Marie, I'm so sorry you've lost your friend. I've always found that animal lovers (and gardeners too) are the very best of humanity. It's people like Bruce that make a difference in the world. It's hard to understand and except when they're taken from us too soon, for me at least. I know you'll miss him. Eden

Parvo takes 6-10 days to develop clinical signs. Not sure of the timeline in your case. Every shelter in the US, including Humane Society shelters, is run by a different organization. Some are local (county or city) control, some are private organizations, some fall under state guidelines, etc. The laws regarding shelter requirements vary a great deal from place to place. I put a link from Humane Society US that gives you an idea of who to contact about shelter conditions. I've rarely seen a shelter with enough room to separate puppies from adults. Unfortunately there are always simply too many animals to house. Most juristictions require the shelter keeps a stray for a certain period of time (3-5 days) to allow the owner to find it and pick it up. They are also responsible for housing all animals in cruelity cases until the owner is brought to trial, which could mean for months. All that means is that there simply isn't enough room to house every animal individually. As long as no animal is getting bit or outcompeted for food and water, putting adults and puppies in runs together is sometimes the best solution to a terrible problem. I'm sorry your pup has parvo, but glad you got her back. You're actually one of the lucky ones; less than 25% of dogs ever make it back to their owner. Here is a link that might be useful: HSUS shelter FAQ

I have "dealt" with the elderly for years and truly understand their strong reluctance to change! You are lucky that they have let you change as much as you have. Of course, many of us (IF IT WERE OUR HOME) would have jumped in there and painted the knotty pine walls to lighten things up, ordered light colored upholstery, changed out the flooring, etc. But it is not our home - IT IS THEIR'S. In their minds, if something works - it is just fine! You are to be congratulated for helping them do this much. It will be clean, it will be comfortable, it will be familiar, and it will be home. That is all that matters. I will throw in a couple of suggestions - it looks like the drapes are new, but with all the neutral brown tones and knotty pine, a colorful, print drape would look nice - something like a jacobean or paisley print, perhaps with some greens, blues, terra-cotta combinations. Also, colors like that in the throw pillows. Love those orange lamps if they work when you get finished. I bet your mom likes those bright colors! Tuesday (A daughter and daughter-in-law - know what you are dealing with).

Straw, you are spot on in identifying the veges. We generally do add potatoes also to the mix as they bake very well. Yogurt goes well with beef. It ensures better marination of the spices and almost dries up during baking but in the process, keeps the beef tender and gives it a nice flavour. However, few people may not like it with the veges though. Olive oil also assists in saving the meat and veges from drying / burning and give a very nice flavour to veges. Shirmp marination in our recipes usually doesn't contain yogurt though there is no harm in using. However, mostly lemon juice or vinegar go well with shrimps. We usually prefer a perforated baking dish which allows excess water to drain down. But then one has to keep another tray at the lower level inside the oven as water will keep dripping down from the perforated tray and make the oven dirty.