We welcome updates on our adopted dogs. If you will send it in to the webmaster at

webfox@vgsr.net  we will post it for you.

 

 

I wanted to give you an update on Abygail Anka's life since she had left the rescue association (VGSR). Abygail was adopted from the VGSR association in August 2001. She has been a wonderful addition to our family since this time, and her relationship with our house cat (Malamar) is amazing. They play chase throughout the house and an 8 lb. cat chases the 90 lb. Aby as if she were a dog. They stay together like best friends. Shortly after Abygail's adoption she received the AKC Canine Good Citizen Award. Soon thereafter, he was appointed the Ol'Roy (dogfood) Dog of the Year for our area. She was given the best of the best food but will only eat it with a light mixture of Ol'Roy. The contest judges appearance, personality, and other aspects of being a great dog. Soon after her appointment as Dog of the Year, she began to show signs of lameness and difficulty walking. After many trips (and hundreds of dollars) later, she was diagnosed with SEVERE bilateral hip displasia, which surprised me since the VGSR vetinarian stated she was cleared of hip displasia on her intitial evaluation. Anyway, Abygail was admitted to Virginia Tech's Vetinary Hospital on September 1, 2003, and now has a new prostesis for a hip joint (Total Hip Replacement). She has many more weeks of rehabilitation before she can return to her regular daily activities. She will be off her precautions at the end of December. As you can tell, we are very thankful for the companionship Abygail has offered us up-to-date and we would not trade it for anything. She has showed to be a great German Shepherd, guardian, and friend. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Virginia German Shepherd Rescue for joining our family with Abygail Anka, who has provided an abundant amount of love and friendship. Please pray for Abygail's quick and successful return from her recent surgery, and I know she will be in your hearts.

Dr. Daniel Morrell

Hello,

Just wanted to let you know how everything was going. Alex is doing great; she is a real character. She has settled in nicely and for the last week has been in dog school. She is a very quick learner and is very smart. She is a star pupil! Right now she is learning how to behave off her leash. She is doing very well on that to. She is hard-headed sometimes, but all-in-all a great dog. She loves to play and loves to just run and run. So she does and is really happy about it. I think she just needed some boundaries and now she has them, so she doesn't get corrected all the time. Everyone who meets her loves her and can't believe she is a rescue dog. Thanks again for all your help. As soon as I get some pictures I will forward them on.

Sarah

Allie is doing absolutly great. She has gotten used to George and has even given him kisses. George bought some treats that are only given by him, and she likes sleeping in Becca's room too. She always lets us know if someone is outside of our house and even LOVES to howl at the firetrucks/police cars going by. And you were so right about the vaccum becoming my best friend. I don't think my carpet has seen this much of it before, but I think Allie is almost done with her winter coat and she appears to be thinning down a bit. She is such a sweetie and follows me everywhere I go. Thank you so much for allowing Allie to become a part of our family. She is truly loved here..and spoiled rotten! Thanks again,

Stephanie

 

 

 

 

We began our search for a new companion by identifying what we desired and what we could provide. We decided on a dog but had to consider a breed. Time and money were the two resources that had to be allocated to any new family member. The question was how much. Since my wife is much smaller then I am, we wanted to be certain that she could handle the dog, as it got older and larger. We discussed the breeds and settled on the German Shepherd. We were first nervous about if we met the requirements to own a German Shepherd. My wife and I had been around dogs for the majority of our lives. Though I had never owned a GSD myself, I have known enough of them to recognize the beauty and intelligence of the breed. I knew that a German Shepherd required a lot of effort to keep stimulated and happy. There was the concern of the common disorders associated with the breed including hip disease. We decided to start looking for good breeders and visited a few over the next few weeks. I was in the kitchenette at my place of employment when I noticed a fluorescent green 8-1/2 by 11 sheet of paper that had the picture of a German Shepherd on it. I was concerned that one of my coworkers had lost a dog and started to read the notice. My attention was well placed, as this was a flyer for the Virginia German Shepherd Rescue. Taking the information, I began researching VGSR and what was involved with participating. I recognized that this was a group of people who where very concerned for the health and well being of the German Shepherd Dog. The determination of the volunteers was what steered my wife and I to rescuing a GSD. The process began with filling out an application to adopt. The form was easy to understand and really help to identify things that were not necessarily considered in adopting a dog. The form helped us to prepare for the next part of the adoption process, the Home Visit. The home visit was not only to help the VGSR get a perspective of who we were; it was an avenue for my wife and me to ask a person questions. The volunteer arrived when she was expected. She had a GSD with her that she was fostering. The German Shepherd was a true German Shepherd. She was happy and curious. All of the things we expected to see in a GSD. We were excited just to be in the presence of a GSD. The Home Inspector finished the inspection and the interview, and informed us that we were good candidates for adopting a GSD. The following Saturday, there was a German Shepherd Rescue Adoption Day at the PetsMart in Sterling, Virginia. We went to the event, not knowing what to expect. We met a wonderful group of volunteers and several GSDs. My wife and I were interested in one of four puppies that were recently born and soon to be weaned from their mother. We spoke with many of the volunteers. Our questions involved why were these wonderful animals being giving up by their owners. There were a variety of reasons for people giving up their GSDs, and for some of the owners, all had to take a hard decision. The goal of the VGSR is to match he right GSD with the right family. Those surrendering their GSDs place a great deal of faith in the organization's ability to make those matches happen. There were so many wonderful dogs, but sadly, none present matched with us. One of the volunteers suggested that we look on the web site again to see other dogs that could not make the event. We finished talking and meeting the dogs and left for another appointment we had that afternoon. My wife and I discussed what we saw and what we learned. We decided to wait on the puppies since they would be easy to find a home for. The older dogs needed homes now. That evening, my wife and I returned home to find a voice mail from a volunteer at the VGSR. We listened to the voice mail, which indicated that there was a potential perfect match for us; a 1 year old German Shepherd. My wife and I went online and viewed the suggested match, Vegas. I was surprised to see an all-black German Shepherd. My wife and I talked about her and spoke with the volunteer about arranging a meeting. Normally the meetings can be arranged quickly and the prospective adopters take a few days to think about the adoption. But the situation involved my wife and I, located in Leesburg, Virginia, and the fostering family, located in the Norfolk area, making arrangements to meet. It was decided that my wife and I would drive 4 hours to meet this stranger, and her fostering family. When my wife and I first met Vegas, we were immediately drawn to the bright eyes and general happiness that she had in her stride. The photo did not do her justice. The family that had been fostering Vegas acknowledged that Vegas needed a home where she would get attention but is had to be a home that gave her lots of love as well. My wife and the ladies of the fostering family played with her. She was not aggressive, but she was exuberant with the energy that only a puppy has. She ignored me, for the most part, until I asked if everyone would stop playing with her for a moment. I called her name. I understand dogs. I know what they need and in general what they want. I can generally predict how a particular dog will react to certain things in a matter of minutes. This dog, which I had just met, surprised me. On calling her name, she stopped what she was doing, turned and walked over to me. Her eyes looked up and I could see her waiting for the next command. "Sit," I said. She immediately sat and waited for me to give the next command. I looked into her eyes and could see that she wanted to please everyone with all of her being. I praised her and had her on her back, showing her belly to me in a typical gesture of trust and submissiveness. I was certain at that point that she was the right dog for us and we were the right family for her. I did some other simple response test for temperament, food aggression, and tolerance. Several times she gave the "Shepherd Cock" and looked up to me wanting so much more. Due to the length of travel involved, my wife and I were given the option of taking her that day, instead of waiting. We both knew. She was the one. The trip back was through foul weather. It was raining and stormy. Vegas sat in the back of the car and looked out the back window. She knew that this was a permanent change, but was not showing a great deal of anxiety. We stopped to get fuel and let her out to walk around a little with my wife. We had replaced her pincher collar with a choker chain. She was responding well enough to direction and was not pulling hard on the chain. My wife was comfortable handling her. Vegas refused to drink anything, which is typical for her when she is nervous. The trip continued to a rest stop just south of Richmond. There was room there for us to get out of the car and stretch a bit. This is where we discovered the extent of Vegas's dog hostility. She was outright dog aggressive. This was the only issue that we had concern over, but it was expected to some extent. I had already researched the issue and what needed to be done to help her learn that other dogs were not bad. We handled her and got her all the way back to Leesburg without further incident. She was introduced to her new home and quickly learned what was acceptable and where it was acceptable to do it. Her first vet visit was scheduled with Dr. Browning in Herndon at the Clocktower Animal Hospital later that week. It was then that I remembered that having a dog was like having a child. Her weight when we got her was about 49 pounds. Her ideal weight, at the time, was 60 pounds. Her ribs were clearly visible and her hipbones were starting to show. The Doctor indicated that this was probably a result of the weather conditions that summer and her puppy activity. Both of those factors along with being kept outdoors made it difficult for her to put on and keep on weight. With in a few days, we had decided that another name was appropriate for her. Vegas had the connotation that we had won a bet. This did not fit her. We felt that she needed a name that better fit her. The first thing was that the name should sound similar to her original name. The foster family had been calling her Negras (black from one of the Latin based languages) but shouting that name in the neighborhood was not a flattering sound. But even if we had decided to use that name, it still was not the perfect fit. She was such an angel that we needed a word that fit her. That thinking is what led us to the name Angeles. We fed her as the Doctor had instructed, and exercised her to keep her stimulated and happy. The results were a nice gradual weight gain and a happy attitude. We were still working with her and her other dog aggressiveness (not to mention cats, squirrels, rabbits, etc.), but we were not making very quick progress. My wife was upset that Angeles would only answer me and not respond obediently to her instruction. The first issue was resolved with help from my older brother, who is a recognized expert in the area of canine behavior. During his summer visit, my brother taught us how to correct the inappropriate behavior in ways that were not harsh, and helped Angeles to recognize that both my wife and I are Alpha in relationship to her. The correction involved rolling her over on her back and putting her in the subordinate position while gently holding her down. She was given corrective instruction at the same time. After a few corrections, there was a noticeable change in Angeles's behavior and she was happier to know that she was pleasing us when she behaved correctly. Angeles had shown her self to be such a wonderful dog, my brother threatened to take her out west and train her in search and rescue. My brother already has one German Shepherd, Perth, that is an accomplished search and rescue dog. My older brother's opinion on Angeles made me feel better about our decision to take her. The time came for another visit to the Veterinarian's Office. We found that Angeles truly enjoyed car rides, even to the vet. She sat in her area, watching the world speed past, as we traveled from Leesburg to Herndon. We entered the vet where we checked in. When Dr. Browning came out, he was surprised that Angeles was not behaving aggressively to the other animals in the waiting area. He did a double take to make sure that it was the same dog. He was please to see that in the time between visits, she had reached her ideal weight and was behaving like a well-trained German Shepherd. She was so well-behaved that he asked how we changed her behavior so effectively. Things have come along way since we first brought Angeles to her new home. She had a brief infection that was easily cleared up. She has learned to be nice about other dogs; it is now a general alertness with other dogs and not outright hostility. She has demonstrated her true German Shepherd traits of loyalty and protection for both my wife and me. The rest of the neighborhood, some other German Shepherd owners as well, are impressed with her progress and how beautiful she is in her own splendor. The key thing to remember when accepting responsibility for any dog is that he will become a member of your family as you become a member of his pack. Like a child, a dog requires love, stimulation, and discipline to grow. We feel that Angeles has been getting all of the things she needs to develop. We have learned about her needs and she recognizes ours. Angeles is an important member of our family. I am always pleased when she surprises me with a new sound or behavior that shows her intelligence. I always enjoy calling home to hear Angeles vocalizing indicating that she is playing with my wife. I am thrilled when she comes to the door to great me, always excited that I am home. Angeles is so important to us that we have made arrangements for where she would go if anything were to happen to my wife or me. We have a plan for Angeles's development. We aspire to have her work with search and rescue. But, even if she never becomes a certified search and rescue dog, she will always be a member of our family.

Michael Anthony Shivik

I wanted to drop a line and let you know how Annie is doing in her new home. She has been here for about a month and a half now and the whole family, with exception of the three cats, is all settled in. Annie has been an incredibly good girl and gets along great with both myself and my daughter and we have been having a great time playing ball at the tennis court and going to obedience class. Our trainer has a full agility course in his back yard, and on Saturday the whole class is going there to play. Annie's favorite activity is helping rake leaves. And she actually helps by stretching her front legs in front of her and moving backwards, shuffling the leaves into a nice pile and of course, like all kids, then proceeds to jump around in the pile. We are trying to put the command "rake" to the action so we can show off her funny trick. Annie has amazed us with the speed with which she learns. Every time I choose a new command to teach her, she seems to pick it up in a training session or two. She has gone from pulling me down the street when we are out on a walk to heeling beautifully, and from chasing squirrels to being able to do a 15-minute or more "down-stay" in the middle of a park full of squirrels and passing people. The cats are taking it slow getting to know her, and I am allowing them to decide on when to make the next move, but we are progressing. With a baby gate between them, Annie now sits quietly when they are in sight, and the cats have been getting closer and closer. One cat even jumps the gate and they sit and watch each other from a distance. Annie just turned 11 months old last week and must be having a growth spurt because she has gained 15 pounds since she we got her about 7 weeks ago. The vet says that this is a healthy amount of growth and we should expect to have a 90 pound girl by the time she finishes growing and filling out. Luckily, she has a thin bone structure and is very muscular which should allow her joints to easily support her weight. My daughter has decided that Annie is her "bigger but younger sister" and is busy thinking up ideas about how we can celebrate Annie's first birthday in a few weeks. Thank you all at VGSR for the work that you do and for helping bring Annie into our family. We absolute adore her and couldn't have asked for a sweeter pooch.

Lisa Stephenson

The Pooles

 

Hello Lea and all at VGSR. I have been in my "FOREVER HOME" almost a month now, and thought you would like to know how I am doing. This retirement thing is great. I have this "Lady of the House" that has never been around dogs, I have her wrapped around my tail. She thinks I'm an alien because she was always told GSD's eat people. I'm showing her how to be a good DOG-person. The young man of the house has a band with lots of friends coming around all the time. They think I'm cool because I like their music, but I'm a dog; what do I know? The old man of the house has been around my kind before. I can tell by the way he won't let me get away with anything. All said and done, they are good people who love to give me attention and lots of love. I sometimes wonder where it all comes from because the other furry animals here seem to get their share of loving too! There is this old cat that keeps wandering around looking at me as if I'm about to eat it. How silly is that! Then there are these two ferrets (I think this is what the people call them). Anyway, they smell funny and bounce around when they are out of their cages. My new people are always watching me when those things are out and around. I wouldn't hurt them but they are so fast I can't help wondering what it would be like to chase them, at least a little. Well, I'd better sign off for now. Let all the people at VGSR know how glad I am for their help in finding a "Forever Home" for me. As for my four legged friends, I hope they will find their "Forever Homes" soon! By the way here is a picture of me in my "BAND" attire. It won't be long before I'm on MTV. Lots of Sloppy Kisses and Thanks! BANDIT.

P.S. Thank you VGSR for "OUR PERFECT (DOG) Family Member",

Fred, Cindy, George North

We and Beauregard VanMarmaduke (went for the French/Dutch/Danish Dog from Hell connection - well, if there wasn't such a connection, there is NOW :) are jello-ing nicely. We have had a couple minor bumps in the road but nothing that a good dog obedience program won't solve. His good points include his total snuggle factor. He's a love!! He's sweet, he's gentle, he's obedient the vast majority of the time. He loves to please and will cleave to anyone in the house willing to give time...very social boy. He has grown very protective of the house and yard and has a very basso bark when riled. The Marmaduke in him is as follows: his chief source of annoyance is anything in the bird family... despises birds. He also hates the drive through....barks savagely at the little box...can barely get an order in...between him barking and me laughing my fool head off...I've never seen such a thing. He also attacked our vacuum cleaner and has a propensity for getting into the kids toys...actually stuck his head into a partially open toy drawer, extracted a toy and began to chew it...I rescued it but still...he's a flippin hoot! Exuberance, in his case - given his size and gangliness, is a detractor so we are doing simple sit stay upon arrival and departure as well as when he gets "fired up" with a lot of coming and going. His beautiful face (hence Beau) and almond eyes melt us each time we see his face...and we see other wild life in him...moose or some other ponderous elk creature, bear....and the beauty of a doe in that awesome face. Thanks to you ALL for once again helping to make our house a home...w/o the pitter patter of clod hopping feet and the plethora of rolling fur balls...it's just not home. He's just what the Good Lord ordered for this family.

Stephanie Mendenhall & family

Hi, Everyone, I am merely sending you an update on Brandy. Adopted from you in 2005? Oh gosh, how time flies. At 8 months, Brandy was full of energy. I couldn't hardly hold her on a leash. She has come a long way from when I first got her. I will admit, I had my doubts about her at first. But I am so very glad I didn't give up on her. She will be 3 years old in December and what a beauty. Her lightbulb came on in her head and she has become a wonderful companion. I would love to do more with her, fly-ball, search and rescue, something very active for her and me. However, "we", need a little more training. I am sending you some new pictures for your viewing pleasure. We missed the reunion this year due to some medical issues I've been having. Hopefully, there will be more opportunities for us to get together. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the great work you are doing in this organization.

Thanks for everything, you guys are great!

Dena Gray

Just wanted to drop a note to say hello and send you some photos of Brenna. We are having a great time together. She is adapting very well. On her first day home, we went to an anti-war rally - yes a political demonstration is quite an introduction to DC. She is still quite shy and nervous, however, enjoys playing at the Congressional Cemetery and also loves the snow! I can't tell you how happy I am that Brenna has joined our household. She showers us in love and I trust she is getting much in return. Thank you, again.

Tony Ogden

Hello Everyone, Bruno here!

Although I’m really an inside dog I sure enjoy my time outside.

Here I am enjoying the snow at my forever home in December.

I was adopted on July 4, 2009 and things are going great.  My new family

really loves me and I love them back.  They are so grateful that VGSR

saved my life.  They really appreciate all the hard work the VGSR

volunteers do, especially my wonderful foster mom Joyce.  I couldn’t agree

with them more!   They keep saying they couldn’t be happier with me!

 

Thanks again to all at VGSR,

 

Colin and Karen Daniels

Hello! My name is Bullet, and I turned two years old December, 2008. My mom apologizes that it took her so long to send in this write up about me (people are such busy creatures)! She adopted me in January, 2008, from VGSR and is very happy she did! I am a very intelligent and well-behaved dog and people constantly tell my mom what a beautiful dog I am (and she won’t argue that fact!). I love to play fetch, take walks and play with my doggie friends at the dog park. I already had some training when mom brought me home, but we took another behavior class together so mom could learn what she was doing, too. I was a star pupil (and mom didn’t do so badly either!). I am great with children and mom really sees my herding instincts come out when they are around. I love to give them big sloppy kisses! Mom says anyone who adopts a GSD needs to be ready for lots and lots of exercise and vacuuming too. She says we definitely live up to our nickname “German Shedders”, but if you are ready for the serious commitment, mom says we are one of the best breed dogs she’s ever owned!

Bullet

Hi Brenda and Rick, Just wanted to drop you a note to say "hi" and update you on Buster. As I write, he is lying here with Mikey sleeping on the couch. They love each other, and frequently we find them snuggled up together. Happily we returned the crate to PetSmart, as we found we don't need it. He has been great and is a real sweetheart! I took him to the vet yesterday for a check up and the vet was really impressed with him. He is so friendly and as she said "has a great attitude." I went ahead and had them give him his rabies shot and will drop a copy of the certificate in the mail to you this week. We got him heart-worm medicine, flea medicine, toe nails clipped, worm check, and a supplement for his coat. The vet also had me talk to an employee who does Pit Bull rescue, and she gave me ideas on getting his weight up. He is a picky eater and Mikey has now become picky too! We decided to have our vet perform the neutering as they gave us a price break and we would feel more comfortable having them do it. I called the SPCA and cancelled. I'll send the certification to you after the 16th. At that time they are going to X-ray his toe to see if there is anything they can do. They said that if it doesn't bother him, they would recommend leaving it alone. He has gone jogging with Dan and he loves it (Dan and Buster) - he doesn't appear to be bothered by it at all. Hope all is going well and thank you for such a wonderful addition to our family! We love him!

Sincerely, Wendy and Dan

I am long overdue on providing you with an update on a mischevious and sweet German Shepherd mix we adopted 2 1/2 years ago. But to my credit we have been busy playing, cuddling and spoiling our sweet girl Casey. We adopted Casey 2 1/2 years ago on Easter weekend in Alexandria. She is one of the pups that was found in West Virginia at the time. We have two girls now ages 4 and 9, and just add a new son in October. Casey adores the girls and now her new little brother. Casey has been an absolutely wonderful addition to our family. She goes to the beach with us every year, vacations in PA, and loves to go for car rides- even if it is to run the girls to Soccer practice. As the year winds down, I thought it would be a good time to share our update of how Casey is doing and give some pictures. We only wish our house was bigger so we could add more German Shepherds to the crew. We wish you a Happy holiday season and hope to see you in the next couple of years to give Casey a playmate.

Greg, Rose, Kaela, Taylor, James and Casey Price