Thursday, October 08, 2009

Another Pound Puppy

After a casual remark last weekend regarding a bunch of local business burglaries in our area, my Blushing Bride started checking out the local pound puppies. She soon locked in on a white mutt in an adjacent county. So off we went to check out "Georgia".

When they brought her out for our interview, "Georgia" had absolutely no interest in either the Blushing Bride or me. Our best efforts could not generate interest, so we decided to think about it and let the "Trustee" return "Georgia" to her kennel.

At this point while talking to the Manager, the Blushing Bride asked what else did they have while simultaneously running through her check list of what she wanted.
The Manager said, follow me into the kennel and away we went. At the end of the kennel, the Blushing Bride asked about a brindle colored dog that was all skin and bones. The "Trustee" walked this dog past the other dogs with no reaction on her part while the other dogs were going nuts.

They walked her through the cat holding area and there was very little response from the dog even though many cages had adult cats and kittens. One mom cat even took a swipe at the dog from her cage as the dog walked past.

By this time we exited the kennel and the "Trustee" turned the dog over to me. I walked her around to the other side of the office trailer were we could get to know the dog with minimal distractions. It wasn't long before the dog laid her head on my lap and offered a paw to shake hands.

"Georgia" lost the competition with her attitude. The paw-shaker is now our new pound puppy. At least if your going to rescue a dog, this one really needed a hand.



This is Shasta, the paperwork says she is a Dane/Bull/Mastiff combination. How they determined that is beyond me since she was picked up running free on the streets. I looked up Mastiff on Wikipedia and there are about 16 types of dogs listed as some form of mastiff. A great Dane is also known as a German Mastiff.


At the local veterinarians office on Wednesday, Shasta weighed 69 pounds. Here health besides being somewhat malnourished is in good condition and the Veterinarian said all should be OK. By the end of her visit her shots are up -to-date, at least for the next two weeks when she gets some more.


As of Thursday, we are feeding this monster two cups of dog food about four times a day. They said if she is hungry, increase the amount another half cup and feed often. She has had no trouble holding her food down, but feeding to much to fast can cause some emergency medical problems.


Her back vertebra and her hip bones stick way out but it's estimated if she gains about 20 pounds she should be in good shape. We have to do this without building a fat dog.


Here is a facial close-up. The gray area around the ear perimeter is caused by flies eating on her ears. They are kind of raggady and crusty. Over time the damage should be a lot less noticeable.