A Surprise Ending to 2021

Back in October 2021, GSD Welfare Fund received a call from a local vet asking us to take two German Shepherds that had been presented for euthanasia - a male of 2 years and a female of 18 months. The reason given was that a strange man had approached them in the street and kicked them so now they were aggressive towards men. The vets (quite rightly) didn’t think they deserved to be euthanised. 

When we arrived at the vets we met two very traumatised dogs. Both dogs were terrified. They informed us that the female was in season but they didn’t know how far along. Eventually, they were put in the van separately to start their journey to the boarding kennels. There we could rehabilitate them and help them to begin their new life. Within days they’d started to relax and making progress and continued to thrive over the next few weeks. 

On the 10th of December 2021, we visited the kennels to see our Welfare dogs and check their progress.  Apollo (the male) was brought out and it was like seeing a different dog. The kennels had worked wonders with him and he’d put weight on, appeared happy and behaved more confidently.

Apparently, Lexi (the female) had also gained weight - which we were all pleased about.  They went to bring Lexi out, and then suddenly called something that I couldn’t quite catch, so with the kennel owner we went to see what was happening. Lexi had just given birth and with another rapidly on the way!  You can imagine how shocked we were as from the time we collected them from the vets they’d been kept separated.

We estimated that she’d been mated in the few days before being taken to the vets. To say we were surprised and unprepared is an understatement! At 4.30 on a Friday afternoon, there are few places to go shopping for whelping equipment.   Our first thoughts were “Oh no. This isn’t right”. Unfortunately, a pup born in rescue is not the best start in life. Also, sadly at 18 months, Lexi had already given birth to a litter of puppies previously according to her vet record, so it wasn’t fair in her. 

This said a pup is already here and more on the way. There wasn’t anything we could do about it so we had to do what we could. The idea of an unwanted life coming into this world is an awful thought. We decided to embrace it and welcome these lives into our welfare family.  We sourced a heat lamp, ran to a DIY store and bought wood to make a whelping box. Luckily we already had vet bedding.  We also moved Lexi to a quieter kennel so it would be less stressful for her.

Ideally one of the committee would have liked to take Lexi home so the puppies could be reared in a home environment, but she wasn’t used to us and attached to the kennel staff so it would have been too distressing for her if we moved her. Lexi gave birth to nine puppies. Sadly one of them has since died, Lexi and the other eight pups are thriving and she is being a marvellous mum. She receives her own Tesco deliveries of chicken; fish and other nutritious foods so she provides enough milk to feed these gorgeous babies.  They have been named with a Christmas theme, and we look forward to sharing some of their progress as they grow.

Please note that we are not looking for homes for these puppies at the moment. If you are interested in adopting a German Shepherd with us then take a look here: Adopting a German Shepherd

Update

The pups have now all been named and you can meet them all here: Lexi's Puppies Named

Meet Bella

The beautiful Bella is 3 years old. She came in to us at Welfare aged only 7 months because she was going to be euthanised. She was so terrified it took months of dedicated care and attention before she'd let anyone touch her. 

Unfortunately because of her dreadful start in life she is now permanently scarred. Bella only trusts Auntie Rose so we made the decision not to home her. She will stay where she is happy and loved. 

Meet Brodie

Please give a warm welfare welcome to Brodie.

He is 5 yrs old and came into Welfare because there was a baby on the way. We found him in a bit of a state when he arrived. as he was very underweight and with suspected EPI. EPI is Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, a condition that causes digestion and other related problems.

He caused a bit of a stir because we were trialling a new kennel and they proceeded to tell us he should be euthanised because we shouldn’t spend that much money on vet fees. He was quickly moved to auntie Rose where we established he wasn’t EPI but was being fed a rubbish diet. He is reactive with other dogs and we're also dealing with a long term ear problem. He's great with people though!

If you're interested in learning more about adopting a rescue dog then you can read about it here: Adopting a Dog

Meet Maisie

Please give a warm welcome to Maisie.

. She is 4 years old and found herself in Welfare after a relationship break up. She is being well looked after by Lawrence and so far is proving to be a little sweetie 

Resident Care Dogs - Moses

Whilst we endeavour to rehome all of our rescues, it is sadly not always possible. This can be due to various reasons including complicated health and behavioural issues. In these cases we undertake to provide for their care for as long as needed.

You can help our care for these dogs by sponsoring one or more of them for only £20 per dog, per year. Learn more and submit a sponsorship request here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-our-dogs.html 

We currently have over a dozen dogs that can't be rehomed, and in this new series we'll meet them one by one - first up is Moses and make sure to say 'Hi!' below.

Welcome to Welfare - Sandy

Please can we give a warm Welfare welcome to Sandy . 

She joined our Welfare family before Christmas after a disagreement with another resident dog. It would have been too dangerous to keep her there so the difficult decision was made to bring her to Welfare. She will be with us for a minimum of one month while we assess her but so far she has been a sweetheart. She is 6 years old and will be homed as an only dog. She has lived with children. . No cats.

Tia Pupdate - Resolutions

Morning everypawdy. Tia here with a pupdate. Happy new year to you all!

The hooman says the new year means we have to make resolutions. I don’t really understand what she's talking about, but she said it means I have to try to stop doing something or try to be better. I have decided I will try to stop being so naughty. I don’t know how I am going to do this because I am not really naughty anyway. I am misunderstood. To make the hooman happy I have agreed to it though so surely that counts, just agreeing to make her happy? 

The hooman said her new year resolution is not to go shopping covered with mud and dog hairs. Good luck with that eh? She obviously has no chance with that so it means I haven’t got to stick with being good. She said we are all getting a treat bad today for New Year’s Day so I am looking forward to that. 

Lots of love. Tia