Dawn 1
Dawn 2
Dawn 3
Dawn 4
Entered: 06/07/2022
Status: Adopted
Age: 9
Color: Chocolate/White Cocker Spaniel
Weight: 32 lbs.
Gender: Altered Female
Location: West Allenhurst, NJ
Health: UTD, HW-, one eye removed and cherry eye repair done in the other eye, vision is good in the remaining eye, receiving eye drops twice daily, 15 decayed teeth removed, losing to a healthy weight
Temperament: Initially nervous around new adults but warms up, is now comfortable around a familiar three-year-old familiar child but would be best with mature teens, good with other dogs, unknown with cats but shows no prey drive
Update 11/20/2023: “Dawn also has made so much progress with letting people, other than her foster mom, pet her.”
Petite Miss Dawn is still as cute as ever!
Her foster mom reports no progress has been made with walking on a leash, and she is not sure she will ever get there with Dawn. While she has not abandoned hope, Dawn is so afraid that her foster mom does not want to traumatize her. However, progress has been made in other areas.
When Dawn first came to her foster home, she would only go outside in the fenced back yard (with coaxing.) Little by little, she ventured out the front door and now absolutely loves running around free as a bird. She actually knows when her foster mom pulls into the driveway after work, as her foster mom can hear her barking to come outside. Until recently, Dawn didn’t bark, except for making a squeaking noise at feeding time. Now, she can be heard clear as a bell from inside the car. Dawn knows that it is her foster mom’s routine to play fetch with the two resident dogs in the front yard when she arrives home from work. She now enjoys this routine, even though she does not fetch balls. She just runs in circles, does her business, and sniffs.
Dawn also has made so much progress with letting people, other than her foster mom, pet her. She allows her son to touch her and will now put her two front paws on his lap looking for attention. She is great with the three-year-old granddaughter who lives in the home half of each week. Dawn used to run away from the child and hide in a bedroom. Now, she isn’t bothered by the chaos of a three-year-old. She is also so much less afraid of visitors who come to the home. She now allows a 92-year-old neighbor who frequently visits to pet her too.
Dawn’s accidents are continually decreasing; she now has about five per week. Generally, it is overnight as she is let outside often during the day. It appears she can’t “hold” it or doesn’t know that she should. The last time she is let outdoors in the evening is between 9:00 and 10:00. Her foster mom is always up in the morning by 6:30 at the latest. Dawn has trouble with this timeframe most days.
No longer a “nervous Nelly,” Dawn shakes so much less because she is less fearful.
Dawn’s foster mom has enjoyed seeing her transformation over the last year. She is such a sweet dog and wouldn’t hurt a fly. This lovely little girl truly deserves her forever home. How about bringing Dawn home for the holidays?
Update 09/11/2023: “She is a bit less timid with strangers and is becoming more accustomed to going outdoors.”
Not much has changed in Dawn’s world as she continues to learn how to be a dog from watching the two resident pups. She is a bit less timid with strangers and is becoming more accustomed to going outdoors. Her foster mom has been unable to walk her recently due to a health issue, but with that resolved, Dawn should be walking regularly again. Taking Dawn for a walk with the resident Springer is avoided due to their differences in size and energy level. She is walked only with the resident Cocker Spaniel, but with Dawn’s fear of walking, progress is limited.
Dawn still has occasional accidents in the house. However, her foster mom has found that sometimes Dawn is resistant to going into the fenced backyard and if she accompanies her with a little coaxing, she does better.
Dawn is a little sweetheart that would love to spend her golden years with a forever family.
Updated 08/20/2022: “She loves to sit outside in the sun, rolls in the grass and will romp and run with the resident Cocker.”
Dawn has adjusted very well in her foster home. The first several days involved gaining trust with her new foster family and the resident Cocker Spaniel. The foster has a very quiet home; all movements are in slow motion, nothing rushed and patience is key. Dawn is not frightened by loud kitchen noises or general random noise in the house whether it be a vacuum cleaner or the washing machine that went off balance or the fire alarm that screeched.
When she arrived at the foster home, she would retreat to the farthest corner of the yard when going outside and not come inside. She would need to be carried in and out for those first few days. A few times she decided she did not want to come inside when it was time to go in so her foster mom stayed inside but watched and Dawn eventually came to the door, scratched lightly and came inside. Everything was new to her, but being that she previously spent 8 weeks with the original rescue foster home in Pennsylvania, she definitely warmed up quickly. By day 10 in her current foster home, she iwas a different dog. She loves to sit outside in the sun, roll in the grass and will romp and run with the resident Cocker. She is a total wigglebutt!
Dawn seems quite content on being an indoor dog and has adjusted to a routine of when meals are served, going outside, and sleeping. She loves nothing more than to romp outside in a fenced yard and come back inside and lie in her dog bed. She is a very sweet, docile dog who loves belly rubs. She will come to her foster mom for affection and there is a lot of floor time spent holding and petting Dawn.
Dawn receives lubricating eye drops 3 times a day and prescribed drops twice a day for dry eye. The eye is not messy at all; it is gently wiped several times a day. Her current foster mom is coming home during lunch breaks to let Dawn out to potty.
The most important things to remember when interacting with a dog that has come from an unknown situation is patience, love, understanding, compassion, forgiveness, calmness, empathy, and perseverance. In Dawn’s case, all these have been followed and the outcome has been wonderful for Dawn. No rescue dog is ever adopted as “the most ‘perfect dog ever” and there will always be set backs, but the most important thing is to not give up, it takes time for a rescue dog to accommodate to a new home and family.
Dawn is looking forward to a forever home with a family that can help her gain more confidence, a family that is patient and understanding and has a quiet environment. Dawn will do well with a retired family or someone that is home more often during the days. She is very easy going and quiet inside.
Original: “She enjoys the attention she is receiving from her foster mom who finds it a very good sign to see her ‘wigglebutt’ in action.”
A Pennsylvania animal rescue that pulls dogs from Lancaster puppy mills contacted MAESSR asking if we could foster this mill mamma. Dawn spent several weeks in one of their foster homes getting an eye removed that was in horrible shape, having 15 teeth removed that were badly decayed, and several weeks later, being spayed and having a cherry eye repaired.
Quite naturally after eight years living in a puppy mill, home life as a loved fur baby is all new for her. It is going to take time for Dawn to adjust and learn how great life really can be. After spending several weeks with a rescue foster in Pennsylvania, she was transported to her MAESSR foster home in Virginia.
When Dawn was being fostered in Pennsylvania, she lived with four other dogs and got along fine with them. They ranged in age from one to eight and were both male and female. She did not play with them but was comfortable lying on a dog bed with them. She followed the other dogs and learned quite a bit from them about inside life. In her current foster home, she is getting along with and following the resident Cocker Spaniel. She would do well in a home with another dog as a companion.
Dawn arrived in Charlottesville wearing a cone due to her cherry eye and spay surgeries. The cone will be off in a few days and the cherry eye removal will continue to heal. She does well in a crate when transported in a car but in her current foster home, she has no desire to go into the crate at night and prefers a dog bed in either a living room or the foster parent’s bedroom. Due to her weight, she is currently unable to jump up onto furniture and beds. Since she produced many litters of pups over the years, she has put on a good amount of weight. Hopefully with plenty of low-fat, high-fiber dog food and lots of walks, she will once again be a trim Spaniel. She will definitely be petite once the extra weight is gone; her size would be very similar to a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Although initially reluctant, Dawn is learning how to walk on a leash first in the fenced back yard accompanied by the leashed resident Spaniel. Once she is totally comfortable with this, Dawn will be ready for leashed walks in the neighborhood. She goes in and out of the house quite frequently throughout the day and has had no accidents. Her foster mom does work eight hours a day away from home but has been coming home for lunch breaks to continue the housetraining process with Dawn. She would do well with someone that either works at home or works away from home but is able to return for lunch breaks for a few weeks. After a few weeks of staggered lunch breaks, Dawn should be able to not have any accidents inside for up to eight hours.
Dawn is enjoying retirement life as an inside dog, primarily lying on a pad on top of the rug or in a dog bed. She does snore loudly at night but this could be due to the excess weight she is carrying. Her foster home has security cameras and there have been no issues with barking, howling, or any distress. She enjoys the attention she is receiving from her foster mom who finds it a very good sign to see her “wigglebutt” in action. She is becoming a 100% happy Cocker Spaniel.
Dawn is a good girl with not a mean bone in her body. She will let her foster mom touch her all over, brush her and put drops in her eye.
Dawn, like many former puppy mill dogs, needs time to unwind and process her new life. She would find young children to be too much at this point, but she would probably enjoy mature teenagers. Her forever family should be calm and undemanding. Most mill dogs make slow and steady progress as they learn to process their new lives.
Watch for more on Dawn as she unwinds and her personality continues to blossom.