Rose may be Kiki’s sister. She spent less than a day at the Harbin shelter after being rescued from the meat trader’s truck. She was transferred to a medical facility where she was diagnosed as malnourished and dehydrated. Later at the boarding facility, she received daily human interactions with volunteers who worked with the dogs on socialization, leash walking and trust. She is somewhat shyer than Kiki and has a tendency to bark out of nervousness in new situations, but after she gets to know someone all she wants is petting and hugs. The family first chosen here for Rose backed out shortly before the dogs were to arrive from China. But Placement found another adoptive family right away. These wonderful people have a summer home in Michigan and were due to arrive back in Arizona only a day before the China dogs, so  one of the October transporters offered to have Rose stay overnight at her house. She then took Rose to the adopters the next day.

Like Kiki, Rose needed treatment for hookworms and Giardia. She also had infected ears and some spots of concern on her abdomen; the spots were treated with antibiotics and a topical ointment. When she was in for the follow-up check on the parasites and skin irritations, the vet noticed fresh blood coming out of Rose’s vulva. The recommended ultrasound showed that the ovaries and stump of the uterus were still present, so an incomplete spay had been done in China. We were told that spays are often done this way overseas because the dog will still have hormones and thus will still have heat cycles but can’t get pregnant. Perhaps such a method of spaying is faster – that is the only explanation we have why spays are done that way. Rose did well after the re-spay, but that procedure cost us significantly more than a normal spay would have cost. We have advised our contact in China not to have any females spayed before they are sent here in the future.

Only a couple of days after Rose was “home”, the adopters told us that Rose had met all the neighbors and the grandchildren. He said she loves people, that everything was good, and they have no concerns. Rose’s barking was an issue, however, when they brought her to one of the gift wrapping sessions during the holidays. She was nervous because of the other dogs, all the people, and the traffic driving through the parking lot and just would not stop barking, so, unfortunately, we had to ask them to take her home. Our behaviorist will be working with them to provide advice on curtailing the barking.