Sierra
(was Greta/Yeta)
Sierra, Parlay (at the Bridge), Cindi (at the Bridge), Jasmine
(click on the thumbnail for a larger picture)
Sierra was found on the streets of Boston when she was only
a few months old. After using up her time at the shelter, GSRNE stepped
in and saved her. She came to live with us and sister-dogs Parlay,
Cindi and Jasmine in 1999 when she was about 6 months old. She was
"adopted" by Cindi when we brought her home, who thought we'd gotten her
specifically to be "her puppy". She is best friends with Jasmine, and
they love to do things together even sleeping together in the same bed.
Sadly, both Parlay and Cindi have now gone to the Bridge, and are missed by all
of us.
Sierra was a Delta Society Pet Partner when young, but as
she grew older she became more aloof and wasn't enjoying it anymore, so
we retired her. She has done some obedience work in the past and has
earned her CGC. She is now doing agility. She loves it and can't wait
to get to work.
Sierra has turned into an excellent agility dog.
She loves racing over/ through each obstacle, and then looks at me as if
to say: "That was fun, Mom, which one do we do next?"
She hates the neighbor's cat, who teases her unmercifully, and adores
chasing squirrels and chipmunks in the back yard. She is full of life
and is interested in everything! She is an absolute joy.
Six years have passed, and she is very much a loved
and loving member of the family.
Chance
Chance Now
Chance Before
Chance is doing AWESOME ! She's really blossomed, very sure of herself
now, loves to play...her favorite is 'tug of war" with her squeak toys,
she's a real snow dog and loves running through the drifts, rolling around
in the snow, and sticking her face in it.
She's also turned into a great traveler. We took her with us for
Thanksgiving at my brother in law's home in the White Mountains...they had
a dozen or so people over, she behaved as a real lady, impeccable house
manners, made friends with everyone ! We also took her with us to
Portsmouth for Christmas with our children and grandchildren....she loves
to give the grandchildren big wet kisses.
Chance is a real joy, we can't thank you enough for putting us together
with her ! I can't believe its only been two years, it seems like she's
been with us forever. BTW....no problem at all with her hip ! Watching
her, you'd never know she had a problem
Here's a couple of pictures of Chance. I had hoped to get
some of her walking, or at least standing, because she has such
beautiful lines. She's almost breathtakingly beautiful when she's in
"alert" (actually "huntress", like when she sees a squirrel...)
mode...ears up, tail up, head up...totally focused. Unfortunately
though, I took these right after we got back from a long walk in this
great spring-like weather and she just wanted to plop down in the snow.
Next time I'll take them before we go !
I forgot to tell you, one of the most endearing traits
Chance has developed is saying goodnight to us. Of course she sleeps in
our bedroom, and her nightly ritual is first to go to Denise's side of
the bed and then mine for a few minutes of petting. Then she walks over
to her bed and goes to sleep for the night.
Kizzy
This is the story of one of our placements, Inca (renamed Kizzy), with her handler/owner Cil!
Inca was found at a local pound. As a dark-colored dog, many people who might have adopted Kizzy were intimated by her and therefore weren't interested. It's kind of funny, because she's incredibly friendly and playful, but this happens sometimes. The shelter manager knows a good dog when she sees one, and we were thrilled to take this dog in. Sarah
S. fostered this girl and did a great job with her. We were quite happy to place Kizzy with Cil, knowing that Cil would be doing SAR training with this dog who needed a job. Thanks to Sarah's volunteering to foster Kizzy, Kizzy is *alive* and is doing quite well in her job training.
Update 12/02:
I just had to brag
about my little Kizzy. She is now a Certified Therapy Dog. We did our
first visit at a local nursing home today and she is such a sweet
dog!!!!! She really related to the people, giving kisses and getting
hugs. I am sooo proud of her. She is one super dog!!!
Thank you GSRNE
for finding her for me!
Cil
Jada
(formerly Grace)
We adopted Jada (formerly Grace) in July
2004. We already had two male German Shepherds (Bosco & Kaz) that we had
gotten when they were 7 weeks old. I had been a regular visitor of the
GSRNE website and as soon as we saw her, my husband and I knew we wanted
her. After reading her story, we knew that she had some issues, but were
confident that ours was the right home for her. Since we had two
well-behaved, loving and confident Shepherds already, we knew Jada could
take positive cues from them.
As her story stated, she was definitely
shy-fearful. After bringing her home we made a conscious effort to
introduce her to new people. We also brought her to obedience class where
she did very well. She was already very smart and knew her commands well,
but the socialization did her a world of good. She still continues to
attend class on a regular basis. While she may never completely overcome
her shy-fearfulness, she is much improved and has gained much more
confidence. She has become so much more relaxed when we meet other
people. Jada also was not a fan of other dogs that she would encounter.
While she still isn’t a big fan of small dogs, she is doing much better with
larger ones, even letting a neighbor’s dog play in the yard with her, Bosco
& Kaz.
She certainly does love to play! She
enjoys fetching balls in the yard and chasing squirrels that will
occasionally come through. She also enjoys playing tug-of-war with Kaz with
whatever toy they may have. Of course since Kaz has about 23lbs on her, he
can usually slide her across the kitchen floor quite easily. She also loves
to “hang out” with Bosco when it’s bedtime and we usually awaken to the two
of them sprawled out on the bed in the morning. She also loves to follow us
around wherever we go, whether it be into the kitchen for a snack or to the
basement to do laundry. Sometimes I think we should have called her
“shadow”. We love her tremendously and she has been a wonderful addition to
our family.
Ginger
We adopted Ginger approximately ten years ago this
July. For our family, Ginger has been the most wonderful addition to our
family since my last German Shepherd, Charlie, who passed away in 1982. What
a wonderfully tempered dog who is unfailingly happy about everything, even
though she suffers from dysplasia and an arthritic left shoulder. As she
gently slides into old age, she has taken to sunning herself, even in the dead
of winter, in our screened in porch where she watches the squirrels that she
has never been able to catch go by, with alert ears and barking to be sure.
She brings a smile to every member of our family every day.
What a wonderful service you perform and years of
happiness you give people. I have just donated and encourage others to as
well.
Sincerely,
Mitch, Joanne, Genna and Matthew Lyons
Update:
Ginger, despite her dysplasia which hurts
her stability and her left shoulder arthritis that makes her limp, is still
happy at ten years old because of a dog’s wonderful ability NOT to ruminate
about their problems like humans, but instead ignoring them. She is still an
excitable dog when people come over. She still loves pull toys and pretending
she is a pup by getting down in front with her rump up and running around our
yard for a limited time. When we got her she had such a narrow snout that my
daughter’s friend nicknamed her “Pointy”, but then she filled out.
When we picked her up after our interview
and visit, we knew this was one sweet girl and she remains that today with all
who come to our house, whether a one an a half year old that she gently kisses
on the cheek or an older person, whom she avoids if they are frail when
walking. She has that sixth sense about her. She loves the back yard, even by
herself, queen of her realm as different animals make their way around. She
still chases the squirrels, those evil varmints she detests for invading the
yard. When we forget to close the gate, which is rare but happens, no worries.
She’s not moving from her post by the gate., guarding us, occasionally barking
at a dog be barked but never leaving the backyard. With one “OK” from me, she
stops barking, knowing she has informed me about a possible intrusion. When
she wants to come in, she barks once, in a totally different voice to let me
know. Like a good servant, I get up and attend to her needs.
By night she is exhausted and loves to sleep
on her back, her legs loosely flopping about. She is one great dog and am so
glad our family has had her in our lives. What a joy.
Update
2/15/2009. Please read "A Tribute to Ginger"
