Advice needed -Dogue De Bordeaux owners Behaviour

Bless you (and Mac too) for taking this dog.

All my adult life I warned people about buying dogs from 'pet shops' or spurious breeders and vowed I never would. Also warned them never to buy a dog they 'felt sorry for' a runt etc.

Then, 3 yrs ago, here in Cyprus, I was shown this pathetic puppy min pin in a tiny cage in a tiny shop behind Lazarus Church. In with a bigger one who had been biting her ears and generally bullying her. She was lethargic and pathetic.

There isn't really any 'agency' to report this sort of thing to here in Cyprus. But there is no way I could have gone home without that scrap of fur. I paid 350 for her and within 24 hrs she was living in the vets. A week after that, I removed her from that vet (no one on the premises 24hrs and she wasn't sleeping or getting much better) insisted they give ME all the meds and injections and whatever and I would take her home.

The vet had promised they would support me in pursuing the seller - and insisted that the pet shop bloke should pay the bills (he had said he would too) but in the end the bills were high and all that was on offer was my money back and they'd take the pup back to the breeder (and you all KNOW what would have happened to it.

So I DID buy a dog from a petshop and, after a long month caring for her during which time even my new good vet could not reassure me she would survive - I have her now - 3yrs on and she is my best pal.

The only continuing nightmare was being told by friends and neighbours that the other min pin that was in the cage with her was still there - ONE YEAR ON! I just didn't walk that way any more. There's no way I could have taken on 2 and anyway this was the dog that was attacking her.

It turned out that ALL the siblings of my dog were just as ill - long story won't go into it now.

Hey - I could have stuck to my principles and not bought her. But she would be DEAD for sure now and it would have done nothing to stop the practice and trade of these awful people.

They even had a 'dodgy vet' sign them off to say they'd had their injections etc. He couldn't even get the breed name right - had her down as 'Mini Doberman' no such breed.

I hope you, like me, will never regret taking this dog and the hard work you had to put in in the early days and months.

Stunning dog what a beaut - disgusting that people can treat animals that way really p***s me off!

Well done for taking him in - some DDB's mature slower than others in my experience. You are doing all the right things to bring his behavior into some form of normality and by the sound of things you are doing a great job.

I am a lover of the DDB breed - amazing dogs with the right training great to see he has now got a good home and patient and understanding owners.

Ref the wrinkles - DDB can have varying facial wrinkles from what I have seen - I have a 13 week old bitch and think from looking at her now she may be heavily wrinkled so not sure this is a bad / negative thing.

I have attached a pic of her so you can see the face (this was this weekend in the Lake District).