Got a 10 months old female Rottie out of the local shelter some ??'s please

[NewRottieMom]

Ok this is the story. I was looking on the internet for a companion for my 2 1/2 year old M (N) Trevor, who i also got from the shelter although not the same one. I drove 2 hours south of where I live to get Auto F rottie. She didnt look right so we started looking around and we saw HER!!! They were calling her Ebony. I changed her name to Jazzmine. She was a 10 months old F rottie. I took out her card to take it to the staff so they could take her out for me. As i was reading the card under health it said poor. She looked fine just a bit skinny. Well i asked why it said poor they said it was because when they first got her in custody after feeding her 2 bowls of dog food her first 2 stools were flannel. They showed me pics of her when she first got there she looked horrible. They told me she was living off a flannel shirt. So i took her for a walk. I liked her and took her home.:D Any ways here are my questions......

1) When does a rottie get there full size? She is 10 months old and can walk underneath Trevor.

2) What can i do to help her learn we are not going to hurt her? I have already gotten to the point where I can put my hand in her food bowl with out her growling. BTW I have only had her about a month.
Well i had another question but i seem to have forgotten it if I remember it I will ask later.

Thank you in advance for all your advice.

[bgdawgrr]

Rott females usually gain their full height at ~12 months. They will fill in and mature for aprox another 16-24 months. Once you bein (I'm sure you have) feeding her appropriatly, she should have a growth spurt, so I don't know how tall she may be. She is lucky to have found a good home, congradulations:) She will learn not to fear you with your possitive attention and love. Don't rush it. I don't know how important your food training is, but she should overcome any fear of you in time.

[brunie's mom]

First of all thank-you for saving a life:)
All of us involved in rescue are very happy that you took a dog from a shelter. Sometimes it feels the faster we find good homes for rescues the faster the shelters fill up again.

Your 10 month old female should grow a bit taller and then fill out till she is around 2 years of age. Try to feed her a super premium food such as Canidae, Innova, Wellness, Solid Gold , Wysong etc. this may help her catch up after having poor nutrition for all of her life.

As far as when will she trust you??? This takes time, lots of treats and love. Get her into training classes with you, it will help to build a bond with you:)
Good-luck!

Gina

[Jamie & Odin]

I adopted Odin from my local shelter as well, he was 8-9 mos old. Fortunately, his health was good, but he was abused and extremely fearful. Submissive urination, cowering, immediately rolling over on his back etc. Luckily no fear aggression.

He has improved beyond my expectations. Some things that I did were to follow the guidlines for setting myself up as alpha, his knowing his place led to a level of comfort, I believe, and trust in me. I trained him, we worked together using positive reinforcement and this built his confidence. I NEVER used his name as a verbal correction. For example, "Odin! (name said in big angry voice) get off the couch", big no no, and I see people do it all the time. The dogs name needs to be a big positive. I changed his name into a positive by saying it, and when he looked at me, he got a treat. And in general not rewarding behavior I didn't want, rewarding behavior I did, and never giving him a reason to distrust me.

These are things I found worked with my fearful dog. And it would seem that his fearfulness was due to his experiences, and not weak nerves (sigh of relief)which, I am assuming, would make a difference.

Just wait, watching a fearful, shy dog come out of it's shell is a most rewarding experience.

[beth gordon]

Hi!

I just adopted a 10 month old Rottie from a local city shelter; she was virtually unadoptable because of her extreme emaciation and having been starved for so long. Plus she was a Rottie who had been kept in a guy's basement meaning no socialization. Then she got a massive infection from her spaying and needed to be on IV antibiotics for 4 weeks.

I called the shelter daily to ask about her. When she was able to be released, they basicly just let me have her without putting her up for adoption. (Of course I did pay the fee). They said there was very little interest in a dog with all her problems, in terms of adoption.

When I brought her home she was very possessive of her food and the bones I gave her. She growled, snarled, and inhaled her food simultaneously. I have 4 other dogs, so I fed her apart from the rest for quite some time. I also made sure she always had something tasty or oral when she wasn't being fed a meal. She loved large marrow bones, bones stuffed with peanut butter, toys stuffed with treats, etc. I did this mostly to help her get past the psychological effects of the starvation. She literally had something in her mouth 24 hours a day unless she was napping. She had three meals daily as if she ate too much she would throw it up consistently.

Anyway, at this point, after two months, Lilly eats alongside the rest, gnaws on bones alongside them, and is down to one meal daily. She lost the "tough girl" act the more she trusted that there would be a next meal. It also helped that the other dogs didn't respond to her challenges. I was able to ignore her negative behaviors for the most part because they are just so secure. I am fortunate that she has such a nice temperment after what she had been through.

Best of luck with your pup. It was so nice that you rescued a pup that needed a family.