patient and willing to work at her pace to continue training and exploring all the world has to offer!