Dottie

Female (Altered) — Date of Birth: 01/01/1970 (55 years old (Senior))

Dachshund Mix

Hi my name is Dottie and I am a smooth coated dachshund weighing only 10 pounds. I am mostly white with black spots with a few tan markings on my face. My foster mom is unsure how old I am as I stress out when I'm picked up, but she is positive I'm an adult. I came from an awful place called a Puppy Mill where I and 1000 other dogs were trapped in cages 24/7 with little to no human attention and we were considered lucky if we managed to get fed and/or the crate cleaned. When I first came to my foster home I was given a bath which for a dog with no human attention was a very traumatic experience, but much needed. Both my foster sister Brownie who also came from the same horrible place I did, and my foster mom have been helping me learn to trust. I just learned how to walk on a leash, and am doing super especially when on a walk. I still fight the leash when I'm inside being led to the door, but once outside I'm walking with almost no problems. It is a huge world out there, and there is so much to see and experience. You should have seen me when I first walked on grass. When I first meet strange dogs I slowly walk up to them, but if they bark at me I try to run away. I have a long way to go with accepting human attention, but I am showing interest and am wagging my tail when I'm in the crate and see my foster mom, but as soon as that crate door is open I run away in fear. I find when I watch my foster sister approaches my foster mom I also try to approach but back away when her hand comes out to pet me. She is feeding me good yummy treats so I am approaching her more, but still back away quickly. With lots of patience and love I will learn how to be a dog again and start to work on training. I do not appear to be crate trained and I am definitely not house trained yet, but my foster mom is taking me for regular walks and keeping me on a strict schedule and so with time I'll learn there is a time and place to go to the bathroom. Once I'm crate trained house training should be a snap as long as we keep up with the schedule and my foster mom learns what my signal is. My dream family is with a family that will be willing to work with me, to help me build my confidence in new situations, which right now is just about everything. My foster mom thinks that I will be okay in a home with children as long as they are old enough to be extremely gentle with me and to take it slow when I'm scared. Though my foster mom feels a quieter household might be best for me. Another dog in the family will be a huge plus as I find they would help me accept newer situations faster, but this is not a requirement. With a whole lot of TLC and love and patience I will be an absolutely wonderful dog. I might not be able to make it to the adoption events immediately as I still need to build trust but if you are interested please contact AFH and they will put you through to my foster mom.