I took Dana with me to the Vet last night and she weighed 29.2 KGs(64.24 pounds). Picture from yesterday posted below and it really does not do her justice with how thin she really is. 😥 The vet also agreed that she is no more than 8 months old and between the Vet and I we were able to get into her mouth better(wiggle worm monkey she is) and we could better see that she has no tartar on her teeth and even is still erupting teeth SO she is somewhere between 6.5 months – 8 months of age. The Vet looked at her tail and also felt that she has had several breaks and that they have healed in a not so nice fashion. She saw the bald and callused areas and the raw areas and we are going to use Cothivet on her tail plus between her toes(it remains to be seen if the rawness between her toes is from being on the roads, a rash or from trying to get out of the kennel at the shelter or even from escaping her crate at the foster home and our own home the first night). She has such a long tail and is very ‘happy’ with it. She just bangs and bangs it even at our house in her crate when it is time to take her out. She is better about ‘waiting’ for me to get her out yet that little body is so happy to come out after eating to be with everyone. We drew blood to run a HWT even though we have a good grasp on her current age and the incubation period of HW etc. JUST in case. She took treats really gently from the Vet and honestly, except for one moment of her trying to climb in the front as I was driving down our laneway; she layed down and snored and had dreams the whole drive in. PHEWWW! She is a terrible jumper and I know that I am going to have my share of black eyes, fat lips and broken glasses before we get the upper hand on that behavour. Her heart is great and her lungs sound clear. Dana really was happy to see everyone that was there at the hospital and sat on the scale long enough to get a weight. GOOD girl! Her leash manners were really not bad, considering and at times were actually quite good. She is a puller most of the time though and a weaver! We will see what her fecal results will bring. Tonight will be her third night of de-worming with the Panacur. Her poor coat while so soft is smelly and flaky and until the weather is better and she is stronger(she is quite weak); I am not going to bath her. The Vet’s words words were ‘eat, eat and eat!’ The Vet and I both hope that with the Ester C and proper nutrition(great food and enough of it) that we can ‘lift’ her up on her toes better for those feet are really really really bad and her knees, they could just about make you cry they are so terrible right now. Yet, even today, she did some puppy romping on her gangly deer legs. The Vet thought she was very social and friendly and a nice girl! I have to say that something changed with this girl yesterday afternoon; she just ‘relaxed’ and went into her crate of her own volition and slept soundly. Last night(or rather in the wee hours of this AM); I took her out one more time and she went very willingly into her crate with a treat(I owe Maggi a Pig’s ear that I snagged out of her SS bag for Dana….. 😳 ) and she slept right though, no wailing, crying, trying to get out of her crate, NOTHING. I woke her up at 7:00 AM to get her out and fed….WOW! WOW! WOW! I did not think we would get to that point that soon and man, is she smart. She is not the shrinking violet kind of gal and will most certainly need to go to a home with experience. I already know that I am going to adore this one to wee bits and she is another very special creature! Our Leader Female Kona(almost 10 now) also did something very interesting last night when Dana was sleeping in her crate; she went into the crate(NEVER does this) and layed down and let Dana put her head on her back and hips(Kona has bad HD and this was very revealing) and slept there. She was definitely passing along a message about Dana to us and I am looking forward to properly understanding what that message is through time. Kona watches over our kids like her own, she is the best leader female one could ask for and to see this behavour; is fascinating. Animal dynamics and behavour is so incredible. Even to see Dana be ‘ok’ with a dog going into her crate was interesting. Yes, Dana has some little resourcing going on…..more like mild protection in my opinion for she has lip curled when I was preparing food for Tain and did the same when a dog went to go over to the couch to see Sean yet we have nipped this in the bud very fast and other than 3 moments like this; she has been totally ‘kewl’ with things. Even late this afternoon when preparing her next meal; she did not get stressed(that is where this behavour is coming from as she is so starved for attention/love and food) and stood there with other dogs mingling around. We are watching it and correcting the behavour and in time as Dana learns that she is going to be fed and it is going to be consistent etc., this will fade. Lil Linus had this behavour as well at 14 weeks of age when he arrived and much much much worse than Dana and he is a great boy. This is not an uncommon behavour to see in dogs with this history and our patience and understanding along with the continued correction on proper behavour with her being fed regularly etc. is going to work wonders. In respect to the attention and love; we do not overdue it and she is learning she has to ‘share’. She will continue to be fed in her crate for her safety and to not be set up for failure and while I can give her little treats around the other dogs; I will not give her a high value item outside of her crate at this time either. She has been fully integrated with everyone and even this AM, she had a few seconds of play! YAY! YAY! with Porridge and a Client’s Dog before she tired and had to lie down. She was not quite sure how to go about doing it yet she did do some mouthing back with them and a little bounce here and there. Tonight she did a tiny bit of play with Shiva. This is very very very promising! Right now, she is curled up on a small bed that was donated by Jenni/Mudslide’s adoptive parent’s right next to me, having a nice snooze. Dana is so sweet it just melts your heart. She is very much one of the neatest Danes I have had the pleasure of meeting and with all of the training and socialization that she is going to get; she is going to be an INCREDIBLE addition to someone’s home. As mentioned to someone earlier today; this gal has already snuggled her way into my heart. Her eye while sill a bit runny, is clear and the Vet was not too concerned for her eyes were not red and she is not rubbing at them. The other thing that we are working on is her penchant for our couches. We do not allow the dogs up on our leather and she has been very persistent in trying to get on them. I know her temp foster home allowed this and new house, new rules. 😉 I will be posting a picture in her slideshow of my ‘first’ attempt to keep her off my couches! LOL I put up huge pillows, the foot stools and the little monkey just climb right up on a chair to the couch, made herself comfortable and then used her feet to push them off on the floor. At one point, I was running around the house in a small panic as I could not find Dana and then I see this one brown eye looking at me from the couch behind the one foot stool….OMG! I almost died laughing! SMART! SMART! SMART! I am just loving her personality!!!! I hope I have not missed too much in this update for her and will update as I can, including a height. Ohhhh, one more thing, she has not had an accident in the house in over 24 hours! We make sure she goes out after every nap, eating etc…..The last thing is that her drive home from the Vet Hospital was just as uneventful. She laid her head down on the arm rest and layed that way the whole way home.