Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

We hope everyone and their furry (and not-so-furry) companions are having a good day. Debbie has been busy capturing some of the dogs she looks after opening their presents so I'll edit some of that footage together as a Boxing Day treat. I'm also planning to post about one of the things we've been working on and on New Year's Day Debbie will post about what we're planning for 2023.

But today we would like to thank everyone who makes our mission possible. A big thank you to kennels which provide exemplary care to our dogs and always going the extra distance whenever needed. Thanks also to the vets we work with to make sure that the dogs are kept in the best possible health. A massive thank you also to the volunteers who keep things running including the committee members. Special thanks to Lisa Hird for coming on board and providing the expertise in aiding our behavioural training and rehabilitation.

And last but far from least, we'd like to tell you how much we appreciate the support we receive from you. From adopting dogs in desperate need of loving homes, donating money, time and gifts and even sharing our posts to gain awareness for our work. Supported by dedicated people like you we are able to continue making sure that vulnerable German Shepherds can live the life they deserve and not the one they've suffered.

In preparation for the New Year we have a new advert to help us spread awareness of our mission so please watch, like, comment and share:

https://youtube.com/shorts/09BCndj0gas

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 85 - Elda's First Christmas With Us

Day 85 of our journey through 100 Days with 100 Dogs and whilst you should never wish time away there are some exciting developments coming next year that we're ultra excited to share with you.

In the meantime let's reconnect with Elda. If you've not met her before poor Elda (her name was changed after joining us) spent two years in Police Custody thanks to her owner not doing as he was told. As you can imagine those two years weren't a pleasant experience for her but thankfully a judge released her to us rather than let her be put down. She is under a strict court order and so is under our chairman Debbie Hill's care.

Here's Debbie's latest update:

Saturday and Sunday were spent pretty much the same with me tossing treats into her run every time I passed. (Gaining her trust is happening at her pace. Attempting to force or shortcut the process will just make things worse. The damage to her took a long time and so does the rehabilitation). Lots of enrichment is available in her run. Most of the time now, she has changed from barking at me to a low, sad cry. Body language is still quite stiff and fearful. When I let her into her run this morning, she gave the “sad cry” but went straight to her snuffle mat that auntie Mary sent. 

This will be her first Christmas with us.

Even with the progress Elda is making, it is extremely unlikely she'll ever be suitable for general rehoming. Even so, she still gets to enjoy some of her life in a way she never could before just like the 30 or so other permanent residents we provide life long care for.

If you'd like to help dogs like Elda that we look after then please consider sponsoring one or more of them here:

https://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/sponsor-a-dog/

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 84 - Meet Molly

We've reached Day 84 and even with the recent news and Christmas only two days away the show must go on. And that means we've been joined by a new dog. So let's meet Molly...

Molly is a black female German Shepherd who we think is 2 to 3 years old. She seems great with people but no good with other animals. So she'll likely need to be the only pet in the home. Molly will be with us for the next month for her assessment and we'll post again when she'd ready for her new home.

You can find other dogs looking for their furever homes on our website - maybe you can provide one of them the ultimate gift for the New Year!

http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/dogslist/

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 83 - Ross Crosses the Rainbow Bridge

Day 83 of our 100 Days with 100 proved to be an unhappy one with another dog recently passing.

It is with much sadness that we report that Ross was the latest victim of this sudden kidney failure. He was a young healthy dog of 18 months and showed no signs of illness until this morning. He looked flat so Lawrence rushed him to the vet. Sadly he was too far gone and the vet advised euthanasia. Ross will have a private cremation and his ashes sprinkled in the field he loved to play in. Fly high Ross ❤️

Sincere thanks to Lawrence who took such good care of Ross for us.  It is a very difficult time for a kennel when they lose a dog. We can’t help feeling responsible but we know our kennels always go above and beyond for our dogs. ❤️

This is particularly concerning as we've had 3 young healthy suffer kidney failure in the past week. Two sadly didn't make it and Ned still hasn't recovered. Each lived in different locations so a viral infection is unlikely, but it seems too much of a coincidence to ignore. None of the dogs had access to toxic substances that might have been a cause. We advise keeping an extra close watch and seeking veterinary advice if your dog becomes unwell - especially if they're showing signs of jaundice.

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 82 - Meet Ned

We've reached Day 82 of our 100 Days with 100 Dogs and we're spacing out the posts a bit as we're planning something cool for the final post in the series and we think it'll be best to do it in the New Year.  Beyond that, we're already looking at building upon this series and we'll reveal more about that in the New Year.

Meet Ned

Ned is about 4 years old. We think that the owner wasn't completely candid in the reason they brought him to us. The behaviour we're seeing doesn't correspond at all and is in fact a more dangerous behavioural case than we expected. 

He first presented some issues at one of the kennels we work with. The main issue was Ned's reluctance to return to the kennels. We work closely with the kennels we use as dogs can be there for extended periods so we need to make sure that they are suitable. The owners and staff with the kennels are all brilliant and happy to go the extra mile if any dogs need it. Despite this extra attention, we do encounter the occasional dog that just doesn't settle in a kennel environment.

With this in mind and as he hadn't exhibited any other warning signs we found Ned a home as quickly as possible. After a month the adopter contacted us about threatening behaviour towards them while on walks. We immediately brought him back into welfare and saw the issue. He'd been made to wear four collars and it took us nearly a month for Ned to trust us enough to remove them. 

Ned can be the most loving boy but he can quickly turn and bite if something didn’t suit him. He still often refuses to return to his kennel and cannot be bribed or encouraged to do so of course we're not going to use force and destroy the fragile trust we're building except in the direst situation. As he's in a secure area we leave him be and he lets us know when he's ready, although by that stage he's often very upset. We'll continue working with him at the pace he sets, but it seems likely he might become one of our permanent residents.

Part of the reason we were formed was to ensure that even dogs that couldn't be homed whether because of complex health issues, behavioural problems or even due to court orders aren't killed and we undertake to look after them for the rest of their lives. Of the 120+ dogs we have at the moment, 30 of them are permanent residents.

Lifelong care requires a substantial commitment and you can help us by sponsoring one or more of these dogs:

https://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/product/sponsor-a-dog/

Treat Someone Special This Christmas - And Help Vulnerable GSD's at the same Time|

We're delighted to announce that in partnership with Wendy's Personalised Gifts we now have a range of personalised Christmas gifts and decorations along with our existing 2023 Calendars and Christmas Cards. And treating yourself or that special loved one has never been so guilt-free knowing that whatever you order will help a vulnerable German Shepherd live a life they deserve - not one they've suffered.

http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/shop/

 

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 81 - Newcomer Max

Day 81 of our 100 Days with 100 Dogs series introduces the newly arrived Max. We would ordinarily conduct a longer assessment period before posting, but he's such a sweetie and his background means that getting him into a loving environment again as quickly as possible would be the best we can do for him.

Max is  6 years old, and very sweet, although he's a bit worried at the moment with finding himself in kennels. He's come into welfare because of a family relocation and has clearly been well looked after. 

Max has obviously been a loved dog and he's good with other dogs, He also appears to be great with children. He hasn't been tested with cats. He has been neutered and is currently located in Clacton, Essex.

If you can provide Max with the loving home he needs then please contact us via the form on our adoption page here:

http://www.gsdwelfarefund.co.uk/adopting-a-german-shepherd/