Louise

Say hello to Louise. This wonderful little 4-year-old fawn Pug came to us from a puppy mill and weighs in at a whopping  15lbs. She is on the smaller side for a Pug. But don’t let her size fool you, she is a spicy little firecracker! All Louise has ever known before coming to us is a cage and making babies, with no or little human affection. In the few short weeks that we have had Louise, she has made great progress in learning how to be a dog. With some quiet time to decompress, Louise’s personality and resilience is starting to shine through. She is getting used to her foster family and living in a house with a nice soft bed and crate to sleep in. She is a goofy, loving, little lady who puts a smile on our faces every day. It all starts when she wakes up in the morning, Louise will get the wiggles and zoomies up and down our hallway. She gets so excited to be with her humans again! But after you have made your bed, don’t expect it to stay made lol, if you have puppy stairs at the end of the bed, she will get up and play with your pillows and get under the sheets. It really is the cutest thing to watch her toss the pillows around and then pop her head out from underneath!

Louise has all the normal Pug markings with a dark face, dark ears and curled up tail. With the sweetest big brown eyes, her short hair makes for easy grooming. She’s already comfortable enough to allow us to play with her paws, trim her nails and brush her. Louise has not had a bath with us yet, so not sure how she will do with that but expect she will do ok.

Coming from a puppy mill, Louise was very shy at first. After a few days she really warmed up to us and started feeling safer and a little more comfortable. She can still be shy at times with new people, especially men. So, it’s important to greet Louise properly assuming a non-threatening posture and greeting from the side and down on her level! Don’t be surprised when you meet Louise if she sits back at a distance and gives you a stare down. Be very patient and before too long she will slowly come check you out. Her confidence continues to grow day by day, but this will be a slow process for Louise. Once she trusts you, you will have a best friend for life.

Prior to foster care, Louise had never been in a house, seen stairs, or walked on a leash, but she has already learned so much. It took her only a few minutes to figure out the outside patio stairs. She has yet to attempt our indoor stairs that are not carpeted and a little steep for a little lady. I’m sure if you have carpeted stairs you will not have a problem with her going up and down them! She does make the cutest little gremlin noises and bum wiggles when one of us gets home while she’s standing at the top of the stairs! Her walks have progressed greatly, she might have some small shakes when you first go out the door but once you have gone about 10 feet she is an amazing walker with no pulling or any issues, she will stop and smell the roses and everything else she can along the way, while also doing her business and watching the people and other dogs go by!

Louise has not had any accidents in the house at all but we do spend a lot of time outside, there is always someone home and we do take her out every few hours just to make sure she goes to the bathroom BUT let me tell you she can hold her bladder overnight in her crate for 9-10 hrs and then when we wake her up in the morning she won’t rush to go out for at least 30 minutes. So future adopters may want to work from home or at least be able to let her out during the day and not be crated all day. Since it has been summer and nice weather we’ve also had our back screen door open and all our dogs are able to come in and out at will since we have a fully secure fenced backyard!

Louise eats a combination of dry kibble and canned food mixed together. She is not an aggressive eater and would share her food happily and does so occasionally with her pug foster sister Thelma! As far as treats go Lousie has expanded her palette and started to enjoy a few different kinds now whereas in the beginning  she would only eat anything that was freeze dried ! But I would avoid any treats that are fishy since Louise thinks she needs to roll on them instead of eat them LOL! If you really want to get her attention, offer her some cheese. Louise already knows the sound of the fridge door opening and the treat container lid. She has also learnt that she gets treats after doing her business outside and before bedtime!

Louise never had the opportunity to play with toys, or even know what toys were so anything that squeaks will get her attention. You will see the best head tilts a pug can give but she most likely won’t play with them. She is just starting to  play with small toys/balls that you can hide treats in, and has also started to enjoy Yak bones. Louise does love to play in laundry on the floor or a towel by burying her head in them and trying to dig around! Louise is very playful once she is feeling comfortable. Her zoomies are the cutest and when she’s wagging her tail so hard and hopping up off her 2 front legs she’s pretty hard to resist!

Louise is crate trained and will not protest spending time in her crate whether it is for short periods throughout the day, or 8 hours of sleep at night. Although, she will gladly jump into her human’s bed, fluff up the covers just right, snuggle and snore all night long if allowed. During the day Louise takes frequent naps on her dog bed in the living room, oftentimes accompanied by her foster sister Thelma. They will use each other as pillows. Sometimes Louise even falls asleep standing up! Until she becomes too wobbly to continue standing. 

Louise is starting to enjoy walks and is becoming more confident. She generally walks with her tail up, exploring all the smells. Still timid at first when meeting new dogs, but quickly overcomes her shyness. Meeting new people will take Louise longer. This will improve as she has more and more socializing opportunities, but patience will be required, and socializing should be done at Louise’s pace. We use a martingale collar and gentle corrections to reinforce proper leash etiquette. We always treat a new foster/adoption as a flight risk until obedience training is complete and recall is perfect. Louise loves being outside, however could still be startled by loud noises. This is becoming less frequent as confidence grows. Louise can often be found taking her nap on the back deck in the sun. A fully fenced backyard would be Louise’s ideal backyard.

One of Louise’s foster humans is a pre-teen, but she has not spent time with younger children. There has been no food aggression or resource guarding and she doesn’t not jump up on people, so we feel she would be suitable in a family with children aged 7 and older. Louise has not been cat tested. Very often mill dogs have been around the barn cats frequently without issues.

Louise enjoys being with her foster dog. They share everything from food to bed and couch space. They are rarely seen apart, and like to stay so close to each other that they are often touching. Louise will do well in a home with another dog companion, as well as a home where she is the only dog and centre of attention. Whenever we pet one of the dogs, Louise will get right in line for her own pets, and likes to place her whole face into your cupped hands for chin scratches. Louise also likes to follow her human family around. When Louise goes to her forever home, the entire family should share in the feeding, grooming, training and walking responsibilities so she can bond with her entire new pack and develop that deep trust and bond with everyone. Coming from a puppy mill, Louise has not had any training and has not been taught any commands. She will greatly benefit from Obedience school. It will give her the training she requires, but is also a big part of forming a strong bond with her new family.

Louise will thrive in a home situation where her family is aware of the commitment that a puppy mill dog requires. A LOT of patience, obedience training, consistency, socialization and of course tons of love and snuggles on the couch are all important. Louise will do best in a home with a fully fenced back yard given her love for the outdoors. While all dogs need regular exercise and activity, Louise will be in the low to mid range. She doesn’t require long walks or runs (her little legs don’t take her that far), but certainly requires shorter walks and play time. 

It has been an absolutely rewarding experience to foster Louise and witness the progress she has made in such a short time. Louise is a shining example of the unbreakable spirit of dogs. To see her learning how to enjoy life, to accept affection and see her willingness to trust people again after such a rough start to life has put a huge smile on our faces. There is no doubt that Louise will repay your love and affection, snuggles and cuddles 10 fold as she brings joy and a smile to your face every day too!

Unfortunately, Louise was in heat when she arrived to us and her spay surgery had to be delayed. Louise can’t be spayed until November but we didn’t want to hold her back from starting her life with her forever family. She will be adopted out on a contract which will require her family to return her to our vet in Cambridge to be spayed. This appointment will be made in consultation with her family but has to be done at our vet. Anyone interested in Louise must live within 45min or so of Cambridge to make this return for a spay feasible.