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So we Adopted a Dog That Likely Was Abused, But he is Safe Now
Over the last three weeks, Dexter has come out of his shell, more or less. He is a mostly happy, go-lucky fella, who likes his humans. However, there were some behaviors that took me to the internets looking for explanations.
After we lost Connie, our sun conure, we decided to adopt a dog at the pound. So that is how we ended up with Dexter, a six, going on seven large Chihuahua. We knew that the dog came from a home where there was a divorce. A second home that returned him after a few months because they were allergic to the dog (or the medical bills, more on that below.)
The clues of previous abuse were subtle at first. One day my husband came home from work, and as he told a work story his voice raised. The dog started to whimper and took cover under a chair. Then there was the way he ate his treats after he got his ear medication. It was always under the chair, looking nervously at us.
Then the other day I had to take some papers to the back, and I raised them. The dog immediately withdrew tail tucked. We knew at that moment that the little fella had a hard life and likely was abused.
He also ate FAST. So we got him bowls to slow the speed. Now he is starting to leave some food behind, which tells me that he is starting to develop some trust. This is…