Description:
Meet Athena!

Athena is a sweet, but timid girl. She is a purebred boxer that came from a rural puppy mill. She had spent her life as a breeder, and never lived a day of her life as a normal pet in a home, with the love and attention a pet deserves. Athena spent all of her time confined to a kennel, with another breeder girl. It had a hard, cold concrete floor, with no bedding. In this small space, these two girls had to eat, sleep and potty. Because she lived in such terrible conditions, she has sores on her feet and belly from laying on the concrete. Poor Athena was so used to these living conditions, that she spent the first night at her foster home sleeping in the shower!

Athena is currently fostered with kids, dogs and cats. She does well with all of them. She allows us her foster family to cuddle and pet her and she accepts treats and food very gently.

Athena enjoys the company of other dogs, and would like to have a furry friend in her new home. Her favorite thing is to go on walks with the resident boxer at her foster home. When she goes on walks, her tail (what she has of one) is up and wagging. Her foster home is working on getting her leg muscles in to shape. After so much time in a kennel, she had poor muscle development.

When Athena is looking for a safe spot, she goes to her crate. We hope to see her come out of her crate more and spend time with her foster family as she gets used to her new life. As she becomes more comfortable she is shut her out of her crate more each day. She is okay with this but does not seek out attention. She is making progress each day.

Athena is potty trained as long as she's not left unattended. She will have accidents if left home alone uncrated. She is so used to being confined in a crate that she prefers to be there or out with the family. She does not like to be out on her own alone. She will not potty in her crate where she feels safe.

Athena has been spayed and is doing well. She has a sore in her mouth that may require monitoring and could require her to be on antibiotics on and off for the rest of her life.

This sweet girl just needs a second chance with a family that is willing to work with her to bring her out of her shell. She's a very gentle girl, it's just that everything is new and intimidating to her right now.

Find out how rewarding it can be to teach this poor girl how to love and be loved.

Please feel free to fill out an Adoption application on our main website, www.midwestanimalrescue.org, by clicking on the Form/Applications link under Website Features.

Thank You!