10/99

11/27/99

Joe came to us as a 2-3 yr. old male. The lady who rescued him from the streets of Manassas said that she found him to be very friendly and good with other dogs. Current on shots and neutered, he needs a home where he will get lots of love and attention.

Joe was underweight and had a very bad skin condition that we had a hard time pinning down as to cause. We began by taking cultures to determine the best method of treatment, but to no avail as nothing showed up. So, we began treating him for a bacterial infection with a topical medication and giving him medicated shampoos every 3-4 days. We ended by treating him for ringworm even though all the tests showed he did not have ringworm. That last round of treatments finally did the trick and his skin problems cleared up completely. But that cure ended up being only temporary. The vet decided that Joe really needed to see a dermatologist after having exhausted all the tests he could do. We found that adding Veterinarian's Best "Vita Derm" to his food finally fixed the problem!

Joe is a very gentle soul who is very laid back and does well with children. So, when a family that had already adopted a very laid back Chow mix from us earlier wanted another fur baby, they took in Joe. They love our baby boy and he is great with them, the kids, and Apache, their first fur baby.

Joe and his cohort Apache decided that they liked to go on little jaunts from time to time and were constantly breaking out of their back yard. No matter what their parents did, the boys would eventually find their way out. Fortunately, the family has moved to a new home where they don't have a fenced in back yard and the boys are taken for walks, much to the boy's chagrin. The boys really do love their new home where they have more room in which to play.

Sadly, our Joe left for the rainbow bridge. He will be greatly missed.