I just adopted my gsd from a rescue. I named him Duke and he's 10 months old now. I had seen him right before he was adopted by some other people when I inquired about him. Fortunately for me, they brought him back after only one day. They said he was bad with cats and cows, bad in the house. As soon as they brought him back, I put my dibs on him and after a week, was able to pick him up and bring him home. We had that instant connection. I have 14 indoor cats. Here's his picture. You can determine how bad he is with cats...LOL!

He's looking at one of my cats that is on a trunk that isn't in the picture.

Welcome to you and Duke. He is very handsome! He looks like he is really aggressive with cats too. LOL!!!

He looks like a real sweetie.

Welcome. I am glad that he landed at your home. Yet looks like a real cat aggressive dog.

I'm so happy to be here and I'm so happy Duke is here. I had a GSD(Katie) when I was 21 and fell head over heels in love with her and then had to have her put to sleep at 6 months old due to a persistent right aortic arch. I couldn't find a vet close enough that would do surgery. I lived in a rural area in South Dakota. I couldn't look at another dog for a long time much less a GSD. 6 years ago I got another dog, Rooster, my Siberian Husky. I'll post pictures soon. And then I have a couple more and I tell their stories also.

My vet was on vacation when I got Duke so I waited to get his exam when my vet got back, when he came in, we took him for his exam this past Wednesday(2/15). He tested positive for heartworms. So he took another sample of blood and sent it out to a lab because he was surprised that a 10 month pup tested positive. He called me just a bit ago and Duke is positive. He goes in for treatment on Monday. I am very disappointed that the rescue was not honest with me. The lady said he was 100% vetted, heartworm negative and on preventative. It wouldn't have mattered if I had known from the beginning that he was positive. I just wish she had been honest with me. Duke and I clicked the second we made eye contact. Even though it's disappointing that he is heartworm positive, I'm excited to get the treatment done so that we can play and go places.

I laughed at his cat aggression too. That was his second day with us in that picture.

Duke is gorgeous! I am so glad he came back so you could take him home.

Be sure to visit the health forums here for any assistance on the heartworms.

I hope you have told the rescue. What were they thinking not to tell you?

he is a handsome young guy.

I left a message with the Rescue and I messaged them on Facebook. It's Saturday though and I know she does lots of stuff on the weekends.

I plan on reading in the health section this evening. I have lots of questions.

http://bigdogsbigheartworm.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html

Welcome! There's a crap-ton (official measurement) of information on heartworm on that blog, starring a girl right here on this forum, Mila, who is now living the life!

What probably happened, with a dog who is at 10 months and HW+, is that they may not have tested - depending on when they got him into rescue, because typically puppies under 6 months (check that age - it was a while ago that I read that stuff) aren't alive long enough to have adult heartworms because of the length of the life cycle, and the monthly medicine kill any baby worms that are there. But, if they were giving something like Heartgard, and he swallowed it whole...it's possible to have the adults, I am guessing.

Biggest thing, whether you use the Immiticide treatment http://bigdogsbigheartworm.blogspot.com/2011/08/urgent-post-immiticide-unavailability.html , or the Heartgard/Ivermectin, is full on crate rest/exercise restriction.

Ask your vet about doing the doxy before treatment starts. All of it's in the blog, or should be, and if you want to start a post in health, we can all contribute questions to ask your vet.

JeanKBBMMMAAN~You are exactly right! That is exactly what the lady at the rescue told me when she called just a little bit ago. She was so nice. She even offered to pay for the treatment. I told her no. She needs to use that money for the dogs she's got. Luckily Duke loves his crate and keeping him quiet is easy while I'm at work. When I am home I can keep him quiet just as long as I let him share my chair with me. Thank you for posting that blog link. I have started to read it.

My vet is doing some kind of oral treatment to kill young worms and larvae(I think that is what he said) on Monday. I do know I have to leave Duke at the vet for the day so that they can watch him and then I can bring him home after work. Then in 3 weeks he's going to the vet for the immiticide treatment and I have to leave him there for 2.5 days. I can't remember what he said the oral treatment was but I will find out Monday and post it.

Welcome and great looking pup!

Your cat looks identical to mine it seems! Do you have any other photo's, I'd love to compare!

It sounds like Duke has found the best possible home! My goodness 14 cats, wow!

Hehehe, yes 14 kitties. 5 of them were my own fault. But when I tried to find homes for them, I wanted them in indoor homes and not to be declawed. Anyone who responded to my ad wanted a out door cat or they wanted them declawed...so we kept them. Then 5 more of them are rescues that we kept. We don't do rescue with cats anymore though. There are just too many and we do better by taking excellent care of the ones we have.

I'll post pictures of everyone soon. Time is not my friend this weekend...LOL!

And I struggle with 2 cats/2 dogs teehee!

It's going to be picture overload when I post all my cats. Should I post in them in the cat section or here? I also have 5 other dogs and 2 horses. We don't have kids. We have hobbies at home. Hence, the big furry family...lol.

I went ahead and posted all my cats in the cat section. I hope you enjoy. I had fun telling their stories.

Welcome! What part of Bama are you from? Duke looks like such a HORRIBLE cat aggressive dog!! Maybe he realizes he's outnumbered?

And we looooooove pictures!