# Sirius Black: 2 - 3 Yr Old Rescue



## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

I rescued this magnificent animal from the local pound. I've had big dogs all my life but this is the first GSD. He's just WONDERFUL!

I've had a Breeder tell me (based on pictures) he's a long-haired, solid black, GSD. I've had strangers stop me on the street and insist he's a Belgian Shepherd or a Bohemian Shepherd. 

He weighs 80 pounds and is a gentle giant. Looks like he'd never been out of the back yard, never been on a leash, had been taught no commands except "come", and hadn't been in a car with any degree of frequency. YET, it only took a few weeks for him to achieve mastery of ALL those things!

I hope there's enough info contained in these pictures. The picture of him naturally stacked was taken at the pound prior to his receiving grooming, etc.

Also, based on this limited information, would you guess he's PB or a mix?


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

Sirius Black, OMG, you are one georgeous dude! I too, am a Harry Potter fan! Enjoy


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## Bella67 (Jun 22, 2014)

He looks purebred to me! :wub:

I don't know how someone could dump such a beautiful dog. I'd take him in a heartbeat.


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## Riven (Apr 26, 2015)

Hi, congrats on your rescue!

We also adopted a solid black long coated GSD, though we got him directly from the previous owner and also got his papers. He looks a lot like your boy. We also get asked a lot of he is a Belgian and I totally understand when you say strangers "insist"... One guy even basically said I was an idiot for thinking my dog was a GSD, lol! Beyond the vague similarities of pointy eared dog with a long black coat, I do not think my guy (nor yours) looks much like any of the Gronendaels that I've seen. But some people just know it all 

Anyways, regardless of what he really is, he's gorgeous and sounds like a great boy. The both of you sure lucked out in finding each other!


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## Bella67 (Jun 22, 2014)

My breeder has a dog that looks literally exactly like him so I'm 97% sure he is purebred. My next dog will for sure be a black coatie


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

You made my holiday weekend!!! What a BEAUTIFUL dog! And thank you so much for giving him a home and family to call his own. He's one of the lucky ones...and you too!!! Enjoy!!!


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

He looks pure GSD to me, the Belgians have a very distinct profile, and are thinner built- I don't see that with him. 

Love the name. 

I have a Sirius, too, a long-coat malinois (tervuren). Nobody knows what breed he is, but those that think they do insist GSD, so it goes both ways!


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

I think he is a beautiful boy! Much happiness to you both!


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

Beautiful dog! And i love the name.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

He looks purebred to me! I have a long coat GSD as well and he gets called a Belgian by the general public a lot, just because a shepherd has a coat does not make it a Belgian.  Belgians also have almost collie like faces. He is extremely handsome!


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

He is gorgeous!! I don't think I have ever seen a long coat black GSD. He is wonderful!! Welcome to the GSD world


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

Much too substantial to be a Groendahl.....they are much more slightly built - like a black Tuervean (sp?)......He definitely looks purebred

and an absolutely gorgeous dog as well!


Lee


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## kelbonc (Aug 25, 2014)

Congrats on rescuing this gorgeous boy and adding him to your family!!!


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Stunning boy and certainly looks purebred :wub: Thank you for opening your home to him


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

Debanneball said:


> Sirius Black, OMG, you are one georgeous dude! I too, am a Harry Potter fan! Enjoy


Thank you so much! He's SUCH a good guy, that Sirius. <3

Although, truth be told, while we were at Obedience Class tonight, he acted like I'd never practiced "stay" with him... ever. Never.

LOL!

Thanks so much for your kind words. <3


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*Thank You!*



katieliz said:


> You made my holiday weekend!!! What a BEAUTIFUL dog! And thank you so much for giving him a home and family to call his own. He's one of the lucky ones...and you too!!! Enjoy!!!


How kind of you to say!!! He's just a magnificent dog. 

When I found him at the pound, I had to wait five days for an owner to claim him. I searched every lost and found I could find from San Francisco to Modesto because I KNEW someone had to be heart broken about this dog and I wanted to help get him back to them. I couldn't BELIEVE it that no one turned up!

He'd had no training and what a shame. He's SO smart and learns SO quickly. He would have been a magnificent dog for his original owners if they'd put the least bit of time in on him. 

Thanks for your kindness! <3


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*Looked up "solid black tervuren" - BEAUTIFUL!*



Muskeg said:


> He looks pure GSD to me, the Belgians have a very distinct profile, and are thinner built- I don't see that with him.
> 
> Love the name.
> 
> I have a Sirius, too, a long-coat malinois (tervuren). Nobody knows what breed he is, but those that think they do insist GSD, so it goes both ways!


Wow! I just looked up images for "solid black tervuren" and WOW, what a beautiful dog! Congrats on having one AND on your choice of names. LOL!


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*If your dog is the picture associated with your name... BEAUTIFUL!*



Carriesue said:


> He looks purebred to me! I have a long coat GSD as well and he gets called a Belgian by the general public a lot, just because a shepherd has a coat does not make it a Belgian.  Belgians also have almost collie like faces. He is extremely handsome!


Thanks for the "handsome" comment. He hasn't yet figured it out that he IS, but we're working on that! 

Your baby, if it's the picture associated with your account, is BEAUTIFUL, as well!

What a great place to see SO MANY amazing GSDs!!!! Wow.


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*It's Our Pleasure!*



Shade said:


> Stunning boy and certainly looks purebred :wub: Thank you for opening your home to him


He's great with our three siamese rescues, as well! It's hilarious though because when he stands up on his hind legs, he can reach the top of their 6' cat tower and stick his nose in their upper most condo. 

I see YOUR list, so the thanks are headed right back at you! <3


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*Groendaels are BEAUTIFUL!!!!!*



wolfstraum said:


> Much too substantial to be a Groendahl.....they are much more slightly built - like a black Tuervean (sp?)......He definitely looks purebred
> 
> and an absolutely gorgeous dog as well!
> 
> ...


Wow! I never knew about some of the fabulous dogs that are being mentioned here. I looked up the Groendaels and WOW... beautiful. 

I was referred to a breeder who has a HUGE solid black, long-haired GSD that looks EXACTLY like Sirius! Uncannily so! Her dog is just... off the chain beautiful! Wow!

After seeing her dog's pictures, and the comments from all of you good folks, I'm really thinking there's a chance he's a purebred.

No clue why I'm even curious, though. We have him, we had him neutered, we love him, and hope we make him a fantastic home for the rest of his life! 

Thanks for the kind words about his looks! <3


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*Thank you!*



wyoung2153 said:


> He is gorgeous!! I don't think I have ever seen a long coat black GSD. He is wonderful!! Welcome to the GSD world


I'm so smitten it's RIDICULOUS!

It was, literally, love at first sight and I'm not someone who believes in that kind of thing, much.


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*Thank you!!!*



Riven said:


> Hi, congrats on your rescue!
> 
> We also adopted a solid black long coated GSD, though we got him directly from the previous owner and also got his papers. He looks a lot like your boy. We also get asked a lot of he is a Belgian and I totally understand when you say strangers "insist"... One guy even basically said I was an idiot for thinking my dog was a GSD, lol! Beyond the vague similarities of pointy eared dog with a long black coat, I do not think my guy (nor yours) looks much like any of the Gronendaels that I've seen. But some people just know it all
> 
> Anyways, regardless of what he really is, he's gorgeous and sounds like a great boy. The both of you sure lucked out in finding each other!


I can't BELIEVE my good luck! I wasn't even PLANNING on stopping by the pound that day! Last second I just TURNED in, literally squealing the wheels of my Mini Cooper!

Didn't WANT to look at the big dogs (always had big dogs... wanted a small dog for a change...) but did solely because the volunteer said they sometimes put little dogs on the big dog side.

And BAM, last kennel I looked in, as I walked past all the screaming pit bulls... the first thing I saw were these ULTRA intelligent eyes looking directly back at me. 

He was mine from that moment.


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*Thank you!!!*



newlie said:


> I think he is a beautiful boy! Much happiness to you both!


Many thanks!


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## royals17 (Feb 15, 2015)

Wow, he's gorgeous!! He looks like a purebred to me! Congrats!!


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

He is gorgeous and I LOVE his name, I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. :wub:


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*Congrats indeed!*



royals17 said:


> Wow, he's gorgeous!! He looks like a purebred to me! Congrats!!


Thanks so much! He's such a hoot.


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*The Name Was Instant!*



LaRen616 said:


> He is gorgeous and I LOVE his name, I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. :wub:


Thanks for your kind words about his look, and re. his name, I know, right?! LOL!

Our shelter named him "Riley", but my husband took ONE look at him and said "Sirius Black". BAM, he had his new name. My husband also threw out Padfoot, but Sirius it was.


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*Awwwww, thanks!*



kelbonc said:


> Congrats on rescuing this gorgeous boy and adding him to your family!!!


To this day I expect his prior owner to come out of the woodwork and say "that's my dog" because it is incomprehensible to me he'd be thrown away. 

It's only the second time I'd been in that shelter in 15 years. I don't want to read any drama into it, but it's not lost on me that we're off-the-chain lucky.


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

*Bella67! Thank you!*



Bella67 said:


> My breeder has a dog that looks literally exactly like him so I'm 97% sure he is purebred. My next dog will for sure be a black coatie


I found your breeder's pictures of HER handsome prince and almost fell out of my chair.

Thank you SO very much! Wow, wow, WOW!


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

Rangers_mom said:


> Beautiful dog! And i love the name.


<3

Thank you. He's asleep with his muzzle nuzzled on my foot as I type.

Joon, one of our siamese kitties, is a talker. She ADORES Sirius, walking up to him a chattering and rubbing against him. I'm thinking that love flows both ways! LOL!


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## wick (Mar 7, 2015)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THE NAME!!! 

Absolutely gorgeous! What a very handsome dog!!!


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## RunShepherdRun (Oct 5, 2009)

He sounds perfect, and what a beauty! Congratulations to both of you!

Btw, my bicolor GSD who has a very close stock coat, so the very opposite of a long stock coat, also gets called a Belgian shepherd by many people. Just b/c she is mostly black like a Groenendal. And my sable GSD was called a wolf!

I was involved in rescue for many years. It is amazing what excellent animals are in shelters and rescue organizations.


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## Sirius Black (May 24, 2015)

RunShepherdRun said:


> He sounds perfect, and what a beauty! Congratulations to both of you!


Thank you! He's SUCH a good guy, this dawg!



RunShepherdRun said:


> Btw, my bicolor GSD who has a very close stock coat, so the very opposite of a long stock coat, also gets called a Belgian shepherd by many people. Just b/c she is mostly black like a Groenendal. And my sable GSD was called a wolf!


That's SO wild! As I've said in other posts, I'm an introvert but use it as an opportunity to talk up our local Shelter. 

We'd had Sirius for about three days and I was standing at a booth in a pet store, making identification tags for him. That day there was a clinic for dogs to have shots there, so eighty pound Sirius (who hadn't been socialized as far as I could tell) was on edge. 

An enthusiastic man stood in the door of the store (automatic door so it stayed open) asked me what kind of dog Sirius was. I explained we'd just rescued him and told him we *thought* he was either a GSD or a Belgian Shepherd (ONLY because two other people passionately assured me Sirius was a Belgian...) 

The automatic door kept opening and closing, repeatedly (not helping poor Sirius' nerves (or mine, if I'm honest)) and because of how the well-intentioned man was standing, owners who'd just had their dogs vaccinated were having to walk their dogs much closer to Sirius than necessary. Oy!

"Oh no! He's NO german shepherd!" The guy said, REALLY loudly and with a ton of super passionate confidence, "THAT dog is a BOHEMIAN SHEPHERD!"

"Oh Wow! Thank you! I've never heard of a Bohemian Shepherd but I'll look them up!" (I did... they max out at about 55 pounds and are beautiful, but way too small to be a match for Sirius...)

He was starting to block traffic, my poor sweet dog was getting more and more antsy, the touch screen on the tag making machine was SUPER dull/unresponsive... The poor guy kept repeating it over and over again, telling me to look up Bohemians, etc. even though I turned back to the machine. 

No, the poor guy did NOT look he was dealing with any mental illness. He was just trying to help, and clearly was moved by Sirius. 

I'm so glad people are so passionate about ANY animal needing rescuing -- but I've never experienced things like that until Sirius came into our lives. It just kind of floors me, but I'm grateful that people WANT to help. I actually would have appreciated the guys' intensity about it more, if it would have been a better set of conditions. Between the parade of dogs jacked up after being vaccinated, his voice being extremely loud, the touch screen being almost non-responsive, when I had a sweet, new, amazing but no-doubt traumatized dog whose being corrected by someone he doesn't really know and is trying to quickly learn what it takes to make her happy. 



RunShepherdRun said:


> I was involved in rescue for many years. It is amazing what excellent animals are in shelters and rescue organizations.


That's what the volunteer at the shelter said to me when I said SURELY some family was distraught about their magnificent dog being missing. 

"You'd be surprised..." he said, almost sounding defeated. 

Wow... heart breaking.

Thanks for your note.

Kimberly


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