Although she's still working on her socialization skills, Huggie came to visit us with her new mommie and looked fantastic! Can you spot Huggie Bear in the pic below?

"...she is very sweet, her personality is really starting to show. We love her so much. She is very particular and pretty much only does what she wants to. She is learning her boundries and I think it is going well so far. She had her 1st trip to the beach today and it was a lot of fun."

Huggie is doing soooooo much better - it's absolutely amazing!!! She is doing so well, in fact, that she was just adopted this past weekend!!! Her new forever mommie was approved for almost any bulldog in our program and she had the choice of quite a few, including a 15 month old bullie boy with no serious health issues, but she fell in love with Huggie. We are truely thankful to Huggie's new mommie who is extremely qualified to care for Huggie with the experience she has in her past (having had a sharpei go thru several medical surgeries and ear problems.) Understanding the true meaning of rescue, she decided that Huggie (ear problems, baggage, and all) needed her the most! It worked out very well and all of us at Adopt-A-Bull could not be happier for Huggie and her new mommie!!!

All is well in Huggieland!!! Miss Huggaboo had an appointment with the vet this morning to check on her ears...they have improved so drastically due to the proper administration of medication and continued care that she no longer needs surgery!!! Huggie Bear has visable ear canals!! Lots of love, cleaning, daily meds, and of course her multiple ear massages from foster mommie Patricia, have helped Huggie Bear's ears improve dramatically! Her skin is looking great, her eyes are looking good, and she is one happy bullie!! Pics from the vet visit:

She is a sweet little girl, well 45.2 pounds of little, with a bit of a dominant personality. She absolutely LOVES every person she meets (and would do better with a family with no small children as she likes to play hard) but is not too sure of most other dogs. We haven't ventured out to the dog park with her yet... And are still contemplating that trip!!

Huggie Bear LOVES, and I mean LOVES to chew!! Her favorite toys are of course her nylabone, and for some odd reason she is very fond of plastic bottles. Give her a 2 liter of Mountain Dew and she's a happy pooch!! (empty bottle of course!!) She does not discriminate though and is also very happy with a 20 ounce bottle or even a nice empty bottle of grape juice!! Once the top has been successfully chewed shut, she discards the bottle and is ready for the next one!

Miss Huggie also likes her blankets fresh out of the dryer. She will follow me from the laundry room to her crate and wait patiently for me to put down her blanket... Once the blanket is down, in she goes and she's rolling around snorting like a crazy woman!!

She has such a personality!! Any family would be blessed to count her a a member!!!

Huggie Bear came to us as an owner surrender back in June, 2008. Upon admission into our rescue program, Huggie was overdue for some very serious medical attention. Besides being months past due on her rabies shot and other vaccines, Huggie's eyes and ears needed to be treated due to some long-withstanding infections and Huggie was in a lot of pain. She was battling a large yeast/bacterial infection covering almost her whole body. Her ears required constant monitoring and frequent cleanings, and will need special attention for the rest of her life. Nutrition will play a big role in Huggie's continued improvement and she must continue to be fed a high quality dog food, preferably grain free.

7-28-08 Update: Huggie is doing great! Her skin, eyes, and ears have improved drastically! This week, Huggie will be having a complete blood panel done so we can see if she's healthy enough to undergo spay surgery. Huggie is a very happy, bouncy, girl who loves human attention.

As Huggie's overall condition had improved and her spay was completed, she was placed for adoption in September with a local family that owned two other bulldogs. It was clearly communicated and agreed that Huggie's eyes and ears would be a lifelong issue and would require constant monitoring, frequent cleanings and medication. After several weeks of fostering, the adoption papers were signed and Huggie was finally with her forever family...... so we thought.

On January 31st 2009 , Huggie came to visit us at a meet-up and we were shocked to see the condition she was in. Her ears had gotten worse, a lot worse, her skin infection was back, hair falling out from the root, and her eyes looked so dry. We immediately had a discussion with the owner who voluntarily agreed to surrender Huggie back to us upon our request. (That was a first - we've never had to perform an owner surrender on one of our own dogs before.) Upon calling the vet and obtaining the records for the time period Huggie was "adopted" we discovered the adopter had declined several services (including an ear workup/ear swab) suggested by the vet. We were horrified! To top it all off, Huggie had a vet appointment on the same day we got her back! Her chart listed her as a "no show" and later we found out that it was not the first time. :( Adopt-A-Bull immediately took Huggie to our vet who put her back on all the medication she was supposed to be receiving plus some. (Synotic with Baytril, prednisone, ketoconazale, and we are currently exploring staph lystate injections.) Huggie will be evaluated over the next several weeks to see if she's a candidate for ear canal ablation surgery. Currently she is being stabilized in our foster care.

2-21-09 Update: Huggie is in a new foster home and she has adjusted just fine. I even gave her a stuffed frog to sleep with, and she has succeeded in removing both eyes and half of its head! She loves, LOVES to play and is so much fun to play with. She stays still for her ears, eyes, and wrinkle cleanings. She really loves it when you massage her ears.... Such a good girl!!! Watching her go up and down the stairs is hysterical! She goes down at an angle, and does this little hop-jump thing going up. She's a sweetheart!! She loves everyone she meets! I have never seen a bully jump so high! She loves to play and has such a great snort when she's excited!! Huggie (Huggaboo, or Huglie) is not food motivated at all. She enjoys her food, but does not hound us (no pun intended) and her drooling is almost nonexistent! In the mornings when I get up, I go and open her crate and say good morning to her. She will sleep for another 20-30 minutes before feeling the need to arise and grace us with her presence!! She is stubborn when it comes to relieving herself. While we both know she has to go, she HATES stepping in the grass, so will try to avoid it for as long as possible!! She is just too funny!

Her ears seem to be doing good. She absolutely loves ear massages and will sit for as long as someone rubs them for her! She sits pretty still for her daily "spa treatments"(ears, eyes, and powdered nose). She does great in the car and loves to go for rides! We've taken her drop of my daughter at school, to driver's ed (passed out some info there too), and various other short trips with no problems at all! Huugie sits still in the backseat and enjoys the ride! She's too short to see anything out of the windows, so when she feels the need for a view, she'll sit in the middle of the backseat and look out the front window!!

What a great girl she is!! Listens well, has a bark that scared our building's resident doggie bully (the female Weimaraner next door), made friends with the male Weimaraner, and takes a bath like a pro! She will even climb into the tub (when it's empty of course!).... Huggie will make an awesome addition to a lucky family!!

As demonstrated in Huggie's case, Adopt-A-Bull Rescue, Inc. will do whatever it takes to benefit our rescues. Whether it's pre-adoption while in foster care, during recovery, or even after adoption, we will, without hesitation do what needs to be done to protect and benefit the bullies.