# Meet Leia, who needs some tlc



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

This is my GSD Leia who i just adopted from a local shelter on 4/15/15. They guessed her to be around 5-6 wile my vet guessed 4-5. She was found by a lady who lives out here and had no luck finding her owners and when she had no luck, she ended up taking her to the shelter ( found out through a facebook group for my local area). I had been looking for a GSD and for some reason she just stole my heart just by looking at the picture. I went down to the shelter with my kids to meet her and it was love at first sight. She has been nothing short of amazing for us so far. She is so well behaved, very loving and protective and just so gentle. She was found with a beautiful jeweled leather collar but there were no tags on that either. People have asked me if she is from a working line or pure breed and I just smile and say not a clue! she is from the shelter!

She was either on the streets for a while, or was not taken care of ( and a possible dump) because she is underweight, her nails are long and her coat is terrible. I cant wait for her two weeks to be up since she was just spayed so she can get a real full on grooming. Right now though I am just brushing her throughout the day which is helping a ton. Her coat is so dry and not full of lack luster like it should be. You can also see her ribs and backbone from the lack of weight.

So I am also hoping to make this into a " progress thread" as well 

Here are some pictures of her!




this was coming home


----------



## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Well she is beautiful and thank you for saving her.


----------



## Big Brown Eyes (Jan 11, 2015)

God Bless you for your good deed.

You can feed her flax seed oil /EVOO in her diet. Rubbing a bit of oil on the skin / fur is good too.


----------



## Cheyanna (Aug 18, 2012)

Glad she found her way in to your home.


----------



## RZZNSTR (Jan 24, 2015)

Very cool!


----------



## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

She has such a nice face, thank you for taking her in. Also, I give my boy a carrot at night for his teeth..it helps clean them. Good luck


----------



## G-burg (Nov 10, 2002)

Good for you for giving her a home.. She's definitely a looker! :wub:


----------



## Bella67 (Jun 22, 2014)

Wow she is beautiful, she is very lucky. I'm excited to see how she progresses.


----------



## kelbonc (Aug 25, 2014)

Such a beautiful girl!! Looking forward to seeing her progress. Thanks for opening your heart to her and adding her to your family.


----------



## Ruger Monster (Jan 29, 2015)

Leia is beautiful  Thanks for saving her!


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

Thank you everyone!

We had a follow up with the vet for her spay and she only weighs 54 pounds  but she did get a pedicure today and her nails look so much better!! As well I decided to invest into a furminator and it has worked a miracle! She has definitely turned this house into a home!

I will be posting before and after pictures of her nails as well as the progress of her coat


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

Here is a before picture of her nails, not the best but they are long


Here are her nails now after a nice pedicure!


In my first post you can see how much she is blowing her coat but not groomed, and here is a picture of her after using the furminator. Still working on her butt, though from her mid section up looks so much better! Her buffalo butt is not to bad looking now, as a lot of it is gone, I am guessing with the next few brush sessions it will be close to gone or all gone. Yay no buffalo top half!


----------



## lorihd (Nov 30, 2011)

a beautiful bicolor; thanks for giving her a loving home. she is gorgeous!


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

oh boy! SCORE!!! You have a beautiful bi-color. Good brushing and some good groceries, she'll be shiny in no time.


----------



## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

Great looking dog and bless you for rescuing her.


----------



## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

She is beautiful!!!!! Although you should switch her collar to a quick release, i have heard of people whose dogs got caught on things and couldn't unbuckle the leather type in time!


----------



## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Wonderful! 

If she's a little stinky (as dogs often are leaving the shelter), you can use dry shampoo while you wait for the spay incision to heal for her real bath. It's a foam you rub in the coat the part of the coat away from the incision -- no water required (let it dry, and brush it out). There's a kind sold at Walmart in the pet aisle that comes in a lavender-color bottle -- it's the best one I've found at helping with shelter-dog smell. 

I like adding coconut oil and fish oil to their diet right away when they leave the shelter. Both have so many added benefits besides just a nice coat.


----------



## Katze (Apr 21, 2015)

She's so pretty.. Lookit those little black toe marks! 
She does look a little thin in some of the pictures, just keep in mind though that GSDs can range in weight, so just be sure not to overfeed and strain her bones, although i'm sure you already know that. 

I'm glad she was rescued; It looks like you're doing an amazing rehabilitation so far! Well done!


----------



## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Thank you for giving this little girl a home. She looks like a sweetie.


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

Thank you all!

Our vet even said we want to put weight on her but want her to keep her girlish figure  Her coat is looking even better with each day. 

She seems to amaze me more and more everyday. She is a wonderful co-pilot in the car! I can not believe how gentle she is and calm in the house. As well how protective she is as well as how well she listens. She loves to follow my son around to and even tried to "help" with his homework. Someone at one time actually cared and put for sure a lot of time into her training if they did it themselves, if not definitely a lot of money. Her leash manners are just awesome. We had some people come to our house we are renting to set up our swamp cooler and she was very polite when I let them in but she followed them and watched them the whole time. Once they left she checked on both kids, which she seems to do if anyone other than myself and my fiance come around them. 

More and more I can not wait to take her camping and fishing, to the beach and traveling!


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

We got Leia's stool test back and everything came back normal! no parasites or worms!! We are so happy to hear it and the vet was happy because with her being dumped, and most likely from a bad home, then a stray and then in the shelter we were all worried she may have picked something up. She has settled in so well here to. She is so protective of my kids as well as us but she is always checking on them. 

I am hoping to possibly work with her on recall and off leash training when she gets recall down. No idea where to really start on off leash training though.

Her coat is also looking so much better!


----------



## Cschmidt88 (Nov 24, 2010)

Glad to hear the test came back normal! She's a very pretty girl! Thank you for taking her in


----------



## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

Ohmygoodness, she is just beautiful. And it sounds as tho she is a terrific example of this wonderful breed. You got lucky and so did she. Win-win!


----------



## MamaofLEO (Aug 8, 2014)

She is a beauty!


----------



## RZZNSTR (Jan 24, 2015)

Cool pic! Well done!


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

Thank you all! She really is a wonderful example of the breed. I am beyond happy that we adopted her and can't see us without her. I remember I was so afraid by the time I got to the shelter she would be gone because she just looked so beautiful! So when we got there and they said she was still there and told us a bit about her I was in shock. I can't believe someone would dump her when she is an angel. so well mannered and trained. But their loss is definitely my gain!! I am also glad I was at the shelter in time to get her before anyone else.

i call her my nana dog for my kids because she cares for them so much. She was barking because she heard a dog running around outside barking and when I told her it was ok and she needed to stop so she didnt wake the baby, she nuzzled the baby and licked her like saying sorry and went to the door to watch the dog outside lol. She also enjoys playing with my son, and is just so gentle with him which he is not used to, our previous dog was far from it  and loves to cuddle with him.


Though me and her seem to have a special bond, she follows me everywhere, only goes to the bathroom for me ( my fiance takes her out and she just looks at him like he is crazy), it just feels like there is something there, that I can't explain but I am sure everyone here understands it 

She is also slowly gaining some weight


----------



## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

That is so wonderful of you to give this amazing dog a forever home. It makes me shudder how many idiots want GSDs and then, without knowing what they are getting into, get rid of a great dog to shelters and such. Thank you for rescuing this great dog. And ****, I have to admit, even though when i got a dog, I have never specified a color, those black ones are SO cool.


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

Nikitta said:


> That is so wonderful of you to give this amazing dog a forever home. It makes me shudder how many idiots want GSDs and then, without knowing what they are getting into, get rid of a great dog to shelters and such. Thank you for rescuing this great dog. And ****, I have to admit, even though when i got a dog, I have never specified a color, those black ones are SO cool.


Thank You! It does make me sad that they do that. There have been so many getting out lately all I see here locally are people saying how they have found GSD running about, it is nothing for at least 2 a day to be spotted running loose because people have no idea they can be escape artist. When I see Leia i just can't fathom WHY someone would dump her. She seems to have no issues that we have been able to see or anything.

We went on our first fishing trip with her and had a blast. She was so behaved didn't bark at anyone, did run around crazy on the long line and she LOVED the lake and going into the water and going swimming!!

Watching the ducks



Shark Dog!




swimming is tiring


We are going on a 3 day fishing trip with her this weekend. Normally we would tent camp at the lake we are going to but with having a 1 month old, we are going to hotel it lol. So we will see how she does on this trip


----------



## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

what is all that green stuff floating in the water??? are you sure it's nothing that could cause trouble/illness? yup, I'm a worrier, lolol...I am a long ways away from you, but have an dog friend whose boy caught lepto from swimming in bad water. wow, I just think she is incredibly beautiful and sounds like every rescue adopter's dream dog.


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

katieliz said:


> what is all that green stuff floating in the water??? are you sure it's nothing that could cause trouble/illness? yup, I'm a worrier, lolol...I am a long ways away from you, but have an dog friend whose boy caught lepto from swimming in bad water. wow, I just think she is incredibly beautiful and sounds like every rescue adopter's dream dog.


No worries I am a worrier too! It is just moss, it is a regional park and they do a wonderful job on making sure the water is safe, we went the day before they go in and clean all the moss out. oh wow that's terrible 

Thank you! She really is! I still am in shock of how wonderful and amazing she is.:wub: She has become my baby and I couldn't ask for a better dog.


----------



## Ali B. (Jul 23, 2010)

She's so beautiful! Thank you for rescuing her! Looking forward to pictures of her new life with you!


----------



## Black Kali (Aug 31, 2013)

Beautiful girl with beautiful heart, I'm glad you found her, you two seem like a perfect match


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

Thank you all! She is still slowly starting to put some weight on. We had a wonderful 3 day fishing trip up to Lone Pine, California! She did WONDERFUL and that is even an understatement. She did perfect in the car 3 hour drive one way) and was awesome and behaved when in the hotel room. Though on our trip she did catch a baby bunny very gently i might add, in her mouth when I took her out to go to the bathroom.. She didn't try to eat it or anything just had it in her mouth and cried, when I told her to drop it she did but seemed so heart broken. I can't help but call her killer now  

Swimming 

Leia and my 6 year old


----------



## RZZNSTR (Jan 24, 2015)

Cool pics!


----------



## kelbonc (Aug 25, 2014)

Great photos!!. Leia is looking fantastic. Nice to hear she is adjusting well and how much you are enjoying her. She is a good girl!!


----------



## bennrobin (Jun 6, 2013)

Beautiful girl!


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

Thank you all! She has been progressing really good. She is very slowly gaining weight so our vet mentioned satin balls to give her a bit of a boost. She keeps proving to me how much of a wonderful dog she is. I had opened the gate to the area I take her to do her business behind our house and i forgot i did not put her leash back on and opened the gate :headbang: she just casually walked out and really hunkered down like you see scent dogs do and just walked down the end of my car i called her and she just came trotting back like " oh hey mom what's up" My heart sank yet felt so amazed that she recalled like that:wub:


----------



## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

She is stunning and what a nice girl! So lucky you both are to have found each other. 

You might see if she has a microchip, some shelters chip some don't. If she has no chip you might think about chipping her. I thought of that after reading that you forget to secure her area. If she does get lost a collar and tags can become separated the chip stays in her.


----------



## Provencowgirl (Apr 21, 2015)

She had no chip so I got her one the day I adopted her  Yeah outside of the gated area the rest of our area isn't and if I would of remember I didn't put her leash on yet it wouldn't of happened lol.

And thank you! She really is stunning. Our vet and his staff, just random people and even the other vet who the shelter had do the surgery and all of her staff think she is pure breed, and i cant always help but get a kick because I have no idea. Her gait is usually what seems to get people to say it, as well as the way she walks/stands

All i know is I love her no matter what. She has been doing great, Sadly I have had to but her into boarding 2 times because of trips she couldn't go on, broke my heart but she loves it. Though when she comes home she is beyond my shadow :wub:


----------



## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

She looks great! Know she will love those satin balls. So glad she is doing so well.


----------



## astrovan2487 (May 29, 2014)

She's beautiful! It sounds like you found a great dog, and Leia found a great owner. Thanks so much for rescuing her, I hope you have many happy years together.


----------

