100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 23 - Meet Resident Kolo

We meet Kolo in this latest post of the 100 Days with 100 Dogs series - he's an unfortunate example of the 'potential side effects' of some treatments and why you need to be aware of any treatments prescribed for your dog. It's good practice to be aware anyway, but in extreme cases it can prevent a more serious issue.

Meet Resident Kolo

This gorgeous boy is Kolo. He is a 2 year old long coated black and tan entire male German Shepherd. Poor Kolo came to us at 7 months after being neurologically damaged by nexgard flea treatment. The vet report clearly stated that he administered nexgard to a healthy pup with no issues then 2 days later kolo was presented again because of vomiting and had diarrhoea and also unable to walk. 

The vet wanted to euthanise, but as you can imagine his carer was devastated.  His walking is better now, but the nexgard left Kolo with behavioural issues. One minute he us the sweetest boy, and the next he's biting hard (it's so much more than play biting).  

Click to sponsor one of our resident care dogs

We feel Kolo has as much right to a chance as any other dog. It's not his fault he was let down by pharmaceutical companies and vets. In the wrong hands Kolo could become a problem. We are not prepared to gamble with his life, or others' safety. With these factors in mind, we made the decision to keep him in our care to keep him safe. We will reconsider if we see drastic improvements in his behaviour.

You can learn more about the potential dangers of Nexgard (and related products) in one of our health articles here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/2022/04/health-topics-nexguard-and-bravecto.html

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 22 - Meet Kerrie

We've reached the 22nd day of the 100 Days with 100 Dogs and we still have many wonderful dogs needing forever homes to meet.

Meet Kerrie

This beautiful lady is Kerrie. She is about 8 years old, and is a short coated black and tan female. 

Kerrie came to us as a cruelty case from the RSPCA along with her daughter. She was in a dreadful state, both physically and mentally. It proved difficult to approach her, and we had to work patiently to bring her with us without causing further distress. 

We recently moved her to a different kennel where she has been undergoing some behaviour adjustment training at a pace she could cope with. Kerrie was allowed to make all the decisions and was not forced to do anything she didn't feel comfortable with. 

Space, time and patience are important factors in allowing such traumatised dogs to find themselves again. In this manner her confidence has grown and now she's happy to investigate people. 

Kerrie will need a quiet home with no other pets and an understanding carer who will follow the advice given and help Kerrie develop further.  She has so much love to give and believe me, to win Kerrie's love will be such a reward!  

She is currently located Holbeach,  South lincs.

If you'd like to offer Kerrie a home then review our adoption process and complete the adoption query form here - http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/adopting-a-german-shepherd/

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 21 - Meet Resident Bruce

With Day 21 of 100 Days with 100 Dogs  we meet Bruce. All of the dogs that come us have their stories - their own slice of trauma through many different causes from the death of their owners, those that have been abused, and those suffering terrible illnesses. All of them touch you in some way, but others are so grim that they can stain you indelibly, and yet the dogs can come out of the other side, and through their own strength and patient support find a life again.

Meet Resident Bruce

Bruce is a 2 year old black and tan,long coated entire male. At 7 months he started reacting to things when taken out on walks. We believe that he was going through his second fear period. 

Unfortunately his owners sent him away to board and train with a disreputable (for want a better description) trainer. During his stay with the training school they introduced him to a prong collar, spray bottle and rattle can (obviously this trainer had no idea of the science of how dogs learn). On the face of it, the training worked, but in reality such techniques will at best mask the original issue, and are also likely to create new ones.

How prong colours are still legal in this day and age is unconscionable.

Bruce returned home, and he wasn't so reactive on walks. and his owners naively thought the  that the training had worked. In reality the fear had sunk deeper, and taken on new forms.  He'd learned that seeing humans resulted in pain from the prong collar.    

When visitors came to the house he was terrified of humans, but didn't have the prong collar on. And so he tried to protect himself and bit. Poor Bruce now has two police records. 

Arriving at Welfare we recognised a terrified, and shut down boy. His eyes told such a story - one that  would make you cry. Once we'd taken him in, the police contacted us. If he hadn't been surrendered to us they would have issued a destruction order.   

Within weeks if being here, and by only working at a pace he could cope with we worked with him on problem solving. As gained confidence and proficiency, and as he did so, he transformed. He looked like he had the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders. 

Even with this we still have to be careful, and make sure not put him in situations he can't cope with. He is so loving, and just five minutes in his company would leave you wondering how on earth he found himself in that predicament. Sady the answer is all too simple - because people do not always listen to the advice given, or given bad advice and don't check. There will be no third chance for Bruce with the police, and so we made the decision to keep him safe in our care.

Bruce is one of twenty or so dogs in our permanent care. He's not one the dogs with a printed sponsor pack, but if you'd like to help us provide for his life long needs then you can still sponsor him by choosing other, and then entering his name in the text box provided - http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/sponsor-a-dog/

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 20 - Meet Casey

Day 20 means that we're a fifth of the way, or looking at it another way. we have at least four times more dogs to show you that either need homes, or in our permanent. It's not all bleak though, we've received some positive communications and a few visits that will hopefully turn into new homes. Thank you all for your continuing support - even just liking and sharing a post could reach a prospective adopter.

Meet Casey

This beautiful girl is Casey.  She's a 2 year old black and tan long coated, entire female German Shepherd. Sadly she is with us due to health issues with her previous owner. 

She is proving to be an absolute sweetheart with the kennel staff, although dhe can be strong on lead. We've not seen any problems with other dogs, but has never lived with another one. Casey hasn't been tested with cats. We can see no reason why she couldn't be introduced to children. 

Currently Casey is located Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

If you'd like to adopt Casey, or one of our other dogs then you can read our process and contact us via our shiny new Adoption Query form - http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/adopting-a-german-shepherd/

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 19: Meet Resident Ernie

For the 19th dog in the 100 Days with 100 Dogs series we meet another of our dogs under our permanent care. We don't believe a dog should be put down simply because they couldn't be rehomed - all dogs should have a life they deserve, and not the ones that  some have suffered.

Meet Ernie

Ernie is a handsome 4 year old, male, un-neutered, black and tan German Shepherd. He's been with us for approximately 2 years now. 

He came to Welfare after biting his previous owner, who said training methods had caused the bite. Deeper investigation proved it to be for different reasons. 

Ernie spent about a year with us and we saw nothing but a loving boy. No sign whatsoever of any aggression. So we found him a wonderful home, but after 3 days we had to bring him back.  We made the decision to keep him in our care to save him any further stress. 

We have around 20 dogs in our care, and they can be sponsored to help with the cost of their life long upkeep. You can sponsor our dogs here -  http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/sponsor-a-dog/  

Learn more about the cost of caring for our rescued dogs here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-cost-of-caring.html

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 18 -- Meet Bear

We reached Day 18 of 100 Dogs in 100 Days series, and today we meet one of our more energetic dogs eager to find his forever home and loving pawrents - will that be with you?

Meet Bear

Bear is a 2 year old male black  short coated German Shepherd. He is a real fun character and absolutely loves playing with toys. The more the better. Bear will need an experienced owner purely because he can get over excited and playfully jump up which has to be handled carefully so he cannot make a game of it. 

When he is taken out for walks he really enjoys it and is much calmer than when he is on kennel property. He has so much potential. He loves to work for toys or treats. Because of Bears excitability he's probably best suited to a child and pet free home.

He's currently located in Mildenhall.

If you'd like to offer Bear, or any of our other dogs at home, then email us at gsdwelfarefund@gmail. You can view other dogs in our care on our website http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 17 - Meet Resident Beau

We're almost a fifth of the way through our 100 Days with 100 Dogs series. Today we meet another of the dogs in our permanent care.

Meet Beau

This gorgeous girl is Beau (AKA Bobo)  she is a black short coated 5 year old neutered female German Shepherd. She has an amazing temperament, and is good with dogs, children and people. Sadly Bobo suffers from EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency), which means she needs special medication every time she eats to be able to digest her food.  

We did manage to put weight on her, and find her a home, but they didn't follow the advice given and so lost 5 kilos in 4 weeks. She had to come back to us. We have since struggled to keep weight on her.  All manner of different medications have been tried, but unfortunately the slightest thing can set her back. Because of this we made the decision to keep her in our permanent care.

Beau is one of around a fifth of the dogs currently in our care who cannot be homed. In her case it's quite a nasty medical issue, but severe behavioural problems can also necessitate the same decision. To help fund this life long care we have a sponsorship scheme -  http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/sponsor-a-dog/