The reason's name is Willow

Look, I even have a very not-glamorous photo of her in the bath!
http://i790.photobucket.com/albums/yy189/Blitzava_Ryuk/P1050542.jpg

I've been stalking her at our local dog warden the last few days so that I could get her as soon as her stray hold was up so she wasn't put down (shelter is full....senior high energy sick unspayed females aren't really considered the most desirable in this area...)

She's somewhere between around 8 and 12 (I think closer 8....her teeth don't match the rest of her but they can't be THAT off...she has some nice looking teeth, wear on the canines). Very skinny, arthritic, flea related hair loss....but a NICE looking dog once she got out of her bath. She is a FOSTER and will be looking for a home after some more health testing, groceries (and, if deemed healthy enough for it, a spay)...I was looking for a new foster project and somehow "young healthy, small to medium herder, high drive, butthead temperment" turned into "Sweet and sick old GSD"....

I think once she's feeling better she'd going to be a beast, she's smart and surprisingly drivey and toy motivated considering how weak she is, interested in clicker training, seems like she may have had some foundation in compulsion but she's not feeling well enough to know for sure. She does seem crate trained, people friendly, and dog social.

She's also stinky -_- however a good ear cleaning helped a bit...I think it's her diet....which should be fixed soon....at the pound she was on beneful, before that as a stray I'm assuming she was also on trash (just not name brand lol)

This post made me smile big.

Congrats to you, and especially to Willow. What a lucky old gal.

That has to be one of the nicest things I read on here - she is beautiful and so blessed you found her.

Such good people on this board. You guys need to be cloned.

You go, Jamie!

Despite the sometimes short time, and sometimes vet costs, I've never regretted adopting the frosty faces. Many folks here have both younger dogs plus a senior living out the sunset years in comfort and security. It's not right for everyone, and major blessings on those who commit to raising a younger "thrown away" dog, but for some, it's just exactly right.



"Such good people on this board."

I couldn't agree more. I've met wonderful people here ever since I first found this board.

You have a wonderful heart Jamie.

Thank you for giving me a smile tonight.

She already looks happy in her bath! It's like she knows her bread landed butter side up

Nice one Jamie

She looks wonderful! When she's feeling better I have a feeling you'll get part of your wish for a "young healthy, small to medium herder, high drive, butthead temperment."

You'll get herder (of course), high drive, and butthead! LOL

What a lucky and wonderful looking old girl. There's definitely a place saved for you in Heaven now, as if there wasn't before. So, how are your other guys handling the new addition?

Can't wait to see a pic of her in a dog pile

Right now she's allowed a bit of play with Ryuk, she's in heat so exposure to Gamble is limited but we did an introduction and they are kenneled next to each other (with a solid wall in between)....Gam is not particularly studdy, she's a complete flirt and has clearly had a LOT of puppies in the past so I don't want to give her a chance to teach him how to use his parts....

Both of my boys are totally okay and happy with her, she seems to like them.


Right now we're dealing with her health problems in list format. She's in heat, which is throwing everything off.

She was brought to the pound over the weekend, I was there to pull a younger shepherd girl but a man showed up to adopt her and since I was a foster home and he was a permanent solution and practically cried when I told him who I was there to take I obviously let him get her. I was looking through the cages to see if there was anyone else I could take (REALLY wanted a female since bringing in an unknown intact male into the house with another intact male makes me a little nervous and almost EVERYTHING there male is intact). I tested a black shepherd/chow who was driveless but very sweet and mellow then I saw her bouncing off the corner of an unmarked kennel. No info on her but the volunteers threw her outside so I could test her. She had a distended belly, balding on the back end, not even a bit of body fat, and smelled like death...but she chased a toy, gives eye contact, and despite the craziness of an overcrowded shelter was interested in everything, ears up. She was nice to the dogs in the runs beside her, overall just passed everything but health with flying colors.

Took me about 2 hours to convince the front desk to give me info on her. I voiced my concerns about the distended belly and was told the vet makes the rounds the next day....I asked for a note to be added to her forms that someone was interested in her and if she fails the health check not to euth her but apparently that's not allowed. I asked for the vet's name, but that wasn't allowed either, luckily one of the volunteers was able to pass it on.

The next day called the shelter, tried to sound official and asked for the vet.....Vet was helpful. Apparently she'd collapsed in her kennel the previous night/early morning. She wasn't doing very well when the vet had gotten there around 2:00pm for her normal rounds, she did xrays and discovered and englarged liver and spleen but was unsure if they where normally enlarged (looking more dramatic because of how skinny she was) which apparently is a GSD thing? or if she had a more serious problem. I told her I wanted her no matter what so she kindly ran bloodwork for me and it came back overall normal with a minor increase in white blood cell activity, she prescribed antibiotics to hopefully hold her until the stray hold was up.

Yesterday her stray hold was up, took me about an hour to get her out since the guy at the front desk kept trying to convince me she was "broken and spent". She was completely stable at this point and the shelter gunk all over her make it difficult to see potential problems so first stop was a dog wash (see picture), second was the vet with a more detailed list of things I'd noticed plus bloodwork results. Ran a few more tests I"m waiting for answers on.

Right now I KNOW she's in some pain but it's sort of from varying places. She's sound walking, she hurts if she lays down so she's on super soft foam bedding which has helped, but because of her skin I'm rotating through beds at an alarming rate. The pound couldn't tell me what she was eating apart from "there's a lot of beneful in the mix" and she can't afford any diarrhea so she's got a bit of rice mixed with kibble in small meals with her meds, I"m also giving her fish oil and a bit of olive oil (with the fish oil it hides the taste of the medications). She's also got some gloucosamine. Totally firm stool so far and a good appetite as long as she can't taste the antibiotics....

I had a more xrays done as I didn't get the first ones from the pound vet which are now considered unavailable because she's no longer in pound custody or some BS like that, no changes, her eyes are bright, color is good. Right now we're just keeping her comfortable, putting some weight on her, and watching her....and making sure she gets some exercise in a nice slow muscle building way (she's under the impression she's totally okay to go run a few dozen miles and chase a frisbee...she is not pleased with her "frequent short walks on grass" exercise routine....

also trying to figure out how to get rid of her smell so she can have more freedom in the house and I don't need to go through as many beds.....it's like, crappy diet in a dog who lived in a smoker's house smell.....it's slowly going away with gentle brushing...slowly....