Maple is a 10 month old female Staffordshire Bull Terrier Cross. On November 17th 2018 we were left reeling over the horrific condition of an injured puppy that was brought to our door. Although we were told the puppy had been found in the street, her injuries pointed strongly to her having been subjected to severe, sustained cruelty and abuse. We named her Maple, for the sweet girl that we knew she would become. Maple had sustained horrendous injuries and upon further examination, our vet believed boiling water had been poured over her. She was covered in wounds consistent with scald burns that our vet suspected had been left untreated. Her ears were torn and bleeding and she showed obvious signs of malnourishment. In fact although she was tiny when she arrived with us and weighed just 6.5kg our vet estimated her to be around 6 months old.
It was heart-breaking to witness the terrible state of this defenseless puppy. We wanted to shower Maple with love and attention and to make her feel safe! At first, Maple was not able to accept that from us due to her physical trauma. Maple should have been displaying typical, confident puppy behaviour, instead, she spent days sleeping, physically and mentally exhausted by the ordeal that she had endured. She didn’t make a sound, not a bark, yap or even whine. We can’t begin to imagine what this poor little girl has been through in her short life. Her physical abuse is obvious; her mental scars may run deeper than we will ever know. Over the last 4 months, we’ve taken it day by day and sometimes hour by hour, to give Maple the intensive love and care she needs. We began to see small signs of Maple’s personality coming through. She is now brave enough to try and play with you and her favourite toy – a crinkly dinosaur. She is also showing slow signs of regained trust in people. With encouragement, she will step forward to meet new people, she may even give you a little lick.
Maple is now very good friends with our vet, who sometimes needed to treat her 3 or 4 times a day. After the initial speedy healing of her burns Maple was left with two areas that just wouldn’t heal. One was between her shoulder blades and the other was on her head. She kept scratching or rubbing those areas whenever she got the chance. We tried everything, including regular wound dressing and a surgical T-shirt. Whilst this was going on we kept cleaning and dressing her remaining burns but there was no further improvement. Eventually Maple had to undergo surgery to remove the badly damaged tissue, followed by laser treatment on the wounds to encourage new cell growth, and finally she is now beginning to make some progress. Despite all these setbacks Maple remains the perfect little patient and endures all treatments and restrictions without complaints. The wound on her head has been reduced considerably and her back also finally seems to be healing better. Hopefully she will be able to run around without her inflatable buster collar and T-shirt soon and will then be ready to find a new home.
Currently, Maple is in a foster home with other dogs and cats. This is proving an incredible help to her and she is gradually beginning to improve. She will happily curl up and sleep with the other cats and dogs, gaining comfort and accepting companionship from them. Her environment is now full of love rather than pain. What we are looking for in a home for Maple: Although Maple is a very sweet little girl she can still become fearful at times and therefore we are looking for an adult only home for her where any children are over the age of 16. If Maple is to live with another dog, it is important that the other dog is bigger than her, robust and young as Maple can be very testing at times and will jump on or bite the back legs of the dogs in her foster home. Although she is not aggressive she does not quite understand how to behave and will not be suitable to live with elderly or small breed dogs. Maple does currently live with cats in her foster home, but again she is very testing with them too. She is not at all nasty but she finds it a game if they run from her and will chase and pounce on them. It would be easier to say that Maple would be better suited to a cat free home, but we will not rule out an experienced home with cats that are confident but please note that Maple will not stop if she is swiped.
Maple will need a home with someone around all day as she will need to be given regular opportunities to go to the toilet. Maple is coming on in leaps and bounds with her house training but there are still times where she will wet herself. At first we were concerned that Maple could be suffering from some incontinence but our vet has ran tests and feels this is not the case. This could be a result of Maple’s physical maltreatment as a puppy, her body does not seem to be functioning right for a dog of her age. This could be due to a hormonal imbalance that may correct itself as Maple matures and has a season. Maple has not yet came into season and our vet has advised to let her have several seasons to help her body fully mature before spaying.
As Maple has spent most of her puppy hood healing from her injuries she has had to be restricted and is therefore not receiving the exercise she should for a dog of her age. Because of this Maple does have her crazy outbursts of energy and will do ‘zoomies’ and mouth and grab at your clothing and engage in general rough play. She does not mean any harm by this but it can hurt. 90% of the time Maple is a very calm, placid, sleepy girl who enjoys snuggles. She loves to be sat on your lap on the sofa so we are looking for a very understanding home where she will not be restricted from the furniture despite her toileting accidents!
For Maple, ‘life’ started the day she came into Freshfields care. The staff and volunteers have worked hard day and night to heal Maple, mentally and physically. While Maple is not yet ready to leave for a new home we feel that she is ready to be introduced to a potential new family. We are looking for someone local to the rescue who can visit Maple regularly and also be able to bring her to see our vet should any issues arise while she is still healing. Maple’s new owner must be financially secure as there are some things that may not be covered on insurance.
Maple is a very special little girl and one we have all grown very fond of here at the rescue, we are desperate to find her a loving, understanding owner who is just as special as she is.
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