Hi, it's me... Taylor Lee, sorry I've so late getting you an update, but I'm a busy dog! My family is keeping me running around a lot; I've got so much to do with going to the dog park everyday, jumping in any available mud puddle, discovering the pleasures a full bathtub of water (I am a girl after all and love my bubble bath even if Mom and Dad don't). They have this small brown furry thing named Louise, she's a cat and I don't understand why she won't play with me, I try to give her puppy kisses and roll the ball to her but all she does is MEOW a lot! Last month they had this big dinner, I think they called it Thanksgiving. Everything smelled so good! After it was all over, my family kindly left me some pies on the dining room table, so I jumped on top of it and mmmm apple pie is my favorite! I don't think Dad was too happy about seeing me standing on top of the table though, he didn't yell at me but the look... oh my. I just wagged my tail and thought well I'm a dog after all. Oh and the dog park is so much fun, I get to run, wrestle, play tug of war and keep away. My doggie buddies and I get exhausted and have to take a big nap afterwards. Last week we started this thing called obedience classes, it's pretty boring, because I know most of it already, but I'm patient with Dad and let him think he's teaching me to sit, lie down and stay. Well I just wanted to give all my friends at Virginia German Shepherd Rescue a tail wag hello and let you know I'm doing great. I think I'm going to be a big dog, last time Mom weighed me I was nearly 80 lbs, it's fun to lean into my family and watch what happens if they aren't paying attention. Oh, Dad included a picture of me peeking around the corner of the bathtub when I found out it was full of water! Wheeeeee.

Taylor Lee

We got TeeFee (VGSR Tag #1436) from your group about 2 years ago (Adopted: 12/22/05). She is doing GREAT! She has been to a few places this year. She gets walked daily still, and is strong and healthy as an OX. She is still eating Nutra Ultra and HOMEMADE wet wood. She is soooo spoiled.

Steve Zavada & Mindy Pham

Just wanted to give an update on Thunder. I see the you put the photo I sent Pat up. He is doing wonderful. We have had him about 2 months now. He has become very attached to us and his new brother Dallas. He is a great off leash dog and loves to run! We can't take a shower without him sticking his head in to make sure we are still there. He had his first trip to the dog park and was a huge hit! Everyone loved him and he got along great with everyone. In the recent snow he had a blast. He loves to go places with us and has settled down a little bit on car rides. He gets along with all the family dogs from the min pins to the other German shepherds. He is a wonderful addition to our family. We couldnt have gotten a more perfect dog!!

Cassie Dikeman

Remember me? - one of Faith's pups? As you know I was very, very sick as a puppy, but because of your prayers, I am healthy and very happy! Here's my story... mom and dad were thinking of getting another GSD from the breeder to give my big sister, Cheyenne, someone to play with. A lab rescue foster mom mentioned the Shepherd Rescue - so mom checked out VGSR website and saw the CUTE picture of me. After a very long ride to Northern Virginia to check me out, and promising my foster mom that I would be in good hands, I was on the way to my forever home to meet my big GSD sister (and I mean big... 100 pounds!) It took some time for her to get used to me - after all, she had been an "only dog" for 8 years! We play well together, but I like to annoy her by taking her bones, sleeping on her bed and stealing her couch space. I especially like to butt in when she is getting love and attention. But that's what little sisters are supposed to do, right? I also have guinea pig siblings. The guinea pig cages are on the floor because my big sister doesn't bother them - so I had to learn not to bother them too. However, (it is always a good story when the word "however" sneaks in) my foster mom sent me home with a "squeak" toy. Did I mention that was my favorite toy? Know what happens when you pick a guinea pig up? He squeaks - just like my favorite toy! I was really good with him, I nicely picked him up and placed him on my puppy pad - he was really comfy and I didn't hurt him. I just wanted to hear him squeak. I quickly learned that the guinea pig is NOT my squeaky toy and I am NOT allowed to pick him up. I still like to steal his food, but I always manage to get caught because those shavings always leave a trail. Well, at least it is a trail of shavings and not the guinea pig... I am 8 months old now and mom and dad say I am a really good listener and I have a great personality. I love to chase balls (and bunnies) and I LOVE car rides - if the doors open, I am in the driver's seat - ready to go! Dad makes me move over to the passenger side. (I don't understand why he thinks I can't drive.) I love to go visiting to Grandma's house. Grandma wants to adopt me - must be my charming personality and the fact that I am so adorable. (Can't you tell from my picture?) Mom and Dad say Grandma needs to adopt her OWN GSD because she can't have me! A special thanks and some kisses to my foster mom, Shelia, for taking such good care of me when I was so sick. Thanks to everyone VGSR for saving my life and finding me a FOREVER home! May God bless all of you! - Tomi Girl

Hi,

Just want to provide a follow up to Trinity - We love her so much. Attached are pictures to let you know well she did in obedience. She is the absolute sweetest dog I have ever had and she fits my husband like a glove. She has lost all food aggression and we are working on the bone aggression. She adores my granddaughter and loves to play. She does not bark at strangers, all she wants to do is kiss them. I just want to thank you for the work you do. Without VGSR, we would not have found such happiness with Trinity. We have found another forever dog.

Thanks again,

Jewell F. Pitts

After losing our first dog at nine years old, my husband and I did not think we'd ever be ready to be doggy parents again. In fact, it took two and a half years before we were. I can only imagine now that that was because we needed to wait for Trinity (formerly Patience). From day one she has been a perfect girl. She tolerated our cat's attacks (all show) and our learning curve for her needs (after a couple of accidents - our fault). Within a few weeks, she and the cat were successfully living together, cage free, even when we were not at home. Our counters have always been surf-free and we even had to teach her to jump up on us. She rarely barks and is pure affection. Everywhere we go, people comment on how beautiful she is and the vets always tell us what a good girl she is (like we don't know). Her biggest challenge (or so we thought it would be) came almost two years ago - a new baby. I couldn't have asked for more from Trinity. To date, we've had a few knock downs, but only a few and only when she and Rachel are trying to go the same way at the same time, no jealousy, no issues at all. She truly is a wonder-dog. When she came into our lives, we were told that she was found wandering around Maryland, in good shape, as a stray, picked up by the pound and adopted by VGSR when her time was up. I have no idea why her last owners did not do everything to find her, but their loss is our gain! Trinity is my first GSD and I can't imagine having any other breed, even though I cannot see how any other dog can live up to Trinity. She has spoiled us in the best way! Thank you VGSR, Barbie and everyone who made it possible for Trinity to become an Ingram, and for us to become her parents. Once our lives settle down a bit, we'll be back for a brother for Trinity!

Rebecca, Steve, Rachel, and Mr. Mew Ingram

My name is Tristan. I can’t believe that I have been adopted for almost three years already. My life in my forever home has been the best.  My family loves me and I love them too. I remember that the first few days of living of their house I was so scared. It was hard for me to get used to living with them. They really understood even after I almost destroyed their living room!   I really love my home.  I’m the one who always gets spoiled. I have four mommies and two dads!! (I’m so lucky). Dubeysa  is always taking care of my health and buys me new toys. Neyba is the one who always wants me to go by the rules of the house.  Danitza is the one who always spoils me by letting me break the house rules without letting Neyba know. (don’t tell Neyba! shhh).  Lastly, Pablo, the one who always takes me to run every Sunday when he is not tired.  Wait - I almost forgot two important people, my mommy and daddy, the people who feed me and console me when fourth of July comes… (Yes...I’m scared of fireworks).  I have two best buddies. Max, my neighbor, a Rottweiler, whom I always play with when I’m outside and sometimes we even have running races by the fence.  And Mark, who is like my brother, he comes to visit me often when his owner comes to visit my mom and dad. I have shared many adventures with them that are unforgettable. Playing with Mark, Going to the Park, Running with Pablo (even though this is very tiring) is what I enjoy the most! …However...as much as I enjoy going for a walk or running with Pablo, sometimes it gets a little bit annoying whenever we pass by the poodles house.  Believe me poodles CAN be annoying because they are so clingy and small and I personally hate that I am too tough for them and  afraid I will hurt them.   One more thing about the picture above, I absolutely, definitely love to play when it’s snowing and with the snow, it’s my favorite season to play with sticks, hide my toys and find them again! Anyway, I love my life right now! It’s great!  Posted 7-12-10.

The Pena Family

Hi,

Just wanted to update you on Trooper who we adopted several years ago.  He continues to be a wonderful,

quirky member of our household who hangs out with his buddy, Romeo, the Golden Retriever and “his”

Birman cats, Latte and Toby-tu.  We moved around the corner last summer and he now has an even bigger

yard to play in.  During this winter’s storms, he thought he was Buck in “Call of the Wild” – see attached

picture.

Thanks again for bringing him into our lives!

Allison, David and Joanna Stover

Hey folks, Hope all is well!

According to the records DC provided to VGSR, Trooper turned 1 yesterday and I wanted to send you

some updated pictures and let you know that he weighed in at 71.6 lbs. yesterday morning!!  As you’ll

see, he still has what I term “bipolar” ears and we’re working hard on his fear (of anything new) issues,

but he and Dillan are inseparable and even my beloved 12-year old Sage enjoys his company.

Take care… and Thanks for all you do.

Carrie

Hi, it's me Tyler! I wanted to say thank you so much to my wonderful foster mom, Hilary, for saving me and to VGSR for finding my forever home. I was so very scared last year when I went to the adoption day with my foster mom. I was afraid of my own shadow. My foster mom let a couple spend lots of time with me, at the adoption day, so that they could pat me without my being scared. This nice patient family decided to take me home. At first I did not know how to play outside, or chew a bone or even chase a stick with my new GSD sister, but I could see she was so well loved and having lots of fun! I stayed in my "safe place" for a little while until I realized how wonderful it is to have food and treats and lots of love from my mom and dad. They nearly cried when I rolled over for my very first belly rub and I now "talk" to them all the time for more and more attention! I love to play hide and seek with my sister (we have six acres)and chase the rabbits out of my yard. I love to ride in the truck and go to the park. Now mom and dad have a new king size bed just for me and my GSD sister! They tell me that I am a very smart and a very loving boy and THEY are very lucky to have ME! Wow! I didn't know life could be this GRAND!! Thanks VGSR!

Love from Tyler and my forever family, Joy and John Bullock

P.S. The best thing we ever did was to rescue this awesome dog from VGSR. Thanks, Hilary!

It's been 3 months and 3 days since we adopted Tyra and we can't imagine life without her. She spent the first couple of days searching for the cat we used to have that passed away in December - her big nose picked up the scent immediately! Thanks to her wonderful foster mom, Leesa, Tyra was pretty well house-broken when we got her, and was fully in control within a few days. After the first week, we had a parade of people coming over to meet her and she was wonderful with everyone - even a 3-month-old baby! She loves to give kisses and be petted and never barks at people. We attempted obedience training after we had her for about 3 weeks, but that didn't go so well. She cowered big time when the trainer arrived and practically dug a hole in the floor to get away from him when he pulled out a training collar. The trainer said that Tyra had probably been abused to some degree with her previous owner and seeing the training collar brought back some very scary memories. So, we stopped the session right then to allow Tyra to recover. Within about 30 minutes she was back at my feet in the kitchen! Her favorite sport is soccer and she likes to "kick" her squeaky soccer ball with her nose. She also loves to play with a tennis ball, but with both sports she's not very good at giving the ball back to us! She retrieves the ball, but then takes it somewhere else and plays with it on her own! Her other favorite pasttime is running with other dogs at the dog park. She tries to play with the big dogs, but most of them seem to be older and not real interested in playing with a "young adult". So, when the big dogs ignore her, she turns to the smaller dogs who seem to be more playful - like beagles! She's very good with other dogs and doesn't show any signs of aggression. The only issue is when she's on her leash - if she sees another dog while she's on her leash, she tugs and barks until she can get to the dog. Most owners of big dogs seem to understand and don't mind if we let the dogs meet. It's the owners of the little dogs that tend to panic and run the other way! So, we have to work on our leash manners. The biggest issue with Tyra has been her digestive system. The poor little thing was underweight when she got to the rescue so we were trying to put some meat on those bones, but she couldn't seem to properly digest her food. As a result she kept losing weight rather than gaining. She was under close watch by our vet and even had an emergency trip to Clocktower Animal Hospital one morning, but the doctors were baffled. They were certain she had EPI - a pancreatic problem common in GSDs -- but the blood tests came back negative. After three months of tests and bland diets, the vet now believes she has an irritable bowel and we're treating it with canned Eukanuba Veterinary Diet, antibiotics, and steroids. The good news is that she is finally putting on weight and has much more of a twinkle in her eyes. The steroids made her sleepy at first, but we're tapering them down now so her energy is coming back. In two months we are moving from our condo to a house on a lake. It's something we had planned to do at some point, but having Tyra has expedited those plans! We want her to be able to sit outside with us and watch the ducks and geese and birds and cats and groundhogs! We don't know if she's a water dog, but the first time she chases a duck into the water, we'll know! Sorry for the long-winded report! It's just that Tyra has become such an integral part of our life that we want everyone at the Rescue and all the potential adoptive owners to know that we feel there a few things as rewarding as giving a dog a second chance in life. Our deepest gratitude and admiration go to the VGSR volunteers and foster owners. Thank you for making our family complete.

Melissa & Ken Knueven

We've had Valkyrie for almost 4 weeks, and we just love her. Valkyrie's 9 years have not slowed her, but made her the best dog ever for us. She came fully trained. She is a lady in the house, on leash, in the car, and in public. She responds to commands and she retrieves her ball. She's also rehabbing our two cats previously terrorized by another dog who just wanted to play with cats. She pays them no attention. We love her deep rumbling howl. The first time I heard her, I had just pushed the button on our washing machine, and I thought there was air in the pipes - very funny. Valkyrie is strictly an indoor girl unless she is going for a car ride or a walk with us. She loves the car, and we take her everywhere. People admire her and ask if they can pet her. They are surprised when we tell them we just adopted her. They often ask how someone could give up such a sweet dog after 9 years. I'm sure it was not an easy decision. I am happy to tell them about the VGSR and where they can find lots of wonderful dogs that need good homes. Thank you so much for letting us adopt Valkyrie.

Jon and Trish Tervo

We met Wolfy (formally Nelson) at an adoption event in the summer of 2003. He was found as a stray and was being fostered by the wonderful Barbara Dodge. We were drawn to him because of his temperament; he loves everyone and everything, not a mean bone in his body. Not to say it was an easy transition, he was quite a handful when we first brought him home. He had a bladder infection that caused him to have frequent accidents and he thought the cats were the best playthings ever! However, after a little patience, some antibiotics and training he has become the perfect dog, we cannot imagine our lives without him. We laugh so much more now that he is with us. Like the way he likes to carry around our socks. He doesn't chew them mind you, but he manages to get the entire thing in his mouth so you can't see the sock, but his cheeks puff out a bit giving him away. He will walk around like this until you tell him to drop it, and then out comes the slobbery sock. He loves other dogs so much that 9 months after adopting him we adopted a terrier mix from a rescue group in Maryland. It is impossible to keep a straight face watching a 15-pound terrier and an 80-pound Shepherd take turns chasing each other back and forth in the yard! They just have so much fun together. Whenever we take him to the pet store or the dog park we always get comments on what a beautiful, sweet dog he is. We never hesitate to tell people that he was a rescue dog and refer them to VGSR! Thanks again for letting us adopt this wonderful dog,

Katie and Sean Cartwright

An update on Zenzi-Bonita-Terry (AKA: Zenzi). She has been with us for a couple of months now. She has been a wonderful addition to our family. She is a wonderful dog, and has bonded with everyone, except she loves me the most of course. We went through some tough times with a spaying infection, an adverse drug reaction to antibiotics, and a bought of dehydration due to prolonged vomiting (on every carpet in the house it seemed). Other than that trauma, things have been really good. She's now settled in, the infection has cleared and she's experiencing the good life. She has us all trained very well; walks about 5 or 6 times throughout the day, belly rubs almost as often, car rides are a must, and loving attention from each of us. She has a wonderful relationship with my 13-year-old son. She can even get him out of bed at 6 am on Saturday for a morning constitutional. Amazing! Other than her self disillusion that she can climb trees, she is a perfect dog. She's absolutely captivated by squirrels and fancies herself as a squirrel hunter. It is a very funny sight to watch a dog looking up into the branches in constant search for those elusive creatures. She even got a Valentine's card with a squirrel's picture on it. I want to thank you for what you do. Zenzi has been a blessing.

Patrick Terry

We lost our very loyal, gentle, loving, kind, intelligent, thirteen year old German Shepherd, Baron, in March 2002 to cancer. We were devastated by the void that was left in our hearts and home. We just could not adjust to not having him by our side and sharing his unconditional love with us. We discussed the possibility of another German Shepherd and we could not bring ourselves to get another friend and have to face the loss again. Baron was our second shepherd. Then 9-11 happened. I was driving to work when I heard a request to adopt pets orphaned as a result of the horrible tragedy. When my husband came home from work, I asked him what his opinion was regarding adopting a dog orphaned by 9-11. He needed time to think about it and would let me know. To make a long story short, by the time we made a decision all of the dogs were adopted, but now we were mentally ready to get another GSD. So we started to search the web. We saw several GSDs but none of them seemed right for us. Then we found the Virginia GSD site, and decided to take a trip to Virginia after speaking with you. We attended an event at Petsmart, but we still hadn't found that special friend we were so desperately looking for. There was one other dog who was in foster care that you wanted us to meet. We were very disappointed by this time, but we decided to visit Maryanne, DJ and Zeus. We were very anxious and uneasy because we didn't want to be let down again, but to our surprise in came Zeus and it was love at first sight. He was extremely handsome, intelligent, friendly, and shy. After spending about two hours with Zeus, we knew he was the right dog for us. Of course, Maryanne was very protective of Zeus and had to make sure we were right for him. She agreed to let us have Zeus, and we were ecstatic. We had to leave Zeus that night because we were staying in a hotel that did not allow pets. Neither my husband or I could sleep that night in anticipation of picking up Zeus the next morning. We picked him up the next morning. We were so happy for us, but sad for Maryanne and DJ. It was very difficult for them to say goodbye. Zeus was an absolute sweetheart in the car. He was very well behaved and enjoyed the trip. It took a while for Zeus to adjust and acclimate to his new surroundings and new Mom and Dad. We have had him now for almost eight months. He has been to two obedience classes, spends weekends at the Jersey Shore and weekdays at home or in the office with us. He has bonded very well and receives a tremendous amount of love and attention. He has blossomed into a very confident, loving, sweet, attentive, loyal, devoted, intelligent, and friendly dog. We spend a great deal of time with him and love him to death. He's our special boy and we are so very happy to have him in our lives. Thank you so much for insisting we see just one more dog. Zeus is a fantastic friend and companion.

Sincerely, Al and Debbie Artale