best of luck with her!!! its awesome that you adopted an adult, so many people just want puppies - my BEST bully was an abused one about 2 1/2 when i got him, he was so happy to have a good home, he protected me and my family, yet he was gentle enough to take bubble baths with my then 2 year old

she is so cute!!!!!!!!! Glad to hear of the progress!!

I am sure she will continue to warm up to you all! I can tell you all are intuitive, caring, observant folks and want the best for her. I also applaud you for being so observant and getting her to the vet so quickly. (I've not had any personal experience with pyometra, but know it's serious.) As long as she is not lethargic, and eating, I would go with what the vet says, but I am sure you will end up spaying her soon.

Just give her some time to learn about "the good life" with you all.

Love the pix!

n/m

nm

Here's a picture of Lily we took yesterday morning while she was hiding in the garden on our patio...



Ryan, Rebecca and Lily

Thanks for the advice. You echoed our feelings exactly and we have already decided to call the vet first thing on Monday morning (he'd told us to anyway) and insist that the surgery be performed that day!

The vet we chose for her is one we found on the list of bulldog-friendly vets from this very web site. Luckily, he's about 5 minutes from home here in Plano, TX and I had nothing but good feelings about the way he treated her when he examined her on Friday... He did say he has about 40 bulldog patients and is glad for everyone of them...

Additionally, we just had quite the major breakthrough in her getting used to us. We bought her a new, smaller crate just now and set it up (after taking her outside and her going to the bathroom for the 3rd time straight!) and she's inside the crate on her own right now chewing on a bone. My wife was in tears because it was the first dog-like thing she's seen from Lily in the 3 days we've had her!!!

Thanks again for the advice and keep it coming!

Ryan, Rebecca and Lily!

First off congradulations on your rescue bullie! My Bubba is also a rescue and we ADORE him.
I use to work for a vet and I have also had one of my
adopted shih tzu rescues have pyometrea. This is very
dangerous and I would NOT recommend you waiting a couple of weeks for the surgery. In fact I would demand to your vet that they perform it on Monday. Please make sure that this vet is use to seeing Bulldogs and if you don't get a good feeling go somewhere else. Good luck! I hope everything goes
okay.

It sounds like you are making progress!!! I bet you are so excited!! I cant belive she had not been on a leash before. I just wanted to say I am glad for you and her, sounds like it will slowly all come together. Keep the updates coming!!

It sounds like you are making progress!!! I bet you are so excited!! I cant belive she had not been on a leash before. I just wanted to say I am glad for you and her, sounds like it will slowly all come together. Keep the updates coming!!

Hi,

When dogs display timid/fearful behavior people often with try to "baby" them, ie. the dog hides behind your leg when you are out walking, lots of people will bend down, pet the dog telling them that it's O.K. It reinforces the behavior and we don't want to reinforce timid behavior. The person should just step forward and in a gentle confident voice say "lets go" and continue walking.

Pyometra is serious, spay as soon as the vet will permit.

If you are too exuberant at this point with her, she probably thinks you just went nuts. Praise tons but quietly. Glad to hear you are confining her. Crate training her will also give her a space of her own, when she has had enough, she can go to her crate. My dogs will when we have company or too much commotion in the house, it's their safety zone. If you are going to leave her confined for more then 1-2 hours, water is essential except at night when you're sleeping. Throw treats on the ground/floor and let her get them on her own. Cheese is a good one to use.

When she is more comfortable with you, classes are a great confidence builder for dogs. Use a trainer that uses positvive reinforcement training. Explain to the trainer all about Lily, there should be a class appropriate for Lily, it would be too hard on her in a class full of energized puppies.

Good luck and give Lily a smooch from me

Lynn K

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm not sure what you mean by not coddling her when she's being timid... Do you mean to just leave her alone and let her be?

The vet wanted us to give her antibiotics over the weekend and then see how she's doing Monday morning. We'd talked about waiting a couple of weeks to spay her if the medicine seems to be helping. However, I've been reading a lot today about pyometrea and am not sure I want to wait even if the medicine does improve. From what I've read, it doesn't sound like it's something to wait at all on...

We are going to try crate training her. We have a nice, small area in the kitchen area that we can gate off to keep her in when we can't watch her 100% of the time. Do you think we should leave water in there with her? I know we won't leave food, but thought it might be a good idea to leave some water... She's peed twice outside now, once last night and once this afternoon, and we've praised her like crazy, which actually scared her. She also pretty much won't take any treats of any sort. I've had several people tell me to try cheese, but she won't even take that as a treat now...

Anyway, thanks again for the encouragement and advice. It's a little overwhelming to say the least and this forum is proving to be a great place to ask the many, many questions we've already had and will have...

I'm so glad to hear she's warming up to you! When we got Oreo at age 5 1/2 or so, she would want to be in a room by herself, often facing the wall. Now after two years, she's always in the room we're in and likes to cuddle on the couch and at night in bed. It's wonderful to see them become the loving companions they were meant to be. It's good you took her to the vet because Pyometrea can be very serious. I know there are several people that have been through this - maybe you could find info on the home page or use the search feature. Hope her spay goes well.

Hey,

Glad she is responding to loving. It will take some time but it is worth it. Remember, not to coddle her when she shows timid behavior. Just coax her with a treat and keep a gentle happy tone in your voice. You're doing good. She has got to be feeling pretty sick with that infection. Once she is spayed her energy level and responsivenss will increase. Good job! for taking her to the vet so soon.

Housetraining starts now. It is just like housetraining a puppy. Crate when you cannot monitor her 100%. Praise like crazy when she goes outside. Keep to a schedule, it will make it easier for her.

Thanks for taking an adult dog. Most people prefer puppies and rightfully so, it is just that there are so many wonderful dogs that need homes too. I have 5 dogs. The youngest we got any of them was three years of age. We have had him 8 years now. I wouldn't trade a second of time with any of them.

Have fun and be patient.

Lynn K

Forgot to mention that Lily's started following us around the house a little bit. If we get out of her sight, she'll get somewhere so that she can see us, sometimes coming right up and sitting down beside one of us. We also saw her wag her tail for the first time this morning when we opened up a can of some soft food the vet gave us yesterday afternoon that she LOVED. She then proceeded to lick the can clean...