Dickie's Diary - New Home, New Rules

The GSD Welfare lady took me home and there were lots and lots of other dogs there. I'll admit to being a bit worried, but I couldn't show them in case they thought I was silly. My mum didn’t let them come near me though, and she said that I needed time to settle first. That pleased me as by then I may have grown some. 

The first day passed in a strange manner. Although my mum seemed nice and already filled a huge part of my being, I missed all my brothers and sisters. I also missed snuggling up together. Instead, now I slept alone. A teddy at night to cuddle and a cloth smelling of my new mum provided company, but it wasn’t the same. 

Also, I'd always toileted whenever I felt the need. Now, mum seemed to want me to go while I outside. That's so much effort just to go for a pee, much easier to just let it out.

She fills my heart with joy, but also manages to confuse often. 

Thanks for reading pupsters and we'll carry on my story very soon - I can't wait to share some of the cool stuff I'm learning!

Dickie's Diary - New Mum!

As soon as our ears and eyes opened, there were lots of things for us to see and hear. People would come and play with us, and we were quite the celebrities. At 8 weeks old, they found homes for us all. One of the ladies from Welfare used to visit us often and I was quite taken with her. Every time she came, I made sure to make an impression on her and I could tell she liked me. On our last day in the kennels, we were all waiting to see who our new families would be. There were some super families waiting for us, we were all very lucky. I must have made quite a good impression though, as the lady from the rescue was going to be my new mum.

In the video we can see how much fun we all had on the day we met our new pawrants.

Welfare Welcome to Willow

Introducing Willow who recently joined welfare as her family were to lose their home. She's just starting to acclimatise to her new surroundings. She does react to other dogs, but only through fear. She is being cared for by Auntie Rose, and we all wish her a warm welfare welcome! If you'd like to learn more about adopting one of our rescued dogs then visit here for more information https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/adopting-german-shepherd-dog.html

Dickie's Diary - And a journal is born

Hello everyone. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dickie, and I am a German Shepherd puppy. I was born in rescue because my canine mum and dad were taken to the vets to be euthanised.. Thankfully he vet rang GSD Welfare Fund instead! What all the humans didn’t know was that I waited to surprise them with all, along with my four brothers and four sisters. We all made our appearance in this world on December 10th 2021.

And I want share my life with you as best I can with these squiggles and brilliant bursts of colour on those flat things you watch all the time. So join me on the best adventure of them all - my life.

Learn more about how the German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund encountered Dickie here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/2022/01/a-surprise-ending-to-2021.html

Tia's Pupdates - Dognapped! Again!

Me re-enacting how I survived in the wild

Although life's so different now, I still shudder when remembering those times before my new hooman mum. I did say that I'd share and I'm told that it would be cathartic for me, but everyone knows that you can't trust a word that begins with C-A-T. But a promise is a promise, so here we go, we're nearly up to date now anyway.

Over the next 8 days, I roamed across many different fields. My situation terrified me at every turn, and so I fled at any sign of danger. And for me at that point everything represented a threat. I kept seeing the hooman, more so than anything else - it seemed like she hunted me, and so I I made sure to stay clear of her. 

I had to. If she had more of them treats, then I may have been tempted because I hadn’t eaten for so long that my tummy rumbled if a wild beast itself. I needn’t have worried because when I didn’t approach her, she left food and drink. Of course I investigated  and discovered what shed left. They became my lifeline and kept me moving and staying safe.

On the eighth day the hooman returned. As before she didn’t try to come near me, and also left me more food. I waited for her to go and then went to investigate. The fish smelled delightful, so much so that I missed the trap around me until too late. Caged I could only wait until the hooman returned. No opportunity for escape presented itself, and I feared what might happen. So I squeezed my fear tightly into a desperate fierceness  presented in sharp barks and bared teeth.. It seemed to work as she kept her distance. Instead she continued to wait, which struck me as  strange. 

After some time, and the people that had taken me from my home arrived. Oh no! This clearly meant trouble for me. What if they made me go back to that big scary dog! There was no two ways about it. I had to show them I really meant business. The hooman maintained her distance and watched the other people. She appeared a bit worried. Not as worried as me though - I can tell you!. The people wrote on some paper and then they got in their car and drove off. The lone hooman female's body tension dropped, and she smiled. She showed no teeth, but even so I realised that I was now owned by a new hooman. She wasted no time and with the help of another hooman who'd lurked even further away, they lifted the crate and placed me in the van. 

I was being dognapped. Again.

Health Topics - Xylitol Poisoning in Dogs via Sugar Free Chewing Gum

In this latest Health Topic article we follow an encounter for one poor dog after eating sugar free chewing gum. Many thanks to one of our long time supporters for providing us this article.

XYLITOL POISONING IN DOGS VIA SUGAR FREE CHEWING GUM

Last Friday evening, I arrived home from work and fed Chloe, our 24 lb dachshund just as I normally do. Ten minutes later I walked into the den just in time to see her head inside the pocket of Katie's friend's purse. She had a guilty look on her face so I looked closer and saw a small package of sugar-free gum. It contained Xylitol.

I remembered that I had recently read that sugar-free gum can be deadly for dogs so I jumped on- line and looked to see if Xylitol was the ingredient. I found the first website below and it was the one. Next, I called our vet. She said to bring her in immediately. Unfortunately, it was still rush hour and it took me almost 1/2 hour to get there. Meanwhile, since this was her first case, our vet found another website to figure out the treatment. She took Chloe and said they would induce her to vomit, give her a charcoal drink to absorb the toxin (even though they don't think it works) then they would start an IV with dextrose.

The Xylitol causes dogs to secrete insulin so their blood sugar drops very quickly. The second thing that happens is liver failure. If that happens, even with aggressive treatment, it can be difficult to save them. She told us she would call us.

Almost two hours later the vet called and said that contents of her stomach contained 2-3 gum wrappers and that her blood sugar had dropped from 90 to 59 in 30 minutes. She wanted us to take Chloe to another hospital that has a critical care unit operating around the clock. We picked her up and took her there. They had us call the ASPCA poison control for a case number and for a donation their doctors would direct Chloe's doctor on treatment. They would continue the IV, monitor her blood every other hour and then in 2 days test her liver function. She ended up with a central line in her jugular vein since the one in her leg collapsed, just as our regular vet had feared.

Chloe spent almost the entire weekend in the critical care hospital. After her blood sugar was stabilized, she came home yesterday. They ran all the tests again before they released her and so far no sign of liver damage. Had I not seen her head in the purse, she probably would have died and we wouldn't even have known why.

Three vets told me this weekend that they were amazed that I even knew about it since they are just learning about it too.

Please tell everyone you know about Xylitol and dogs.

It may save another life.

More information on this topic can be found here - https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/paws-xylitol-its-dangerous-dogs

Customised Treat Bags For Sale

These customised treat bags proved popular when they were last offered to supporters of the GSD Welfare Fund and are now available again.

They are a bum bag style with plenty of space for treats and other useful items while walking your dog(s). We customise them with a photo and name of your dog printed on it. 

The GSD Welfare Fund icon shows your support for the amazing work they do with vulnerable German Shepherds. £5 from every sale is donated to the German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund.

A perfect gift for dog lovers! 

After you place and pay your order we will contact you to arrange the artwork needed for printing. They are printed on demand, so please allow up to 21 days for delivery. 

Any queries can be directed to gsdwfonline@gmail.com and we'll respond as quickly as we can.