I know that. It was just a county dog pound, actually. They don't do any testing. I've been asking around and getting advice. I actually volunteer at our no kill facility and will get advice. Lots of resources available, they just will cost me $$. Her former owner lost her home, had to move in w/ friends who were not allowed to have animals.....hid the dog at a friend's house who put the dog outside. It ran away & was picked up twice. Owner finally just surrendered the dog. Such a sad story and she's 9 so I knew she was going to be put down. She is sweet, and yes, I can get her healthy, and then look for a new home. thanks for all the advice.

Akayla is a Central Asian Shepherd, technically called a Central Asian Ovtcharka. Here's an excerpt from United Kennel Club's breed standard (the breed is not yet recognized by AKC): History For thousands of years, large, heavily-built dogs with cropped ears and tails have been used by the nomadic tribes of Central Asia to protect livestock from predators and other property from thieves. The breed developed as a result of rather harsh natural selection. The climate in the countries where the Central Asian Shepherd Dog developed ranges from hot and dry, to bitterly cold and windy. Only the hardiest of pups survived and only those with strong guarding instincts were allowed to stay with the flocks. Working Central Asian Shepherd Dogs are still found today in Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kirgyzstan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The breed is still very rare in the United States. General Appearance The Central Asian Shepherd Dog is a dog of great size with massive bone structure and powerful muscles. The body is slightly longer than tall. The head is massive. Ears are normally cropped close to the head but are naturally small, drop, and set low on the head. The tail is high set and thick at the base, and when undocked, hangs down to the hock with a sickle shape. Two coat lengths are accepted, but all are double-coated and thick. Gender differences are well expressed in this breed. Males are more massive and powerful; females are smaller and lighter in build. Dogs should be presented in hard, muscular condition. The Central Asian Shepherd Dog should be evaluated as a working livestock guardian dog, and exaggerations or faults should be penalized in proportion to how much they interfere with the dog's ability to work. Honorable scars resulting from field work are not to be penalized. And a little from another web site: Central Asian Shepherd dogs are said to be the oldest known group of dogs in existence today. Dating back over 5,000 years as per artifacts found in native lands. Unlike most breeds today, they are not man made or created by any specific reason or country. They were created by the climate and culture of a uncivilized time long forgot. You will find different breed types depending on the terrain from the mountains of Mongolia to the deserts of the Kara Kum. Their history is merged with the civilization of man and their timeline can be found by tracing the history of the ancient silk route. To understand their past history you must understand a time when surviving one day against extreme climates, predators now extinct and invading tribes was a goal not easily done. Today you will find Nomadic tribes using this pedigree groups of dogs to guard what they hold sacred: their family and their ancient form of transportation, be it camel or horses. Wrongly classified as traditional livestock guardians, they are territorial guardians bred to guard people and their possessions. They seek out human attention, thus bonding with their humans first and the flock second. They guard what ever is placed in their perceived territory. Superb pack oriented predator control dog; a cat in dog's clothing; X-large not giant but agile; problem solving, smart, attentive and affectionate; naturally protective of all they call their own. ----------------- Thanks for the additional encouragement! So far the process has been fun. I can see what you mean about the therapy going both ways. It's been interesting watching Akayla learn to respond to me instead of my husband. I think I'll take her to the park today and see if she'll take any treats from me. We need to practice "heeling."

Thank you all for your responses. I've copied and forwarded them all to her. I'm hoping that she'll share them with her husband and that they'll both get their act together. I especially stressed what you advised about getting his urine tested and the neutering. My husband and I were talking about this last night and remember trying to talk them out of getting more dogs because they never really trained them. But she's always been the type of person who when she wants something she gets it, regardless of the cost. When they tore up their furniture nothing seemed to be said to them which always left us scratching our heads. After replacing furniture three times she finally tossed them all out in the back yard and I doubt they've been in their house since. Her husband used to jog with them but that stopped a while ago when he got some type of exercise machine. We've always had large female dogs and have never ever had a problem with their behavior (or pee). This may be an odd statement, but it seems that whenever we've gotten a puppy we always had an older dog who seemed to immediately take over the training and we were just there to reinforce it. :) My husband is a big man at 6"5" and hates any type of social gathering and it shows. But he can walk into a room or house with a scowl on his face and every kid and animal in a half mile radius go right up to him. Animals always seem to mind him, even at first meeting. They have him figured out the second they see him. We could always take any of our dogs anywhere and they're the most well-behaved dogs around. I'm always grateful for our dogs when we're around our friend's dogs. We moved away from their area a few years ago so I haven't been around to personally witness the problems they've had since, nor do I want to. We think that our cat is doing a little better. It's been a week now and we were starting to think that it wasn't going to happen. Last night he stayed on my lap for quite a long time, played with one of his toys and went to sleep in my arms (which I had missed this past week) and today he even played "noses" with our dog. Our dog is a monster sized dog (picture a mix of chow and the largest German Shepard you ever saw then add a foot) so that did my heart good. Our older cat is both indoor/outdoor (he was a throw away cat when we took him in), altho prefers to be in the house most of the time. The kitten, coming from a feral mother, is more of an outside cat but we were working on him being in the house more and more when the problem started a week ago. When we took in the older cat it was like he always lived here but we knew with the kitten it would be different. So not actually ever trained a cat before we knew we were/are in uncharted territory so took a patient, slow but sure approach. We live between two empty fields and the older cat prefers to do his 'duty' out there. In the past year I think he's only used his litter box maybe 5 times. After we started bringing the kitten in at night we got a second litter box and the kitten has always used them (thankfully). We were planning on getting a second cat carrier this coming Spring as we know that we will need it when we take them to the kennel when we go on vacation. Now we think that we're going to get it sooner and see if he'll take to a new carrier and hopefully the next visit to the vet won't bee so traumatic for him. Anyway, thank you all for your time and help. Jenna

Yes, the corrugated box stuff would work. And believe me, they also love old WICKER. Oh dear yes, I had a problem with my cats clawing the arms of a wicker sofa. Never heard of the cat liking to claw rubber, but they have some pretty unusual cravings. Yes, OldGardener, the store bought posts do tip over, when you have an enthusiastic scratcher of any size at all. Marti, your cat sounds very independent, and phobic. Like my little boy maltese, he remembers which vet "did him in," and he growls at him every time. And my parrot knows that when I bring out the carrier he is headed to the vet, unless I've spent days packing. So yes, they are smart smart critters. Good luck with the tranquilizer. The one we were given for our cats, to calm them down for a 1500 mile trip, only made them drunk, and they meow-meow-meow like dripping water torture for the WHOLE TRIP, TWO DAYS. It was the LAST time I went anywhere with cats, and is the reason I have no cats these days. Good luck.