Sometimes in rescue you make "heart" decisions...they have no basis in fact, logic etc. Your just know in your "gut" that this is the right thing to do. I saw Spanky, now Zen, in an email sent to our rescue. He was a mix who had been at the shelter for a while, found as a neutered stray There was something about his expression that that I could not forget. I asked if they had temperament tested him. They had and sent me a copy: he had aced the test. Non reactive to the dogs as he passed them by, ignored the test kitty, happy to see the toddler doll, and knew commands: sit, shake, high five. He loved being around people. One of our volunteers went to see him and said he was a Dane/Akita mix He still haunted me, so I went to see him myself. The shelter was very full; there were dogs in crates everywhere. The dogs who had been there the longest were on death row. Our "hold' on Zen was keeping him alive. He was 70 lbs when he entered the shelter, and the longer he stayed, the less he ate. We took him out on a Monday; after meeting him, I could not leave this lovable old geek there. He ate very well the first night and the next morning, then nibbled here and there. We tried rotisserie chicken, boiled chicken with rice, hamburger. He would eat them all initially, but stopped. Thursday, he vomited sometime between the time Charlie walked him at 4:30 am and when I got up at 7 am. He was crying and looking at his abdomen. I made an appointment with the vet and off we went. Xrays showed a tummy full of food and intestines full of gas. He was 57 lbs....his best weight is most likely around 80-85 lbs. Medication to get things moving was prescribed. Friday night he developed blow out diarrhea. Called our vet, and received meds for that. He finally evened out over the next few days. Then a few days later, he started getting picky again.  The only thing he would eat was scrambled eggs with kibble and the only scrambled eggs.  Then he vomited up something resembling a cat "hairball", doggy size.   We took him and the hairball to the vet...it seemed to be composed of carpet fibers and various other stuff. And he , unfotunately was down to 49 lbs,   Later another hairball.  And then his appetite was back full force.  Now he inhales his food as if he will never get enough and is quite happy to try to finish off the other dogs' food when they do not eat. I can see him being a "counter cruiser" and "trash hound" so things must be pushed far back and the trash recepticle secure.  The spaces between his ribs are filling in, his hip bones are not so prominent and neither is his spine. He is more alert, and pretty perky on his walks.  We renamed him Zenzibar because there is a bit of spice in this older gent.  While he mostly walks well on leash, he gets too excited when he sees another dog on leash, even across the street.  We are working on sitting until the other dog goes by.  He knows where all the neighborhood dogs live, and even when they are outside barking, merely alerts and then ignores.  He is non reactive to the resident dogs either over the baby gate or while he is crated.   He will sniff my cats, but does not chase them or try to hurt them in any way.  He loves all the people he has met on his walks, leaning into them to be petted.  Zen is an odd combination of both breeds. He is the size of a normal Akita male, but has the thinner Dane leg. He has a short "Akita" coat that shed out its undercoat, but not as badly as a regular Akita, the Akita "prick" ears, but Dane sized, his gait is clearly Dane. His tail is too skinny for an Akita, too thick for a Dane, and while the root and next two thirds is straight, but the last third curls. When he is happy, he has a sickle tail with an extra bit of curl on the end. He  rides very well in a car and also crates well.  He is very affectionate and loves time with people, but is not intrusive. If you have space in your home and heart for this loveable senior, please let us know.