German Shepherd Dog Rescue October Newsletter 2012

How big are we Now???

On the 2nd of October we will be 8 weeks old and ready to go off on our big adventure to our new forever homes, please email our foster mum if you would like to know more about us. [email protected] We all found our furever homes thanks to you guys at GSDR..X

LIBBY AND BUSTER

DYLAN…

BUICK…

Russell now SHAR Roscoe It is with great sadness that I write this, I am sure you will remember Charley who has featured in a few newsletters now as being the poor scared pound girl who arrived at our kennels with a large lump under her tummy, a lovely family read her write up and asked to go and see her, they were not phased by the lump and took her home with them. I received this a few days ago from Alison….

So sorry to have to tell you this but we had to have Charley put to sleep today. The 3rd lump that was removed was a Grade 3 tumour (very aggresive & terminal) so her time was limited. All we could do was keep her as comfortable as possible. During the last 10days another tumour started growing rapidly and was ulcerated. Charley was walking much slower, no longer eating & occasionally yelping as I think her leg was rubbing on the open sore. It was probably the hardest decision I have ever had to make but we didn't want Charley's condition to deteriorate to such a stage where she was in real discomfort, so we decided it was her time to go. We are all devastated as she was such a special dog, the most loving ever and I adored her. She was like my little shadow and doted on me as I did her. She was the best behaved dog we have ever had, with people, dogs etc. Smudge the cat even started cuddling up to her. I will never forget Charley as she was one in a million and I feel so lucky to have had her as my dog & companion. But I cant help feeling cheated & gutted that we only had her for 2 months as she deserved so much more after her terrible previous life. We just wanted to give her the best life ever to make amends. We gave Charley a lovely home and cared for her so well and stayed with her right to the end cuddling her & telling her what an amazing dog she was, so I hope she passed away feeling loved, happy and peaceful. She will be deeply missed by all of us. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but thought it decent to let you know the final outcome. Hope you are both keeping well. Best wishes Alison

E N W

Hi Angie Today I sent a cheque very badly written out I am S afraid to Jayne S. as that was the first address I could find and I wanted it to hit the bank asap. The money was collected from my Brownie group (1st Hatfield Peverel Brownies). Zara happy with new family human and They did various activities over the jubilee period and we raised £50.00. canine. Zara lived with Soloman we We chose the as I adopted Tia (formerly couldn't find a home for them together Grace) from Yorkshire on 21.01.12. but hey look how many friends she has After a 400 mile round trip early one saturday morning now. Soloman was homed and is happy with our other Dog Rolo we brought her back home with us and have never looked back. She is doing well and we want to thank you and all the other volunteers so much for all your hard work. Since I have been for the charity I have met and talked to some very special people. perhaps you can pass my comments on. Di

Giggs stunning young boy, owner no time for him found himself on a ferry over to the Isle of Man, happy and having fun. May and Cammy found a great home TOGETHER, which is not easy today to get someone to take on a pair.

Hello My name is Pauline Taylor and my husband, Robin, and I took over Sam on 28 July 2008. We collected him from a house in Barnsley. I just wanted to let you know what a delightful dog he has been. He travels everywhere with us and we just got back from our fourth trip to France with him in our caravan. He is one of the family and loves life. I attach a couple of pictures of him in Brittany. We are lucky to have him. All the very best Pauline Taylor

Hiya Look at this stunning photograph from one of our adopters, this is the lovely Fergus (was Ferguson) celebrating his one year anniversary with his new mum up in the Lakes - how gorgeous is he! We had discussed many times about getting another dog, after all "Jack" (our existing Shepherd) was fast approaching 12 years old. Reality had kicked in, and we know that if we are lucky we will have his wonderful company for hopefully another two years maybe at the most. Jack was himself a bit of a handful when we first took him on at the age of 2 and a half, a fully grown "teenager" that had had very little training. He had come from a loving home with many other pets and young children. The family were going to emigrate and were unable to take him, we were the lucky ones able to adopt him through another GSD rescue agency. Over the years Jack has gone through all the proper training including full agility, and was always the leader when it came to the fire hoop. His energy was boundless as was his thirst for learning. Our home is festooned with the "trophies" he has won over the years, and his wonderful character is known throughout many Counties!. People always ask when we are out "where's Jack". It has been said before that he is better known than the local Town Mayor! February this year I was forced a year early into retirement through redundancy, this became the trigger for us to do something positively about taking on a second dog. A quick trawl of the various websites (makes it so easy these days) showed us that there were hundreds of dogs out there needing a second chance. Taking the bull by its horns we took the plunge, I filled in the on-line forms, we sat back and waited..... Eventually GSDR contacted us, a home visit was arranged, all "vetting" done and dusted. Lizzy contacted us to find out what we wanted, at that time there were suddenly few dogs that seemed to fill our list of requirements, between us we whittled down a list of half a dozen or so to ANGEL, a White female GSD from the Southampton area...... (Karma or what??...JACK came from close to Southampton originally). A meet was arranged on the strict understanding that if JACK did not approve it would be a no-go!! ANGEL (now named SABA, after the Greek SHEBA) walked through the patio doors to where we were seated in waiting...... the two dogs rubbed noses and disappeared down the garden together as if they had known each other all their lives!! This was the sign we had been hoping for and the match we were looking for. Paperwork sorted we took her back home with us. This is now Saba's third and will be her final home. She has started to find her feet now, her character is really beginning to show through. She is fairly good on a lead, but it is obvious she has had little or no proper training. This will begin once she has been through the Spaying procedure. Once or twice now I have let her off lead whilst out on one of our long walks, she responds well to recall, although I think it would not take much for her to `take off` should she decide to do so. She is always the first to the car, and always the first into it! Indoors she has taken over Jack's bed in the living room, he isn't the least bit bothered and lets her walk all over him! There is very little doubt, Saba has realised she is now safe and loved, and in time she will reward us totally with her affection and her loving nature. Already she rarely leaves my side even in the house she always checks to see what I am doing. Are we pleased ?? YOU BET WE ARE !! All thanks to the team involved at GSDR...... score another success story. (The pictures show SABA as the "little one" in the Red collar) Regards Dave and Margaret Jack and Saba A litter of Olympic namesakes I am from German Shepherd Dog Rescue where recently we were This is our letter that asked to take a lovely Shepherd bitch from a dog pound; not unusual was published in Dog for us but this girly was very heavily pregnant, in fact she only managed two days in her new foster home before she gave birth to World Newspaper as six gorgeous GSD cross pups on August 7! their letter of the I am an equestrian grand prix rider and the foster mum is a show week !!! jumper so the irony of the pups popping out actually during Laura [Bechtolsheimer], Carl [Hester] and Charlotte [Dujardin]‛s Olympic dressage tests was amazing. They were therefore named after their famous namesakes, we also have Ben from the show jumping team and Mary and Tina from eventing. The puppies have a three-page feature in our monthly newsletter which can be found on our website and Facebook page. All pups will be looking for new homes when they reach eight weeks old and will always have a story to tell being our special little Olympians and surviving all odds in the ever growing world of rescue. www.germanshepherdrescue.co.uk. Allison Clarke

Hi Maria Its Rob from Plymouth just to let you know that Sasha is well and has really settled down she is just one of the family now love her to bits well as Sue says i am bloody too soft with her but hey she‛s a girl butter wouldn‛t melt she is just so good with everyone that comes to the house, when i am with her that is if i am out the back and she hears the door before me boy does she go for it i don‛t think anybody would try to come in. If you could hear her in the garden i call her mrs Growlie its so funny if someone walks past the back gate and its not very loud she is funny she makes us all laugh she does , i would not be with out her now i will send some more photos later to you and the kennels we got her from, O and she is so Messy when she drinks her water lol, this is how lazy she is she just lays down and splashes it everywere but that is Sasha they are all different and i like that I adopted Theo (male G/S) on the 2/8/11. He came to me with what I can only say, extreme dog aggression. How ever I worked with Theo every day, taking him to parks and places where he would meet lots of other dogs. For the first 5 months he had to be on a lead or muzzled. After 7 months he was completely rehabilitated and is now a very relaxed, happy boy, who enjoys nothing more than playing off lead with his and other dogs.

I can say to anyone who is thinking of adopting a G/S, if you adopt one with issues, don't give up on him/her. It takes time, patience and most of all consistency.

Theo now has a place for life. He is a true joy and a loyal friend and I am now in the process of looking to adopt a female G/S.

Many thanks from Theo and myself to The German Shepherd Rescue Society.

Please adopt me Dave.

Hello Lizzy and Irene I just wanted to share some photos of Lucy (now named Kat – apologies for name but we have a cat called mouse so it seemed appropriate!!) She is a very happy dog! We are absolutely thrilled with her and still can‛t believe quite how good she is ; lovely sociable temperament and so eager to learn and please. She is eating well, will now sit to command and is walking well on the lead. She sleeps at night and we have not had an accident in the house as yet. Too good to be true! Hope you enjoy the pics. Please feel free to share them. I can‛t thank you enough for the wonderful service you provide through the GSDR. Liz Successful at it‛s best. More money we raise the more dogs we can help!

My family and friends worked hard all day and with 4 children running around as well it went fantastic, we lost none of them. we had a couple of people enthusiastic about contacting the web site for a dog, and enquiries about helping us. handed out lots of leaflets Many of you will have seen this when it was on the main page of our website. Well done guys and I believe this is an ongoing thing with Pets at Home so watch this space! Happy times ahead for Dina and boy does she deserve it!!

Here we have the gorgeous Dina who in Dec 11 was advertised on Pre-loved. Thankfully a member of our GSDR team spotted the advert and contacted the owner to warn him of the perils of re-homing from such a site, he took heed and asked us to re-home her. Emma was asked to assess Dina and when she met her she instantly fell in love with this sad looking dog as did myself and Allison – well who couldn‛t with such a face like hers? We all wanted to do the best for her as she deserved better! Dina was living outside with 4 other dogs and was constantly trying to escape due to lack of stimulation or interaction. She had a litter of pups in the Aug and was a fantastic mum and when another bitch in the pack had a litter she would clean and mother them too. She was wary of strangers and would bark at them and whoever adopted her would need to be very patient and spend a lot of time with her to bring out her personality and her training would have to start from scratch. I will admit when I read her assessment, I did worry if we could home her as with so many of our dogs with issues they are always harder to re-home. However, to my surprise and delight in Feb 12 I had a call from one of our home checkers to say she had just completed a fabulous home-check for a couple, Mel & Lee, who already had 2 gorgeous Irish Wolfhounds and really loved the look of Dina. Wow, our prayers were answered and I instantly passed on the good news to Emma who was absolutely cock-a- hoop. However, our delight was short lived after my telephone conversation with the owner who me Dina was pregnant again and would not release her until she had her pups which I confirmed would be after they were 8 weeks old. However, to her credit Mel was happy to wait until Dina was ready and in the meantime wanted to meet Dina to see how they got on – please note this was a 170 mile round trip and certainly did not deter Mel one bit. When she and Lee met Dina it was love at first sight and decided there and then to adopt her despite having to wait a number of months before they could take her home. Emma was in constant contact with the original owner and kept both myself and Mel updated of Dina‛s pregnancy and pups. Finally, Emma got the call to say Dina was ready to be re-homed and immediately arranged a meet with Mel and Lee and they adopted her on 28th Apr 12. As you can see by the photos of Dina – she has truly settled in with her new family where she is truly loved and enjoys the interaction of her people and enjoying fabulous walks. This is definitely one very happy ending and I truly wish this for all our dogs!! I would also like to say a massive thank you to Emma Drew Lewis our Central vollie who stuck with this girl from assessment to re homing just to make sure the owner kept to his word…..Thanks Emma! x Ever the gentleman that‛s our Hooby !!

Hoobys owners came to us in mid December, asking !"#$%#&'#(%)'#(*)#+"#('#,+"-. $#/'$$*-/#)!0( attention or exercise. When our assessor visited he was shocked at what he found. Hooby was in a lot of pain and discomfort from his back end, a condition that his owner said has just started. We found Hooby an emergency foster placement and took him to our vets. They were horrified at the severity of his condition, anal furunculosis that had been left untreated for years. His bottom was a mass of open sores filled with blood, pus and dried faeces. The vets were unsure if Hoobys condition was too far advanced to respond to treatment. This lad had been through so much and must have endured months, if not years of neglect for his furunculosis to get to this stage. The drugs to treat anal furunculosis are horrendously expensive (Cyclosporin £400 month) but we were not prepared to give up on Hooby, he deserved a fighting chance. Hooby began a course of antibiotics and steroids to reduce the infection and inflamation before starting on the cyclosporin. He also started a strict cleaning routine, his back end was shaved,and showered daily with barrier cream applied to protect his wounds. We also started Hooby on a raw diet to firm up his motions. Throughout all this manhandling and treatment Hooby was a complete sweetheart. He is one of the nicest natured dogs I have come across. By this time Hoobys story has spread and everyone was excited by the news that Hooby‛s lesions were shrinking, the treatment was working. At this point we had an enquiry from a family who had read Hoobys profile on the website and were interested in giving the lovely lad a home. Unfortunately our joy was short lived, Hooby became constipated and very uncomfortable. He took to hiding and we knew something was wrong. Hooby was rushed to the vets where he was admitted. He was completely bunged up and had to have an anaesthetic to allow the vets to clear his blockage. The picture below is just a small sample of what was taken out of Hooby 48hrs later, Hooby was back at his foster home and was so much happier. Once we knew he was recovering we arranged for the family interested in Hooby to come an visit him. They fell in love with the dear old chap and adopted him. Hooby is now living with another GSD and is still the gentlest soul. He is still on extensive treatment for his anal furunculosis, the vets have now said that he will probably always have to be on these 1&!/"2#3'#1%-. $#4-%,#,(+$#$(' future holds for Hooby but he is thriving in a loving family, so much more than he had less than a year ago. Good luck Hooby. Vollie of the month…….

This is a new and welcome addition to our newsletter, every month one region will be asked to nominate a vollie who has gone up and beyond to help this wonderful breed. I have managed to secure some fantastic treats from this company www.thrivepetfoods.com to send to the lucky vollie who is nominated. I am going to nominate the first lucky vollie to receive these lovely treats for her 2 gorgeous sheps Duke and Natasha and many of you will know this is our Denise Patten from the Central Region. Denise will foster, transport at all hours of the night at a phone calls notice, kennel visits on a regular basis, takes dogs home to cat test them if it means they could get a home, HC and DA not only when it‛s close to her. Thanks Denise you really are a star!! Every month I am going to feature another rescue trying so hard like we are to battle through this ever increasing flood of unwanted and abused animals.

Come on girls Nowzad needs your bra‛s!! We have found a textiles company here in the UK that collects bras and Nowzad is able to raise money for the charity form every kilo we are able to send them! We can collect ALL types of bras including ones with or without wires; brand new or well-worn, all we please ask is that they have been washed before being sent to us. Once they have been received by the textiles company the bras are then sorted through and sent abroad where they can provide clothing for those who either do not have access to or are unable to afford new garments. If you would like to help us with our appeal by sending us any bras you may have, please find our address below: Nowzad Dogs PO Box 39 Plymouth PL2 9AU UK I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone or participated in the GSDR Calender. The response was overwhelming and we got far more than we needed so unfortunately we could not use all the ones sent to us. We appreciate the effort you all went to for this wonderful cause and I'm so I am passing this on to you sorry there wasn't room for all the because it definitely worked photos, but it just goes to show how we for me today, and we all could all pull together and make a great team I probably use more calm in our am proud to be part of. Thank you all very much again lives.. Some doctor on TV this morning said the way to Anyone wanting to order a calendar achieve inner peace is to finish should email Sue at: all the things you have started. [email protected] There are only So I looked around my house a limited number of these calendars so first come first served as they say. The to see things I'd started and calendars are priced @ £12 each which hadn't finished - I have includes P+P. managed to finish off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, a pockage of Prungles, tha mainder of bot Prozic and Valiuminun scriptins, the res of the chesescke an a box a chocletz. Yu haf no idr how bludy fablus I feel rite now. Plaese sned dhis orn to dem yu fee ar in ned ov iennr pisss.. An telum,u blody luvum.!! Xxx If you haven‛t got a cat get one….they are funny!!! CODY APPEAL

This lovely lad is Cody who is a 7 year neutered male. This poor lad is very misunderstood. His original owners said he was not good with very young children or other dogs and reacted badly to them both on occasion when restraining him or touching him unexpectedly. Our volunteer found Cody to be very excitable and nervous, and believed the main factor was the lack of exercise he was getting due to his owner's ill health. Cody had only ever been walked on lead and had never been properly trained or socialised. Cody came into the rescue July 2011. In his first foster home there were no problems and he was fine with foster mum‛s two dogs, one being an older GSD bitch and the other being a smaller cross breed male. He enjoyed going round to the stables and running free in the fields. A couple of weeks later a family came forward with teenage sons who were interested in adopting him. They were made fully aware of his issues but decided within a few days to let their neighbours visit along with their young children who were playing tennis on the lawn. Chasing the ball Cody thought one of the children was going to hit him with the racquet and nipped him. Despite the situation not being his fault Cody was returned and went to a nearby foster home. Again in foster there were no problems with other dogs. The only fight he had was when their bitch dog picked on him and he defended himself. It became very apparent however that he hated cats! Unfortunately Cody, through no fault of his own, had to go into our kennels in Essex. From here he was adopted by a lovely family with older children about 6 months ago. Having settled in well, Cody began to improve in many areas but started having the odd nip of people he didn‛t know. Despite trying to work with the situation the nipping was increasing with visitors in the home and then he nipped one of the son‛s who told him off for barking so with reluctance they took Cody back to the kennels. He loves being pampered and playing with his ball and in the right hands and with an experienced and confident owner who will stay on top of him we feel this lovely boy would become an excellent, loyal and loving companion. So when I got the call on Tuesday midday from the kennels saying that Cody had come down with bloat and could they go ahead and operate, all I could think of was the fluffy teddy bear that had crossed my doorstep a year ago and knew as we never judged a dog‛s life by what he may cost, he deserved a chance. Luckily it was caught early. Cody came through surgery and recovery and was monitored overnight at the vets. The next morning he was all waggy tail and they started giving him small amounts of food and by Thursday evening he was back at the kennels but sleeping in the grooming parlour away from the other dogs. The next day he was collected by our lovely Georgina who has taken him into foster while he fully recuperates. Whilst the vets did a terrific job and kept the bill to a minimum for the rescue, Cody‛s operation has cost just over £1000.00. Obviously this is a big chunk out of the funds for one dog with no time to raise an appeal prior to treatment, so I am hoping that by telling you all his story, you may all find it in your hearts to make a towards this cost. Cody is a fighter and if anyone can make a full recovery it is him. can be made in many ways as found on the website www.germanshepherdrescue.co.uk but please mark them Cody Appeal. Thanking you all in advance. This boys life has been saved by this very rescue, please give what you can to enable us to keep helping dogs like Cody. Dog of the month for October is……. COOKIE

Cookie is 7 years old and entire - the owners have had him for 5 years now - he was adopted from Birmingham Dogs Home. His vaccinations are out of date He is now blind in one eye due to lack of veterinary care due - no money. He was diagnosed with a rectal hernia in Jun but so far no action taken as the owner doesn't have the cash to pay for the op which is about £700, however we will be getting £150 (in cash) from her towards the op. He also suffers with separation anxiety. The reason for giving him up is - the owner has work commitments and so she leaves the dog with her daughter & 11 mth old granddaughter. Daughter is unable/unwilling to walk him as fearful of dog puling so dog isn't getting any attention at all!!! Beth said he is a sweet natured dog who appeared to have been rescued with good intent but ended up needing rescuing again. The house is a new build with a park nearby but dog hasn't been walked since the daughter got pregnant!! Beth took Cookie for a short walk he pulled initially and settled when corrected. The owner actually re-homed Cookie to a family with 2 dogs but the bitch didn't like him and he was returned after 4/5 days, also a neighbour complained to the council who immediately told them to get rid of the dog as they weren't allowed more than 2. Beth felt he was in a general state of 'mild' neglect - over grown nails, rectal hernia and now blind - seems more like lack of interest/knowledge rather than a malicious intent to neglect as previously hired a dog psychiatrist for his separation anxiety. Cookie came across as being in slight discomfort when sitting (to be expected) but affectionate, lovely and wanting fuss. My intention is to get this lad out, operated (and castrated) then into foster this week but need to confirm with the fosterer they are home majority of the day. It would be good if we can help this poor lad who is fine with everything - even cats :-)

This poor dog needs out as soon as we can so we can get him to the vet for the op he so needs, we also need to try to raise as much as we can to pay the £700 vet bill. That‛s all for this month hope you enjoy and keep sending your stories in, the response has been amazing and all things sent will go in I am just working my way through them…..Thanks peeps keep up the great work!!!