My puppy Candy was badly abused before I rescued her from a neighbor. She was about 6 month old and apparently hasn't gotten any kind of love or attention at all. She was held in a tiny dirty concrete back yard with another pitbull and as far as I know she was supposed to become a fighter like the other pitbull appeared to be. But since they only fed her leftovers for which she had to fight with the big dog for, she is underdeveloped now. She wasn't strong and vicious enough to become a fighter and that's when they threw her into an empty fenced field to die...
My neighbor kids found her and called me. We got her out of there and I took her in. The poor baby was in shock and was just lying there, staring at everything around her. She was so skinny that her little belly was already swollen. When I gave her food she didn't want to stop eating and I had to take the food away because I was afraid she would explode! She was covered in fleas and had a huge bump on one of her back legs. I was crying my eyes out and instantly fell in love with that little girl.
Since I already had 3 dogs it wasn't really possible for me to keep her and I took her to the shelter. They told me right away that they would put her asleep and of course I didn't want that to happen. I placed an ad in the newspaper to find her a good home but since she is a pitbull mix I got the weirdest calls and realized that I wouldn't trust anybody. I finally decided to keep her despite the fact that my roomates would move out. Candy constantly barked at everyone because she was so afraid. She wasn't used to human beings at all but got along perfectly fine with my other dogs. I'm the only person she trusts now and there is also some of my close friends she gets very happy to see. If somebody else comes into my house she keeps on barking and it takes her hours to calm down.
I have a big back yard and she feels very comfortable in there and barks at everyone walking by. She sounds like a lion behind the fence and the house and the yard make her feel very comfortable and happy and she knows that she is safe.
Now here is the problem...I have had Candy for 1 1/2 years now and she has gotten so much better. I'm really proud of her especially since most people in the beginning told me to give up on her! But whenever I take her for a walk or to a friends house she gets so scared as if someone would want to kill her. I started slowly to take her outside, just in front of the house, then a little bit up and down the street. But she only looks out for people (enemy) and doesn't enjoy the walk at all. As soon as someone comes along she starts freaking out and pulling for her life. I have tried so many things already and nothing seems to work. Yesterday I took her to my friends house. My friend has a dog as well that Candy usually loves to play with and she also had another puppy there she was taking care of over the week-end. I thought it would be a good idea to bring Candy so that she could play with them but it didn't really work out the way I expected. We couldn't find a parking spot in front of my friends house so we had to walk around the corner and Candy was pulling for her life. When we got there she seemed overwhelmed by my friends place (she had been there before) and the other dogs presence and was in no mood to play. When all the sudden my friends husband walked into the door Candy totally freaked out. Her stomach must have been upset and she farded but there feces coming out as well. I tried to calm her down and instantly took her home. She started to calm down in the car where she feels safe as well but she was so exhausted that she fell asleep right away when we got home...
What can I do with that poor baby? Is she supposed to take medication to calm down? Do I just have to leave her at home?
She gets so excited when she sees me get their harnesses and wants to come badly. She runs to the door of the backyard so that I don't forget to take her. But as soon as she gets outside the nightmare starts...
I could keep on writing about her behaviour but I have already gone on for too long.
Can anyone help???
