# Could use some ideas about food for an emergency rescue



## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Sooooo, due to flooding in central PA, our County CART team called and asked us to assist them, while they assist the shelters in counties west of us. Tomorrow hubby will be picking up Bella, a Great Pyr/Anatolian Mix, she is estimated to be about 3 years old, and an owner surrender due to moving. They offered to send along a bag of Science Diet with her. I told them to keep the food for others and said we would handle food. Now it's past 1AM and I'm trying to decide what to do for her food wise and kicking myself. They said she had been fed whatever they had available so it does not seem that she was on any regular kibble routinely. My question is since we cook for our dogs and feed the canned 95/96% meat foods should we consider that for her, or is it time to run out for some quality kibble? Cooking for a dog her size will be interesting, but I wonder would she be better off on kibble initially or would cooked/canned be better. Thoughts would be appreciated.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Oh, and I recognize we could have some challenging days ahead digestively and there is no immediate easy answer, but just searching for ideas. Thanks.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Comendable taking her in! :biggrin:

I think that feeding the best possible diet is going to be your best bet in dealing with possible digestive issues. We brought home our little foster and that night gave him 8oz of Raw chicken and he's not had digestive upset since. I'd say if you cook for your dogs you may as well do the same for this one... you never know how long you will have her and it seems like you are already equipped to feed the homemade thing


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Gosh, if you homecook for that dog, its going to think its died and gone to heaven! Good on you for taking her in, especially a big pup like that. 
If you can afford to homecook for her or give her the expensive 95% cans (many, many cans) of food, then I'd do that, especially since thats your routine. Maybe a mixture of cooked and kibble to ease her in to it?


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

you have to post pictures..great pyr anatolian sounds great. i'd just get her some diamond naturals.


stajbs said:


> Sooooo, due to flooding in central PA, our County CART team called and asked us to assist them, while they assist the shelters in counties west of us. Tomorrow hubby will be picking up Bella, a Great Pyr/Anatolian Mix, she is estimated to be about 3 years old, and an owner surrender due to moving. They offered to send along a bag of Science Diet with her. I told them to keep the food for others and said we would handle food. Now it's past 1AM and I'm trying to decide what to do for her food wise and kicking myself. They said she had been fed whatever they had available so it does not seem that she was on any regular kibble routinely. My question is since we cook for our dogs and feed the canned 95/96% meat foods should we consider that for her, or is it time to run out for some quality kibble? Cooking for a dog her size will be interesting, but I wonder would she be better off on kibble initially or would cooked/canned be better. Thoughts would be appreciated.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

I switch my fosters over to raw immediately. They love it. I ignore the advice from the rescue, because it pertains only to kibble diets, not raw (or cooked). They've all done fine.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Well, in hubby's words, "the pony has arrived". lol...He says she's beautiful and a bit scared but warming up okay to him and the two senior sibes. So far so good, just wish I could have been home today, but had a juvenile dependency review I had to testify at. The shelter was feeding her science diet and eukanuba and said she had a very sensitive digestive system...well I guess so...lol ...I'm thinking better quality kibble and my cooked/canned in a 50/50 ratio for a few days..then we'll see. They freaked about raw according to hubby, lol, but I have never fed raw yet so I don't feel comfortable having her be my "experiment" unfortunately. Hubby said they were okay with me trying what works for our guys so we'll see, I just have to get to Pet Supplies Plus on the way home and pick out the kibble, I think we will go grain free as I am wondering if that is her problem since hubby said her coat and paws are a bit funky too. Oh, and I was told to prepare to wash "the beautiful pony" tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting Bella tonight!


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Bella is a dignified beauty, I swear you can see her soul in her eyes!! I can't believe (well yes I can unfortunately) that someone gave her up. She enjoyed the canned evo chicken and turkey, ground cooked turkey, a tblsp of yams to hopefully keep the stool under control, and a half a cup of Wellness Core because it was what I could get my hands on that was grain free and in a good size for my needs at the moment. Plus some grain free bicuits and a toy which I expect I wasted money on. My sibes destroy every toy, I expect the same from her. Now unfortunately she has fleas, so I have her in our mudroom tonight, bath tomorrow, and I'll bet you I'll be battling fleas inside shortly too. Sigh...but it is a worthy cause...the house is in an uproar though, lol the senior social butterflies want to play with her. Thanks for the advice guys, I'll keep you posted on how things go.


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

hope u have pics


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

RC most of the pics you see on petfinder for example of pyr and tolian mixes are very striking dogs. Bella looks very similar. The darker face and such. She's a bit too thin, I suspect her diet and the stress of the shelter made it difficult for her to absorb nutrition properly. Running a stool sample into the vet on Monday, and when I explained her story the vet said she would work with us on fees for her care needs. Just another reason I love this vet!! Course not sure I call what she was fed nutritious. But at least she was fed I guess and her previous owners did not just dump her. She knows basic commands, and she likes to please. However I do see that we will have our hands full, this is our first large guardien breed. A whole new road for us to take, I look forward to leaarning. 

When she has a bath, and packs on a pound or two I will try to get some photos of her. Right now I am just trying t let her settle in and get comfy. Trust me if that were not the case she and those blasted fleas would have had a bath tonight. I'm already itching waiting for the infestation to begin. Although I'm going to be proactive with that tomorrow too.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Just a Bella update...no pics at the moment, my new cell phone and the computer are not working together at the moment so need to figure that out, and the digital camera isn't functional, time for a new one I guess....Bella is settling in, we battled fleas and she had a nice bath yesterday. So far so good on the 50/50 diet..kibble and canned/cooked, she's loving it, and poops are good. She has obviously had some obedience training and behaves rather well. Her guardian/herding instincts are interesting. She looked directly to us for direction I assume when company came twice yesterday. She accepted both people after intros were done, although I assume my one hyper crazy friend worried her because she stayed back, but observed. The relative who visited she loved, allowed herself to be petted and loved on and went off to take a nap. She seems to be looking out for Blaze and Silva when we are outside, but she is submissive to my diminutive Silva girl. lol Silva my mush brain, go figure. She and Blaze seem to hang out and be zen-like together. Then again they could be plotting a coup against Silva, Blaze would love that. Planning to keep on with the obedience, as I suspect she could take control if she felt we were not in control. She is treat motivated, loves toys and has carried around the blanket hubby used in the crate when he picked her up. Course that was washed Friday night due to the fleas. We hear she may be here for about two weeks total, we'll see. Great Pyr rescue in the area may take her, but they want to do an "eval" on her. There is definitely something to be said for a well behaved gaurdian dog. Finding the challenge interesting, but have lots to learn. Maybe we should volunteer for Great Pyr Rescue, then she can stay.....lol


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

It sounds like your doing great with her. Any of the grain free kibbles (evo, totw, wellness) plus home cooked, plus canned should do real well with her. My MIL feeds cooked and canned 95% and occasional grain free just fine. It should with filling up a dog that size. 

She must be a beauty and lucky to have you.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Chowder,
She eats like a horse!!  lol In many ways I am glad for the 50% kibble in her diet, so far so good with the Wellness Core, and yes I think it helps to fill her up. I could probably get her switched over fully to cooked and 95% canned while she is here, but I keep thinking she'll be back on kibble anyways if she leaves in two weeks or so. Great Pyr rescue was friendly but they pretty much said "you're used to siberians" we will try to get her as soon as we can if she is appropriate. Of course I've done siberian rescue and had the same attitude so I won't judge. I knew before we said yes to her she would be a different dog for us. Our one sibe was a sibe/GSD mix and she was protective, but I do see a difference with Bella. I've been scouring the internet and joined yahoos large guardian breed list for info too. 

It's so easy to fall in love with her, we always joked we would never take on a dog bigger than one of us could lift/carry, well this young lady would take two people or one very strong person to lift. Taking it one day at a time. Wish I could figure out why I can't get my cell pictures to load onto the computer so I could share photos of her. She is a bit skinny but very dignified and pretty. If I get it figured out I will be sure to share her photos.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

stajbs said:


> Chowder,
> She eats like a horse!! lol In many ways I am glad for the 50% kibble in her diet, so far so good with the Wellness Core, and yes I think it helps to fill her up. I could probably get her switched over fully to cooked and 95% canned while she is here, but I keep thinking she'll be back on kibble anyways if she leaves in two weeks or so. Great Pyr rescue was friendly but they pretty much said "you're used to siberians" we will try to get her as soon as we can if she is appropriate. Of course I've done siberian rescue and had the same attitude so I won't judge. I knew before we said yes to her she would be a different dog for us. Our one sibe was a sibe/GSD mix and she was protective, but I do see a difference with Bella. I've been scouring the internet and joined yahoos large guardian breed list for info too.
> 
> It's so easy to fall in love with her, we always joked we would never take on a dog bigger than one of us could lift/carry, well this young lady would take two people or one very strong person to lift. Taking it one day at a time. Wish I could figure out why I can't get my cell pictures to load onto the computer so I could share photos of her. She is a bit skinny but very dignified and pretty. If I get it figured out I will be sure to share her photos.


Ha.....my last two boy chows have ended up bigger then I could lift.....and they were/ are the loves of my life!! Big cuddle bums that would protect me with their lives. Once you get a big dog, you kind of fall in love with them. I think maybe you are falling for her! Time for you to branch out from just sibe's into the big protective fuzz buckets!!


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Hmmmmm, maybe!! LOL No matter what happens with Bella you may be right Chowder. We had been exploring and researching other breeds including Pyrs, Tolians, Newfies, Mals to name a few, with the thought there would always be one siberian here. Neither of us can imagine not sharing life with a dog(s), and knowing Blaze and Silva are around 12/13 we stay focused on them but have also given thought to future dogs. Big dogs, more food, more expensive meds when needed, more furry undercoat, but more to love. There's a certain appeal that is worming it's way into our hearts and I'm afraid you may be right. The dogs and hubby are all napping, I think I'll join the fur pile and dwell on this for a while longer. Can you say ...sucker???? lol


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Bella update, been sort of busy and learning to work with this girl. Overall, she continues to do well, and truly is a lovebug. As you suggested Chowder she has wormed her way into our hearts. Now for the not so great news....I had her to the vet Monday, the stool sample was A-ok, but then our vet suggested a HW test, Bella is HW positive. We are so bummed, but we've started treatment. Rescue suddenly seems less interested in her, but the shelter was nicer and more concerned. They have a special fund that can only be tapped for health issues, they are planning to help us with the cost of her treatment. So, looks like we will likely be seeing her through this issue. Of course the longer she is here the easier it comes to fail at fostering...but my feeling is that's nothing to be ashamed of. She meets the grandson on Friday, and I suspect she will do well, he probably will too, but we need to know how that will work as well. Still taking it one day at a time, but really do like this new addition.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

stajbs said:


> Bella update, been sort of busy and learning to work with this girl. Overall, she continues to do well, and truly is a lovebug. As you suggested Chowder she has wormed her way into our hearts. Now for the not so great news....I had her to the vet Monday, the stool sample was A-ok, but then our vet suggested a HW test, Bella is HW positive. We are so bummed, but we've started treatment. Rescue suddenly seems less interested in her, but the shelter was nicer and more concerned. They have a special fund that can only be tapped for health issues, they are planning to help us with the cost of her treatment. So, looks like we will likely be seeing her through this issue. Of course the longer she is here the easier it comes to fail at fostering...but my feeling is that's nothing to be ashamed of. She meets the grandson on Friday, and I suspect she will do well, he probably will too, but we need to know how that will work as well. Still taking it one day at a time, but really do like this new addition.


ugh so sorry to hear that.... I hope that she pulls through it fine!


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Thanks David, I've been digging around the internet tonight since I got home from my meeting, but just getting started down this course of treatment. She has good energy in some ways, runs like the wind...that's when the Tolian comes out in her I think.lol But stamina...not so good, my old guys can outlast her when it comes to playful mayhem, but that's also a siberian thing. Plus I am trying to keep her quieter now that I know about the HW. Bella is a bit more dignified than to just play and play, she has other serious things to take care of.......she keeps "an eye out" for anything out of the ordinary. It's also funny, but she seems to want to also get across the road into the pasture where our neighbor has a small herd of cows/steer. I keep telling her they are not sheep, and that steer is nothing to mess with. lol However she is on a 6' leash, or 20 foot lead whenever I take her out because obviously I cannot yet trust her recall. One day at a time these days. Pyr Rescue is coming tomorrow but I suspect that's a courtesy call only, they are troubled by the HW. One of the staff from the shelter where she was, is coming to visit on Sunday, apparently the woman misses her and they had quite an attachment. She told me she would like to adopt her but is working on a housing issue. So, down the road Bella may have a permanent home there if not here....sighhhhh....and Chowder is right, big dogs are the bomb!!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Awww, she sounds like such a sweetheart. Thats awful though about the heartworm. Well, at least it's being treated now, hopefully she'll be fine in the long run. I can imagine how she must be eating you out of house and home, gosh the home cooking, its like cooking for a crowd of 10 every night! Good on you though for giving the pup the perfect, stable home to settle in for a bit. And, to me, its an honour to have a failed foster.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Thanks MollyWoppy, I was bummed angry and upset when I heard she was HW positive. I've never had that situation yet in all these years. Plus it's not exactly the cheapest problem to treat. When the shelter staff come on Sunday she is bringing half of the money for the treatment, and I'm most appreciative of that right now, although I'd eat mac and cheese for two weeks if I had too. lol She deserves a good, loving home, she is a great dog. Am curious to see how she does with my grandson tomorrow. He will be two on Sept. 17 and is learning how to behave with dogs, but I expect one wide eyed little boy tomorrow when he arrives. She will tower over him. She has become somewhat protective of Blaze and Silva so I sort of expect she'll take him under her paw and keep an eye out for him too. lol So much for a new digital camera right now, I'm paying for doggie meds, oh and food, lots of food.....


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## RachelsaurusRexU (Sep 4, 2010)

Is it bad that I'm secretly routing for you to adopt her?


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## tem_sat (Jun 20, 2010)

stajbs said:


> Thanks David, I've been digging around the internet tonight since I got home from my meeting, but just getting started down this course of treatment. She has good energy in some ways, runs like the wind...that's when the Tolian comes out in her I think.lol But stamina...not so good, my old guys can outlast her when it comes to playful mayhem, but that's also a siberian thing. Plus I am trying to keep her quieter now that I know about the HW.


Having had an HW+ Doxie (who is now HW-), after treatment and aftercare are over and done with, you will see a substantial difference in stamina. In addition, you will also see great improvement in coat and less shedding.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Nah, Rachel, it's not bad. We went into this with our eyes wide open, but also figuring that she would be going back. In fact the shelter has been cleaned up, repaired their flood damage and they would take her back, but I think they would rather have her here or with Susan, the woman coming on Sunday. In fact I think they would prefer that over rescue at this point because they are irritated with the Pyr rescue. Oddly enough we found out today that the director of this shelter knows us, one of our sibes came from a shelter where she used to work. We worked with her on a weekly basis to get updates on available sibes for over a year. She actually is the woman who helped us through the loss of our first furkid, Thorn, and six months later when she felt she had the right sibe for us, she called us before we could call her, when Ice was surrendered.

I'm curious to see Bella's interactions with Susan and see the bond they may have. If Ailean, the shelter director wants her to go with Susan and her housing situation is resolved, I will cry my eyes out and let her go. Hubby and I talked about it this evening and we have decided it's either us or Susan, rescue is out of the picture. With us or Susan she will have a definite known home, with rescue it remains unknown who might come along and when she could get adopted. I'm trying hard to remind myself she came as a temporary foster, and that there were no guarantees. I think what I am struggling with the most is I feel like I need some kind of time frame on this decision...if it's two weeks and she goes back then we will adjust, But an indefinite period of time if Susan can't take her for an unknown time...well in that case I don't think I can tolerate having my heart flopping around in my chest like a darned yoyo for months. 

So I guess hoping she stays here is fine by me. lol Guess we'll know more after the weekend. For now, whether she stays or not, gonna suck up lots of large dog cuddles!!


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

stajbs said:


> T She has good energy in some ways, runs like the wind...that's when the Tolian comes out in her I think.lol But stamina...not so good, my old guys can outlast her when it comes to playful mayhem, but that's also a siberian thing. It's also funny, but she seems to want to also get across the road into the pasture where our neighbor has a small herd of cows/steer. I keep telling her they are not sheep, and that steer is nothing to mess with.


From what I've seen with all the Siberian's I've met, NOTHING has quite the stamina they have! It could just be Bella's normal energy level and not the heartworms even. Rocky will play like crazy for ten minutes and then he's done. He was totally freaked when he met his first Husky and it just kept going and going and going..... He actually hid behind me and watched it from behind my legs!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I'm sure whatever happens will be the right thing. She sounds like a great dog.

I've heard that with heartworm positive dogs, they are supposed to be kept quiet and not allowed to exercise, because the worms in the heart can cause a heart attack.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

How true Chowder, even my oldster senior sibes still bound around, leap onto and off the deck and play fight, in the house they are usually pretty mellow couch potatoes now. We don't allow a lot of playfighting in the house due to close quarters and the chance of injury so the playfighting is primarily outside. Bella seems to think some of their crazy playfighting is an insane waste of energy. I love the lofty look she gives them. I believe she is like a Mayor in the house and we are City Council. Would have been funny Chowder to see Rocky hiding behind your legs watching the maniacal husky. He would've freaked if he had seen how they act when you put a harness on them and hook them up to the lines to run. They bark, scream and cry like a 2 year old until you let them run. Then all becomes silent. 

xellil, yes I have been asked to keep Bella's acttivity level moderated for the time being. Hence no running around like a maniac with the other two hoodlums. Should be an interesting weekend with Pyr rescue coming and the shelter folks. I believe Susan and Ailean are both coming on Sunday now. Sighh!!!!

And my grandson took one look at her and his mouth formed into a big O and then he said "whoa" Then Bella licked him, and the rest is history. Hubby called a while ago to say Grandson was napping and Bella was lying next to the Pack n Play..


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## angelbears (Jun 9, 2011)

Just wanted to say thank you for taking care of Bella. Please keep us posted on how the weekend goes. Guardian breeds are special.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Ahhhh, this is the life.....grandson went home(the beauty of grandchildren, lol)and the dogs are playing lounge lizard all over the couch, except hubby is crashed in the middle snoring with his neck at an odd angle. Should be interesting when he wakes up, lol. Bella is laying here at my feet, looking at me like I'm retarded when I talk to her, she looks all noble and dignified. Rescue has decided not to come, they told hubbs they will wait to see how things go with HW treatment and whether Susan or we decide to adopt her. So, am glad they got that message. 

Susan does seem to really care about Bella, as she was in tears when we talked about the flooding, and the HW positive test. She has been very nice to deal with on the phone, very supportive, and appropriate and appreciative. Am beginning to feel this will be a win win situation, Bella will either go with Susan or she will remain here. I'm not kidding myself, this is gonna be hard if she leaves, but it's been rewarding, and so far we can honestly say that we are developing a new found interest in these large guardien breeds. 

So in order not to lose my sanity with this I'm going to sit back and see how Sunday goes, need to stop over thinking this, we'll have some idea then what direction things will be heading by the end of the weekend. Thanks to you all for your advice and support, you've all been great!!!


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## RCTRIPLEFRESH5 (Feb 11, 2010)

stajbs said:


> Ahhhh, this is the life.....grandson went home(the beauty of grandchildren, lol)and the dogs are playing lounge lizard all over the couch, except hubby is crashed in the middle snoring with his neck at an odd angle. Should be interesting when he wakes up, lol. Bella is laying here at my feet, looking at me like I'm retarded when I talk to her, she looks all noble and dignified. Rescue has decided not to come, they told hubbs they will wait to see how things go with HW treatment and whether Susan or we decide to adopt her. So, am glad they got that message.
> 
> Susan does seem to really care about Bella, as she was in tears when we talked about the flooding, and the HW positive test. She has been very nice to deal with on the phone, very supportive, and appropriate and appreciative. Am beginning to feel this will be a win win situation, Bella will either go with Susan or she will remain here. I'm not kidding myself, this is gonna be hard if she leaves, but it's been rewarding, and so far we can honestly say that we are developing a new found interest in these large guardien breeds.
> 
> So in order not to lose my sanity with this I'm going to sit back and see how Sunday goes, need to stop over thinking this, we'll have some idea then what direction things will be heading by the end of the weekend. Thanks to you all for your advice and support, you've all been great!!!


Winston has made me a great pyrenees fan. 
anyways hope you keep bella i think she'd do great with you guys. I know hw is a serious disease untreated..but i'm pretty sure it is treatable.


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## stajbs (Jun 5, 2010)

Bella update...Susan and Ailean, the Shelter Director were here today for a visit. It was a bittersweet situation, but it will be okay. Bella was ecstatic to see Susan, and we had to keep her calmed down which was hard. lol After seeing the relationship they have developed prior to Bells(her new nickname, sick huh?) coming here I think it would be fine if she eventually goes with Susan. For the moment I will just ignore the fact that'll I'll probably cry my eyes out when she leaves but I will feel comfortable knowing she will have a good home and a caring and loving leader. Susan brought pictures of her new home, and exlained her personal situation and why it was changing, Ailean is someone I trust and she would not support this if Susan was not going to be appropriate for Bells. What we have decided is she will be remaining with us for another two weeks or maybe three at most, and then Susan will be fully moved into her new home in the country with a nice sized fenced in yard too. We all decided that while she could go now, she is still undergoing HW treatment and there was no sense stressing her out through a move now, and then a move to Susan's new home. So we are going to shoot for one move once Susan has gotten into her new place. Susan will be visiting at least once a week in the meantime. The shelter brought some money to help pay for the HW treatment and Susan brought us a bag of Wellness Core and wanted to hear about a cooked diet and also about raw feeding. I have told her to scope out DFC for info. She seems a bit like me in that she has a paranoia about raw but wants to do better than kibble if she can. 

So, I want to thank you all for your advice and support. It was great to be able to share this journey with this girl with you folks and know that I could get answers if we had problems. Mostly I worried about diet in the beginning and wanting to make sure we could deal with a large gaurdian breed appropriately. We are not getting any younger, but in many ways it's a state of mind I guess. So much for my earlier theory about being able to lift any dog who lives with us, I think we have decided we will eventually have a gaurdian breed. For some reason in this area there do seem to be quite a few Great Pyr/Anatolian mixes...I think that may be something for us to consider.

Thanks again!!


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