Someone
once told me that “doing rescue must be pretty glamorous”.
It was the best joke I had heard in months. Rescue is emotionally,
physically and often financially draining. Doing animal rescue
causes sleepless nights, frantic days and domestic unrest. If
it sounds like a nightmare, it can be. So why would anyone do
this, and what lunatic would do this voluntarily? Fortunately
a lot of us would. And we do it for those rare moments when everything
and everyone comes together and makes a positive change in the
life of one animal. I had not one but two of those moments a couple
of weeks ago, and I still can’t wipe the stupid grin off
of my face. But before I tell you a most wonderful story with
the best ending that any rescuer could ask for, I need to thank
that people that made it possible. Andrea, Barbara, Becky, Bill,
Jim, the staff of Cold Springs Animal Hospital & the wonderful
vets within those walls, Sean x 2, Wendy and the countless people
who helped to socialize these pups and show them that most of
humanity is good.
 Sampson,
Delilah and Mattie were featured on our web page over a year ago.
They were three of the most pitiful little puppies you had ever
laid your eyes on. Their Mom was a German Shepherd and now we
are fairly sure that Dad was a Black Lab. They had been abused,
and at three weeks had been separated from their mother and put
in a pen with fire ants who had bitten Mattie on almost a third
of her 3 lb 4 oz body. Sampson and Delilah were not without their
wounds either, and all three were in miserable shape with little
energy. The vet could not guarantee any of their survival due
to their malnourishment and the poison from the fire ants, as
well as the chance of infection from their open wounds. So started
the 2-hour bottle feedings, (I don’t know how anyone does
that for more than a couple of weeks), the ointment application,
the trying to stop them from licking the ointment application
off, the play times and the nap times (which all three of them
could never manage at once). Once they were strong enough to eat
solid food and had some energy build up we had a new problem -
how were we going to place them? Their fire ant wounds were going
down but they looked like they had the mange. Even though Delilah
lifted her ears up, Mattie and Sampson didn’t look like
shepherds. Several events then transpired and I won’t bore
you with all the little details.
 The
next great thing in the puppies’ lives came in the form
of a phone call through which I met Barbara and her son. They
adopted Delilah and loved her so much that two weeks later they
adopted Sampson too. Mattie was later adopted after moving foster
homes to Becky’s house and is happy and healthy girl too.
Two weeks ago I got to go and visit Barbara and her husband Sean
in their home and see my babies Sampson and Delilah. They are
two of the most beautiful, well adjusted and sweet dogs I have
ever known and they have the best doggie Mom and Dad they could
have ever wished for in Barbara and Sean. Enough of words, let’s
let the pictures speak for themselves.
Click
below to make a credit or debit card donation to help
with the expenses needed to care for these dogs. Your
donation will help with vet and placement costs to care
for these dogs in need. Thank you for your support.
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We
found a great dog through the North Texas GSD Rescue organization.
We adopted two-year-old Lexi Sept. 22 from the Dallas/Ft.
Worth area. She tested positive for heartworms and hookworms,
but was in overall good health. I have waited this long to
write because I wanted to report a successful heartworm treatment,
which we now can do. It was a tough six
weeks, restricting her activity, no walks, running, squirrel
chasing, no playing with Edgar, our miniature pinscher, or
our three girls. But she did beautifully. She did experience
some diarrhea and vomiting for about three weeks, but is feeling
good as new and is starting to put on weight. The heartworm
treatment was hard, but not impossible. With the new treatment,
dogs are having a much easier time and experiencing a nearly
100 percent success rate. Our vet says he has not lost a dog
to heartworm treatment in over six years. I am writing this
so people won’t feel apprehensive about adopting a heartworm
positive dog. We would have missed out on a terrific family
pet if we had been put off by this. Lexi is an absolute darling.
I have had dogs all of my life and she is one of the best.
The first day I brought I her home, she took one look at my
five-year-old and showered her in kisses. She is my constant
companion and is never pushy or obnoxious. She wants to go
wherever I go, and because she is so easy and good-natured,
I seldom make a trip without her. When I put the girls (ages
6, 10 and 12) to bed, she comes with me to each room to say
goodnight. She is the perfect hostess to my mother, who visits
often. She is even gentle with our min pin, whom she outweighs
by 40 pounds and could easily bite in two. (Not that he doesn’t
deserve it!) They are wrestling now as I write this. She often
indulges him and pretends to let him win. Lexi smiles a lot
and has a big happy tail. I have been working with her on
basic commands and she is smart and eager to please. In short,
she is the German Shepherd I have always wanted. I want to
thank Wendy Wilson, who answered a million questions with
good humor and vast knowledge, the North Texas GSD Rescue
Association for helping dogs like Lexi, and Lexi’s former
owners, Don and Kristie, who made the difficult decision to
put Lexi up for adoption when they truly loved her, but could
no longer give her the attention she deserves. I can’t
say enough about rescue organizations and highly recommend
this one to all my friends who are looking for the perfect
new pet.
Lynette
Lobban
Norman, Oklahoma |
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This
is Frankie Rike. I adopted Kevin on January 2 this
year. I just wanted to send you a quick update and
a picture. Kevin is a wonderful, vital part of our
family. It feels like he has always been with us.
Thank you again for the terrific work you are doing
rescuing shepherds. I have recommended that other
people who might be interested in a shepherd or any
pure breed to check with the rescue organization for
the breed.
Thank you so very much,
Frankie
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 You
can remove the web notice about the 13 year-old female from
the Nacogdoches animal shelter --I picked her up on Saturday
(10-hour round trip) and she is now living in Norman, Oklahoma,
in the lap of luxury. While she wasn't a former police K-9,
she is extraordinarily sweet and gets along well with my other
two dogs. My vet said that she was probably 7 years old, is
heartworm positive, and, of course, full of intestinal parasites.
I named her Lucy. I have attached a photo (she is very emaciated,
but on the way to recovery).
Take
care and best wishes,
John
Duncan |
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 The
Best Christmas Ever
Last Christmas began on a bad note and just kept going downhill.
My car broke down during finals week (thank goodness for
parents). I had my wisdom teeth removed the following week.
I had the flu Christmas Eve and Christmas day (with an upper
respiratory infection following). And, to top it all off,
my dog Mackie was sick. It all started shortly after thanksgiving
when Mackie stopped having bowel movements and threw up
the little that he did eat. The vomit was black with bile
(which, by the way, does not come out of carpets). Kris
(my fiancé) and I took him to the vet and after numerous
attempts to figure out what was wrong we were told that
Mackie would have to be taken to a specialist in Dallas
for a $1000 endoscopy. This would only tell us what the
problem was--additional surgery would also needed to fix
the problem.
On December 22nd I was at my wits end. We had run out of
money to fix Mackie, as my credit cards had been maxed out
in early November from Mackie's surgery to remove testicular
cancer. I spent the day weeping over the fact that my little
baby might have to be euthanized. What made the decision
even more difficult was that he didn't seem to be suffering
at all. He had lost about 18 lbs. and was weak, but he seemed
so normal and happy.
After telling Kris the decision that I had made, he said,
"Well, why don't you call the North Texas German Shepherd
Rescue? Maybe there is something that they can do."
I replied that rescue groups don't want chronically sick
animals, but that I would give it a shot. The worse that
they could do was say no. When I called, I told them the
entire story trying to fight back tears, asking if there
was anything that they could do. Becky, the person I spoke
with at NTGSR, said that she would have to check and that
she would call me back as soon as possible. Within a few
hours she had a solution. I could take Mackie to their vet
(Dr. Henderson, Ponder Veterinary Hospital) and that they
would pay the entire $400 exploratory surgery fee. I was
blown away. I had never spoken to these people before in
my life. I called them out of the clear blue saying that
I had a very sick German Shepherd and they took care of
everything. Mackie had surgery the next day and was home
on Christmas Eve. As it turned out, his intestine had rotated
360 degrees and Dr. Henderson just had to put everything
back into place.
I couldn't believe how generous both the Ponder Vet and
the NTGSR were. It restored my faith in humanity after much
of it had been washed away from seeing so much abuse to
animals caused by humankind. I won't ever be able to fully
repay this group for saving my dog's life, but I am encouraging
everyone I know to donate to this amazing group the next
time they give to charity.
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Click
below to make a credit or debit card donation to help
with the expenses needed to care for these dogs. Your
donation will help with vet and placement costs to care
for these dogs in need. Thank you for your support.
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Here's
a picture of Kelly at home in the backyard. He has not been
in his new home even a full day but already his new family
is in love with him. He is truly a wonderful new addition
to the family. |
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 Here's
Casey and her new owner...another success story |
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Here's
a note from one family who adopted a dog from NTXGSDRESUCE.org:
Dear Wendy, thought I would write you a short note to let
you know that our new little girl, shelley, has fit in to
our household just wonderfully.she is such a nutty dog.
Benny and I laugh at her every day. She has only been with
us about six weeks, and she already has so many names, like
shelley, shell, shelly the pest, (alias, stp). All these
are just to name a few. She and sage, our rescue girl from
a year ago get along like they were always best friends
forever. Benny and I are so happy that they get along so
well. Sage has been a different dog since shelley came to
live with us. we lost our old shepherd, Sam last fall, and
since then sage did nothing all day, but lay around. Since
we got our shelley about six weeks ago, sage is an entirely
different dog. She sure seems to enjoy life now. Shelley
keeps her on the alert all the time now. They both have
such a good time together. Tell all of your potential rescue
people that one dog is never enough. Shepherds always need
another one of their own kind to keep them happy. Sure do
miss talking to you. Love, Eileen |
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Lucas is such
a big part of our family. He has really gotten used to
our baby daughter and will find any opportunity
to lick her face! I know he can't wait for her to start
walking so she can finally throw his ball to him! Lucas
is a ball nut. He would play ball all day long if you let
him. He loves his big backyard and will patrol the edges
of the yard to make sure there are no intruders! He loves
to lie out on the grass overlooking the yard or relax on
his comfy bed in the house. Lucas is very fond of his "sibling",
our Golden Retriever Sydney. They spend hours playing bitey
face and wrestling in both our house and backyard.
It seems like yesterday we brought Lucas home when he
was 12 weeks old. I still remember how he looked like a
little bear and how he barked protectively at us when we
went to meet him. Lucas is 3 years old now and a big, 102
pound dog who is now very protective of all of us! We love
him and thank North Texas German Shepherd Rescue for saving
our sweet boy.
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 This
is Daisy Rose, aka Baby Girl. She sure has come a long ways
from being close to being put down at Gainesville Animal Control.
She is lounging with her big brother, Ben, and big sister,
Livvy. THIS is why we do what we do |
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| Special
thanks to Wendy Wilson and Becky Slanker of North TXGSD Rescue
for all of their work in getting this little girl adopted.
Especially to Becky, who pulled, fostered, and transported
the dog half way to the adopter Madeline. Special thanks also
to Madeline who opened her home and heart to this little dog
that is heartworm positive. As we all know, heartworm treatment
isn't cheap or pleasent. I will be keeping my fingers crossed
for Crystal and her new life with Madeline and all her critters. |
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Shep,
in the snow
Scout, Shep, Scrappy and Ranger |
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Shep,
in his new home |
Dale
and Sally West adopted a 5 month old German Shepherd, "Shep,"
in January 2002. Dale and Sally worked with their Neighborhood
pet watch (the only one of its kind...now recognized by the
SPCA of Texas) and with the North Texas German Shepherd Rescue,
Inc. to adopt Shep. Here are some great pictures of Shep,
and his new family. There are two other dogs in the family:
Scout (9 and a half year old black labrador), Scrappy (a "foundling"
that was adopted about 5 and a half years ago), and Ranger
(a rescued kitty from the SPCA of Texas).
Shep and new family are doing fine. Scrappy is still a little
protective and trying to ensure his pecking order, but everything
is going just fine.
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Southpaw is a dog who was found with a severely injured front leg,
and had obviously suffered a lot of abuse in his life. The
leg ultimately had to be amputated, but as you can see that's
not slowing him down too much. He was adopted, and now has
a great owner who plays with him every night.
Here's a report from his new owner: "He loves
to chase things I throw and is becoming a good frisbee dog.
When I leave for work he collects all his various toys -
several balls, two frisbees, two Kong toys, a tug of war
rope, etc.) and brings them all inside the house so that
when I get home it looks as if kids have been at play all
day."
Go
Here to read SouthPaw's whole story and how NTGSD Rescue
helped him. |
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| This
is KC, who went to live in Amarillo. The picture was
taken shortly after she was adopted, at Christmas time. |
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This
is Johnny. He was a dog we rescued. No one knows how he lost his tail. |
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Tashka,
another rescue, far right |
Pepper,
and his pal |
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Two
of our extraordinary rescues are Shep and Beau. Here are
their stories:
Shep was a stray GSD mix who wandered into my vet’s home
acreage back in January of ‘98. I went to the clinic
to pick him up and met a man who was there putting his old
dog to sleep. He asked about the dog, and expressed interest
saying that it was not an impulse thing, but that his next
stop was to be the pound to look for a German Shepherd. We
talked about how he was moving to some acreage in a matter
of weeks, and could provide a permanent home for this dog.
I let him take the dog with him after he signed an adoption
contract, made an appointment, and prepaid for the neutering.
A few months ago I heard that a GSD was in quarantine after
encountering a rabid skunk. The dog had seen the skunk run
across his front yard heading directly for a toddler playing
on the porch the next house over. He gave chase and caught
the skunk as it was about to encounter the baby. The skunk
was hunted down, killed and sent off to be checked for rabies.
It did test positive. For his heroic act, Shep got a 45-day
quarantine, and a world of thanks. Yep! That was my rescue
dog!
Beau, a solid black male GSD, was an owner surrender left
at Denton Animal Control in Nov of ‘99. He was a big
strong fellow with an equally strong fear of being left alone.
He would even escape from a crate, or jump a 5-foot chain
length fence to try to find you. I placed him with a semi-retired
lady whose mother lived with her. She had an 8-foot privacy
fenced yard that we felt would contain Beau on the occasions
she had to leave him alone. As her mother stayed home, we
thought this would work out. She also had another dog to keep
Beau company.
I had a call from her after the first storm of the season,
saying she had problems and needed to talk. I called her right
away to find out that Beau had on two different occasions
jumped through her closed windows. Seems her mother had gone
to stay for 6 months with her other daughter, and Beau was
again having problems dealing with staying alone. Our conversation
was cut short as she had workmen at her home doing repairs.
She called me back later, and we talked about the advantages
of using a crate for Beau when she had to leave him home alone.
His behavior was a problem, but she had adopted him knowing
of it and was willing to work it through. She told me she
would never return him to rescue because of it.
She then proceeded to tell me that the night before during
the storm, she had just retired to read in bed. There was
a very loud clap of thunder and the lights flickered but came
back on. Beau would not settle down and go to sleep beside
her bed as usual. He paced and whined until she got up to
see what his problem was. He led her to the closed door of
her absent mother’s room. She opened it to find the window
blown out. The room had taken a direct lightening hit! The
fire department came to put out the smoldering wires in the
wall.
Both of these dogs were dogs someone didn’t want to bother
with any more. They luckily found their way into our rescue
program and were placed in appropriate homes. Ask their new
owners if they are too much trouble for them. While these
two dogs did exemplary deeds, they have two things in common
with all of our other rescue GSD’s: no one wanted them
any more, and their current owners wouldn’t part with
them for the world.
German Shepherds are not the perfect dog for every home. They
require training, exercise and an active role in your family
life and activities. Without this, they become problem dogs
and very often end up dumped at the end of a country road
like Shep, or taken to the pound to be put down at the tax
payer’s (your) expense like Beau, or chained up miserably
in a back yard forgotten and unloved, like possibly your neighbor’s
dog. If you have room in your life for a new family member,
please consider adopting a German Shepherd Dog. You will be
rewarded in ever so many ways.
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