(I promise to add pictures when I'm back in the office.) About three years ago, my parents were adopted by a big stray Rottweiler that turned up at their house on Lake Anna. He was a mess – he looked so bad I didn't even want to touch him! Almost hairless, covered in fleas, and skinny as a skeleton, he was in sad shape. Ultimately, he turned into a beautiful, big, loyal and friendly family dog who lived with my parents until he died last December.
My dad's been hinting that he'd like to have another Rottweiler, so today we visited the local shelter (and I'd done some reconaissance and knew they just happened to have a little Rottie girl up for adoption). He took a liking to her and so she came home today.
A tiny thing, very underweight, and quite shy, she's nonetheless very pretty and energetic. She met our four dogs without a hitch (always a good thing – getting along with our dogs, as we'll wind up dogsitting for her often). She's more than a little afraid of the lake (she fell in, first thing). We had a heck of a time giving her a bath (lots of fleas from the shelter), but we managed somehow.
She's had a litter of puppies recently, judging from her appearance, but she was picked up as a stray and they didn't find any pups nearby. Her coat is awful: it's thin, very coarse, and not healthy looking. She needs to put on about 10 – 15 pounds; she's skeletal at the moment. All of her ribs and her hip bones are protruding.
She's young and doesn't have any training so far, but we'll take care of that in short order.
I'll keep you updated (and post a picture) as she continues to adjust and fit in. Our vacation is over on Saturday, so we'll be out of the picture come Sunday morning and my parents will be left to teach her all by themselves. That in and of itself will be quite the saga. Stay tuned!
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