Julie is sick with a chronic illness and must move from her home within the next few weeks to get care. She cannot take her dog, Samantha, with her and has exhausted all of her options for finding Samantha a home.
Samantha is is a German shepherd mix that Julie's nephews found as a stray, near death. Julie nursed her back to health.
Samantha is about 3 years old, has diabetes requiring daily shots of insulin and has very poor eyesight. She is an intelligent, sweet, good-natured dog.
Samantha is good around children and other animals, including cats. She is submissive (i.e., not aggressive or territorial) and can be a little bit hesitant in new situations until she gets her bearings because of her poor eyesight.
This case is urgent. Samantha is currently in Tennessee, but her trip up here will be paid for.
For details, e-mail dan@dogguide.net.
Sam was found nearly dead, completely emaciated and wandering around my nephew's subdivision. None of us had ever seen a dog so completely wasted away yet so gentle. They were feeding her scraps off and on for several weeks but did not want to call animal control as they would likely euthanize her; she never ran from them or was in any way aggressive to any of the many children around.
She had all manner of parasites, except heartworms, and had an intestinal blockage that had to be emergently operated on. Sam had a draining wound on her left elbow that constantly bled and caused her pain. She stayed at the vet for nearly 3 weeks receiving antibiotics for various skin infections/post-surgery preventative, fluids, and supportive treatment. However, she has had all along a hardiness and strong will to live and was a very cooperative patient (especially considering all the testing that was done to her).
The vet and I feel she a shepherd-chow mix and is between 2-3 years old. She weighs about 54 lbs., is diabetic and has poor eyesight, but is otherwise very healthy. I have had her in my home (fenced back yard) with my 2 cats and 2 dogs for almost 3 months and she has acclimated quite well, especially considering she was nearly feral. She is currently on heartworm/flea preventative and is fully vetted/spayed and heartworm-free.
Sam's personality is to be loyal, protective, funny, intelligent and accommodating. She usually rests very well with me, and I rest a lot due to my illness. But she also walks well on a leash and would benefit from this (especially with other dogs) 1-2 times/day. In addition to learning to walk on a leash, she now knows some commands such as "sit", "stay", "wait", "down" and is in general quite submissive. Due to her poor eyesight, she is hesitant when approaching something new. I think she would do well in an apartment situation as an only dog or would do well with especially a calm, neutered male. She was fine around my nephews who are 8 and 11 years old.
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