We dispensed treats and loves to the cats. Then we moved on to the dog ward. There were litters of puppies, adult dogs - all looking those pleading eyes. Of course I started to tear a bit - I am a softie. Heading down, treats in hand, to the last kennel, I saw a bit of black fluff sleeping on her back, legs sprawled out. How she could sleep in the maddening din of the barking and howling dogs was beyond me. I looked at her card - a shepherd mix, 8 weeks old, found wandering a few days ago. (My favorite breed is the German Shepherd Dog, and my adult dog is a GSD mix) I called to her softly, waking her up. One blue and one brown eye peeped open, and up she sprang! She still didn't bark like a mad fool like the other dogs were doing, just sat there looking at me like I was the most beautiful thing in the world. I offered her a doggie biscuit, which she took carefully, gave it a lick and set it down. She just wanted to look at me, calm as could be. I kept telling myself "No Tiff, you can NOT get another dog, expecially a puppy". I hung out with her for a while, but then left the shelter without her.

All that weekend I kept thinking about her - she just stood out in my mind. I figured that she would be adopted as soon as she could be, since she was so adorable. She arrived at the shelter on Friday, I saw her on Saturday but she couldn't be adopted until Wednesday. Monday I went to work with my friend who went to the shelter with me. I told her I kept thinking about Barbeque (I had already named her). She told me to go visit the shelter and check in on her. She also worked hard to convince me to adopt her! So Monday late afternoon I went there to say hi. Same situation as before - Barbeque calm with that unswerving gaze. I decided to put my name on the list to adopt her, so I would take her if no one else wanted her. I chatted with the shelter workers but no one really seemed to know much about the quiet little ball of fluff in the corner.

Tuesday arrived, and again I decided to visit (just who was I trying to kid, anyway?) her again. I went to the shelter about noon, right after the staff had put down all the dogs except 4 because of a raging parvo virus going around. There were about 10 adult dogs and 3 or so litters of puppies, about 35 dogs overall. Evidently the dogs were fine at noon, had diarrhea at 3 pm and were dead by 5. Very fast-acting virus, and deadly. I didn't see Que in the holding area, so I thought they had put her down. I asked about her, just to make sure, and there she was in the holding area, asleep. Thank heavens!! Chatting with the staff, they told me the only reason they didn't put her down is because my name (the only name) was on the list to adopt her. Even though she legally couldn't be adopted until the next day, the staff let me take her that day and rush her over to the clinic at which I work for a parvo test.

So here I come with pup in tote to the clinic. I just KNEW she would be positive. She was so quiet in the car - didn't make a peep. Took her to the clinic and took the parvo test.....negative!! For now, anyway. She could be incubating the virus still, so it was important that I keep her in good health so that she didn't develop parvo in a few days. I was also going to quarantine her for about 5 days for health and to let my 2 cats and 1 dog get to know her slowly.

I take her home and get her settled in a large crate in my room and start to prepare dinner for her. Her diet for the first 2 days was cooked hamburger with egg, a bit of veggies, some herbs and Vit C. She had loose stools those 2 days. So I asked my knowledgeable friends on the internet if they had any ideas. My fellow raw-fab feeders questioned the cooked food - I told them I didn't want to stress her immune system right now in case of parvo. They told me that the only way to really boost the system was to feed her raw. I saw the logic in this and made up my mind to do it. Besides - she wasn't really liking what I was fixing, and I feed 100% raw to my other animals and believe in it. So that very day I ground up a raw chicken wing, added some supplements and of course the Vit C. She loved it - gobbled up every bit. Later had diarrhea and vomited. Well, I was prepared for this, so I stuck with the diet. All raw - nothing cooked. After 3 days or so of cleaning up vomit and diarrhea and being woken up several times during the night with either whines to go outside or the unmistakeable sounds of puppy vomiting, not to mention the numerous loads of laundry and puppy baths I had given, I was about to throw in the towel. My friends on the 'net held my hand and told me I had better stick with it for Que's own good. So I did, and the vomiting stopped, and soon after so did the diarrhea. After the quarantine, I let the other animals meet her and it was love at first site for Diamond and Tabbi (Roy could have cared less).

Since she was only 8 weeks old, if I was gone for more than 4 hours, I had to take her with me so she could go out and pee. This meant taking her to work with me at both clinics - the vet school and the private vet clinic. She loved going, but did suffer a little separation anxiety and found her voice. And exercised it. A lot. :)

I decided I needed to get a fecal check done, since her stools were now normal and I was pretty sure she had some sort of worm since most shelter animals do. I had ordered some chinese worming herbs so I didn't have to use the harsh chemical wormers. I took her in to the clinic with me and sure enough, she had coccidia and whipworms. My vet tried to get me to take 2 different wormers, one for each parasite, but I told her I had some wormer of my own at home. I did take one wormer home with me, just to make her happy, not to use it. I later returned it without her knowing. I was prepared to use the chinese herbs on her when my ever vigilant friends on the 'net asked me why I was going to use it - just keep building the immune system and she will take care of the nasties herself. I said ok - let's give it a try since she obviously wasn't suffering from the parasites. Her energy was good, her appetite better and her mood was excellent! I took her to meet my parents about 2 weeks after I got her (a 3 hour car trip one way) and we stayed for a few days, then came home. She is a very well-adjusted pup - nothing stressed her out. She sleeps in the car as if she were still in the womb.

Meanwhile we have moved up to whole chicken wings and necks, and even turkey necks! She continues to grow at a nice moderate rate, fur is thick and glossy, ears pink and sweet, poop nice and hard, breath is still puppy breath :) Her nails need trimmed once or twice a week which is getting her used to having her feet handled. She is learning that Tabbi is boss, sit means you get a treat, and Diamond unlike Roy doesn't have any front claws. She is absolutely bursting with health and it shows. Recently (mid February) I took her in to work with me and we checked her stool just to make sure she indeed get rid of the parasites. The fecal showed nothing except the remnants of some carpet she had feasted on that morning.

So what's the bottom line here? I started with an 8 week old puppy straight from the shelter, suffering from coccidia, whipworms, a touch of kennel cough and possible parvo and turned her into a healthy growing 4 month old pup, *all by diet*. I used NO drugs, just a raw diet and plenty of Vit C (up to bowel tolerance). It is obvious she was exposed to many more things too - taking her with me to the vet clinics was a great way for her to achieve natural immunity. She has had no vaccinations. She will have to have her rabies vaccination done this summer, but that will be the only shot she will receive. So if you didn't think that our raw diet (does not include grains or dairy products) did anything but keep the teeth nice and shiny, now you know - it can cure disease all by itself.