Mama's Story

Mama originally came to us in March of 2013, she had been rescued by a client of ours that had moved to South Lake Tahoe. The Second Chance Program is for dogs in either the Calaveras or Amador shelters that stand little chance of being adopted due to behavior problems. Once we heard Mama's story we couldn't turn her away.

Mama had been dumped at the 7 Eleven at South shore and left to forage or beg for her food. When I asked how old they thought she was they stated that she was about 7-8 years old and that she was a little on the heavy side! They also said she was very sweet, house broken, loves to ride in cars, great with all people, and good with dogs. When her rescuers called the local animal shelter they stated that they were full and that they would not be able to keep her for very long and that there would be a good chance that she would be euthanized if they surrendered her to them. They advertised her for 10 days, putting flyers up all over town but no one responded to them.

Well, how could I say no! I figured with her being a 7-8 year old German Shepherd that sounded like the dream dog of the century, I could find her a home in no time. So down to Twin Cedar Ranch she came. When she got out of the car I could not believe what I saw. She wasn't 7-8 years old but probably closer to 9-11 years old and on top of her advanced age, she was 35 pounds overweight! She looked as big as a house and her back was so broad we could have easily set a place setting for 3 down her back!

The first thing we did was to get her into a veterinarian for a full check-up including bloodwork to be sure she was a healthy girl. Her bloodwork came back great, so on the Twin Fast Plan she went. We started her on 3 small meals a day of a grain free kibble, vitamin supplements and a joint supplement for her old and sore joints!

Mama started going on out evening pack walks with the rest of the Twin Cedar Pack and when the weather warmed up she stared her swim therapy and Lake Tabeau. Her favorite thing to do there was to swim after the local ducks and chase Vito when he retrieves his tennis balls.

It took Mama about four months to shed a whopping 34 pounds!! Although she feels much better without all that extra weight, due to her advanced age and being so fat for most of her life, Mama has significant arthritis in her joints. She also has a sensitive tummy that requires extra care in her feeding schedule. Because of this, Mama will live out the rest of her life with Marge` and Brian at Twin Cedar Ranch.

Mama: a rescue of the first order!

Mama Before - overweight!

Mama after - looking better every day!