River 0092

Snow (AKA River) came to us from Texas at 8 months old, the same age as our GSD Zeus. When Snow arrived she got along with Zeus, maybe they were both a little stand offish at first but they got along, which was a concern when introducing this new dog to our family. She also walked nicely on a lead but did not understand commands.

And:

1. She was an escape artist She would Jump over the fence, Dig under the fence. If you opened a gate she would squeeze through and go. Once she was out it was Impossible to catch her until she wanted to stop. Running in the street almost got hit by a car.
2. She would dig holes everywhere
3. She would rip out my plants
4. Destroyed both their expensive beds
5. Jumped on the furniture and beds. We don't allow them on furniture or beds as they have their own.

She was not at all the Ideal pet and at one point we were at our wits end. A Year later she is the perfect dog and a cuddle butt when she wants. While you are seated she will put both paws high on your chest and wiggle like crazy with kisses. If I sneeze no matter where she is she finds me and does the same, just to make sure I am OK, too cute. She consistently stays with me or not far away when we walk my property off leash outside the fenced in area. She digs very little (anyway, I can't tell which one is digging Zeus or Snow) If I do see either one digging, a verbal rebuke stops that immediately. No destructive behavior and stays off furniture or beds. The best thing is the relationship between Snow and Zeus. They are best friends and if I take one out and not the other, the one left behind stresses out. Getting her as a companion for Zeus was the best thing; in fact it has benefited both of them in the same way, each has their buddy. They are the same age and inseparable.The adoption changed not only her life but Zeus' and ours for the better.

Reo 0067

Adolescent Reo today! We took this baby boy in from Miami as a foster dog through BCGSR. Unknowingly, the night before, MDAS performed emergency surgery to remove his left eye due to an "infection" that can be seen in his first picture. He came home with a bad stitch job, in pain and without proper medication, and was absolutely terrified. We found out he had a skin infection that caused his hair to fall out, too. This wasn't our first foster dog with BCGSR, but he was the first dog I personally picked up and got to name (Reo for "right eye only", with tons of help from the pro, Shirley). Over the next few weeks we did our best to nurse him back to health to be adopted. His potential adopters kept falling through and we couldn't handle the emotional roller coaster just to be let down again. It wasn't fair, he deserved a good home. Eventually we decided that because people continually backed out on him, that we wouldn't let that happen again, and we welcomed him in to our pack. Today Reo is 1.5 years old, and he's a very happy, very spoiled boy. He's made it through 5 major surgeries throughout the past 14 months. We found out that he was likely younger than the estimated 13 weeks when we originally picked him up from MDAS, and that his eye infection was actually severe blunt force trauma (likely run over by a car) that crushed most of the left side of his body- which was the reason for two more surgeries on his left legs/hip joints (totaling 3 surgeries, including his eye removal, just because of an accident when he was a stray puppy, hardly two months old). He has overcome several obstacles in his short period of time on earth. He still has some vision/depth perception issues such as misjudging walking around a corner in the house, how wide a door gap is, and whether or not he can walk through screened lanais. It sounds bad but he shakes it off and keeps going, and it gives us a little laugh; he doesn't know any different. He's also a people's dog rather than a dog's dog. He's very smart, trained in German, has a lobster toy as a security blanket, and is the best swimmer I've ever seen. He has a puppy brother and a puppy sister and he can out-sass them both! We love him.

Rico 0052

Titus today. He is a fun and lovable guy. He has come a long way. He still doesn't like other dogs. He loves to swim, cuddle and going on walks.  Looking at these pictures, look how shiny his hair is now!  We feed him American Journey.

Ranger 0177

Ranger came home with me after work one day as a temp foster for the holidays. It was  quickly apparent that he was the missing part to my little family. The dog that was skittish and afraid to leave his crate now loves car rides, playing with his new sister and walks to the pier!