100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 88 - Farewell to Roxy

For Day 88 in our 100 Days with 100 Dogs journey, we say a fond farewell to the lovely Roxy. There's definitely no better feeling than when one of the dogs finds a lovely home.

We're pleased to see that Roxy is already making herself comfy! We'd like to thank her new parents for offering a loving home and wish them all the best for the future.

Could you give such an amazing gift to one of our other dogs seeking their forever home?

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

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 87 - Thanks for the doggy pressies

Day 87 of our 100 Day journey is one of heartfelt thanks. On behalf of all the dogs in our care, we'd like to thank everyone for their generous donations which meant they all received a Christmas gift. As you can see from just a few we recorded they were gratefully received and as always we're humbled by everyone's generosity - thank you so much!

100 Days with 100 Dogs: Day 86 - Dog Rescue in Crisis

We've reached Day 86 on our 100 Days with 100 Dogs journey and as it's Boxing Day we wanted to take a step back and examine our current status. It's a bit of a lengthy post, but will aid the digestion of any large meals you may have eaten over the last day or two!

As a charity, our primary mission is to rescue German Shepherds across the mainland UK. To perform this mission we have three supporting pillars:

1. Rescue GSDs and place them in safe environments, temporarily at first but ultimately in adopted homes. If that isn't possible then they are kept in our permanent care as long as they are able to enjoy a fulfilling life. This often involves rehabilitation work to help them recover from whatever trauma they have been rescued from.
2. Fundraising activities and awareness activities to find suitable homes and pay for our mission. We are not supported in any way by government funds and are completely reliant on public donations.
3. Education and awareness. Dogs are complex creatures. They have their own personalities and physiologies. Whilst the level of research is far lower than for humans there has still been significant progress in recent years. And we want to ensure that this up-to-date knowledge is available.

In an ideal world, there would be no need for our services although even if people looked after their pets correctly circumstances can change and some form of safety net will always be needed. Whilst it would be lovely to assume that the government could provide such a system it would be naive to assume that they will do so - especially when potential existential threats to the human population are taken into account.

As many of you are aware the past few years have presented challenges to the point where we are teetering on the edge of what we can do. We are not alone in this situation and even much larger organisations are reporting issues handling the influx of dogs needing rescue. It's easy to look at the pandemic and other major situations in recent years and assume they are the cause for the crisis in dog rescue. There is no doubt about their massive impact but that only hides the fact that many key problems already existed.

A report has been put together to identify the key problems that need solving to enable dog rescue across the sector but also to minimise the need for our services as much as possible. Over the coming weeks, I will reach out to other rescue and welfare organisations to invite their feedback and support. I mentioned earlier that we shouldn't rely on the government to fix things however they can be instrumental in helping things change, To that end, the All-Party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group (https://apdawg.co.uk/) already have the report and has swiftly responded by setting up a panel to review the issue. This will take place towards late February 2023 and I will share more details when I get them.

In the meantime please take a look at the document and comment with your feedback. I will reach out to as many rescues as I can, but if you are involved with a rescue or any appropriate organisation then do share this post and the document link with them. Note that this document isn't about solving the issues but making sure I have identified everything that needs consideration. Fixing problems is the next stage and will require lots of support!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRw-WQZubZe4oXnv-Xgn7F0OTkZE0h682zOJNxc3_SpjWPQrOuMiFhmFX2bl73V3JS22sEneDi5yaTF/pub

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.