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Success Stories
Dogs A-E
These
are stories of the wonderful dogs that found their forever homes
because of AGSDR volunteers and supporters.
To make a
Memorial/Gift, click here
or send an email
to
jazz@austingermanshepherdrescue.org
Have
you adopted from us and have a story and
picture to share?
We believe ALL of our
adopted dogs are SUCCESS STORIES and would
love to hear from you too!
Email us at
jazz@austingermanshepherdrescue.org
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Allie
First
off I want to thank Allie’s foster family with Austin GSD rescue for
recommending Allie for us…and of course AGSDR itself. We had such a
great experience with you all and although we are from Kansas City,
had the best time driving down to pick up Allie, our newest family
member!
Allie has now been here for almost a week, and I felt compelled to
email you all as she just fit in right away. She was an angel the 10
hr drive back to Kansas, and at the hotel we stayed in for one night.
We have had no problems with her and our other GSD getting along,
they have become fast friends.
When we got home, of course all of our family wanted to meet Ms.
Allie, and we have had several family members here and she is
wonderful with all people of all shapes and sizes. We just love her
already so much, she has gotten a lot of great compliments. It is
obvious that that her foster family did a wonderful job with her!
She
is a great dog. Some moments I feel a mix of so sad and so happy that
at one time she, and many others like this may have not had another
chance if it wasn’t for you all. So, thank you, your hard work means
so much to us, and to others like us, who get the joy of welcoming a
new dog/puppy into our homes.
Thanks again,
Stephanie and Dan Garcia and Kelso (GSD) and proudly, Allie (GSD)
Allie
and brother Kelso |
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Athena & Phoenix
(aka Heidi & Ginger)
 We adopted these 2 precious girls from AGSDR 3 ½ yrs ago (from Anne
Burkett). Athena (left facing) known then as Heidi on the AGSDR web
site, and Phoenix (right facing) was pulled at the last minute by
AGSDR from TLAC. She was a stray that I believe TLAC had named Ginger
(?).
This
photo was taken last night. My husband has stage 4 (late stage) lung
cancer (he never smoked). He was diagnosed
and went thru chemo last summer/fall. He was doing great until 2 months
ago when he became ill again. This time it was an undiagnosed massive
lung infection, which nearly cost him his life. He was in the critical
care unit at St. David’s hospital for 8 days and was discharged home
3
weeks ago today.
I just wanted to send this photo to Anne to let her know that we think
of her often. We also have 6 rescued dachshunds; 2 from Central TX
Dachshund Rescue (CTDR), 1 from Dachshund Rescue of Houston (DROH), 1
from PAWS in Kyle, 1 from Guadalupe County Humane Society, and 1 from an
animal control near the Oklahoma/Texas border.
Thanks
to AGSDR for the wonderful things that you do to save so many precious
animals.
Shirley (Lockwood) & Dr. Herbert Wong |
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Barr
We adopted Barr in November of
2004. Each day we are still more and more in love with him. I wanted to thank
everyone again for all the dedication, time and emotion that goes into saving
these dogs. Barr has brought so much joy and adventure into our home/family. We
feel so grateful to all of you for saving him and all of the other dogs. I can
imagine that it is difficult work....we so appreciate that you all do what you
do.
Attached is a picture of Barr
napping after a long day at the beach, we thought you guys might enjoy it.
Thanks so much for all of your
work, and thanks again for Mr. Barr!!
Ariel
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Barr's 2nd Update...
We wanted to send you an update on Barr…it
has been about seven months since we adopted him in November and we love our
life with Barr!
Whenever someone hears that our dog is a
rescue they say, “Oh, he is such a lucky dog, you guys did such a good
thing for him.” My response is always that we are the lucky ones, we feel
like he has done so much for us! He has so greatly improved our quality of
life. Waking up to his big old nose every morning never fails to make us
giggle. You can’t put a price on a smile first thing in the morning!
We
wanted a dog that we could take everywhere with us, a dog who wanted to be
an active part of our busy and varied lifestyle. Barr certainly does fit the
bill, we take him hiking, swimming, to friends homes with other dogs, small
children and cats. He loves to see what adventures each day will hold and he
certainly loves affection from all of the people we come across. He will
just sit in front of someone and stare up at them with his big brown eyes
until they melt and pet him. He always exhibits such self control, never
overexcited or jumpy even though he is still just a young boy. He is always
invited back to our friends and families homes.
His favorite times are spent romping
outdoors. He is a hopeless fool when he is near water, he gets a little
twinkle in his eye and the splashing begins. Because Barr so desperately
loves being in the woods we have planned a
two week backpacking trip to Colorado for August. We’ll send you another
update and some pics of the Barr dog romping in the alpine wilderness when
we get back. Thanks so much to everyone who works to hard to rescue and
rehabilitate all of these wonderful dogs. Without all your hard work
we’d be without our morning giggle!
Thanks a million,
Ariel and Nate
June 2005
P.S. Great job on
naming him, at first we weren’t sure about the name Barr... but it
quickly grew on us as our friends started joking with us about "raising
the Barr", our "Barr of gold" and of course the "Barr
tab."
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Bear
In
December 2003 AGSDR received a call about a young, long-haired GSD that was
found running loose in the woods. "Bear" was picked up that
weekend and boy was he a site to see! He was skinny and full of fleas and
ticks. After his bath, he got a haircut to remove the mats from his
beautiful coat. Bear fit right into his new foster home, making friends
with all of the resident dogs and humans. He was a big, goofy puppy who
loved everyone. We were not happy when Bear's heartworm test came back
positive, but he went through the treatment with no problem. By this time,
Bear had caught the eye of his soon-to-be new family, and a meeting was
planned. It was love at first sight! A few weeks later Bear joined his
forever family in San Antonio, and we think Bear could not have found a
better home!
From
a pup in his foster home...
...To certified Therapy Dog!
A letter received
from Bear's new guardians:
Since
its just about the end of the year, I thought I'd give you one last update
on Bear. It's hard to believe we've had him
almost a whole year, he is so much apart of our family.
He is now a big goofy adolescent (we think he's now about 18 months). He
loves the world and everything in it. I think he finally has the
confidence that no one will ever hurt or be rough with him again. I've
seen him with a tiny poodle sitting on his head licking his nose (Bear
just thumped his tail). Another time a little girl with Downs Syndrome ran
up to him and wrap her arms around his neck and buried her head into his
fur (he gently turned his head and licked her face).
His temperament is so wonderful he easily passed to Delta Society's Animal
Aptitude Test last Oct. He is now a fully certified therapy dog. Bear's
been going to the hospital with me the last two weeks visiting patients,
family, and staff on the oncology unit. It's fun watching him learn all the
new things that go long with going into a large busy hospital. As usual he
has impressed everyone who has met him. His favorite time is if he is
allow to get in bed with the patient, he gently snuggles down for a
love-in.
He is a tall skinny adolescent Shepherd. He looks bigger because of all
the hair! He's between 29-30in at the shoulders and about 85lbs. I don't
worry about his weight as he has never been a big eater and he is very
active. I figure he'll mature out at 100-120 lbs at 3-4 years of age.
Several people who know Shiloh's ask me if he is one. Whether he is a big
long-haired GSD or a Shiloh, we don't care. He's our big furry bear puppy
(Kenzie, the name couldn't have fit him any better)
Bear is very much apart of our dog pack. When the golden and our old
female GSD get tired of playing with the kid, he just plays with the toys
by himself. We get comments all the time from people that he is a pretty
impressive Shepherd with a wonderful temperament. We let everyone know he
came from your organization. We recommend your rescue to everyone who asks
about getting a GSD. We couldn't be happier with Bear. He has turned
out to be everything
we were looking for in a GSD.
Have a happy holiday season.
Pat and Bryce Segar
Dela Bailey and Bear
December 2005
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Brooke
Brooke in the first
few days...
 Some
dogs come to AGSDR in good health. For one reason or the other they
were surrendered by a previous owner or left to stray. Others have a
harder story. Like Brooke. Brooke was an unfortunate pup in a group
of 3 that were hairless, mangy little messes. But our intake
coordinator, Megan, saw through that. She saw wonderful, sweet,
personable baby German Shepherds.
So
they came to live with her, and she cared for them with horrid, smelly
weekly baths; lots of good food; and even more love. Another pup,
Lola, that we got in at the same time (not one of the others with
Brooke) had hair…and wow, she was adopted fast. But little Brooke
took a bit longer. And a little later...
That is, until the day we found out she had a bum elbow. For more on
her problem, see our story under Kenny & Apache. The two suffered the
same condition. So, we advertised for help with her bills on
fundable.org, seeking half the cost so as to not devastate our
limited rescue budget. The outpouring was amazing!!
Recovering is a hard job, but someone's got to do it!
And
even better, she caught the eye of caring souls who wanted Brooke to
come be theirs! A surgery, and trip across the country, and many hugs
later, and Brooke has become a special gal to her new family.
Here’s a note recently sent, along with a couple of pictures. Brooke,
you’ve come a long way!
Sorry
I haven't written in so long (truth is I've been waiting for Trevor to
upload the photos from the camera since sadly I cannot); just wanted
to let you know "We're Surviving." Hee!Hee! Unfortunately, Brooke
proved to us that she cannot roam free during the day. I believe our
current total damage is up to $700. Boy are we getting reacquainted
with GSD puppy life!
We
crate her during the day; however, she isn't very happy about that.
Our FL parents let her out at lunch so she can roam, play, and
generally wreak havoc on the dog toys and FL lizards. :) Her new
Indian name is "Great Lizard Hunter." We have a lot of them down her
and apparently they fascinate her. She enjoys chasing them around the
trees. Don't worry, she doesn't eat them.
Unfortunately, I must report that she was christened in the O'Day
style. She kept bothering Rourke and wouldn't take "no" (i.e. didn't
back off after the barking) so she got bit in the face which required
two staples. I say this is O'Day fashion since Megan bit Bailey (our
older shepherd who died in June) and Bailey bit Rourke when she was a
puppy. Rourke had three staples.
Don't worry; all is well no visible scaring. I would say hurt pride
but it never phased her. She is a hard headed one!
It
seems Brooke has/will become Gemma's dog. She has attached herself to
Gemma, and we are surprised at how well she does with her. You do
have watch every now and then as she still mouthy.
She
is growing into a Good Dog!
P.S. I've enclosed some photos that I thought you might find amusing.
Talk to you soon.
Janet
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Buddy:
One Year Later
We
just celebrated our Buddy’s one year adoption anniversary (7/5/06)!! I thought
it was only fitting that I drop you a line to let you know how he is doing. Our
once skinny, shy puppy has blossomed into an 83 lb GSD who has lots of
confidence and a crazy amount of personality. Eric and I absolutely adore him
and can’t imagine life before he stole our hearts. He truly is a “Daddy’s
boy”…he has bonded very strongly to Eric, which surprised us both considering
Eric travels a lot for work. I think the A/C dog house that Eric built for Buddy
might be a factor in his loyalty!
A few months ago
we met up with Michael at a soccer game and Buddy demonstrated that he
definitely has not forgotten those who has been kind to him. He recognized
Michael’s voice immediately and covered him with kisses. A wonderful sight!
I thank you for
opening your heart and home to Buddy and all the other rescues! We’ll continue
to keep in touch and try to share more stories and updates.
Take care,
Shannon
July 2006
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Caspian
Some of them have it harder than
others. When we first got Caspian, he was here
----------------->
<-----
And he looked like this.
This poor boy had not been neglected intentionally. It was a sad
story, really. His previous owner had Alzheimer's, and the dog
wasn't the only one suffering.
So people kept passing
him by. NOT what they were looking for in their new dog.
That's where AGSDR stepped in. After all, we saw him for how he
acted, and we knew how he looked would change quickly with some love
and attention. An d
it did.
Before long, he was looking like THIS
-------------------------------------------->
And soon enough, in
August 2006, he was adopted. Here's a short section of a note
we got from his new family after his first day...
"As you know we picked up Caspian on Thursday the 31st and what a
wonderful dog he is. He has had no accidents in the house. He has
settled in very well. Caspian has met the horses and did very good. No
barking or growling or jumping at the horses. They all treated each
other like long lost friends. Caspian even went under Zip and Zip
didn't mind at all.
We are so glad to have added Caspian to our family. He is a wonderful
dog. He even did super his first night alone when we were at work. He
didn't even have to be crated."
And here's another note we got from them after one month, in Sept
2006...
I just wanted to say Thanks again for letting us adopt Caspian. He has
already learned to down, sit, and shake. He is attached to Marks hip
when Mark is home. We have had no accidents in the house. He got
neutered last week. I dont think he was happy he had to stay for the
day at the vet. I also want to donate his crate. We don’t need it
because he has had no problems being alone when we are at work. He has
done very well with the storms we have had. No pacing. We get
complements on him all the time. Michele, you did a great job with
him.
Suzi , Mark, and Caspian
And last but not least, pics of a happy Caspian in his new home...
  
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Cassidy
Cassie (aka
Cassidy) was my result of a search for a "white GSD". Something you
need to know about Cassie is that she is Black and Tan. No, I'm not color blind
but there's a story to all this. I also was looking for a dog close to Iowa.
Again, there's a story behind this.
I started out like
all people who are truly interested in knowing about the dog they will
eventually own by reading books and searching the web for all the information I
could find on GSDs. There are millions of pages out there devoted to GSDs. As I
mentioned earlier, I was looking for a reputable breeder of white GSDs that was
also close to where I live, Iowa. The more I looked, the more aware I became of
animals who were either abused, neglected, or both. I decided to adopt rather
than purchase a white GSD.

Amongst all the Google searches I did I found the
Austin German Shepherd Rescue website and stopped in to simply gain more
knowledge about GSDs as well as being curious as to what dogs they had
available. I looked at every dog they had—but
one barked at me, not literally but figuratively. She said, "I'm the one you
want and I would love to see Iowa." Her name, Cassidy. There was something
special about her that kept me coming back to visit.
Eventually I sent
an email asking if they would consider an out-of-state adoption. They agreed to
"consider" it, with reservations I'm sure. Well after a few lengthy
conversations and several emails we agreed to a meeting. I drove 1100 miles
(one-way) to meet everyone and especially Cassidy.
The minute I saw her I knew that unless they had any concerns about me I was
bringing Cassidy to Iowa to give her a good home and let her know how special
she is.
After all was said
and done I didn't meet either of my original goals, Cassidy is neither white nor
was she anywhere even remotely close to Iowa. That said, she was better in every
way than I imagined and she is enjoying her new home in Iowa.
Thanks to Joyce
and Karen for all the hard work and for giving this more than a passing chance.
Cassie has truly enriched my life.
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Charlie:
Journey
of a Shy Dog
Phil
and I want to than you for putting us together with our wonderful German
Shepherd Charlie. She is
perfect for us! Charlie is so
affectionate and eager to do the right thing.
We take her for a walk in the local park each morning.
This park is very large and wild with walking paths in the woods.
Charlie run and runs, but always returns to us at top speed when
called.
The only
shyness we see in her
at this point in time is when she is meeting new people.
Most of our friends love dogs and are also our age.
They appreciate a polite and reserved dog.
Very quickly, if no noisy overture is made, Charlie will approach
them to make friends and allow herself to be petted.
As much
as we do love big German Shepherds, we are so happy to have our "small"
girl. She fits into our home
and our auto and now our arms as though she was custom made for us!
Charlie in her foster home
My husband says again and again that we are blessed to have Charlie and I
know that we are indeed. She has added so much joy and affection to our
lives.
I have
finished reading "Help With Your Shy Dog," and I think I will
begin formal and extensive training soon, although there are no classes
near us and I will be training her myself.
We are doing our best to provide her with opportunities for
socialization. We take her on most of our errands and to visit friends.
She is learning that the world is a friendly and less scary place
than she thought it was!
Charlie in April
Thank
you again for providing us with our wonderful dog.
She is our treasure.
Best
Wishes,
Phil
and Sandy Cook
06
April 2005
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Charlotte
We
are so very thankful for Charlotte our GSD rescue from July
2005. We love her to pieces. She seems to love all people. She is very
healthy and happy. We go for walks several times a day. My Dad came to
visit from California and loves her too. Thank you for your
wonderful efforts.
The Anderson
Family.
click for larger
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China
We
wanted to share some thoughts and updates on China, a beautiful and
soul-filled female which we adopted November 5, 2004. For 29 years Tom
and I have shared our home with many wonderful and beautiful German
Shepherds, all of which we raised from puppies save and except one male
which we brought to our family 29 years ago as a family could not have him
in their place of residence.
We have
loved each and every one of our boys and girls in a special way, each with
their unique personalities and unconditional love and devotion. On December
31, 2003 we lost a very special male named Gunner. He was the light of our
days and life and we could not imagine our home without him. Due to my
impending knee replacement surgery we knew it would be impossible to bring a
puppy into our home and be in a position to remain cautious about my knee.
After the loss of Gunner, we weren't even sure that we would have another
dog for a long time. The pain of his loss was incredibly intense.
After my
surgery I was surfing the net and came across your website and the
"Featured Dog" that day was China. There was something about her
that I could not get out of my mind. I would leave your website convinced
that I could not manage a dog at this time in my life and I was always
preferential to males anyway. No matter how I tried, her face invade my
thoughts, my sleep and I kept returning to her webpage.
Of
course, we made the trip to Austin and five minutes at her foster home was
all it took. She was so quiet and calm that one would ask how we could have
made that decision so quickly, but our hearts were captured the minute we
saw her.
China is
doing beautifully and undoubtedly she knows she has found her "Forever
Home". She is so loving and caring that it touches your heart. She
loves everyone, adults and children. Most of our friends come to visit just
to see her as everyone loves her gentle ways and sweet kisses.
Unfortunately, she still does not like other dogs and it's probably her way
of making sure that she is an "only child".
She
definitely knows "walk", "treats", "bone" and
all of those pleasures that a furry child should enjoy. It is
incomprehensible to us that someone would have left this beautiful creature
tied to a tree to starve and die....her greatest pleasure is to fill you
with her love and gentleness, her body nestled right against yours and her
love extended to you through her beautiful big brown eyes. She is so
obedient and easily adaptable to whatever we ask.
Thank
you for taking such good care of her until she found us. We never thought
about adopting, but we can testify that there is no feeling that can match
the feeling you have when you have adopted one of these beautiful pets.
Sincerely,
Mrs.
Joey Prohaska
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Chuska
Martin
and I wanted to give you an update on Chuska. It's been about eight months since
we adopted him in September of 2005. When we first got him, he was tall and
lanky but now he is a massive 110 pounds and very handsome. He gets compliments
everywhere he goes and is the favorite at daycare. He is very intelligent and
knows all his basic commands, can shake hands and is learning off leash now.
Some of Chuska's
favorite things to do are riding in the car, going to the park to drink out of
the water fountain, playing chase with us in the house, and he gets so excited
on the days he attends doggie daycare.
Chuska is my
husband's first dog and we couldn't have asked for a more personable, loving
animal. He is great medicine - better than any doctor could ever give. We are so
truly lucky to have him a part of our lives. We tell everyone where he came
from.
Thank you to
Joyce, Liz, Phil and all the other AGSR volunteers for all you do to rescue
these wonderful dogs.
Kathy
and Martin
May 2006
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Deacon
Deacon
was adopted in early 2007. We got this note shortly
thereafter, along with some pics we thought you'd all like to see!
I just wanted to let you know that Deacon is doing great at my house
with Kayenne. He was the perfect match. The dogs play all of
the time and sleep next to each other at night. He is growing
stronger by the day, chasing balls and going for increasingly
longer walks.
Thank you for suggesting that I adopt him. He's turned out to be
just wonderful. I love him to pieces.
I finally got a chance to take some pictures of him. He's such a
beautiful boy and so photogenic. He even has a new kitty friend who he has learned not to chase.

Hope you guys enjoy these photos.
Thanks,
Mary Ellen
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Dingo
I
adopted Dingo this past summer (2005) and have just fallen in love! He is just
the sweetest natured dog and so eager to please. We have gone thru the
first phase of obedience training and will be starting the Canine Good
Citizen training in March. As you can see from the picture, he is
wonderful with children and, once he makes it thru the rest of training,
I may consider enrolling him as a visitation dog for hospitals and
nursing homes. You just can't love on him too much!
The
foster family I received him from were so helpful and informative about
his habits that it really helped to smooth over his transition into a
home with 2 cats and a
15 year old miniature dachshund! While he and the
cats aren't the best of friends they tolerate each other well and I
occasionally catch them playing together out in the back yard.
Thank
you so much for your wonderful organization! Its been a great experience
that I would recommend to anyone.
The
Maxwell Family
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Diva
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Diva in her new
home. |
I hope this finds you doing well. Diva is doing wonderful! Her
birthday pictures I took don't do her justice. She is beautiful
and big. :) I have to stop and think that she has only been a
member of our family for one month. It feels like she has always
been with us.
She lost her first baby tooth. And it was stuck in her chew toy
so we have it. The tooth fairy brought her a special dog treat.
:) She is doing very well with training too. Well, there was the
issue with my cute pool shoes that now have teeth marks in them.
Hayes is doing really well with training Diva. Hayes takes her
for a walk every morning and every night and he said she does very
well about walking beside him. I have taken her a couple of
times. I told Hayes that I need to start taking her for a walk
every day to correct some issues we have. There are things I
found out that I am doing wrong and I am letting Diva think she is
the queen (pack leader). She is also doing good listening to
Reese with the sit and down commands. I have also taught her the
hand sign for sit. |
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Reese takes her on short walks. We don't let him take her too far
because of the day Diva was running down the sidewalk with Reese
in tow. Hayes bought a different leash today that will help Reese
and I keep Diva beside us when we walk her. She goes just about
every where with Hayes. She even got a doggie biscuit the day
they went to the bank. I think the one thing Hayes was most
excited about was when he taught Diva how to shake.
She amazes me that when you tell her it is time to go nite-nite
she goes right in her crate and lays down without a sound. Now
when we have to put her in her crate because we can not take her
with us she lets the whole neighborhood know she is not happy.
Luckily she quits barking after a couple minutes (and yes, I stand
on the porch to be sure before I leave) otherwise we would be
trying to take her to church with us. :) |

Diva and best
friend Reese. |
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Diva at her 4
mos. birthday party. |
We went to visit Southern Star Ranch today. It was the first day
we could all go and it wasn't raining. I was very impressed with
their facility. Diva did good even with all those dogs barking at
her. We made Diva's reservation for the first weekend in August.
We are going to a family camp for church. We attend a very small
church and they need Hayes and Heath to be the lifeguards during
the camp. Otherwise Hayes would probably say we cannot go because
he cannot take Diva. In fact we have already found a hotel in
Raton, New Mexico, that will let Diva stay for the next trip we
make to my sister's house in Colorado
I guess that is about all for now. Let me know if you have a
"meet and greet" coming up and we will bring Diva to visit.
Take care,
Brenda |
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