KIDA
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| Kida (pronounced "Keedah") is a 7-8 year old purebred white German Shepherd. She was adopted as a youngster from a California shelter approximately six years ago by her current owner. Kida has been loved and well socialized with kids and other dogs (both large and small), but her owner now finds herself in a predicament--she must move into a small apartment with relatives, and the relatives will not allow Kida to come with her.
UPDATE 3/22: Thanks to foster mom, Dorothy, for stepping up and giving Kida a place to go. Kida was evaluated by one of our staff members today. To say she is overweight is an understatement. She needs to lose at least 20 pounds, if not more. Other than her waistline, which foster mom Dorothy will get to work on right away, Kida is a very sweet and confident girl. She was introduced to the pack at Dorothy's without so much as a grumble. In fact, she made herself right at home.
Kida has had some formal obedience training, but a refresher course is definitely in her future. She loves people and other dogs and has no problem with either. She is spayed, microchipped and will be updated on shots prior to adoption.
On the positive side, she has been introduced to the last member of her resident pack, and everyone seems to be peacefully coexisting. At left, Kida cools herself in the pool and, at right, enjoys relaxing with foster sister, Conner. Foster Mom Dorothy reports that Kida is beginning to interact and play with the other members of her pack (a male white GSD, a female white GSD, a female mini schnauzer, and an elderly female chow mix). We hope the increased activity (along with 3 walks a day with mom) will begin to take the weight off and help Kida regain her girlish figure. This is one sweet gal.
UPDATE 4/23: Foster Mom Dorothy update: It has been a wonderful month for Kida. She has made such a great adjustment to her foster home, and is romping around with four other dogs. She walks every day and has managed to lose 10 pounds, which gives her a lot of energy to play. By the end of the day, all five dogs are exhausted, and, after dinner, they play again for awhile and then "crash" on the saltillo tile (cool) floors of the living room and relax.
Kida enjoys getting her feet wet in the kiddie pool, and has her own water pail in the kennel run, where she eats her meal separately from the other dogs. If not, her ravenous appetite would clean out all five dishes in the blink of an eye. She seems to like eating alone, and she plays in the run until the other dogs have had their dinner. Then, it's time to play ball or just chase each other around the yard.
She is a wonderful companion pet, as she knows all of her commands. She eagerly "sits" and "downs", walks well on lead, and loves to shake hands (paws) if you ask her. I have noticed that Kida likes to be close to me after playing, and seems to enjoy reassurance that she is, indeed, a very special lady.
Unfortunately, as Kida trims down, the cyst behind her right elbow is becoming more and more prominant (as can be seen in the photo at left). Once she loses another 15-20 pounds, we will be faced with an expensive surgery--we have been given an original estimate of over $1,300.00--to have it removed. Kida could sure use your help.
UPDATE 6/2: Kida has been attending Boot Camp with Foster Mom Dorothy and doing well. She is calm and obedient throughout class. She weighed in today at a svelte 111.1 pounds (another 4+ pound loss for a total of 15.9 pounds!). Another few pounds and we'll be looking at surgery for her--that is, as soon as we can raise the money.
UPDATE 6/27: Kida continues to do well under Foster Mom Dorothy's care. She is becoming more and more active as she slims down (108.6 pounds on the scales today for a total loss of 18.4 pounds), and is the perfect member of her pack. We are hoping that when Kida is ready for her surgery, we will be ready with the funds to help her. Adoption fee to be determined.
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Kida will have her full evaluation in the next day or two and we will post the results, along with pictures as soon as we meet her.
The first order of business was to get Kida to a vet and get her weighed, so we'd have a better idea of the weight reduction task in front of us. It was even worse than we had imagined; Kida weighed in at ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN POUNDS on a frame that should be supporting between 80 and 85 pounds at best. Her fitness program will be begun in earnest, with a view towards taking about 40 pounds off of her (twice what we had expected). 
UPDATE 3/31: Kida was taken to the vet today for a much needed comprehensive physical. Foster Mom Dorothy reports that (the good news) Kida has already lost an incredible SEVEN pounds and, except for the weight, everything looked good, except (the bad news) for a subcutaneous lipoma (fatty mass) just behind her right elbow (visible in the picture at left) and her teeth, which need a good cleaning. So, we are looking at surgery (removal of the mass and a teeth cleaning) for Kida. We are not going to put her under anesthesia at this weight, so we will be doing our best to clean her teeth as much as we can (the fatty mass is not bothering her and may well reduce itself as Kida's size reduces) until she loses at least 20-25 pounds, during which time we will be saving our pennies so that we can give Kida the care that she needs.
UPDATE 5/10: A report from Foster Mom Dorothy: I took Kida over to get her weight checked and she is now 115.5 pounds [that's a loss of 11 and a half pounds!]. My friend Susan came over this week to help me with my computer and Kida was just so sweet. She stayed right by Susan and "gave her such love!".....she is quite the lover. It made me feel so happy to see how readily she took to a complete stranger. I think all my dogs accepted her because she is such a dog-person and knew just how to approach them. Even Rascal...the little rascal!
UPDATE 5/18: Kida and Foster Mom Dorothy came out for Boot Camp today. Kida is obviously looking and feeling much better and was a perfect student in Bert's class. Dorothy believes that Kida has lost another few pounds and will be taking her in for another re-weigh in the next week or two. 
