# Senior Foster Girl



## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

Hello, 
I don't think I have ever posted in the senior section. But I have just picked up a senior foster dog, and wanted to make sure I was doing right by her.
She is a 10 year old female GSD. She was flown in to Idaho from California just last night. The owner had lost their home due to the mortgage melt down. All rescues are full in that state and nobody wanted to think about a 10 year old dog in an open admission shelter. A breeder near me ended up getting the call for help and she contacted me and another rescuer near by to see if we had room.
I took her on because I love the seniors. I appreciate everything about them, and find them to be easy to live with and fairly easy to place in forever homes. Also, this girl has a hang up with other female dogs and needed to go to a foster home that didn't have any females at all. I just have males at this point, so my husband and I said yes.
The cool thing is that the dog community where this girl came from gathered donations to fly her up here, they paid for her health certificate/vet check prior to travel and they paid for two big bags of the senior formula of the food I feed my own crew. And they made sure she traveled with her own toys and personal belongings.
She is a spayed, retired schutzhund competitor. Seems to be in great shape for her age. She has the worn teeth of a dog that has done a lot of bite work in the past, and they could stand a good cleaning. She is a little stiff, but gets around great.
Her vet check prior to flying showed a low grade heart murmur. I will get her into my vet on Monday for blood work and a check of the murmur. If all checks out, I'll make her available for adoption in a few weeks after she has had a chance to settle down and relax from all these changes in her life. Of course, she will stay with us for as long as it takes to get placed. 
I have had my own dogs on Eagle Pack Select Holistics and have loved the results. Even my picky eater with major food allergies does well on this food. As I said, the local breeder who had coordinated her flight up here had two big bags of food for her. So I am going to put her on the Eagle Pack Senior formula. She had been fed the Costco brand of lamb and rice in California. Do you all think she should do okay on the Eagle Pack? I didn't feed her at all last night, thinking that her tummy might be upset from the flight and all the excitement of travel. This morning I gave her 2 cups of the kibble, soaked in hot water and with a tablespoon of canned Solid Gold mixed in for taste. She ate happily. She had been fed 4 cups of soaked kibble just once a day in California. I don't like feeding just once a day, so I will give her 2 cups of the Eagle Pack kibble, soaked, with the Solid Gold to taste, 2 times a day.
Any advice about getting an older girl to settle in would be happily accepted! I really, really like this dog and feel so lucky to be able to help her. 
Sheilah


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

sounds like you're doing a wonderful job! thank you SO MUCH and many, many blessings to you, for coming to her aid!


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Thanks for taking this dog in! Is she on supplements for her joints? Fish oil? Those are two things I would definitely be adding to her food. I like to keep my seniors on grain free food because grains can increase problems with arthritis. I agree that feeding twice a day is better, especially for a senior. 

Keep us posted on her progress and we'd love to see a picture!


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Thanks for helping the old girl!!!









I have three seniors, they eat the same food as the three younger Hooligans - EAGLE PACK HOLISTIC SELECT _ fish_ (not the senior). I add a little canned food to it - EVO 95% beef or HILL's a/d.


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## BucksMom (Aug 13, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: katielizsounds like you're doing a wonderful job! thank you SO MUCH and many, many blessings to you, for coming to her aid!


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## BucksMom (Aug 13, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: ArycrestThanks for helping the old girl!!!
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I just love this food (Eagle Pack Holistic), so glad someone else feeds it also, I think young or old do well on it!!!


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## GSD10 (May 20, 2007)

Congrats on your foster







So many people here have a soft spot for seniors. What a great community that pulled together to help your girl. Looking forward to pictures


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## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

Thanks for the advice. This dog is AWESOME! She has settled in very well, ignores the cats and has lovely house manners. I am very impressed with her.
I have such a soft spot for the seniors needing rescue. We took in a 9 year old Collie last fall that just needed a safe place to land until transport could be arranged and she was great to live with. 
So far, this girl has had a great appetite. I have broken her 4 cups of Eagle Pack kibble up into two separate feedings of two cups each, soaked and with a tablespoon of canned food. She cleans her bowl and seems to be happy.
I got a lot of tail wags this morning when I let her out to potty. I think she is bonding with me, which is cool. She went to the front door this morning, and would wag her tail whenever anyone looked at her. So my husband took her for a 10 minute walk to the park and back. She loves her walks and is very easy to handle (although she will pull if she thinks she can get away with it). 
I have a couple of pictures that the local transport took when she picked her up at the airport Friday night. They both have her children in them, and I am not sure if she would want her kids on the internet, so I cropped them out. But now Photobucket won't recognize them as .jpegs. I'll keep trying. She is gorgeous! Her name is Enschi.
Sheilah


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## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

*Re: Senior Foster Girl-A Picture!*

Okay, I am not the best at posting photos, so this might not work. But here goes an attempt.


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## sitstay (Jan 20, 2003)

*Re: Senior Foster Girl-A Picture!*

It worked! Isn't she gorgeous! I took this photo about 20 minutes ago, in my living room. Gosh, I might post this is in the picture forum.
Sheilah


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

*Re: Senior Foster Girl-A Picture!*

she is just beautiful! thank you again for helping her.


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

*Re: Senior Foster Girl-A Picture!*

What a beautiful young lady - you're lucky to have her!!!

My heart bleeds for the older dogs who need homes. IMHO the old guys are so special!!!


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

*Re: Senior Foster Girl-A Picture!*

She is lovely!!!!!


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