Day 42 on our journey through 100 Days with 100 Dogs brings with it some excellent news - we've passed the £2,000 mark with Bella and her pups appeal. A massive thank you to everyone who has donated so far - we're almost halfway there! If you're able to contribute then please do so here - https://www.gofundme.com/manage/urgent-appeal-for-bella-and-her-five-pups All donations are gratefully received.
We also meet another lovely lad looking for his forever home...
Meet Loki
Loki is very a handsome long haired male German Shepherd dog. He is a joy to be around and loves people - as you can tell from his cheeky smile.
Unfortunately, he is quite reactive to other dogs so needs to be the only pet in the household. Loki hasn't been tested with cats.
He's currently located in Stamford, South Lincolnshire.
Please share this post as widely as possible so we can find the right home for him - if you think that home could be yours then contact us through the adoption query form here - http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/adopting-a-german-shepherd/
Today in our Friends of GSD Welfare Facebook group our subscribers participated in an informative live session with Rachel Leather, an expert in dog trauma. Trauma is a consistent issue we encounter with our rescues, particularly of late - find out more about being a Friends of GSD Welfare subscriber at the end of this post. First, let's meet another of our dogs looking for a loving home.
Meet Karma
This pretty lady is Karma. She is 7 -8 years old. She is fantastic with humans but is reactive to other dogs. Because of this, we will be looking for a home where she is the only pet.
She hasn't lived with children, but considering her early experiences we recommend there are no young children (under 10) in the house.
We are told that she loves to sit and watch football on the TV with her hooman - we don't know which team she supports though!
Karma currently lives in Stamford, South Lincolnshire.
You can become a Friend of GSD Welfare for as little as £3 per month, and as well supporting our mission to save vulnerable German Shepherds you'll gain access to some incredible exclusive content. Find out more here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/become-friend-of-gsd-welfare.html
Hello fellow pup-stars - Dickie Hill back again. I'm sure you've heard about how busy things are around here with all sorts of comings and goings. I don't think I've ever seen mum rushing around so much. Despite all that practice she's still not as quick as me, although I am super quick, and I don't think any hooman could ever be as fast as me.
No matter how busy she is - there's always some learning to do. Here she's playing... Well let's say that teaching is the truth of it - I'm almost a big dog now so I know what's really going on, but as there's usually tasty treats involved I don't mind. They're also fun (most of the time) so it's like playing if you think about it. See I'm cleverer, as well as bigger!
Anyway the game today is leaving queues which seems silly because I know all about queues. You sit and wait. Boring really, unless the queue is somewhere cool with exciting smells and hoomans to watch.
Apparently it's cues, not queues. Hoomans can be silly - why say the same thing if they mean something different. It's a strange game this one, and I've discovered that mum can do magic! Look how the chicken disappears and then re-appears as if by magic. She might not be as swift as me, but she's very clever. But so am I! Anyway, I best get focused, I only get the chimkin if I figure out what she wants. Bye for now and see all of you pup-stars again soon 🐾🐾🐾
And for those of you not as smart as me, mum says that this is what she's doing:
"Teaching Dickie to “leave it”. There is no point giving him the cue if he doesn’t understand what it means. So we teach him the behaviour and then tell him what he's doing. There's no shouting, no rush and definitely no fuss. He makes the choice. If he “leaves it” then he receives the treat. If he tries to take it or paw for it the chicken becomes unavailable. Once he learns the behaviour, as he backs off we will add the cue “leave it” then gradually start giving the cue sooner in the exercise, and ultimately this will also help with impulse control."
Mum also says that some of the new dogs that came in need our help. I will save them each a nice treat. Maybe... You hoomans can help here if you're able to!
Day 41 of our 100 Days with 100 Dogs coincides with the American Kennel Club's 'Responsible Dog Ownership Day' and while we're obviously not American it does serve as a reminder for us. Dealing with rescues and amidst an ongoing rescue crisis in this country we should remember that the vast majority of dog owners are responsible and provide the proper care for their beloved dogs. It's also the special people amongst who step forward to adopt, or help in whatever they are able to. And we thank each and every one of you from the bottom of our hearts.
Meet Diesel
This handsome boy is Diesel. He's only 11 months old and looking for a forever home where he can grow.
Diesel loves people but is reactive to other dogs. Because of this we will be looking for a pet free home for him. He's not lived with children, but we believe he would be fine with older children. Diesel isn't neutered yet because if his age.
Hi everyone - there's only two weeks left to enter your photos for our 2023 calendar, so please get those entries in quickly!
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 isn't restricted by theme, so can be your favourite photo of your GSD. We'll use these as a back-up for any of the months if we judge a wildcard photo to be stronger than any of the theme submissions, or that theme doesn't receive any valid submissions.
All submitted photos (themed or otherwise) will be considered for the cover photo selection.
First, we'd like to start this update with a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has contributed to Bella and her Five Pups Appeal. Everyone's response has been simply awe-inspiring - we're almost a third of the way to our target already!
And of course, we want to keep you all up to date with how Bella and her pups are doing since we rescued them. Sadly clean up proved more difficult than hoped, so we have to shave the fur off completely for some of them. Other than that We're happy to report that they're responding as well as you all are! As you can see in the video they've enjoyed some running around in open space. They're also eating well, which again is not unexpected. Overall they're doing well, and we look forward to sharing their progress over the coming weeks.
Please Like and Share this post wherever you can, if we can attract more supporters then we'll hit that target that much quicker,
The 40th day of our 100 Days with 100 Dogs feature is here and as we meet another lovely dog eager to join her new family, we'd also like to reflect and thank all of you who have come forward to enquire about adopting our dogs.
And we hope that we can attract more, and give all of the dogs suitable for rehoming a chance at a new and better life. It might not be you; many dogs have experienced trauma that shapes their needs, and not everyone is in a position to take one on. But it might be someone you know, who'd never have known if you hadn't shared that particular post...
Meet Sandy
This lovely lady is Sandy, a 6 year old female German Shepherd. She's great with people - including children. She gets on fine with male dogs, but not with female ones.
It should also be a cat free household.
Sandy is currently located in Clacton, Essex.
If Sandy would fit in with your household then let us know via the form on our adoption page here
My young nephew is undertaking an endurance challenge to raise money for the dogs in our care - let's show him how we can respond and back his efforts and see what we achieve together. Any donation - no matter how small will put a grin on his face :-)
