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Abby, GSRNE #211
Abby's story, like many of GSRNE's dogs, has
a sad beginning. Abby lived her first seven years in a loving home, with
four children and a male dog. When her owners got a divorce, her world was
split in half; the two dogs stayed with the husband, and the
 children
went with the wife. Abby had loved "her kids" and missed them, but she
still had her canine buddy. The new arrangement was short-lived, however,
because there was a bad fire in the home. Abby's owner couldn't live there
any longer, and he turned to a friend, who owned Abby's sister/littermate,
and asked him to take Abby. This arrangement didn't work out, because the
sister was jealous and kept attacking Abby. The new owner was worried about
her safety and tried keeping Abby in a crate, which she hated; she kept
breaking out in order to be near him. He turned to GSRNE and asked that we
find Abby a real home of her own.
Abby was about 20 pounds overweight when she came into GSRNE, and her
foster parents helped her lose some of that weight by taking her for daily
walks and keeping her from counter surfing to sneak treats. While in foster
care, Abby was examined by a Veterinary Dermatologist to find the cause of
the ear infection that caused the hematoma which resulted in one ear no
longer being able to stand up.
Update from Abby's
family, Jennifer Jordan and Paul Jordan
Abby is incredibly happy in her new home. She
was able to make the transition rather smoothly. Other than her getting
into mischief, she is an amazing dog to have around the house. She has an
outstanding personality! She is great company for my dad since I am away at
college. She became immediately attached to my dad and now has learned his
schedule and waits by the window for him to return every day.
My dad walks Abby at least three times a day,
and this is by far Abby's favorite pastime. When my dad goes to walk her,
she runs to her leash and almost starts talking to my dad and yelling at
him to hurry up and take her outside. She is a pretty good walker although
she does sometimes chase small animals, such as squirrels and dogs. She
also gets along very well with our other male shepherd named Jake. They are
about the same age and similar in build. They do not fight at all and spend
most days together lounging around and looking out the window. Abby will
take his bone when he is chewing it, but he really doesn't put up a fight
because he is very passive. Also, she absolutely loves finding and fetching
sticks. Abby found a huge stick in the woods and carried it all the way
back to our house in her mouth and was so proud of herself. She still has
that stick to this day. Abby also loves when my dad and I come home from
work and throw her stick around for her in the backyard where she expends
tons of energy.
When Abby is tired she has a few favorite spots to sleep. She actually
rarely lies in her big red bed. She has taken over a couch that we have in
our living room right by the window so she can look out and watch people
and my dad in the yard. She loves sleeping there and is amazing because she
always manages to take the pillows, fluff them up and put them under her
head. However, her other favorite spot to sleep is with my dad in his bed.
He has a giant king-size bed and every night when he goes up to watch
television, she hops right up on her side of the bed, watches television
with him and then goes to sleep. She is very cute and often will poke at
him with her paw, which she uses as a way to get attention and say
goodnight.
Abby has had such a rough life, I think at
this point she deserves to be treated like the princess she is, so we
really do not scold her for sleeping on the couch or in beds.
 Health-wise,
Abby is doing incredibly well. While she does not like the vet, she
tolerates the visits. We take her for regular checkups with Jake, who helps
calm her down when he is there. Her ear with the hematoma is doing great;
my dad is very vigilant about giving her eardrops weekly. She is very
greedy when it comes to wanting bones, but her weight has stayed the same.
She is overall very healthy and happy, and we are very grateful to have
such a beautiful dog!
To see pictures of Abby when she came into
GSRNE and was waiting for a foster home and adopter,
check here.
Dozer (was Blitz), GSRNE #255
We adopted our first dog, a female German
Shepherd, in the spring of 2006. We found her on the website of a local animal
shelter. She was a beautiful sable GSD, despite being far too thin. The shelter
told us she was "very shy but warmed up quickly." The best they could tell us
about her former home life was that she was tied up outside all alone for most
of the time. We filled out the adoption application for her even though we were
told there were already two applications in for her. Then, just as we were
saying goodbye, she rolled on her back and let me scratch her belly. Clearly she
chose us, and an hour later we got a call saying that she was ours. We changed
her name from "Princess" to Pixie and soon discovered that she was more than
just a little shy. She was terrified of almost all new situations and had never
been properly socialized with humans or other dogs. We started her off with a
private dog training class so she wouldn't be too overwhelmed with other dogs.
Though it was difficult at first, she eventually did well and from there we
moved on to a Level 2 group training class where we worked very hard with her on
doggie socialization.
During that first year with Pixie as we were learning about GSDs, we came across
the GSRNE's website. We loved checking the website and seeing the dogs available
for adoption and reading their stories. We decided to get involved in the foster
program because we wanted to be able to help dogs who were in a similar
situation to Pixie's before we got her. We knew firsthand the effects that
improper care had on her. Also, we thought it would be a good experience for
Pixie to learn from and socialize with other dogs. Our first foster dog, Max,
was wonderful and was just the calm, confident dog Pixie needed to be around.
We went back and forth on whether or not to adopt him, but finally decided to
let him go so that we could continue fostering. It was a hard decision, but
we've since learned it was the right one. Our second foster dog, Xago, was a bit
more challenging. Given his high energy level we had to introduce him to Pixie
very slowly, but eventually they did very well together.
Finally we fostered Dozer (formerly Blitz).
Dozer came to GSRNE as an owner surrender along with Cyrus and Dadamine.
The owner was ill and couldn't consistently care for the dogs. As a result they
spent most of their time in the owner's backyard. Dozer respected Pixie's
boundaries and had no interest at all in challenging her as the dominant dog. He
just wanted to be part
of a family, and he has been officially part of our family since we adopted him
in March of this year.
Dozer is friendly and playful and absolutely LOVES
meeting humans and dogs alike. He is happy to have a home where he is involved
in all the activities. We have taken him on trips to visit family where he is
happy to greet everyone, especially children. My young niece and nephew (ages 6
and 8) loved playing fetch with him. He could not have been happier to get that
kind of attention! Dozer's favorite activity
by far is going on walks and hikes. The second we get the leash out, he is
bouncing around the house hardly able to
contain
his excitement. He is a great walker on leash and
proudly trots around the park as if he is showing off his new family.
What we are most happy about is Dozer's interaction with Pixie. He is such a
nice boy that Pixie accepted him almost immediately. They are very playful with
each other and sometimes even rowdy as they run around the house chasing each
other at full speed. Often Dozer has a toy in his mouth, and as he's running and
bouncing around the house, the toy flies out of his mouth onto out-of-reach
places. We have found toys on top of counters, bookshelves and even the
refrigerator.
He LOVES his toys.
After a good play session Dozer and Pixie settle
down for a nap together, often on the same doggie bed even though they each have
their own.
Dozer also seems to look up to his older sister
and has learned many of his obedience commands from her. He has already
completed his Level 1 obedience and thoroughly impressed the instructor with
what a quick learner he is. Lately he has been going to drop-in training classes
along with Pixie as he gets ready for Level 2! What's really great about Dozer
is his balance between playfulness and calmness. Around the house he loves
taking naps on one of the several dog beds we have for him and Pixie. Usually he
will gather up three or four toys, take them to his bed and lie down. He'll
alternate between
 chewing each toy before he falls asleep, using one as a
pillow. He has such great personality.
Though
we were sad we could not foster anymore, we know we made the right decision and
that Dozer was meant to be part of our family. Pixie strongly agrees! We have
noticed changes in her since Dozer has been around. She used to bark nonstop and
get upset when new people came into the house, but now that she sees Dozer greet
new people and be friendly, she is much calmer. We are all happy to have Dozer
in our life and grateful that he is part of our family.
Jonathan Scamman and Kelly Best
Dadamine, GSRNE #260
Dadamine came to us as an owner surrender,
along with two other males, Cyrus and Blitz. Although the owner loved the
dogs, especially Dadamine, and
provided a huge fenced-in yard for them, he was overwhelmed with taking
care of them. He wanted to insure that they would be well cared for and so
GSRNE took "Dad" (and the others) into foster care where they did very
well.
 Those
of you who made it to the auction, met "Dad" when he made an appearance to
make sure Lauralee was doing her auctioneering "job" right.
And now for the update from Dad's new home!
Dadamine is liking it here in Plympton, but I thought he would when he fell
asleep on the ride home from Dedham, where he was living as a foster dog.
We usually have breakfast, then go for our walk which is about a mile, then
either go out for errands or go to work in the shop. He has learned that
if we go out the front door we're going for a ride, but if we go into the
garage, we are going to the shop to work. He has toys in the shop that
squeak and in the house as he doesn't like them if they don't squeak.
He has become a favorite "greeter" with my
customers and loves them as they love him. He gets excited whenever
somebody comes over but settles down when asked to.
Usually after lunch or after work I'll bring him out back to run a bit. He
has definitely adjusted well to life here and loves going to the club or to
our trainer. Our trainer has been training for almost 20 years and he
said, "Adam you have a good one."
Adam Kling
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