# What was the catalyst that made you get your dog?



## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

What event led you to rescuing/buying your dog? 

My example: sailor passed away, so I was in the market for a new dog. Still a little on the fence though, and came across an ad that looked like it was written to me. I couldn't pass it up and ended up rescuing captain from a future at a shelter. 

If there is already a topic with this, moderators please feel free to delete. Thanks.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

After my Dakota passed away I decided to spend a year researching and visiting breeders.Instead I fell in love with a puppy and ended up with Samson sooner than planned.Misty I found as a stray,and Devo is my cat substitute.He's small and cuddly and sleeps with me.


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## royals17 (Feb 15, 2015)

Well, I had wanted a German Shepherd, and I wanted to rescue one. So, I had been checking out some rescues, but one day, I just had this inclination to go to a pound that I would never go to; it was in a bad neighborhood and known to be completely filled with pit bulls. I went anyways, and Apollo was the one German Shepherd at the place. He was the only dog not barking and he was a sweetie who had been abandoned by his owner. 
I was going to adopt him, then he was adopted by someone else. I was very upset. The day after he was adopted, though, I again just had a feeling I should check for him online, and he had been returned. So, since it all lined up perfectly for me, I got him. 
and he's the best.


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

dogma13 said:


> After my Dakota passed away I decided to spend a year researching and visiting breeders.Instead I fell in love with a puppy and ended up with Samson sooner than planned.Misty I found as a stray,and Devo is my cat substitute.He's small and cuddly and sleeps with me.


That's exactly what HAPPENNED with Captain. I was on the fence about a dog, not quite ready yet to move on after Sailor's death. Then wham! I ended up with A dog sooner than I expected or wanted. It was just such an ideal opportunity and so mutually beneficial that I couldn't pass it up.


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## gsdlover91 (Jul 21, 2012)

I got dumped. Out of nowhere. From a 3 year relationship. I was deeply depressed and had already been on my moms case about just allowing me to have a dog in her house for a few years at that point. I guess she felt bad? Less than 2 months after my break up she said yes, and after a lot of heartbreak (as most of you know, Berlin is actually a replacement dog from the breeder) - I finally ended up with my dream dog a few months later. 

I am happy things worked out that way. My dog is the light of my life, and helped me out of a very low place. I am forever grateful.

As far as Tesla, timing, sorta. We had moved recently so Berlin wasn't used to being an only dog... And the fact that I have been patiently waiting for a Boy progeny ever since I met him. Everything worked out smoothly, and I am super happy with my duo.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Kaiju came VERY quickly after I had to put down my last boy. Like about a week after. We had finally lost the battle with Atlas's severe aggression/epilepsy issue combination. I was absolutely devastated. My friends were worried sick about me and dragged me out of the house after I didn't eat for four days. Initially, they got me occupied with just looking at breeders. I knew I wanted to go with a breeder dog because I had just been through so much heartache. I didn't think I could handle the potential severe issues of another rescue for a while. 

I contacted a couple of breeders farther away, but also found a local one in Fort Worth. Originally, I went to visit them just to see their dogs and decide if I liked their planned breeding pair. When I got there, I found out one of the puppies from their current litter (different bitch) had been passed by the planned buyer (and the next two in line) because none of them wanted a runt. Kaiju was barely more than half the size of his littermates. At eight weeks he was five pounds, his littermates went home at nine pounds. After interacting with him and the parents and loving them, especially the bitch, the breeder offered to sell him to me and I agreed. I've loved every minute I've had him and he pulled me out of a very dark place. So even though he was unexpected, I've never regretted picking up that little fluff ball.  I still miss Atlas and wish there was something I could have done, but I am glad that things happened the way they did, or Atlas would never have gotten peace and I never would have gotten Kaiju who has turned out to be so much more than just a pet.


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## Ellimaybel (Mar 16, 2014)

This story isn't about Gunther my GSD but instead about Cyclone my rat terrier. In 2009 the man who is now my husband had said some really heartless things to me and put me through the wringer and back for over a year before that. One of my sisters had given us each $100 for Christmas that year and instead of waiting until Christmas to open it I opened it a few days early. 3 days to be exact. It was a Sunday (in Indiana you can't purchase alcohol on Sundays in stores but can be served alcohol). I was extremely depressed as he had said something extremely hurtful and heartless that day. I went to a bar and drank way more than I should. Had that been the end of it life would have gone differently. Instead I went to another bar. Then another. Then I walked into one bar, they said they were closed, and I left. Got pulled over leaving the only bar I didn't drink at and got arrested for the first and last (hopefully) time in my life. I became even more depressed after and a friend of mine (who passed away last year, his name is Marc) drove me shelter to shelter to find a dog to rescue. Only to wind up back at the first shelter where this tiny little bundle of joy had spent 15 minutes in a room with me bouncing (the ENTIRE) time from floor to bench to table to lap. I was hooked. Took him home the next day after giving Lorrie a heads up and she approved it. Cyclone brought me out of a very dark place, gave me a reason to get my life back in order. God help me when the day comes I lose him because he was brought into my life by 2 people who I loved very much and have now passed.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

I've had dogs in my life more often than not. I had been getting up to walk my dog(s) each morning for so so many years when my little Bailey passed away. She was supposed to be my "last dog". No more hair on our clothes, no more looking for a pet sitter when we wanted to go away for the weekend, etc. But there was no one to walk in the morning. And my hubby started researching GSDs the next day. He figured that we didn't want to wait until we were too old to handle a young dog. And with me being home all day, it was a good time to get a puppy.


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

After Stella passed, I went into a dark hole, locked the doors, couldn't go outside. For 12 years, she was my shadow..now she was gone. A week later, a friend was over, we started looking at puppies, I was smiling again. I called a breeder in Toronto, she had a male, black and tan, exactly what I was looking for, and the best part...she was going to be in my town two days later! Her cottage was just up the road, she goes right by my house. She came with both a female and a male.. I was just in awe! And thats how I got Fritz!


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

Thank you everyone for your honest responses. I think we all share something in common, that after our dogs passed, we were in dark places. When Sailor passed away I felt like I wish I died with him :-( that feeling remained for some time. It still remains somewhat, except now I have things to do again with Captain. I have to wake up, feed him, let him out, take him to the park, clean him, give him water, etc... And the surprise of all surprises is that sometimes when I get caught up doing this with Captain, I forget for a moment the pain I have over Sailor. Everyday I handle the pain a little better. I think in that regard, Captain has been helping.  I don't think I ever wanted captain, but I think I needed him if that makes sense?


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## Ruger Monster (Jan 29, 2015)

Ruger was a "I've been patient for a longggg time can I have a puppy yet?" dog. The BF promised me when we moved into a house, I could get a puppy, and a GSD was my #1 choice the entire time after having one growing up. He was trying to talk me into a Lab, Weimeraner, Border Collie, etc. I almost did compromise on a Border Collie at one point, but knew I wouldn't be 100% happy if I didn't have a GSD as well. (I still wouldn't mind a BC in the future). We were looking into houses for about 2 years before we actually got something going on having one built. It was finally done in November, and for Christmas the BF gave me a leash, collar & training book and told me to go ahead and find some puppies. Of course, I'd been looking since the day we moved in  Came across an in-state breeder that had some puppies coming available the same week we were taking off work, so it was like it spoke to me! I called them, they told us we could come up and look/pick a puppy the following day and put a deposit. They had 1 male left, and I was leaning more towards male since my female BT and I actually have butt heads more than once, and I didn't know about having 3 female dogs together since the other two showed a jealous streak in the past. When we got there the following day, Ruger and the runt of the litter curled up on my foot and slept while I paid a deposit. I almost couldn't choose between the two! The BF was still unsure about a GSD, but he adores Ruger now and can't imagine not having him. 


Prior to Ruger, Gnat was a shelter dog we picked out. I really wanted a dog to take places with us, and give a home to. The BF mostly picked her out - I was wanting a larger breed dog, as I've never been a small-breed person. We had to compromise due to space, being that we lived in an apartment, and most of the large breeds I was interested in were on the restricted list. We wanted to adopt an English Bulldog named Sweetie that they had there, but she was heartworm positive and they would not allow an apartment as a home for whatever reason (I believe we could have provided quiet-space for her in a 1000sqft apartment, hmph). The BF LOVES EBs, and he hated we couldn't get her (even tried to convince his brother to adopt her, since he likes them too!). He kept going back to the kennel with the brown & white Boston in it. She was pretty quiet, and when we walked her around the grounds she was well behaved, and ignored other dogs as well as cats in their cat room. Another older couple had come to see her as well, but we'd already decided to get her by then. She goes crabbing and fishing with us, and did a total 180º from when we got her - now she barks her little head off at stuff, sucks at walking on a leash, wants to check out every and any dog at the docks if she can, and plays with one of the cats. She knew how to play the system  She knows how to get on my last nerve some days, but I still wouldn't give her up.


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

I have always had dogs first off, but when Pyrate was starting to show his health problems with his back and HD I decided to get another dog (Raina) to learn from him before he left me and to hopefully ease the pain when Pyrate did leave. My trainer at the time imported dogs from Germany with the help of his partner in Germany to train for K-9 and protection work to sell in the US. When I told him I was interested in getting a German puppy he went to his partner in Germany and told him what I wanted drive wise etc. I got to pick from two pictures - the other pup went to another woman in my area. For the first time in my life I wanted to get a healthy pup, not from a shelter, rescue or add in the paper and was ready to pay for it. Raina is the only dog I've actually bought. All the others were adopted or rescued. Having Raina has been a learning experience and a blessing as well. It did not ease the pain of Pyrate crossing to the bridge because he took a big piece of my heart with him but having Raina here to take care of and train helped me keep my head in the right place at least. I still mourn Pyrate and cry some days and he is always in my heart as you see he couldn't be replaced but Raina did help ease the pain when she licked my tears away and would do something silly.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Because my fish, turtles and guinea pigs couldn't play fetch.


SuperG


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## Darth_Ariel (Jun 20, 2013)

Vader was actually a surprise, I went in looking for a fish....I came out with a German Shepherd puppy....
I just couldn't say no when he walked up to me with the "Hi mom" look on his face!


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

I think it was the crazies who came knocking on our door. Literally, there was some guy knocking on our door at 3 AM wanting to be let in. My husband said no, obviously, but I started to feel a lot less safe being at home alone for entire workweeks at a time when he traveled. I had been wanting a dog for awhile, but that prompted me to start making more noises about it.

My husband took a little longer to be convinced it was a good idea, until someone he worked with told him stories about their wonderful shepherds, and another person said that he really needed to let me get the dog if he was going to stay in a job that required so much travel.

Ironically now he does something else entirely and no longer travels much.


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## Asten (Feb 1, 2015)

Sophie (the dachshund) was supposed to have been my new puppy just as my shih tzu was about to die from congestive heart failure. My hubby saw her on facebook, this little teeny puppy that was found beside the road and taken to the local shelter. He told me to go get her  She was all of 5 weeks and 4 pounds and covered in fleas. Then I had my wisdom teeth removed and hubby had emergency gallbladder surgery, and by the time I got back home she had bonded with my son and that was that. She loves all of us and is a big cuddlebug, but he's still her human.

I got Xavier (shih poo) about 5 months before my Hayleigh (shih tzu with CHF) died. He was kinda a Christmas gift and I found him through a local rescue. He'd been purchased from a breeder by a woman who had 5 children under the age of 5! He has reactive hyperactivity disorder, so I can't even imagine him living with 5 young children. He was 5 months old when I got him and he had some seriously horrible habits. It took almost a full year to potty train him, and sometimes I worried that I'd just have to give him up because he was such a handful! (And I do NOT give up on dogs, so to push me to that point was rough!)

B'Elanna is technically my husband's dog. We live out in the country in Virginia and occasionally have things go missing in the night. The two little dogs bark to let us know that something's outside, but they're not "protection" so to speak. Xavier would attack someone if they were going to harm me, but Sophie would chase them trying to hug them "you WILL love me!!" :wub: But anyway, yes, as soon as the words, "I want to get a German Shepherd and train her for personal protection" escaped my husband's lips, I was searching frantically for a breeder before he changed his mind  

I'd have a house full if he'd agree.


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## dansnow (Sep 26, 2014)

Last year was a rough year for us. In June we lost our 14 yr old greyhound Zellar to just old age. Then we noticed our 10 yr old Llewellyn setter Arlo was not eating. Since he had grown up with Zellar we at first assumed it was depression from losing his buddy. But after 3 weeks of barely eating we took him to the vet. Cancer. All we could do was take him home and make him comfortable. Arlo was my dog. He was born in our house, and went on many a bird hunting trip with me. He wasn't real good at it but he loved to go. When he was about 5 I had to stop hunting and he became just a pet. He was an absolute goof, acted like a puppy until the very end. I had never bonded with a dog like I had with Arlo, and it just killed me to watch him waste away. After about 6 weeks when he started to stumble while walking we realized we were hanging on for us, not him and had to make the decision to let him go. It was during the last couple of weeks we had him that I started looking for another dog. I was daily checking the SPCA and Animal Control websites, but it was frustrating because 90%+ were Chihuahuas or Pitts. Nothing against either breed, just wasn't what I was looking for. 
Then I saw the picture for Java. We said Goodbye to Arlo on Sep 21st last year, and hello to Java on Sep 24th. It was rough at first, we were even thinking of returning him a couple times the first week. We had no idea about the energy level, intelligence, basically no clue about Shepherds. I am so glad we stayed with it. Because of some level of mistreatment by his previous owners, Java was initially very independent and stand offish. We're now at the place where yesterday he fell asleep on my chest on the couch, and stayed asleep for almost an hour.


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## trcy (Mar 1, 2013)

We had to put Riley to sleep. I did not handle the loss well. Four days after losing Riley I got Kaleb. Getting Kaleb did not ease the pain or shorten the grieving of losing Riley, but it did help me live again.


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## Kahrg4 (Dec 19, 2012)

I had been living abroad and after a year there finally had a place of my own and the time and space to get a puppy so I found one from a good breeder and welcomed Moses home in the spring 2012. 5 weeks later I was called home due to the hospitalization and critical status of my only surviving family member. My life changed dramatically as I was going to be required to relocate to the USA to take care of my family during rehabilitation. Due to quarantine restrictions and Moses' age I couldn't bring him into the USA. The kinder thing was to rehome him with a lovely couple. Fast forward 7 months and I had finally reestablished myself stateside. It was then that I adopted Cafall from a respectable breeder. Although he was a sable male like Moses he was different from Moses in every way and won my heart. 

Efa is a recent addition and is a welcome relief from the sorrow left from Finder's passing this past summer. Finder was my Siberian husky who I'd attempted to adopt three separate times before finally being successful- the timing was wrong, someone else got him first, he had been lost, etc. However while I was away this summer Finder escaped from the pet sitter and was struck by a car and killed. Cafall and I were devastated. 2 weeks ago a friend saw a post on facebook by a woman stating she would dump Efa at animal control if Efa wasn't adopted by the end of the week. I went and met Efa. She was incredibly sweet and starving for human affection. The woman had blocked Efa in the kitchen with a piece of plywood and hadn't bothered to clean up any of Efa's eliminations. Her fur was matted and she stank. I couldn't leave her there. Besides, she had already crawled up into my arms. So Efa came home and has been a delight ever since.


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

Kahrg4 said:


> I had been living abroad and after a year there finally had a place of my own and the time and space to get a puppy so I found one from a good breeder and welcomed Moses home in the spring 2012. 5 weeks later I was called home due to the hospitalization and critical status of my only surviving family member. My life changed dramatically as I was going to be required to relocate to the USA to take care of my family during rehabilitation. Due to quarantine restrictions and Moses' age I couldn't bring him into the USA. The kinder thing was to rehome him with a lovely couple. Fast forward 7 months and I had finally reestablished myself stateside. It was then that I adopted Cafall from a respectable breeder. Although he was a sable male like Moses he was different from Moses in every way and won my heart.
> 
> Efa is a recent addition and is a welcome relief from the sorrow left from Finder's passing this past summer. Finder was my Siberian husky who I'd attempted to adopt three separate times before finally being successful- the timing was wrong, someone else got him first, he had been lost, etc. However while I was away this summer Finder escaped from the pet sitter and was struck by a car and killed. Cafall and I were devastated. 2 weeks ago a friend saw a post on facebook by a woman stating she would dump Efa at animal control if Efa wasn't adopted by the end of the week. I went and met Efa. She was incredibly sweet and starving for human affection. The woman had blocked Efa in the kitchen with a piece of plywood and hadn't bothered to clean up any of Efa's eliminations. Her fur was matted and she stank. I couldn't leave her there. Besides, she had already crawled up into my arms. So Efa came home and has been a delight ever since.


I am so sorry about finder. That is so tragic. I am glad you found Efa. And cafall. Your story with Efa was pretty much mine with Captain. Owners left him living in the backyard his whole life. Said in a craigslist post they would put him in a shelter by the end of the week if no one wanted him. I didn't really want him, but I couldn't let him go to a shelter. Now. I have him, and he is blossoming so much. I do want him now as my forever dog


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

I have never gotten a dog. They all got me. 
From the time I could walk I dragged home dogs, and anything else that couldn't run fast enough to get away. Every stray in the neighborhood did time in our house, along with squirrels, badgers, foxes, birds, fish, you name it I brought it home.
As I got older I got involved with rescues as a foster home, and always had my own dogs as well. When I realized the huge number of security and PPD washouts and burnouts that were landing in shelters, I started a privately funded rescue for them. We rehabbed them and found them suitable placements. That spilled over to a GSD focused rescue, and a personal battle to shut down and stop the overwhelming boom of PPD kennels, and GSD farms in the area. I worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week and spent my spare time breaking laws and crossing lines to save the dogs that had become my passion. I was burning myself out and too stupid to know it.
When Sabi was diagnosed with DM my life started to slide off the rails. Then I found Shadow. I knew she would never be adoptable, and she stole my heart but I resisted her with everything I had. Because I knew that I was loosing Sabi, and I felt like if I loved Shadow I was betraying Sabi.
When Sabi died I threatened to send Shadow to a shelter, I wouldn't have, but I was grieving and lost.
She never gave up on me, never lost faith. In the last year and a half we have lost everything. We lost our home, had to stay in a motel, got ripped off on a bad deal on another house. I still have Shadow.
Nothing made me get her. She was a gift, sent to guide me through the dark and let me know I was not alone. She is my light.


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

Sabis mom said:


> I have never gotten a dog. They all got me.
> From the time I could walk I dragged home dogs, and anything else that couldn't run fast enough to get away. Every stray in the neighborhood did time in our house, along with squirrels, badgers, foxes, birds, fish, you name it I brought it home.
> As I got older I got involved with rescues as a foster home, and always had my own dogs as well. When I realized the huge number of security and PPD washouts and burnouts that were landing in shelters, I started a privately funded rescue for them. We rehabbed them and found them suitable placements. That spilled over to a GSD focused rescue, and a personal battle to shut down and stop the overwhelming boom of PPD kennels, and GSD farms in the area. I worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week and spent my spare time breaking laws and crossing lines to save the dogs that had become my passion. I was burning myself out and too stupid to know it.
> When Sabi was diagnosed with DM my life started to slide off the rails. Then I found Shadow. I knew she would never be adoptable, and she stole my heart but I resisted her with everything I had. Because I knew that I was loosing Sabi, and I felt like if I loved Shadow I was betraying Sabi.
> ...


I can't even...your post is amazing. Thank you. You are sooo right when you say the dogs got you. Often times... Dogs do the choosing. They know who they want or need, or who needs them. They are loyal and with us till the end. I am so glad you had sabi, and also have shadow now to help you through life.


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## McWeagle (Apr 23, 2014)

My parents had a couple of dogs when I was really young, but the first dog I remember was Vader, an intact male bi-colour GSD. He was rehomed to us when he was somewhere between 1 and 1.5 yrs. I was somewhere between 5 and 6. According to my mom, he was raised to be a guard dog and was trained in a "sink or swim" manner (literally, when it came time to teach him to swim.) I think it took a bit of rehab, especially when it came to swimming, but he ended up a very well adjusted dog. Vader made me love dogs in general, GSDs in particular. 

Next came Sparkie, a gift to me for my 12th birthday. Sparkie was a GSD mix, likely mixed with husky and maybe a bit of Rottweiler. Sparkie was my little guy. He meant everything to me. 

When I was about 17, Vader was quite old, had hips that were giving out on him, and he had to be put down. About a year later, the year I went off to university, Sparkie started getting lethargic. We took him to the vet and found out he had heart issues. In my innocence, I thought everything would be okay. Less than a year later, Sparkie died quietly and gently from his heart issues. I was devastated. 

I lived in various rentals, working minimum wage jobs, for about 10 years after this. Met husband and figured out who I was and who I wanted to be. Then my husband and I decided to we needed to grow up, go back to school and buy a house. We went back to school, found a little house and settled in. 

We had both grown up with shepherds, and both wanted another dog. I checked the SPCA listings one day on a whim, and saw Frankie, listed as a GSD mix. We picked her up the next day. Turns out she is most likely full GSD - her litter mates look nothing like her, 2 DNA tests have said she's fully GSD, and she looks full GSD. She's most likely from a 2 father litter. We don't have any children and she is our "baby". 

Neither of us wanted to go through the heartbreak of losing our baby and being dog-less again, so we we decided to get a GSD puppy when Frankie was about 5. We couldn't find any GSDs in our immediate area in Canada, but when I started lurking on this site and then expanded our search to the US, we found a litter that had just been conceived (not yet confirmed) 2 hrs from where we live, mentored by a very reputable breeder. We went and met the mom, and liked her and the breeder. Chatted online with the mentor and owner of the sire and were impressed by her too. So we signed over a deposit and Nox was born a few weeks later! We brought him home late last July.


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

Sabis mom said:


> I have never gotten a dog. They all got me.
> From the time I could walk I dragged home dogs, and anything else that couldn't run fast enough to get away. Every stray in the neighborhood did time in our house, along with squirrels, badgers, foxes, birds, fish, you name it I brought it home.
> As I got older I got involved with rescues as a foster home, and always had my own dogs as well. When I realized the huge number of security and PPD washouts and burnouts that were landing in shelters, I started a privately funded rescue for them. We rehabbed them and found them suitable placements. That spilled over to a GSD focused rescue, and a personal battle to shut down and stop the overwhelming boom of PPD kennels, and GSD farms in the area. I worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week and spent my spare time breaking laws and crossing lines to save the dogs that had become my passion. I was burning myself out and too stupid to know it.
> When Sabi was diagnosed with DM my life started to slide off the rails. Then I found Shadow. I knew she would never be adoptable, and she stole my heart but I resisted her with everything I had. Because I knew that I was loosing Sabi, and I felt like if I loved Shadow I was betraying Sabi.
> ...


My husband for some time had resisted my attempts to persuade him about getting a dog. Then, he was offered a job that involved quite a bit of traveling and asked me if I thought he should take it. I told him if he accepted the job that I wanted a dog and he said "But you already have a gun." I said "Well, I want the gun AND the dog."

Enter Max, a yellow lab, we adopted from a rescue group when he was about 5. My husband's traveling job did not last very long, he did not like being away from home so much, but he came to be just as attached to Max as I did. Max lived with us till he was almost 14. By that time, he was incontinent, he was falling alot and it was painful to watch him trying to get up and down. We made it as easy for him as we could with a ramp for the stairs, a harness and pain pills, but he was just failing. I kept saying I would know it was time when he stopped eating because Max loved to eat. My husband kept talking to me saying it was not fair to Max to live like this, so finally I agreed. We arranged for a vet to come to our home so Max would not be afraid. Max scarfed down his last meal just like always. She came in and petted him and gave him cookies and then he just went to sleep in my arms. That was November 20, 2012. 

Afterward, I could not seem to stop crying. We got Newlie amonth later. He did not take Max's place, but he did keep me busy enough that it gave me somewhere else to put my mind.

Sabis mom, what you wrote really resonated with me. Through my husband's job searches, the financial issues, his diagnosis with ALS, the gradual loss of most of his functional ability, the months and months of caring for him, the loss of my mother and my husband last year, and everything else, many times Max and Newlie were among the few bright spots in our lives. I sometimes think they were little angels sent to us because God knew we could not do it alone.


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

My GSD, Chief, passed in 2000. I was so devastated that I couldnt think of getting another dog to replace him. In 2007, I started thinking about getting another one, but was on the fence about it. Then in 2009, a convicted rapist moved in two doors down from me, and he was caught looking in my window from across the street. My husband decided then and there to get me another GSD, since he works nights, and I am alone. Thankfully the rapist has moved away, and I am blessed to have Wolfie in my life.


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

You are a very strong woman Newlie's mom... That's all I have to say.


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## Colie CVT (Nov 10, 2013)

Kenai wasn't supposed to come home with me. After three years of volunteering at our local humane society, the summer before my senior year in high school, we were looking for a puppy for my brother. I was going to college in a year, he was just starting 8th grade. I had spent three years falling in love with dogs, getting my heart broken. It was fate that when I was walking through with my brother that little white puppy with her giant ears put her too big paws up on the kennel door. I went down on one knee to touch her paws with my fingers. That was it. I was in love. She was better natured than the other puppy we looked at, and the next day we brought her home. 

Kenai was my girl. She was everything I ever wanted in a dog. Loyal, loving, intelligent. She was broken - horrible hip dysplasia, IBD that was misdiagnosed as EPI. It was not always easy to live with her, but she was a dog who never quit. She tried so hard not to mess in the house, she literally would panic and beg you to let her out. She nipped my brother once on the arm when she was four months, and with all the fall out from it, never once did it again. She was so kind with children my mother and sister watched. She was horrible with other dogs. But she was my everything.

About a year before I lost her, I knew I needed to get a dog. I needed a reason to get up when she was gone. It was going to crush me. I started looking everywhere. The local shelters, craiglist, breeders. I was looking at GSD, cavaliers, I knew what breeds I was interested in, what I didn't want. There was an ad on an online newspaper that kept drawing me back in. Light gold balls of retriever staring out of the screen. I swore up and down I'd never get a golden. My father/brother's golden Grizzly was a PITA. He was needy, whiny, undersocialized. So not something I wanted to deal with. My roommate insisted that a golden was what I wanted. 

I contacted the breeder and when the puppies were six weeks, I drove to her place to meet her dogs. I fell in love with her male, the puppy's father. The puppies were adorable, soft and sweet. Two weeks later I brought my first puppy since Kenai home. I literally sat on the floor for three hours just watching him sleep. We didn't have the best run, but he is without a doubt the best dog I've ever owned, he never gives up and he rises above everything that I know scares him. He is one of a kind and I don't know where I'd be without him. 

I lost Kenai a year after I got Myles. It did crush me. It was the first time that Myles ever looked at me with concern. The start of our unique bond. I hadn't really been looking for a second dog necessarily. Six months after I lost Kenai, I started to look for white shepherd breeders. I found one in the region and through that kennel found a kennel locally I had heard of. They had an older female long hair up for sale. I had sworn never to have another female white shepherd. But this dog looked nothing like Kenai. I went to see her, thought I could give her a try. She was definitely harder to deal with. She came with stress and anxiety, we had trouble communicating, I wanted to cry most of the time with her. But we kept at it. We found our stride and she is a truly wonderful dog that I trust with my life. 

I really hadn't wanted to get a third dog. The breeder I had found before I got Leia I had kept an eye on and kept in touch with. She had a short coated litter that had a few males still up. The Christmas before I lost my grandmother. Who was one of the most important people in the world to me. Her encouragement, her love and her belief in me had always been a way to get through the day. She died suddenly while at the hospital and I have a lot of anger toward the people there for what I feel is inadequate care. I lost her, had some bad things happen at work, we lost Grizzly three months after gram and it took a friend of mine jumping off of his apartment complex to realize that I'd been trying to avoid driving my car off of a cliff or into some kind of object. I was so depressed that I didn't care about my own life. Something had to change. I couldn't just try to fight the darkness by myself anymore.

I needed something new. I needed something to bring joy. I chose Doyle over his brother because I didn't need to worry about a co-own with him. And he has been an absolute joy and a huge PITA at the same time. His goofy personality never ceases to make me smile and he wants so badly to please that he tries so hard. I don't know where I would be without his antics to make me smile. My dogs are my life. I don't know where my next ones will come, but I definitely have my eye on certain kennels.  I am very happy with all my fuzzy kids. Outside of my Kenai, sorrow and darkness led to my kids. But in a way it makes sense. Dogs are our companions, our joy. They make us smile and give us the kind of love that we cannot get in other ways. It is hard not to love them as unconditionally as they do us.


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## kaylaEjamison (Feb 28, 2015)

I grew up with dogs all my life, so when I got married I knew I wanted a dog for my family. I had always wanted a german shepherd, so after looking into them more we decided to get one. We were looking to get a puppy but we found this female who had mostly been used for breeding at this ladies house. We met her and I instantly fell in love! She had never been trained in anything! No leash training, sit, stay. Nothing! We brought her home and she picked up on everything. Even having never been inside her previous home she has never had a potty accident in my house. She picks up on things easily and is a total doll. She would love to spend her day curled up at my feet. I love my german shepherd! This is my girl!


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## Dakota94 (Sep 23, 2014)

I had to put my German Shepherd Dog Riley May down on March 28, 2014. I rescued her and I had her for only 2 1/2 years. Then some things happened, and I was very devastated. My life went down hill. I got bullied for my decision to put her down, and was actually told by a friend that they hope I have fun killing my dog. They also went off and told some of my favorite breeders to put me on the no sell list for something they didn't even know the full story to, and it's not something I really like talking about either. It just really ruined me. My poor family tried to comfort me and make me happy, but I couldn't even talk to anybody without busting into tears. I just locked myself in my room with my Doberman Ace and my Border Collie T-Rex. I remember just sitting in the corner bawling my eyes out. They would walk over to me and lay on me, and then give me kisses. 


I eventually decided that Ace and T-Rex needed to get out and about, even though I really didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. They didn't and shouldn't have been locked up in my room while I was grieving and such over putting down Riley May. So I eventually began to open back up. I decided I'll wait awhile before I get another German Shepherd Dog, so I decided to just focus on Ace and T-Rex's training for a good while. Then 6 months later I decided to look at breeders and such, and researching lines to make sure I absolutely knew the lineage of my next German Shepherd Dog. I found a breeder and a litter that was local to me. I looked into the lineage of the breeding pair and I liked what I saw, and they even health tested their dogs which is obviously awesome. I decided to set up a time and date to meet the breeder, parents, and the last remaining puppy. The parents looked amazing. They had great temperaments. They walked right up to me and gave me kisses.



Then it happened. I finally met the last little puppy that the breeder had. I asked the breeder a few questions, and he told me the puppy had everything that I was looking for. He has a fearless attitude, had great drive, very smart, and is very outgoing and social. And then me and the little black and tan male just seemed to click when I started to play with him. He was so into me and I just fell in love with him. He followed me around and gave me kisses. I decided that I was going to go a head and get him, so on September 21, 2014 I bought a 10 week old German Shepherd Dog puppy that I now call Dakota. He is what I call "That baby". He has his little paws wrapped around my heart and he is one spoiled little brat. He is everything that the breeder told me he is. I'm very happy with him and he is just amazing. So that's how I ended up getting my little Dakota.


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