Petra

Petra was used to breed puppies on the most disgusting property we've ever seen. We were allowed to remove her and another rescue removed 2 litters of puppies. Petra had never been on leash, had a collar on or bonded with a human! It took 2 hours of patiently waiting and her alligator rolling all over the trash covered yard to get her in the car. Once I got her secured inside the kennel, I gave her 2 weeks to decompress before I ever reached out to touch her. It paid off in spades! She sat and closed her eyes, drinking the love I was sending her. That night as I sat inside the kennel with her door open, she came and rested her majestic head in my hands. It was the most profound experience I've ever had with a dog. Unfortunately after she was here and eating twice a day, nutritious food, she began to put on weight rapidly. The mobile vet came out and confirmed our worst fear, she was pregnant and heartworm positive! We made the appointment to have her spade. We typically do not have puppies in rescue if we are aware soon enough to get the mother spade. We took her and it was decided she was about 48 hrs from delivering and with her heartworm status and her size, it would be dangerous. We came back and prepared to welcome puppies. Just 4 days later she had 11 beautiful puppies, 7 of which survived and thrived! We knew dad was a solid black Shepard and she had 5 white, like her and 2 black and tan. They are beautiful and all adopted by the time they were 8 wks old and ready to leave mom and siblings. As soon as she was an empty nester we moved forward with treating her heartworms. We chose to use the slow kill method, she received the Pro-Heart 12 injection and 30 days of Doxycycline. She should be free of heartworms by the 6 month mark. She is currently in the middle of her 30 days of Doxy. Petra has the most beautiful soul of any dog I've had the pleasure to spend time with in my 15 years working in animal welfare. She now wears a collar but isn't super comfortable with being on leash. She will get there, I have zero doubts! She is absolutely brilliant and has the sweetest personality. She is the definition of what a Shepard should be! The white Shepherds are more docile and the females are known to be larger than the traditional GSD Petra is a fit 90lbs! Her new home will require someone that is willing to be patient and work with her. I know if I didn't have 15 other dogs to care for we would have already jumped any hurdles she has remaining. She has never lived inside but I know she will quickly understand the benefits!