In October 2015, I went pumpkin picking at a local farm and found this Golden Retriever and Akbash mix puppy. The puppy looked so malnourished and when I met him, he was the sweetest puppy I've ever met. I asked the farmers about him and they said that they were trying to find him a new home, and that they called him Max. They didn't seem to really care about him by the way he looked and the way they talked about him, so I couldn't leave him there! I asked if I could have him and they happily let him go.
When we got home, I had to see what an Akbash was. It's a Turkish guardian dog and the males get up to a 120 pounds. Holy cow! Good thing I love big dogs. Then I had to name him. He didn't look like a Max to me. After a lot of thinking, I went with Castiel. Like the angel in the TV show "Supernatural". I thought it was a perfect name. And I could call him Cas for short, just like in the show.
The malnourished puppy that stole my heart
Castiel's parents. The mom is an Akbash (top) and the dad is a Golden Retriever (bottom)
I took him home and he settled right in!
I took him to the vet two days after he came home
We found out that he was 6 months old, weighed 43 pounds, and had hookworms. He was vaccinated and dewormed. The vet told us that he also had a minor deformity in his front legs due to malnutrition, but that it would correct itself now that he's eating good food.
Once he was feeling a little better, I started teaching him how to walk on a leash
He loved sleeping in the yard over by the chickens and ducks
I watched Supernatural with him
He was a pumpkin for Halloween, of course!
Now we do everything together!
