ADOPTED
This is Miss Frita Mae, a lovely female Pug looking for her forever home.
Frita was discarded from a puppy mill at five years of age and we are thrilled to welcome her to Pound Dog Rescue. In the last three months she has enjoyed a quality diet, a warm comfy bed, a couple fresh baths, a complete dental appointment, a spay, and all the patience she needed to help build her confidence! She has been through a lot in her short life but she is a tough little cookie! It’s only kindness and love from here on out!
When Frita first came to us, she was nervous of everything, but her curiosity and willingness to learn to trust again, has allowed us to see how bright her future will be with a patient and loving family. It took Frita’s foster mom over two weeks to be able to touch her. It took over a month for Frita to seek out affection, but when once she started… She never wanted to stop. She has since become the cuddliest little sidekick you could ever ask for. She loves affection and attention. Although Frita has bonded closely with her foster mom, she is still struggling to feel comfortable with her foster dad. She is not trusting of men just yet. If a man’s voice surprises her like on the television, she will perk up and start paying close attention to make sure she is still safe. She has improved significantly over the last two months, but has a way to go. Frita’s new family must understand that her comfortability and affection is not something that can be forced. All you will want to do is show her how kind you can be and the best way you can do that is to be patient. We are looking for a home for Frita where there is a main female presence. A man in the home is fine, but needs to be calm and gentle around Frita and understand that time and patience is needed to earn her trust. That trust will come, its just going to take a bit.
Frita was not used to wearing a collar or leash when we got her and would panic when feeling any kind of pressure on her leash. Through short daily walks, she has become more accepting of being leashed and has started to enjoy discovering new smells. Frita has been on short car rides and currently does not enjoy them. At this time, she is not ready for regular trips in the car. She will need to build trust with her new family before she begins, testing her limits with new adventures. Frita’s ideal home would be a detached house as she can be loud in her crate initially when left. She does quiet down but her initial protests could be disturbing to neighbours in an attached living scenario. She would also like a quiet adult home or one with older teens where she can enjoy a peaceful home without a lot of noise . She wont enjoy a home where young children visit regularly. Her outdoor environment should be one of quiet and calm as well…Frita is not suited for a busy city center but can do well in a rural setting, small town, or quiet subdivision. As she is still getting used to the world around her , she needs to not be overwhelmed with a lot of traffic noise, people on bikes etc. We are easing this lovely dog into life outside of the mill and don’t want to overwhelm her.
Frita is being fostered with four other dogs. Now that she is comfortable, she demands a lot of attention from her foster mom. Frita’s foster siblings are very
patient and do not mind when she can be a little pushy in their space- but this behaviour would not be tolerated by all dogs. Frita would do well in a home with a small, calm male companion, or in a home as an only dog. Frita is mostly interested in the companionship of her humans but has been enjoying some dog bed snuggles with the youngest dog in the house. We have also seen glimmers of play! Once Frita settles, she will likely enjoy playing with toys. She has shown much interest while her foster siblings play fetch. She absolutely loves her chew toys! But her favourite thing to do is to be cuddling her humans on the couch.
On a sad note, Frita has been diagnosed with heartworm disease disease. Her previous owner obviously didn’t have her on the preventative which would have ensured she was protected from this disease. Heartworm is a totally preventable disease that is spread by mosquitoes. This disease is in Southern Ontario and we are seeing more and more of it as each year passes. We are a rescue that heartworm tests all of the dogs we take in for exactly this reason. The good news is that Frita is completely free of symptoms and is an otherwise healthy dog, and we are committed to treating this and will get her all better. She was diagnosed early on in the development and has an excellent prognosis. We have had other dogs in our program that have had heartworm and have treated those dogs successfully and all are living active and healthy lives. Frita has no idea she has this disease and is in every way a happy dog. Frita is mid-way through the treatment of the heartworm and is doing fantastic. We are looking for her forever home now so that when she is done treatment she can join her family, heartworm free and ready to start her new life with her forever family.
After spending 5 years in a puppy mill Frita did not have any housetraining and this is something that will likely regress upon arrival in her new home. Frita’s new family will have to understand that this is something that will need to be worked on for some time to come. She will not ask to be let outside to do her business so you have to be proactive and be letting her out regularly throughout the day unless she is in her crate. She has done well with her 
housetraining in her foster home and we know she will do well with it in her forever home once settled in but her family needs to have patience and understand that she is bound to have accidents while she is figuring out a new home. There is just so much for a mill dog to learn once freed from a puppy mill!
Given love, patience and time, Frita will become the best little buddy you could ever ask for. She is looking for her happily ever after and we know that there will be a special Pug loving family out there who will love this little sweetie and give her the security and commitment of a loving forever home.