# Soon to be new foster mom, who wants some opinions!!



## 4leggedlove (Jan 18, 2016)

Hi everyone, I am new to the site so please bare with me! I have just been approved today to foster- which will most likely lead for us to adopt a shepherd which they believe is mixed and 2 years old, but they really don't know. It is coming from a high kill shelter down south and are she is suppose to get here this weekend, if weather permits. The dog is very, very skinny, to the point where it's ribs are showing. I want to know the best most healthy food i can feed her to gain weight. I know multiple small meals a day, but any type of food advice and if anyone knows what they think she may be mixed with, if at all will be a great help. We can't wait for her to get here!!!! Thank you!!!!


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Thank you for fostering a dog from the South!

She looks young. Please GO SLOW with weight gain. I recommend weekly weigh-ins at the vet while you put weight on her.

She actually doesn't look too bad, in the spectrum of what southern shelter dogs can look like. I would expect her to need deworming. Most Southern dogs come out of shelters with an assortment of intestinal worms and other crud. Panacur gets giardia, most intestinal worms, etc.--it's good stuff. Until she's dewormed, plan to potty her on concrete if possible, and bag her poop right away, to keep that stuff from getting into your soil.

What's her heartworm status? If she's testing negative, I'd urge you to have a conversation with the rescue about keeping her on Advantage Multi (not Heartguard). You can PM me for an email address if your rescue people want to know why a lot of Louisiana rescues are shifting to only using this form of HW prevention. One reason is resistance to ivermectin is emerging. Another is that Advantage Multi is the ONLY prevention that works on juvenile adult HWs that are too young to show up in the test, but too old to kill with other forms of prevention. With an unknown history, it's just smart to use the kind of prevention most likely to help kill any young worms that might be in there growing undetected. See Veterinary Parasitology 206 (2014) 93-98.

Any high quality food is likely to work well -- look at any of the threads about food for growing dogs, and you'll see lots of suggestions. Fromm and Victor would be good starting points. 

Whatever you feed, I put all my foster dogs on fish oil capsules twice a day, mixed tocopherol vitamin E (400 mg) twice a week, plus a probiotic. The EFAs will help the coat and skin recover from the poor nutrition she had.


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## 4leggedlove (Jan 18, 2016)

I really think she is rescuing me, but thank you!! I will probably keep her!!She was pulled from the kill shelter, has seen a vet,fixed, microchipped and tested negative for everything, and i will be getting the records when i meet her directly from her transport when she gets here. I will also be taking her to a vet once she gets here but i can't make an appointment yet because of the weather and not too sure exactly when now she is coming  I want everything in place including food for when she gets here!! Do you think she is 2 and mixed with something, i know she is skinny, but wondering if she's not and just a skinny baby. It really doesn't matter if she is mixed, I'm just curious if that is why she is small besides skinny, they said she is 40 pounds. i am already in love with her and have't met her yet!! Thank You for responding, i'm looking for all the help i can get to make this girl healthy again!!


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## viking (May 2, 2014)

Congratulations! Well, I can see from the pictures why you're smitten with her, she's very expressive and an adorable girl to boot! I know just what you mean when you say "I really think she is rescuing me", it was a 2-way street with my boy, too. He is the apple of my eye and significantly improved the quality of my life without question. I predict the two of you will experience the same.

Magwart's advice regarding the heartworm preventative should be followed. Its nothing to trifle with and can be successfully cured if caught early enough. Take her up on the private messaging for more details.

I feed Nature's Domain from Costco. Its grain free and very economical. The protein content is within recommended margins but only just, so I always add a fresh cooked protein with every meal (plus, I kinda love cooking for him anyway). There's a myriad of choices out there and it can become dizzying, frankly. Others will chime in for sure.

Instead of fish oil, I give krill oil capsules. Higher in the good fatty amino acids than fish oil, no odor whatsoever and no incidents of upset stomach which some dogs (and people) experience with fish oil. I also get that at Costco (noticing a trend?!). Its human grade. Your vet will be able to guide you on the appropriate amount to give her for her size.

Congratulations again and welcome to the forum! Check in frequently and keep us posted.


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## CrystalV (Dec 28, 2015)

How do you feed the fish / krill oil? Just add it directly to the dry food?


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## viking (May 2, 2014)

CrystalV said:


> How do you feed the fish / krill oil? Just add it directly to the dry food?


I just give them to him immediately after one of his meals. I say "vitamins". He sits, tilts his head back and I reach over the top of his snout with my left hand and drop them onto the back of his tongue with my right hand. I do say "1,2,3" with three being when I drop the capsules so he expects them.

I doubt he'd eat them out of his dish though. I suppose you could open the capsules but now its getting messy.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

All of my dogs eat their fish oil with their meal. I stick it in a small lump of canned food and they just gobble it down. Easy, peasy.


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