Success Stories

It's been a little over a year since Kayla (fka Kalani) came to her furever home and became part of our family! It has been a challenging year and we continue to work on some of her "bumps" (behavioral challenges) in the road but we are hopeful that we will get there and often see small improvements! Kayla got a new brother in October 2019 and he has helped her with some of the "bumps" in the road and they get along for the most part, other than an occasional brother and sister moment...lol! Kayla has her most fun playing with her toys in her dog run that we had built for her! We love Miss Kayla and will continue to do everything we can to ensure she has a happy and healthy life in her furever home!

Chance is a good boy! There are numerous words to describe him, “playful” is the latest. Like the other Georgia dogs he was robbed of a “puppyhood”. He started off with tummy rubs, racing around the yard, pouncing and throwing his toys around with his tail wagging a mile a minute! It was several months before we got even a little wag!
For quite awhile “fear aggressive” was a huge problem!He would target my husband, Jakob,but be gentle and loving with me and our 19 year old grandson. He now tolerates Jakob! He is moving forward and with time patience structure topped with love will continue to do so!

Bunny is very smart and learned so many commands very quickly. She has a lot of energy and loves to play with Clara, our first MAGSR adopted dog. She is just as cuddly as she is playful and will climb into your lap or share a nap with you on the couch. Bunny was instrumental in Clara's rehab after her bilateral knee surgery. Once released from activity restriction the running, playing, and wrestling she did with Bunny got her back in shape quickly. Though they are 6 years apart these two have bonded wonderfully. Bunny definitely found her place with our family.

Argos fka Atta adopted 2/7/2019 is living the life and loving it. He is a happy pup that now does well with visitors and children. He loves his toys but especially his frisbee and his ball.  He talks like Chewbacca and has a beautiful howl.  He loves to watch tv.  He has wonderful leash manners.  He keeps us entertained and gives us lots of love.  He is just a little bit spoiled but in a good way.

Here is Aidah having a great time with her sisters and her new family.   Stephen W. Fish

   Hello! We just completed our update survey from MAGSR as it has been one year since we adopted our GSD and we were encouraged to write an update and send pictures for Facebook.   Our family adopted Fritz in February 2019. Fritz was estimated to have been around 1 by the time he was transferred to MAGSR. He was found at the side of the road and never reclaimed. Sadly, we think Fritz escaped from a good home as he came to us fully house broken and with an understanding of most commands. We decided to adopt Fritz as he was a bundle of energy when we met him; smart and curious, yet showed a healthy amount of fear and respect for our then 12 year old cat who really runs the house! We were a little worried after Fritz was with us for more than a month doing little more than sleeping, playing ball, never barking and carefully crawling into our laps like a 10 pound lap dog as we watched TV at night. Now....a year later.....Fritz has grown into his personality and what a personality it is! He alerts, fetches, places, shakes his paw, and gives kisses. Fritz opens doors (we recommend you replace all door handles with knobs!), sweeps the perimeter of the yard, counts members of the family-seeking those who are missing (even from the forbidden master bedroom)- and has been known to fit all 3 tennis balls in his mouth when we play! He is an absolute love.

We adopted Haddi, now Isabella or we call her Izzy. She’s very playful and sweet!

Here's Cori. Shes perfect in every way and she's pretty photogenic I think. She gets plenty of exercise during the day but spends her down time on the couch. At bed time, it's still the couch unless she wants to sleep on the bed.  

Hi,

I wanted to send some pictures from a recent outing we had with the 3 Hurricane Florence Brothers - Finn, Max, and Cooper (AKA Quinn).  All three brothers have had multiple meetings since the owners Johana (Finn), Kerri (Max) and Annmarie (Cooper - AKA Quinn) found one another while searching for siblings for the puppies.  More siblings have been located, but this outing shows all three brothers enjoying a nice, long walk.  We are so excited that the brothers have found one another.  You can tell when they meet up their excitement and how they remember each other.  More pictures to come!!!!

Annmarie Schumacher

We adopted Milo, FKA Luc in November 2019! My husband and I did a lot of research before adopting a Dutch Shepherd and Malinois mix, and we didn’t have a lot of experience with the breed, but we took the challenge head on and we LOVE this breed so much! Milo is the smartest dog we’ve ever seen. He can heel, sit, down, go around (the human), come center (between the legs), he’s learned to be gentle with taking treats, he’s becoming really good at knowing when WE need love and attention. He’s still only 8 months old and has a way to go, but he’s shown us that hard work and training can bond a tough dog and his human so strongly. My husband took a lot of time to learn about dog training and it’s totally paid off. His sister Mia (FKA Guinevere) has been so accepting of him and shows him the ropes of being a family dog and keeps him in his place haha!! We love being a dutchie/mal family because of him!!!

Forest is doing great! While we're at work she either spends her days lazily sleeping on the couch or busy making doggie friends at daycare. She's quickly learning new tricks, like high fives and spins and walking through hoops (and legs). Weekends are where all the adventures are. Forest loves car rides and is always excited wherever she ends up. Whether hiking, visiting new cities, going out to eat or just visiting friends Forest is ready to go.

A year ago today we brought our girl home, and we haven't looked back.  She has come quite along way, and still has some work to do but we have no doubt in time she will get there. She started playing with toys about a month ago. This makes us very happy! She did great with our Christmas tree and totally ignored it. She did however, enjoy eating Christmas snow around our nativity. Our first grandchild was born in December. Macklee takes a little bit each time she comes to get used to her, but once she does she never leaves the baby's side. She still plays with her fur brother Diesel, and follows her Nate fur brother. She likes to crawl in our bed and snuggle, but she still sleeps in her crate. We let her crate open if we are going to be gone for only a little while, otherwise she is crated. She is all about her schedule, does not like things out of place, barks at really nothing and is happiest just being with Kevin and I. She still hasn't warmed up to anyone else in our family, but the baby. She still loves to lay on my lap in the evening and to be pet on her terms. She's a busy girl for sure! When everyone else is here, she goes to her crate. We will continue to work with her because she is still scared. She walks around our yard and has gotten better with outside sounds. We love our girl and we are committed to giving her the best life ever! 1 year down and a lifetime to go!  Thank you for choosing us to give our girl her forever home!

Hello all!
 Just wanted to share some photos of the past 10 or so months Oliver an I have lived together! Oliver has turned out to be better than I could have ever hoped for. When I lost my first Shepherd Duke, I truly believed that bond could never be duplicated or even come close to the same level. I am beyond blessed that Oliver has been able to prove me wrong. He is my truly my best friend. Being my first rescue, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. All I honestly knew was I wasn’t going to enjoy the puppy phase. Over the past 10 months, mostly the first 6-8, I was able to witness the amazing growth of Oliver. Seeing him develop into the amazing Shepherd he is today, was one of the most rewarding processes I have ever completed and I do not believe I would choose anything other than a rescue again. Two of the things that sticks out the most is One) I believe in his description it was mentioned he wasn’t much of a toy user or did much of playing. Now, when I open the door, he grabs his favorite toy and bolts out the door. Flinging his toy high in the air only to use both paws to bring it back down and sprint away. Two) It was mentioned that he was stubborn. While he is a fantastic listener and absolutely brilliant, he is still very much stubborn! Not in a negative way though, but sometimes when a command is given, he just stares at you to test your patience LOL. Always though, he will listen. From Spring to Fall, we take many boat rides! Spring and Fall we do a lot of fishing, and Summer we do a lot of swimming and frolicking! We go hiking as often as possible, and we even run service calls together when someone’s AC or Heat breaks. We try to go everywhere together. We even got to take a trip to Deep Creek the end of last year and go see the beautiful waterfalls! Thank you guys again so much for everything. I love this dog more than life itself. I thank God very often the chips fell where the did, when they did.

Recon with his new bandana and then Recon chilling out with his "girlfriend" Leah.  He and Leah are very attached to each other.  So much so that my housemates decided they are going to leave Leah here with me and Recon when they retire so they don't miss each other.  They play tag, chase, etc. Recon is doing great.  I kept telling my housemates what to expect as they'd never had a GSD before.  He's very clever and likes to entertain.  The homeowner and his wife allowed me to adopt as long as the homeowner was good with whichever dog as he'd had a very bad experience with big dogs when younger.  Recon won him over and he takes Recon for walks, give him treats and even had Recon's head in his lap while reading. We found the perfect fit and couldn't be happier.  

1 week ago today we adopted a sweet boy named Regis, who we have named Indiana Jones, "Indy". With some guidance, direction and lots of love this cuddly pup is fast becoming a member of our family. With our other fur baby, Carl leading the way and showing Indy the ropes, a simple routine, rules to follow and all the love a dog could ask for Indy has settled in nicely.  We are still learning to get along with the family cat, but are quickly seeing that he gets love too.  Indy has nuzzled his way into our hearts and we are so happy to be his forever home!