I had a phone call on sat from a lady i know in manchester, she asked me if we would be willing to foster a dogue de bordeaux for her, here is his story,
He had been found in a shed, laid in his own mess, full of burns sores, underfed, unable to walk, and generally in a bad way, he had been in the shed with minimal exercise, food and water, for 2 YEARS!!! He is 4 years old, he was in there with an english mastiff who had to be pts because she was so understandbly aggressive, Baby as we now call him, (formally Buster)  has been out of the shed now for only 8 weeks, i have had him only 3 days, but what a boy he is, he loves nothing more than a cuddle his squeaky toys and the sofa! He adores everybody and everything, and i cannot believe how anybody can treat any animal like this i just cant. Anyway his temprement is superb, his sores have almost healed but i am not sure if his fur will grow back, but he is having problems with his back legs, he never refuses a walk, but prefers grass and sand as it is not sore on his very sensitive pads, but due to lack of exercise and space his legs looked almost bowed on his back legs, there is no power in there if you know what i mean, he adores going in the sea but i have to go in with him on a flexilead as he wont come out!  I have heard glucosomine is suppose to help with strengthening problems like this but not sure of the dosage he will need but we are visiting the vet this afternoon so will ask, i am walking him about 3 times a day but only for 10 mins or so, to try and build up his stamina, he is all sorted in the jab and worming dept and been flead jst his legs really now, but i think we are probably gonna keep him as he has melted our hearts and he has really bonded with us all, in just 3 days, the other thing is he is 12 stone at the moment but his backbone is still clearly visable, he is having small meals 3 times a day, how big is he gonna get!!! Anyway i will keep you all posted on Baby, He is laid next to me now and the wind is about to make me gag, or gas me out one or the other! so i off!!!

bye for now xxx

Poor Baby!

Having been shut in a shed with an aggressive English Mastiff I would keep an eye on his temperament though, he may well have been pushed to the back of the pecking order, but with his new leash of freedom may develope less of a laid back attitude when he comes into his own, so just watch for that, hopefully he will keep his laid back personality and nothing will change, but it is only 3 days and the poor little (big) man has a lot of healing to do.

Your doing the right thing in taking small steps, I would very much treat him as pup with exercise to gradually build up muscle etc. I guess being able to stroll around the garden will be just like heaven to him, and will also help to build his body tone. Perhaps your vet will recommend some physio for him too.  Swimming as you know is great for him, but little and often for now. He may well have joint or even arthritic problems, lack of sunshine etc being a factor.

So sunshine will also help give that extra vitamin D too, (though at present, I wish you luck with that one. :-D ) I expect your vet may well have some kind of vitamins etc to help with his bones.

Just want to wish you luck and I hope that Baby will live a long happy, life now.  Your a star for taking him on, but.......... he seems to be giving you great joy too, so good for all concerned. :-)

Hi Roxie

Well done you for taking on this poor boy!  Have the RSPCA started proceedings against this owner do you know ? They should be ashamed of themselves and how awful for the other dog in there too.
Baby sounds lovely, sounds like you are doing everything right, just start his exercise slowly and swimming is great, take it a day at a time and try and get him socialised.

Please give him a big kiss and cuddle from me and my boys!

Kim
xx

Oh poor Baby what a dreadful start for the little man :(

Thank goodness he has been rescued and is being fostered by you, his luck has now changed :)

Nothing to add to what Carrington advises about building up his exercise slowly, and yes, swimming is brilliant for his muscles!

Maybe you are going to join the long list of failed fosterers, of which I am one!

Good luck to you and Baby and do let us know how you/he gets on :)

It can take a month or more before you see the real temperament of a rescue dog ;)  he will be taking your measure and 'getting his feet under the table' first ;) so be careful with him and the children ;)

Hopefully he will remain the love that he is now :)

Re his weight, the spine showing may not be down to underweight, just under exercise and movement!  You will see a big difference in his muscle structure now that he's getting more chance to move around, just the small amount of lead walking will be making a big difference!

Good luck with him, he's a lucky boy!

Poor dogs, how awfull, how can anybody treat any animal like that???
What a waste of life for the English Mastiff, they are so loveing when they treated right :(

Agree with Carrinton re. exercise for Baby. My pup (English Mastiff) had a few problems with his legs while younger and daily small walks were what helped him, and I mean small - 5 mins max to start with, this was gradually built up and now at 10 months he does over 35 mins per day. I know 35 mins doesn't sound like much, but the progrees with gradual build up is fantastic, he could barely walk 10 yards at 1 stage, and now he even likes to have a little run while out :)
I'd be very carefull not to let him over do it or he'll end up pulling a muscle/ligament, it's worth seeing a vet about an excersise programme for him.
Glucsamine suppliments are a great idea, these also helped my pup no-end and I swear by them now.
Good luck with Baby & keep us updated :)

Great to see you have taken on a DDB and i can say im not suprised about his temp, i have met a few dogues in my time who have been badly treated yet still have that impeccable temperament. My own bitch Ruby didnt have the best start in life as a pup, but it hasnt affected her temperament wise, the only thing is she is scared of big men. But that doesnt bother me at all. 12 stone is very big seems like he may be quite abit over the breed standard weight and will be a big boy. Good luck with him im sure he will reward you will lots of love and plenty more bad gas

Louise xx xx

Have you thought about try hydrotherapy this is very good for building up muscles .

I know 35 mins doesn't sound like much,

This made me laugh!

My bros Mastiff Brutus was lucky if he could be bothered to walk to the end of the drive lol He was such a lazy mastiff but your are sooo right about their temperament, the biggest softies in existance in my view :) Ideal family pets as well :)

Well, Baby has been with us now for 5 days and i must say it feels like we have always had him! And he really hasnt put a foot wrong, he has manners, he hasnt growled at anything or anyone, i cannot so far see anything that really un nerves him! If roxie is tring to play with him and getting a bit too excitable with him he just barks in a silly lazy way! thats it, he sleeps down stairs not done a thing! He does as he is told too, if he heres the word 'no' he knows, and well if you get up to make a cuppa and night whilst watching t.v. you 've lost your seat!!

The vets was also fine too, he sat in a room full of animals, big small and some nasty little things too but he wasnt bothered, he kept farting whilst we were waiting really loud too!! and it stunk i had to in the end tell everybody it wasnt me it was my dog! The vet examined him he stood there as good as gold, she said he was in good shape and what we were doing was right, also for the time being as he is a bit slender on the back end to not try to put too much weight on him yet as he may find it difficult to carry his weight as his legs arent too strong! But she feels his strength will be build up, and i must say myself and my husband have already noticed a slight change to the way he is carrying himself.

We also got a huge flexilead yesterday for him so he could go in the sea and we wouldnt get wet! But it didnt work he goes in too far and we just cant get him out so looks like we gonna have to get used to getting soggy! and walkng home sqwelching! The vet said he has an extremly good temp to be the way he is after the way he has been treated, but it is quite obvious he must have had some socialisation for him to be the way he is.

He loves the kids especially my son who has asd, he sees him and runs to him to play! He kisses my daughters dolls when she is pushing them a round, and my eldest daughter sleeps on the sofa with him every evening, and we love him dearly, so so far so good, and it is looking more and more like we will keep him, i have been in touch with some breeders of the dogue and they have told me that his temp is quite typical, so we are pleased!

speak soon

roxie buster and babys mum x

Just looked at a dogue on a web site as i have never seen one, they are beautiful. You are a saint and I hope you and baby and your family have many happy years, but me first begs if he has to be rehomed hes lovely!!!!

brilliant news, lucky Baby :)

And how does he get on with your rescued Lhaso Apso - the one you talk about here on 7th April? here :-

Hi all hope you are all fine, i have a new dilema now!! just to keep you all on your toes.... I recently bought a Lhasa Apso, well infact i rehomed him from a lady i knew, she passed me his papers and they are dlrc! i know they dont mean jack, but i have sieved through it and tried to research his history and his sire is kc reg, infact they are on here, he is a ******, although i cant trace his mother, i didnt think kc reg sires would not be bred with unregistered ladies, unless that is purely down to the owners descretion, could this be why he wasnt kc reg? and can anybody tell me if i could kc him? maybe not if the mother wasnt? i dont know i am confused, I am not really bothered about the papers for any other fact than finding out if his parents passed the neccessary tests such as pars? Anyway any info would be gratefully appreciated..

Gee, well, I had to go googling, didn't know what a Dogue de bordeaux and a Lhaso Apso was

The Lhasa has a new home with my mother in law now, with her persian cats! He loves it there he gets lots of fuss no crazy kids pushing him in prams and no big dogs sitting on him !! we see him all the time hes so cute x
xx

rrrr bless, so is this the one thats just been attacked? i read your other post, not sure if this one came first,

i totally utterly think your great for addopting him, just keep your chin up, i proberbly will be hard work getting him used to the things he should have already been used to, im so pleased hes doing ok so far, i like a story with a happy ending

sami

> rrrr bless, so is this the one thats just been attacked?

'Baby' is the rescued DDB, he's the one that's been attacked :(

oh dear me, as if he aint been thru enough, well i send lots of love and scooby snacks for him, bless him

> oh dear me, as if he aint been thru enough, well i send lots of love and scooby snacks for him, bless him

It's so sad, isn't it. Bless him though, he never fought back, even after having such a rough life up till now.

Roxieandbust I hope you and Baby are feeling better.

you dont know wether to praise him for not fighting back or wether he should have stoodup for himself, i feel for him, i would praise him anyway bless him, he must be so scared and itd gonna be no good for his self esteem either, yeah i hope so, i couldnt cope, id be worse than the dog, bless

i was in a worse state than baby at the time, he just plodded home whilst i was a nervous wreck and in tears, this evening though his eye looks much much better, and he has just had a chicken for his tea so hes happy! thanks for your concern x

your very welcome, i just cant emagine how you feel still. you both need a little vacation to deal with it, so far iv never had this problem with mine, touch wood, i hope i never do,
sami x