Miya
GSRNE #179

Proofs taken by Photos by Corinna Spinale

Miya was born in a shelter as her mother was part of a GSD confiscation in a neglect case. She lived in the shelter for her first 3 months, then was transferred to another shelter who contacted GSRNE for help with her and her 4 siblings. Miya has found her forever home with Bruschi (also 2 yrs old) and me!   Miya is still very active.  Her nose is into every package or bag brought into the house.  She’s a prankster and loves to steal anything she can.  She takes “her people’s” objects, like the phone, the computer mouse, shoes, nail polish, make-up etc. She usually doesn’t destroy it, just moves it!   Last spring she and brother Bruschi were enrolled in a tracking class.  She had fun eating the hot dogs!   She has become a seasoned traveler.  Last year she made 5 trips to Pennsylvania.  We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn each way of the trip.  It’s a long ride, but both dogs stretch out in the back of my SUV.  I often hear “snoring” during the ride. She’s very affectionate and wags her tail at any person she sees.  She is great with my 91 yr old Dad also! She’s doing much better on leash walks. She was very reactive to every noise, squirrel, and dog she saw or heard.  Mostly, she will ignore them now. 

 She and Bruschi got a “doggie door” for Christmas!  I can see the opening and I watch them use it when the weather is nice. (I keep it closed in rain as they want to bring all the mud into the house.) They love being able to go into my backyard at will. She is always willing to go out and chase the ball.  She can catch, but prefers running along with Bruschi.  Then she steals the ball from him so he will chase her!! 

I’m looking forward to spending many more great years with Miya (and Bruschi) as they grow from the now” terrible two’s)   into the stunning adults they will be!  She is a wonderful little pipsqueak!

Diamond
GSRNE # 174

We adopted Diamond when she was approximately 2- 2 ½ years old. She came from an abuse situation, where the husband was abusing the wife and terrorizing Diamond. When she first arrived at our house, she would not let her new Dad (me) pet her, although her Mom could. She ducked in terror at the whirring of the ceiling fan, when she heard tree branches stirring in the wind, or even if I opened up a newspaper too quickly.  Thankfully, the one thing she always permitted me to do was to take her for a walk. Three weeks into the adoption, she still would not allow me to pet her. But one day, when working in my (home) office, I noticed that she was laying down quietly right behind my chair…and she did not run away when I got up out of my chair.

Soon, she began following me all around the house. Now, she is a constant companion. When we take her to the park now, we can let her run free to chase her little animal friends, as we know she will come running back to us (at full speed) without even having to call her. She is, for the most part, courteous to other dogs, and is very friendly to humans. My wife and I often say about our German Shepherds (and we have owned several over the years), that “so and so” is our favorite Shepherd ever, but we truly believe Diamond is the best dog we have ever owned. She is an absolute joy and we love her to death. Thanks to GSRNE for saving this wonderful creature.

Buddy
GSRNE #118

Buddy is generally doing well.  He is slowing down a bit (he’s 11-12 yrs. old), and has some arthritis in his hips.  We are giving him Glyco-flex III (glucosamine) and it seems to help.  We also take him for at least 4 walks a day..  Buddy loves his toys and will play for hours with us.  We don’t toss things as far as we used to, but he will chase his “squeaky” toys and bring them back to us to throw again. 

Buddy sleeps with us on our queen-sized bed  and doesn’t leave much room for Dave and me.  We love this dog dearly and are so happy that he is a member of our family.

Heidi
GSRNE #

Heidi lived  her first 10 years with her former mom, who adored her. But she became ill and kept Heidi kenneled outside for the last couple of years. That evidently included some time out in the bitter cold - her ear tips looked like they were recovering from some frostbite when we first saw her.

Heidi was the only dog we interviewed through GSRNE and it was clear to us at our first visit that she was an exact fit for us. We sought a dog with a calm, sensitive personality that we could make a deep connection to. After just a short time at home with us, we knew that’s what we had.

Heidi has big, honest eyes that communicate exactly what she’s feeling. She has a shiny, silky coat with coloring that  draws praise from a passers-by. Despite her years, she is spry and fit with only some gray on her muzzle to betray her age.

Early on, we took her to obedience class. She was the oldest student there. She was clueless at first, quite rusty with most obedience concepts. But her memory was quickly refreshed and by the final session, was the star pupil.

Heidi’s favorite thing is food. She has a keen appetite and scarfs down her meals as fast as we put the kibble in her bowl. She obeys any sequence of commands to get a treat, too.

She enjoys playing with her toys. She keeps them all in a basket. When the mood strikes, she goes to the basket and rummages around for the right one. She loves to entertain herself with her squeaky plush toy, tossing it into the air and across the room. Her tennis ball is also one of her favorites, which she likes to bounce on the floor or bring over for a toss - or trade for a nice belly or butt rub.

Heidi has a tender, sweet soul. We are deeply in love with her.

Riley II
GSRNE #220

Riley is a grand guy....He settled in quite fast, met friends and a few of their dogs without any real problems. He has his bed in our bedroom and a blanket in the living room...seems he loves the warmth from the wood stove last winter.

Riley stays with me in the yard, but does sneak off now and then through the wood about 150 feet to the neighbors house to play with Jack their black lab, then they both come back ....wanting cookies!

His first camping trip was interesting. The first day it was a lot of looking and smelling around, meeting people and other dogs on the walking tour. However, he didn't like the idea of other dogs walking by HIS campsite. By the next day he would only bark if the dogs walked next to his site and not on the roads further away, but on the third day it was just too much work (he was on vacation after all) and just forgot about the barking and enjoyed the grass and the sun.

We had both our dogs out on our old Chris craft "yachting" on the lake. He was a bit nervous the first 10 minutes or so, then he settled down, laid out on the forward seat with me and watched everything going on--happy as a clam.

Eli
GSRNE #

My family (husband, 12 y.o. son and 9 ½ y.o. daughter) and I, adopted Eli one year ago.  During this time he has become an integral part of our family.  But let me back up and tell you a bit of our story.  At the time we first met Eli he was nearly 7 months old.  We were all struck with his beauty and size of his enormous ears.  After spending some time with him, it was clear how intelligent he was and how eager to play and to please his foster mom.  But he is so much more.  When Eli came to live with us, he had a number of fears and was rather un-socialized.  Although his foster family made great strides with him and helped him heal from his broken rear leg, he still had much to learn and experience.  He was afraid of the dark, cars, trucks, motorcycles, horns, baby strollers, bicycles, scooters, joggers, skateboards, trash barrels, recycling containers, flags and outdoor decorations of any sort.  He was very wary of adults, especially bearded men.   He pulled like a freight train on leash and barked like a deranged animal at other dogs on our walks.  But the one thing that was clear from the beginning was his love for children.  Not only is Eli terrific with my two children, who love him to pieces, but he is loving and patient with all the children who come to our house, who we meet at the little league baseball field, who we meet walking to school and into town.  Now that he has learned some very nice manners, he is able to sit calmly while they pet him all over and he accepts treats very gently.  It always makes me chuckle when the very little ones, who are face to face with him get a big slurp up the side of the cheek or right smack dab in the center of the nose!  My children play with him in every capacity; of course all three love to play ball, chase (with both human and canine getting a turn to be the chaser and the chased party), search & rescue, “rabies”, swimming in the pool, beginning agility competition training, tug, obedience training, teaching tricks, dress-up, lots of snuggles and animal vet.  This latest game involves my daughter (who has wanted to be a veterinarian since she was 3) giving Eli a check-up.  And let me tell you, she is very thorough.  She checks his ears, inside his mouth-touches teeth and wiggles the tip of his tongue, she moves his jiggley jowls, she checks his legs, in-between his toes and the little hiding place in the bottom of his paw between the big pad and toes.  She handles his tail and rolls him onto his belly, feels his pointy chest bone.  He takes this all in stride, being very patient with her …all this with him being a young, energetic dog himself!  When he’s had enough, he gets up gives a little energetic bark, goes into play bow position and then is off running, often with a stolen stethoscope or shoe.