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Qbert was a backyard breeder's dog, a puppy who couldn't shake the awful case of demodex he'd gotten. The elderly woman who had him said she wasn't able to care for him, and his condition bore that out.
He had filthy ears, was infested with fleas, and had a thin and brittle coat with skin hot and red from the mange; and that was just his physical condition!
He's clearly not been socialized, because at nine months he still doesn't differentiate between chew toys, fingers, furniture and other dogs when he feels a masticating moment coming on! Though he's had surprisingly few accidents, he's got no idea how to behave in a house. He carries on like an inebriated 8 year-old, tugging the placemat out from under the water bowl, tipping over the dish and wading in the floodwaters! He doesn't have a speck of training, but his foster mom is working on curbing his jumping, teaching him sit, and trying to keep him from teething on her while she works on these corrections.
However, none of these conditions or behaviors are permanent, and with a couple of baths and some good cleaning of his ears he's already looking a little less red and itchy. Losing the roughly 200,000 fleas he was carrying helped a lot with getting the redness and irritation down! However, he's had the demodex for a long time, and it will take a while for his hair to grow back and to regain a balanced immune system. Most important, he has a pure and golden heart resting in that rude and rough hewn outside, and we know that it's only a matter of time before his healthy spirit is matched by a healthy body. If you'd like to sponsor Qbert and feel a part of his rehabilitation from an un-schooled, feral child to a Frenchie clown chock-full of social graces, you can click on his photo and send him a message of love and encouragement. |
