Thrilled - new dog

[HydroPHILE]

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine and I used to rescue German Shepherd throw-aways from owners that didn't understand them, retrain them for a job, and donate them to police departments, SAR teams, etc. (at no charge to the recipients).

My friend has since moved to SC and is a K-9 handler and trainer.

Brief history...in Oct. 2007, I had to euthanize a German Shepherd whose life was cut short by terminal illnesses (that I knew he had when I adopted him). He was 19 mths old. I am a certified SARTECH II (Search and Rescue) and recently decided (over some discussions) to "get back into" SAR volunteer work. I've owned and trained German Shepherds for ten years now.

Lo and behold, my friend informed me of a 10 mths old female German Shepherd already started on trailing and cadaver work that she is selling. Needless to say, if all goes well, I'll have a SAR dog prospect. She's solid...has a solid nose that's always working....great conformation...and a great willingness to work.

Cash, our 6 mths old pitbull, will also have a "big sister." Will post pictures when [if] we take her. We will be testing her this Sunday or the weekend following to see if she's the right fit.

[mustangtrailrider]

Wow....ooooooooooohhh How exciting!!!! Keep us up to date. Let us know what happens....and please give us pics to drool over.....Good Luck!

[equinelaundry]

How exciting for you! I always admire those that do S&R - both dogs & horses.

[HydroPHILE]

"Meeka's" trainer/handler is also a working K-9 officer so I don't like to trouble her too much for pictures of Meeka/Meeka in action. However, she took Meeka on Sunday to the training grounds for some tracking work.....she has a great nose! (the trainer can't get her cell phone to turn off b&w, fyi)

Meeka - on the hunt (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v470/wildernessk9sar/meeka.jpg)

[TKR]

She's gorgeous!! I'm also a devoted GSD fan. My guy turned 10 in January. They are so intelligent, loyal and amazing!
PennyG

[MunchkinsMom]

What a gorgeous dog! I hope she is a good fit for you.

[HydroPHILE]

I'm a long-time Shepherd fan and owner. I lost my last Shepherd way too young in Oct. 2007. "Meeka" sort of fell into my lap. We had an aptitude test done already for her so she's a good fit. We are just working around her handler's schedule to get her.

[paintjumper]

Her thread is on this forum, the GS is a female. I thought you might could help find her a place and job. I would love to have her as we raised GS when I was a kid but I already have 3 large rescue dogs and my husband would make me live in the barn if I brought in any more!!

[HydroPHILE]

Is that the Belgian Shepherd listed down in the Giveaways or a German Shepherd someplace else?

If it's the Belgian Shepherd listed in the Giveaways, I posted publically and sent a PM asking what kind of Belgian Shepherd to try to help, but I haven't heard anything yet.

[paintjumper]

on this "Around the farm" forum a bit of the way down from your thread here. It says "stray dog at my farm, what do I do?" May be the same or not, I'm not familiar with the thread you are talking about.

[HydroPHILE]

Thanks for pointing that out. I posted on that topic.

[HydroPHILE]

Andrew and I will be picking up "Meeka" on Sunday! We can't wait. Our friend also has a 3 year old German Shepherd female and a 3 months old German Shepherd female that she got from owners who said they were "bouncing off the wall."

She's trying to convince us to take the 3 mths old Shepherd, too! I don't think Cash (our 6 mths old male Pit Bull) would like a puppy taking all of the attention. Plus, Cash and Meeka will already be a handful - lol.

[Sambucca]

Congratulations! I love German Shepherds. Great dogs. :yes: I can't wait until I can get another one. You must post pictures when you get her home.

[ridebluesky]

I have a black one 15 years old retired SAR dog. She is still going partly because of lubrisyn.I found her in a shelter as a 6 month old pup. Also have an eight year male who loves everybody.Also from the shelter. found starving from a pincher collar the had over grown in his neck. They are my kids, along with my two horses I am content.
I'd love to hear more about your new dog!! Congratulations.

[HydroPHILE]

Unfortunately, we have no dog and got a severe run-around from the owner/trainer.

[coloredhorse]

Aw, bummer, Hydrophile. I used to do a lot of fostering of GSDs and Belgians; I still sometimes get emails about dogs needing homes ... usually high-drive youngsters purchased by people not ready for the amount of exercise and direction these guys need. I'll drop you a PM if I hear of any.

[ChocoMare]

Unfortunately, we have no dog and got a severe run-around from the owner/trainer.

Oh Shelby! I'm sorry :(

[birdsong]

That is so disappointing!! Did that person think it wasn't a good fit or something...Anything new?

[HydroPHILE]

Pros:

We learned that shopping for dog supplies at Tractor Farm Supply is cheaper than any pet store.

We brought our 6 mths old pupyp with us (if we hadn't - he'd have been crated for 22 hours).

Cons:

We were given the run-around for two days (and waiting in SC as such). It's one of those things of, "you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

The short version: drove to SC, called owner/handler. They gave us the run-around. Ended up getting a hotel at 2:30 am in SC after waiting for 10.5 hours at a park (b/c someone was "trying to find the park" - the park the owner/handler told us to go to). Called and left a message at work that I would not be in on Monday.

Woke up Monday morning, ate breakfast, went to park, called owner/handler from 10am - 2pm. She called at 2pm to tell us she had just woken up, would get things together and deliver us the dog (Wouldn't you think if you KNEW you had people that drove 4 hours the previous day and were screwed around, you'd make an effort to get up and moving??) We called and called and left messages (we were at a different location - yet another location she told us to meet her). 4pm she calls and says, "just got out of the shower, on my way." (2 horus after she said she would be up and moving and headed out). We left at 8pm when we tried calling her numerous times, and she never replied. She knew where we were. If her phone died or something, she could have called the location, and asked them if they could run a message out to us.

We still don't have any e-mails, texts, or phone calls from her. Everytime she actually called back, she would apologize profusely, etc.

Unfortunately, this is someone I had trained with three years ago. I thought, "well at least we know this person. She's not going to screw us around." :no: Boy were we wrong.



Coloredhorse: Thanks. We thought she was a perfect fit, and so did her owner/handler because she was medium-high drive with tracking and trailing started.

[HydroPHILE]

We're headed to the local Animal Control where I got an "inside scoop" on two high drive purebred GSDs.

The last time I went to AC, someone had dumped a GORGEOUS 7 mths old neutered male GSD, obedience trained, HW preventative, on great food, housebroken, crate trained. The owners were still there when I was talking to them about the dog. They said he was "too energetic" for them! A 7 mths old GSD, go figure!

What did they do? They turned him in, and then they adopted two large breed puppies!!!! WTH? :confused:

Luckily, the local PD heard about the GSD and were looking for a vivacious (though lower working drive) for PR and Search and Rescue. He was scooped up that day.

Someone got an AWESOME dog for $10! :eek: (and he came with his AKC papers and pedigree)

[pony89]

What did they do? They turned him in, and then they adopted two large breed puppies!!!! WTH? :confused:

Well, at least if they are cycling dogs through their house, they are returning them obedience trained, housebroken, and somewhat taken care of! He certainly had a better chance than most dogs! I think the number one reason for surrendering dogs must be people who let their teeny adorable puppies act like terrors because they are small and cute, then get annoyed when they get to be 80 pounds, and act like the same puppy they were allowed to be except huge, instead of magically becoming quiet and sedate. No one should be allowed to adopt a large breed dog without being told that their dog will be full size at 1 year, but will still be a puppy until they are 4!

Good luck on your hunt, I hope you find the perfect dog! Sorry the last one fell through, that sounds incredibly irritating!

[HydroPHILE]

When I got to the Animal Shelter, they had one Shepherd left. A big, goofy, playful sable one year old boy. I took him out and into the "bonding room." He is mouthy (lightly), loves to be sneaky, knows sit, shake, down, come, stay, and heel.

Unfortunately, he's not up for adoption until Sat the 28th. I put our name on his "waiting list," but we're 6th down, and now we're bribing friends to be at the AC on Saturday morning as our "representative" as we have to go out of town.