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Hope
Hope Graduates from Obedience School!
We adopted Fritz (the one with the orange toy) in August of 2001 and felt
that he would benefit from having a sister, specially to work on his
socialization skills and "doggie language". That is how we started the
search for another GSD. As many people had said before seeing Hope was
love at first sight. Her look was one of a very sweet, gentle soul, which
is exactly how her foster moms described her on the website. She appeared
a bit timid at first but in her first encounter with Fritz she showed not
fear, but indifference, which is exactly what we were looking for. Fritz
was in the middle of his adolescent period and needed some guidance in
doggy behavior (socialization) and we felt that Hope could provide him
with that. She proved us right. Hope was picked up as a pregnant stray
and the vet determined that she have had several litters before she was
rescued. Her maternal training was put right to work as soon as she
entered our lives. She asserted her dominance over Fritz in their first
monitored encounter at home and that has been the end to Fritz's awkwardly
assertive juvenile male dominance. It only took one look and a growl for
her to make it clear what was acceptable and what wasn't. Today we have
two wonderful dogs that play together every chance they have, that lick
each other affectingly and will lie down together to share toys.
In
addition to Hope's impact in Fritz's life, she has brought to our lives a
great amount of warmth and affection. Fritz is known for his goofy
actions and reactions that provoke a good belly laugh. Hope is gentle and
loyal at all times. She likes to be wherever I am and always makes sure
that she keeps an eye on me outside and inside the house. When she came
to us she was extremely food driven but did not care for toys. Today she
knows how to fetch and she is able to make decisions about which toys she
likes better, although her brother always manages to steal them from her.
Obedience school has also helped in our bonding process and her
confidence. She understands now that there is a way to learn and for us
to communicate so she gets lots of kisses, belly scratches and petting
every time she gets a knew command down. I don't think that you can ever
scratch her belly enough!
Hope is a GSD/Lab mix, which manifest itself in her tail wagging being
much more effusive than what you would expect from a GSD. Every morning
when she hears me getting up I can hear the thumping of the tail against
the floor and I know that I will find her smiling on the other side of the
door ready for another day full of affection. It is a sound that I
wouldn't change for anything in the world.
Thank you to all the volunteers that made our adoption of Hope
possible. Special thanks to her two foster moms. She is doing great!
Tiki
My husband and I have recently adopted a wonderful dog named Tiki. We
had looked into adoption from GSRNE after losing the second of our two
beloved dogs (one a German Shepherd mix and the other a German Shepherd)
last summer. We both love the breed but also really liked the idea of
adopting a dog that needed a home so GSRNE was the perfect answer! We
were very excited when the call came and arrangements were made to visit
a dog that was a possible match for us. I know for me it was "love at
first sight"! Tiki was friendly, beautiful, intelligent, had a playful
spirit and a gentle manner. She seemed to have all the important
qualities that we were hoping for and much, much more. I especially
loved the way she scrunched up her eyebrows when she was thinking. We
were told that she was healthy but was scheduled to have an operation
soon to correct a problem with her elbow. This would require some
recuperation time until she could resume all normal activities. We were
able to have her a week prior to her surgery so that she could start to
get to know us, the cat, and her new home. Tiki came through the
surgery with "flying colors"! Her recuperation also went smoothly even
though her activity was extremely limited for the first 3 weeks. Not an
easy task for a young, energetic dog! At this point, she has fully
recuperated and can do all the things she loves like going for walks,
chasing balls in the backyard, and playing with the cat! We are
enjoying her so much and are looking forward to many, many years of her
faithful companionship! Thank you so much, GSRNE.
Makwa and Olivia
Makwa, GSRNE
#123 ( Mack ) is the latest addition to our GSRNE family. He turned 6 in
October. He joins his 4 year old sister Olivia, GSRNE #84.
Makwa’s
story is simple, he was not friendly to cats and had to find a new home.
He was brought to a Maine area shelter when GSRNE stepped in to
help. We had been thinking of adopting a male GSD and were waiting for the
right companion for Olivia.
Her
happiness meant everything to us, she is a very low activity dog and could
not keep up with a high energy dog. When we read Mack’s description and
saw his picture we had to go see him. The adoption coordinator thought we
would be a good match, so we brought Olivia to the foster
home in Vermont to meet Makwa.
His size was overwhelming to say the least.
A gentle giant, he greeted us with kisses. The first meeting between Mack
& Olivia did not go as well as we hoped. Olivia did not feel comfortable
and it was difficult. We left and went home feeling quite discouraged.
Would Olivia learn to get along with any other dog or would she be an only
dog? We both loved Makwa so much, it was hard to say no. If it was going
to work with any dog, Makwa would make it that much easier. It was tough
the first few weeks after we brought him home but now one year later they are best buddies going
everywhere together. Makwa is happy to be wherever you are. His favorite
pastimes are having his ears scratched, going for walks in the woods and
howling at sirens on TV.
Olivia
has been with us almost 3 years now and she is still the princess. Olivia
was found in a Boston area shelter. She was picked up wandering the
streets a couple times and her owner surrendered her for fines owed. She
was terribly sick with heartworm and extremely underweight when GSRNE
found her. They got her the proper treatment and got her back on her feet.
Thanks to everyone’s help she made a miraculous recovery. When I saw her
face on the web page I knew she was the dog for me. Her story of neglect
was almost too much for me. How could anyone not take care of this
beautiful dog? My husband also agreed that we should go meet Olivia. It
was definitely love at first sight, she was well behaved, low activity
just what we were looking for. She has always been number one in the house
and it was difficult for her to accept another dog. I am proud of her for
the way she adjusted to Mack living with us. Olivia’s favorite things are
belly rubs, keep away with toys and staying just a few feet ahead of Mack
on her walks !!! Don’t you agree that they make a striking couple??
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