Calling All Creators of Horror!

As part of our fundraising to keep the German Shepherd Dog Welfare Fund rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming vulnerable German Shepherds we are hosting a Halloween Horror Auction throughout the month of October, and of course including All Hallows Eve.

We're asking for items that we can auction - we've received an amazing response so far with original art, signed books, novelties and signed prints.There's an eclectic range from the spookily lighthearted all the way to stomach wrenching terror.

To let us know if you're donating something for the auction, please complete the short form below, and thank you all for your amazing generosity!

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 34 - Marlow Under Assessment

It's Day 34 already and officially into Autumn - we'll be in Winter by the time we reach the 100 dogs. Although by the time we reach the official end point we'll no doubt be able to continue much further. Once a dog is relinquished into our care and any immediate health issues are addressed , our next priority is assessing the newcomer and determining what needs to be done to allow them to be ready for re-homing. Let's meet Marlow, who's entering that process...

Marlow Under Assessment

This handsome lad is Marlow. He is a black and tan short coated male German Shepherd. He will be 2 next month, but unfortunately he's blotted his copy book by nipping a child. It wasn't a bite but the police were involved and they seized him and he has spent time in "police custody". 

Thankfully they didn't see his behaviour as anything to be too concerned over and allowed him to come to us. He is currently being assessed and a rehabilitation plan put in place for him. We will know more about his homing requirements after his assessment. So far however, he is proving to be  a sweet boy.

Today we've also announced a competition for photo submissions to be included in our 2023 calendar. There's some wonderful themes which are sure at inspire some amazing photos - find out more here -  https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/2022/09/2023-calendar-comp.html

 

2023 GSD Welfare Fund Calendar Competition

The festive period is all too rapidly approaching and so it's time to put together the calendar for next year. Following tradition, we want to feature your amazing photos of your beautiful and beloved German Shepherds.

This year, however, we’re trying something a little different. Each month will have a particular theme and the winning photos will be the ones that best match those themes. Here’s an opportunity to dig out an old favourite, or stage something for that perfect shot.

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Please note that the themes are intended as a guide to encourage a variety of fun images, we have no intention of them getting in the way of attracting great photos for the calendar. For example, a photo that relates to the theme anecdotally rather than as an explicit visual theme is fine - although please include the anecdote if that is the case.

To make sure that we also get your best and favourite photos we're adding a Wildcard option that doesn't relate to the listed themes and we'll pick from these if either we don't receive a suitable photo for a given theme, or we decide that a wildcard entry is better inclusion than the submitted theme photos. If you've already submitted your photos then we'll contact you to invite you to submit another wildcard entry if you wish for no extra fee.

The wildcard submissions will also be included in selecting the cover image for the calendar.

The themes for each of the months are as follows:

January	Quite naturally the New Year is the theme here, and that could take a multitude of forms, such as the Near Year celebrations, or a resolution for the coming year.
February	In the middle of February we have Valentine's Day, and who loves you more than your dogs do? 😃
March	March hopefully heralds the arrival of Spring, and also the entirety of nature preparing for a bit of action. This sends some animals a little crazy, and so the theme is ‘Mad as a March Hare’.
April	In April we celebrate Easter - how does your dog mark the occasion?
May	Through May, Spring assumes its golden mantle, preparing for Summer’s arrival. All around are the blooms of the Spring flowers - the theme for May.
June	Summer is here and we enjoy the warmer sun, and the theme of midsummer.
July	In July we appreciate the summer holidays, maybe as a memory from our youth, or anticipating a trip to somewhere special.
August	Throughout August we enjoy splendid days on the beach - often a firm favourite for our canine companions and days at the beach is our theme.
September	It’s Back to School in September, and that's our theme for the month.
October	As October fades we watch the lengthening shadows nervously as we prepare for Halloween - the theme for the month.
November	Within November we pause in solemn silence to honour the service dogs that constantly demonstrate their bravery in times of crisis and war.
December	Christmas and a festive theme draws 2023 to a close.

Entry to submit your photos is £3 - this covers a single photo submission for every month and a wildcard entry.. You don’t have to submit for all months, but any additional submissions for a month cost £1. All money raised from the competition and calendar sales will help fund the continuing upkeep and rehabilitation of the dogs in our care.

Submissions are via email to gsdwfonline@gmail.com, as well as the photos, please include the following information:

• Your name and a delivery address
• How you paid your entry fee (PayPal or Bank Transfer)
• For each photo you should include:the month (or wildcard) it's for, name, age, and sex of the dog, and (OPTIONALY) a brief description or anecdote to accompany the photo

There should only be one email per entry (an entry covers a single photo for each month and your wildcard photo), and submission must be before the 1st October. The entries will be judged by Debbie Hill, Frances Ring, and Michael Brookes and the successful entries announced for the end of October. Photos should be in a landscape format and at the highest resolution your camera or phone supports. Non-optical zoom should be avoided, and ideally the image won’t have any post-processing effects (although we can be flexible on the last point as long as the effects are applied at the same resolution as the base image).

Those whose submissions are selected for the 2023 calendar will receive a calendar once they are available. The selected photos will also be featured in our cover photo sets for our various online channels (where it is practical to do so).

All entries with automatically be entered into a draw to win 1 of 3 customised GSD Welfare Fund logos - more details on these coming very soon!

Good luck everyone, and we’re eager to see what amazing imagery you’ll all contribute!

If you have any questions then please ask them in the comments below, or via the submission email address gsdwfonline@gmail.com.

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 33 - Luna D

For Day 33 of 100 Days with 100 Dogs we meet Luna D. All too often dogs that come to us need an amount of rehabilitation before they can be ready for rehoming. It's something we're seeing more of - especially with the younger dogs being given up.

Meet Luna D

This beautiful girl.is Luna D (Luna appears to be a popular name and we have a few of them!).  She is a short coated sable female who is 14 months old. She is not neutered yet as she is too young.  Luna is great around people and other dogs, but has not been tested with cats. 

As lovely as Luna is she has a few bad habits that we need to guide her with. Even with this extra work, Luna will not be homed with children due to her overzealous play behaviour.

Luna is not ready for homing yet, and we don't hold waiting lists for specific dogs, so please don't enquire for her until we post again stating she's ready for re-homing.

If you're looking to adopt a rescue dog then this book is a recommended read. It's not only informative for less experienced owners, but can also provide a handy recap for the old hands too!

The ebook is available from  Amazon: https://amzn.to/3CLMxGf

 

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 32 - Pupdate from Tia

Day 32 of of our 100 Days with 100 Dogs series has definitely been a day of mixed emotions. On the positive side two of our dogs have found their forever homes, and we wish them and their new pawrents all the best for their futures together.

Sadly we've also had a particularly heartbreaking rescue today, with more dogs than we really have space for. We couldn't say no in this instance, and like all of us in tough times, we make do. The reason we're about to do so is in no small part thanks to our wonderful supports. Some have adopted dogs in need, others provide their time and expertise, and others donate the money we need to keep everything running. For that we thank each and every one of you.

To help restore our spirits Tia (one of our more famous dogs) has stepped in to provide one of her pupdates. We wouldn't at all suggest that she's missing the limelight a bit 😎 If you've noy met Tia before then you're in for a treat - she's quite the character!

Tia's Pupdate

Hello everypawdy. Tia here with a little pupdate. You will be pleased to hear that I am behaving myself, although I'm sure the hooman disagrees. Let her, she hasn't any sense of fun, or understanding of dog behaviour! 

Lately I've spent more time in the cabin I with the hooman. She tells me that this is so I still have some home comforts, and to see how I cope in a home environment. 🥰I love it in there! 🥰 There's a huge dog bed, but the hooman gives it a posh name. You know what hoomans are like - they have to name everything. I think she calls it a sofa. 

Then there are these big stuffed toys to play with. I know they're for me as they have pictures of German Shepherds on. These are great fun to throw about and try to tear apart. Again they have posh names too. She calls them cushions. I don't understand why she leaves these great toys out for me, but then tells me not to play with them.  It doesn't seem fair really.

I was a little bit upset with my Rodney. He keeps going to visit Maya and making whining noises. I am not too happy about it. Worse still, Maya encourages him and pushes her rear end to the fence near him. She is certainly no lady. 

The hooman makes excuses for her and says that she is in season. Maya needs to watch herself because the last time I saw the hooman season something she cooked it.   I'm hoping that I might get seasoned soon to win Rodney back. I'm pleased I chose Rodney though, because Tony has a new home to go to soon, and so he will be leaving me. I will miss him as we do play lots. I must go now I'm going to play with the big stuffed toys as long as the hooman doesn't ruin my fun. 

Bye for now. Love Tia 🐾 🐾 🐾

Tia somehow managed to secure her own social media channels, so you can follow her here:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TiasPupdates

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tiaspupdates/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/PupdateTia

If you're feeling extraordinarily courageous then you can always Ask Tia for the solution to any problem :-)

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 31 - Luna C

We return to dogs in our care for Day 31 of the 100 Days with 100 Dogs. There's rarely any happy tales for the dogs that come to us. There's usually at least some trauma to work through, but some do stand out, and sadly not in a way anyone would like.

Meet Luna C

This darling little girl is Luna C. (We have 3 Luna's at this kennel, and don't let the way it rolls off the tongue worry you!😀 )  She is just a baby at 9 months old, and yet she's already experienced more than she ever should.

She was bought as a puppy, but her typical puppy play behaviour proved too much for the resident dog and he attacked her. Trying to do the best for her, the owner re homed her. The new owner said all the right things and appeared to offer the perfect home. Two months later and Luna was returned to the original owner severely underweight (to the point we considered EPI (*) when we first met her) and with patches of fur missing.  

They used the excuse that she had bitten the child, although the original home had children and she was fine with them. Luna is not ready for homing yet, as we need to build her back up and assess her fully.  We will have to err on the side of caution and not allow her into a home with children. Considering her experiences it will also need to be a pet free home.  We will keep you updated on her progress.

We're busy putting together the latest edition of our newsletter, Dogsbody. This quarterly newsletter goes out to our members. You can join as a member to help support our dogs here - https://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/gsd-welfare-fund-annual-membership/

(*)  Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency is a stomach condition which makes digestion difficult.

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 30 - Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day

When a dog comes into Welfare, for whatever reason, we promise them that their new life starts now. Whatever has haunted and tormented them in the past, will remain a thing of the past. We will do our best to ensure that life is better for them from then on. As hard as we try, sometimes it isn’t always possible and fate has other plans. You cannot imagine how difficult this is to cope with. We fight with all our might to save these dogs and the vets are told to do what they can to save them. Sometimes, even the vet’s expert intervention cannot work the miracle needed to save them.

Today is day 30 of our 100 dogs in 100 days theme. It is also Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, so we thought we would take this opportunity to remember some of the dogs that came to us but for whom we could not fulfil our promise. Today, we remember Wally, Skylar, Alec, Mel, Gino, Thor, Codie, Eddie, and the other amazing souls we loved and lost along the way. They will never be forgotten.

Our dogs bring so much into our life. Lets share some photos and memories of those amazing souls who we have said goodbye to.