2009 German Shepherd Rescue
of New England, Inc.

“Walk ‘n’ Wag" Wrap-up

It was a soggy day, but the love of the dogs kept everyone going....

On behalf GSRNE, we would like to send a VERY BIG THANK YOU to everyone that came out in that horrible rain storm to help make our event successful. Of course, the rain kept the walkers/attendees down. If you didn't have a chance to send in your pledges or donations, please do so ASAP. Remember, the dogs need help, rain or shine (we hope no dogs were tied out in that rain without shelter)! Please send your financial support so we can continue to help needy dogs to:

GSRNE, Walk 'n' Wag
PO Box 299
Wayland, MA 01778

or use this button to safely pay online.

Walk 'n' Wag!
Rescue Paraders were undeterred by rain and wind....

In spite of the sopping wet weather for this year's Walk 'n' Wag, we had a great turnout for the Parade of Rescue Dogs. This parade honors the wonderful rescue dogs and their adopters who are at the heart of what we all do and why we work so hard for GSRNE.

For those of you who have never been to a Walk 'n' Wag, anyone with a rescue dog who comes to the event can register for the parade. This is the second year we have invited dogs rescued through other organizations to participate in addition to our own GSRNE dogs. This gives us a chance to appreciate the efforts of other rescues, many of which also generously support GSRNE. Just before the parade starts, we line everyone up (it's quite a process to organize so many people and dogs amidst all the festivities) and give each dog a special "Rescue Dog" sash to wear while walking in the parade. Then one by one each adopter walks his or her dog around the parade ring while we read a story about the dog that the adopter has shared. At the end, each dog has its photo taken and gets a well-deserved toy!

This year, Gail Van Hoesen led off the parade with Sugar (GSRNE #156), followed by Jim Uhlman and Joe Allen with Pako (#177), Karen McCall with Shawnee (#196), Danny Thompson with Rocky (#202) and his new foster sister Frida (who just had puppies!), Deb Saperia with Rocket (#207), Amy and Gail Kobialka with Eragon (#208), Judi and Emily Poirier with Fila (#240), Fred Davis with Buddy (#243), Matthew Ebian-Pesa with Ivy (#254), Allen Decker with Lux (#257), Laurie Keating with Vanessa (#267), and Marie Guide with Candy, another GSRNE foster dog. Next came the adopters with non-GSRNE dogs: Martine Meijering with Denver and Murray, Carol Nickisher with Reni, Mark Heffron with Shilo, and Dan and Beth Niedzwiecki with Xena.

I would also like to acknowledge those who registered for the parade but arrived at the Walk 'n' Wag after the parade ended. (Given the weather and the fact that the dog walk was cancelled, we started the parade earlier than originally scheduled.) These included Jonathan and Kelly Scamman with Dozer (#255), Patti McMunn with Dixie (#263), Susan Lawlor and Chris Sutliff with Maggie (#264), and Peggy Serino with GSRNE foster dog Snow. We also enjoyed seeing Trudy Walsh with Senta/Waika (#244) who came but had to leave early.

Many thanks to the hardy and hearty souls-people and dogs!-who braved the elements to participate in our very special parade. You all gave the rest of us an opportunity to see first hand the results of all the time and energy we devote to GSRNE: a lot of loving adopters and happy, sopping wet dogs who have finally found their forever homes.

Judy Davis
2009 Rescue Parade Coordinator

> More Accolades for the Walkers and Waggers!

It is hard to believe that the Annual Walk 'N' Wag has come and gone. I wish I could start this article by saying...the morning dawned bright & beautiful.....

Instead I will start with...the rain came and stayed, but it did not dampen the spirits of all that attended! We had a number of vendors brave the nasty weather to come out and support GSRNE. Just as important were the many members/volunteers that joined us and lent their support in the set up of the field and the GSRNE tables. We all had been doing a rain dance for the past week prior to the event so we remained optimistic that the rain was going to stop at any minute. Needless to say that minute never arrived until I was pulling into my driveway at the end of the day!

We still continued on! This included running half of the raffle, the rescue parade, sales table and more. The winners for the day were: Tara Boucher for raising the most money overall, Marie Guide came in second and Karen McCall won for the most money raised online. The winner of the most creative First Giving page was Jeff Routhouska. Congratulations to ALL our winners!!!

As many of you know we ended up canceling the photo contest which, as it worked out with the rain, was a good idea. Hopefully we can bring it back next year! In its place we had a toy drive for our foster dogs and it was a HUGE success!

There are many people to thank for their help and commitment to the Walk 'N' Wag in all phases of its production! To the Committee: Jeannie McMahon, Chrysan Corcione, Karen McCall and Chris Harriman (website); Deborah Saperia, Laurie Ryan & Mary Ann Corliss (registration); Joan Doucette & Tony Rizzini (publicity); Mary Farren (program); Judy Davis (Rescue Parade); Loueen LaVallee (photography); Jim & Jill Cuddihy (sales). Phew...bet you thought I was done huh? WRONG! We were so lucky to have a GREAT turnout that I would like to TRY to name each of our volunteers (please forgive me if I omit anyone...it is not intentional)

Drum Roll please... and in no particular order: Fred Davis, Danny Thompson, Gail Van Hoesen, Anthony De Roche, Martine Meijering, Dawn Costa, her sister Paige, Mary Amaral, Jim Uhlman, Joe Allen, Judi & Emily Poirier, Al, Colleen & Brittany Decker, Alycia McMahon, Abby Faherty, Rob Petit, Liz Phalen, Elaine & Paul Kelley, Marie Guide, Laurie Keating, Craig Hanson, Jessica LaGoy, Emily Saperia, Emily Wangler and I hope that is everyone!

We would also like to send out a special thank you to all the vendors that attended: Martine for the agility demo and Abbey Kennels for the Schutzhund demonstration as well as a HUGE thank you to our members that attended and who raised money to help our dogs in need! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope I have expressed how deeply grateful we are for your support in these tough times. We understand and thank you for your commitment to GSRNE! We realize that it is you, our valued supporters that make the reality of rescuing this special breed possible by the many different ways you lend yourself to us.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention that if you still have pledge sheets and money, could you please send them to us as soon as possible? You can mail them to GSRNE, P.O. Box 299, Wayland, MA. 01778. Our most recent totals of the event, before expenses, is about $ 5000 including sales, pledges and raffle. Once we finish tallying and paying the expenses, we will let you know our final counts.

On behalf of the Walk 'N' Wag Committee we hope that you enjoyed the day. We are sorry that Mother Nature did not cooperate. I had a talk with her after the event, and she said she would consider being especially good to us NEXT year :)
Hope to see you then!

Lauralee Davis
Walk N Wag Co Chairperson

(note: And a very special thank you to Lauralee for all her tireless work for the dogs!!)

The Board thanks you, also!

We Board members certainly appreciate all our dedicated volunteers and members! Some volunteers were at Borderland before 8 AM to start setting up and getting the admission tickets ready to hand out as people arrived.

The rain was light as we put up the canopies, set up the tables and chairs, set out the supplies, sales items, etc. By 10:00, though, it was raining harder, and we were beginning to wonder if anyone would attend this event, after all the months of planning and preparation.

We let out a collective sigh of relief when adopters began to arrive and sign in for the Rescue Dog Parade; other members and supporters came walking up, wearing rain jackets and carrying an umbrella in one hand and dog leash in the other.

There was a special reunion at 10:30 that was a highlight of the day for me (along with the Rescue Dog Parade). Waika's adopters brought her so our GSRNE member, Tracy, could see her again. Tracy works at the Friends of Falmouth Dogs Shelter www.friendsoffalmouthdogs.org and took care of Waika for over 6 months before we could bring her into GSRNE. Waika, whose new name is "Senta," is still slow to warm up to new people and only gets excited and enthusiastic when playing with another dog. Tracy brought her own dog, a smooth-coated Collie named Graham, who had been Waika's best friend at the shelter. The recognition took just a few seconds, and then the two dogs were touching noses and licking each other's muzzles.

Tracy squatted down and called to Waika and was rewarded by having her walk right up and deliver a kiss. Waika remembered and was happy to see this special person from one of the better times in her past life.

We had to cancel the Agility demonstration and CGC testing, because of the heavy rain; but no one wanted to forego the Rescue Dog Parade. The time was moved up to 11:00, and it was impressive to see how many people were there to take part. One of our newer members, Anthony, read the write-ups as each dog had his/her chance to be recognized and applauded...it was a joyous time and a reward for all our efforts!

Kevin Lanouette was there from Abby Kennels, with his Schutzhund dog, Gizmo, and one of his employees, Amanda, and her young, black German Shepherd. We asked if he still wanted to do the Schutzen Obedience demonstration, and he said, "Sure! Working dogs have to go out in all kinds of weather!" Amanda and her dog, who is still in training, gave some exciting demonstrations of heeling, sits, stays and happy, enthusiastic recall work. Everyone lined up to watch, putting umbrellas aside to applaud the demonstration while Kevin explained what we were watching; it was another special time on Saturday.

Many of the vendors who had signed up to be there DID attend and stayed through the day; we are very grateful to them, also.

Loueen (one of our GSRNE photographers) has already uploaded the photos she took, and we hope you'll go take a look; they're on our Smugmug site . Another member/photographer, Rob Petit, was also taking pictures on Saturday, and you can see some of his, too.

Finally, we started packing up and taking down the dripping canopies. We've never been prouder of our volunteers who continued to help each other, joke about the way we were looking after hours in the rain, and who kept smiling about the things that had gone well that day. GSRNE volunteers are
AWESOME!

A major THANK YOU to everyone!!
Karen, Jeannie and Chris

Here are a few more photos for you to view!

password is gsd4me

____________________________________________________

German Shepherd Rescue of New England, Inc.
P.O. Box 299 ; Wayland, MA 01778

24-hour hotline (978) 443-2202

2009 German Shepherd Rescue of New England, Inc.

2009 German Shepherd Rescue
of New England, Inc.