100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 5 - Meet Kie

For Day 5 in our 100 Days with 100 Dogs feature we meet Kie - another of our dogs looking for their forever home. Please share his profile far and wide to help find one for him.

Meet Kie

This beautiful boy is Kie, he is about 9 or 10 years young black coated German Shepherd. 

Kie was relinquished due to his owner having to move. When he arrived he was emaciated and bald, a heartbreaking sight. The baldness was due to a yeast infection. We immediately arranged veterinary treatment, and he has now put on weight and his fur is growing back nicely. 

Kie would need to be kept on a raw diet as any carbs would feed the yeast. Any veterinary treatment needed related to his skin problem would be covered by GSD Welfare Fund. 

Despite all he has been through, Kie is the sweetest boy. The ideal home for Kie would probably be with no young children (purely for keeping a calm energy for him) and cat free. This boy so deserves to have a place to call home.

Please email us at gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com if you'd like to offer Kie a home. Other dogs needing homes can be found on our website here - http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/ and in our GSD Welfare Fund Dog Adoptions (UK) Facebook group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/gsdwfadoptions

  

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 4 - Meet Simba

For Day 4 of our 100 Days with 100 Dogs we meet Simba - one of our dogs looking for their forever homes. It's a terrible state of affairs that we have so many dogs in this situation and we urge anyone in the position to adopt one of these dogs to give it serious consideration. Please also share these profiles as widely as you can - somewhere there is somebody who can bring these dogs into their home and give them the life they deserve.

Meet Simba

Simba is a handsome  long coated sable entire male German Shepherd who is around 2 years old.  

He is a delight to be around, and we'd prefer Simba to be the only dog in a cat free home.  While he is not particularly reactive to other dogs, we feel he would fare better as the only dog in the home. 

He's not shown any aggression towards children since being in our care, but we'd recommend a household without younger children under 10 years old. 

He's currently located in South Lincolnshire.

If you can provide a loving home for Simba, then please get in touch via email gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com. You can find more dogs looking for homes on our website here: http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/

 

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 3 - Meet Echo

For Day 3 in our 100 Days with 100 Dogs feature we meet Echo, who is ready for his new home - are you the one to provide it?

Meet Echo

Echo is an 8 month old male, long haired black and tan German Shepherd. He's currently located in Holbeach, South Lincolnshire.

He found himself in Welfare after a fight with the resident dog, although it was the other dog that was the aggressor.  He has been assessed by our behaviourist and shows no sign of aggression at all. In fact, he'[s demonstrated very good communicative skills around other dogs. 

We would consider homing with a female dog.  Echo is just a baby and will make someone a wonderful companion. He did live with cats but would chase them so is probably best suited to a cat free home. Despite being non-aggressive we recommend a home without young children.

Echo is entire and we would not consider neutering until 2 years of age.

If you'd like to adopt Echo then please get in touch via email gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com. You can find other dogs looking for homes on our website: http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/

 

The Cost of Caring

Since this article was published in the Summer 2022 edition of Dogsbody we have sadly passed the point of having to turns dogs in need away - we need your help to fix that that!

The Cost of Caring

As already mentioned, we are the busiest we’ve ever been since our inception in 1975, and as every dog owner knows, dogs can be expensive to care for. Especially if they have complicated needs as some of ours do.

We use commercial kennels as they provide us with flexibility and a certain level of scalability. Not surprisingly this is usually the single biggest monthly bill we receive. Kennels are more than roofs over the dogs’ heads. Many of our rescues arrive at the kennels frightened, distressed, and in poor physical shape and dealt with in the same manner and care as our own dogs. The kennels are great, and have always responded with the utmost diligence. As well as their excellent level of care, they also aid in their rehabilitation, and so are situated within a reasonable distance of our volunteers working with the dogs.

The cost for that service has reached £20,000 per month, and that’s with Debbie and Rose providing kennels. It does include special diets, and some of the enrichment. We do receive donations for enrichment, as well as making or purchasing items as needed.

Dogs will sometimes arrive sick, or become unwell, and so require veterinary support. This forms our second largest expense of around £2,200 per month, although it can vary considerably from month to month. This includes the costs of ongoing medical needs for dogs in our long-term or permanent resident dogs. Around 20% of our dogs aren’t suitable for rehoming because of behavioural and/or health complications, and we won’t put a dog down because it can’t be rehomed, so they are kept in our care.

And of course, the biggest cost of caring is the fear that at some stage we have to turn a dog away because we don’t have the space, or the resources to take them in.

This article was originally published in the Summer 2022 edition of Dogsbody, the exclusive newsletter for our members. To become a member from as little as £10 per year visit: https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/2022/06/become-gsd-welfare-fund-member.html

 

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 2 - Resident Charlie

We continue with our 100 Days with 100 Dogs series with Charlie. Charlie is an older dog with specific behavioural complications that mean he's not suitable for rehoming. At many places this would mean the end for him, but we don't euthanise unless no other option is available, and so he's one of over 20 dogs in our permanent care.

Resident Charlie

Charlie is an 7 or 8 year old male entire GSD. He came to us after his elderly owner fell and broke his hip. The owner was 82 years old when he was sold Charlie as a puppy. After breaking his hip, his owner needed family assistance and Charlie wasn't too happy with this. He had been used to doing just as he pleased so when family members tried to tell him not to do something he bit them. 

We've looked after him for over two years now. Once we had worked with him we tried putting him up for adoption. A couple of people expressed interest and we'd already explained Charlie's situation before seeing them. When they  visited, we asked how they would handle certain situations and of course they said they would tell him "no". One of the visitors was reminded that a different approach was needed with Charlie and his response was "what good is he if I can't tell him no" even though we had a long discussion about it before his visit. 

We subsequently made the decision that for Charlie's safety we wouldn't home him. He is very happy with us and is not being put in situations he cannot cope with.

Charlie is one of over 20 resident dogs in our permanent care, and these dogs can be sponsored to help cover the cost for that care. Find out more about sponsoring our dogs here: https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-our-dogs.html

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 1 - Meet Tony

As we've mentioned elsewhere, we now have over 100 dogs in our care - more by far than we've ever looked after at one time since we started in 1975. And so for the next 100 days we'll post the details for one of these dogs, whether they're ready for rehoming, under evaluation, or in our permanent care, every day. Please share these posts wherever you can - if we can get some of these dogs adopted, or raise additional funds then we can get through our current crisis.

Meet Tony

Tony is a 2 year old sable entire male German Shepherd and he's looking for his forever home.

He found his way into rescue because of his reactivity to other dogs. Since being with us we've learned that he is worried and doesn't know what to do when he sees other dogs. 

Tony is great with people and is an absolute sweetheart. Unfortunately he is ball obsessed - which we are trying to discourage as continuous throwing of a ball  raises adrenaline levels, and so makes him more excitable. Tony needs to have calm behavior encouraged, and so we're looking for an experienced person to help Tony develop.  

Tony should be homed as the only dog in a cat free home, and without very young children (Twelve or under).

If you can provide a loving home for Tony then contact us at gsdwelfarefund@gmail.com. You can also find other dogs needing homes here: http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/

  

A Line We Never Wanted to Cross - Turning Away Dogs in Need

Sadly, we've reached the stage of having to turn dogs away now. As much as our heart breaks for them, we need to draw the line, or risk the dogs already in our care. We currently have over 100 dogs in our care. It's not about finding more kennel space, but how the hell do we pay for the kennel space. It sometimes seems that many people are under the illusion that we get cheap kennel space. We may receive a minimal discount but believe me, our kennel bills are still enough to give us nightmares.

[Editor - We'll post an article about the cost of Welfare tomorrow.]

So, when we turn these dogs away, what happens to them? I know these dogs in the photo are not GSDs but they were found last night tied to a tree risking strangulation. The well known rescue charities were called (the ones who have millions in the bank and can pay for expensive advertising), but they were "unable to help". The dog warden doesn't work weekends!. So, were they meant to stay tied to a tree?

If the well known rescues are not taking dogs, why do we feel so bad at having to say no? Because we genuinely care. As breed lovers/enthusiasts/breeders/exhibitors/guardians WE SHOULD ALL CARE. It shouldn't be about not being responsible for someone else's mess, it should be about the poor dogs.

This is what could happen to the German Shepherds we turn away. By the time people come to us to ask us to take them, they have already made their minds up that they don't want the dog. We all say they should be made to take responsibility. To a degree that is true but these people that are capable of things like this obviously don't have a conscience! What about the people that sell the dogs? what about the rescues that home the dogs? What about the breeders that breed the dogs? Shouldn't they be made to take responsibility? Yes of course, but in the meantime, it doesn't help dogs that end up tied to trees or abandoned.

Thankfully, Rose has taken these dogs in for the weekend out of the goodness of her heart, until the dog warden is back at work on Monday.

Rest assured, we do not turn dogs away lightly for worry of what could happen to them, but what are we supposed to do with all these calls we get? How are we supposed to pay for all of the kennel fees. Answers on a postcard. ;-(

There are many ways you can help, from adopting a rescued dog, to volunteering your time, and all manner in between. Some of the shopping donation schemes cost you no money, and only a few minutes to set up. See how you can help here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/how-you-can-help.html