Mateta

About Mateta

At the end of May Mateta came to us as a stray, we have absolutely no idea what his life was like before being at Foal Farm. He was extremely smelly and dirty, we suspect he had been living outside but besides this he greeted us all like old friends.

We soon noticed something wasn’t quite right with Mateta. He often appeared constipated and there would be urine all over his kennel, he also had an odd gait. He’s been on various medication and also had X-rays which showed an old injury to his pelvis which has sadly also caused nerve damage. This is likely to be a trauma related injury, such as a road traffic accident or even being physically hurt. It is heartbreaking what this poor boy has been through.

Mateta went into a foster home and he would urinate a lot, dribbling a lot of the time. As he has likely never lived in a home before, he was never likely to be house trained either. Combining these two factors means keeping the house clean is going to be tricky. Mateta was returned from foster and since then his kennel has been kept mostly clean, which has surprised us.

There is no doubt that Mateta has got toileting issues but we do hope we can get him used to wearing belly bands to help keep his living areas clean. We are seeking a family who are going to be willing to work through these issues, which we appreciate is very tricky. As on top of this, he is still a lively young Terrier who requires ongoing training as he settles into a new home.

Whilst Mateta loves a fuss, he isn’t too keen on being handled by the vet. He has also been snappy when being handled around his back end, which is understandable considering the trauma he has been through. He is muzzle trained and we are working with him to help him accept handling.

Mateta is a very friendly boy with everyone he meets. He is very loving and affectionate and being a young Terrier, he is bright and keen to please. He loves his treats and enjoys nothing more than a game of tug, although he is currently learning a few rules such as not to snatch and how to drop.

He is a cheeky boy as most Terriers are and would benefit from a family who are used to the breed. We would be looking to find Mateta a foster home until we can get on top of his issues within a home environment again.

We are seeking a home with no young children due to his touch sensitivity. He is good around dogs but there is the odd dog he can be reactive to, we feel he has the potential to live alongside other dogs, pending introductions.

None of this is his fault which is extremely sad, he’s been very let down previously and left to suffer for it. We appreciate that it will be no easy task settling him into a home considering his toileting issues and the fact that he’s never been a pet dog before, as he wasn’t in a foster home for very long, he has a lot to learn about how to settle within a home.

As written by Foal Farm Animal Rescue.