4/10/09: Can you believe somebody would turn this beautiful girl into a shelter? Well, it happened. Gretchen is an 8 month old black brushcoat female. She's a little frightened at all that has happened to her over the last couple weeks, but now that she's here, we know she will turn around quickly. Already, after only a few hours, she follows me every step. She ate all her supper, which is an excellent sign for the first meal in a new place.

Gretchen will be spayed and have her eyes fixed in the next week or so. Then after a short time to recover and become more socialized, she should be ready for her new home. She is vaccinated and on heartworm preventive. She'll be microchipped when she's under anesthesia to be spayed.

Gretchen is good with our other dogs. She hasn't played yet, but she's very interested in the nylabones and the Kuranda bed. She'll be playing soon, I'm sure.

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4/12/09: Gretchen is really coming out of her shell. She's obviously comfortable enough to get on the couch and she's loving the Kuranda bed. Gretchen is crate trained, house trained and walks very well on a leash. This is one smart girl.

Isn't she the cutest little thing?	On the ride to her new home!

4/30/09: We placed Gretchen today into her new home in Somerville TN. Diana and Jeff fell in love immediately. Here's what we heard from Diana today 5/1/09: Morning! Gretchen is doing really great! We brought the crate inside last night and as soon as we opened the crate door she wanted to come out. I figured I'd go ahead and put the leash on her and take her out for a walk. She peed a couple times but no poop. We came inside and she was really skittish. Chenny, of course, checked her out but was not overly curious. She did, however, eat all the food Chenny had left in his bowl and drank water. Jeff went to bed and I laid down on the couch to watch tv while she settled down. She kept pacing so I put her in the crate and she went right to sleep. I got up at 5am with Jeff to check on her and when she saw me she wagged her tail. I put the leash on and we went out and she peed but no poop. I talked to Jeff while he was getting ready and she came over to me and let me pet her!!! I was surprised but very happy. She then went over to Jeff and she let him scratch her back. She carried one of Chennys toys around for a minute. Chenny was wanting to play with her but she's not ready yet! She come a long way from last night for sure!! I'll keep you posted. Diana

We didn't get a good picture of the new family together. We will, though, so check back.

5/1/09: That is an awesome picture!! I just took her out before going to bed and thought id let you know that the day went by pretty quietly. Gretchen spent most of the day sleeping in the crate. She'd come out every once in a while to check and see where i was. When Jeff came home she saw him walking up to the front door and started barking at him. It was too funny. She just came in here to see where i was. She's still skittish but doing great. Talk to you soon. Diana

5/8/09: Hi Cindy. You would be so proud of Gretchen today. I bought a small carrier to put her in for the trip to the vet. I thought maybe it would keep her calm. I put her in it then loaded her into my truck. On the way to the vet, which is about 8 miles away, I was feeling guilty about her being in the kennel. When we got thereI decided to put her leash on and walk her into the vet. She did awesome!! Kinda hesitated when we started to go in, but I think that was because a cat was crying and a dog was whining. She did poop a little when she got on the exam table but other than that she did great. We did find out that she may have to have surgery on her knees. She has really come out of her shell the last couple days. Shes been playing with Chenny. She takes leaps off our bed and runs around the yard. Yesterday afternoon she went outside and when she came back in she was limping a little. I checked her paw for any injury and didn't find any and went on to work. She was still not walking on it all the way this morning so he checked. Her knee caps pop in and out kind of easy. Vet gave me an anti inflammatory and we'll have to watch her close. Diana

5/12/09: I've been giving Gretchen a half an anti-inflamatory pill every morning. She still seems to favor the leg a little. It hasn't slowed her down though. She runs all over the yard and wrestles so hard with Chenny that we have to stop them from playing so hard. I'm going to stop the pills after a week and see what happens. She doesn't limp when she walks but when she stands still sometimes she does put that one foot on the ground all the way. She chases squirrels and it doesn't seem to be bothering her. It's kind of confusing. Diana

6/5/09: Gretchen lost her best friend today. Chen got sick a week ago and today he passed away. Gretchen is grieving and really doesn't know what to think. She's missing him terribly.