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URGENT Beautiful German Shepherd SPA Carcassonne


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Please, any German Shepherd lovers out there, help find a home for this beautiful boy. He was born in October 2006, is good with other dogs and is very loving and playful. He doesn't pull on the lead and responds when called (whatever you call him, just eager to please, I think)

I walked him yesterday and promised I would find him a home before finding out how urgent this was...He doesn't deserve to be put down just cos the SPA is short of space. I am heartbroken. Why are these beautiful animals paying the price for our problems?

Please help.

Can't work out how to upload a photo, despite the instructions. So frustrated. Can anyone help me, please, if I send them a couple of pics?

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What's his name Rowan?  We must give him one if he doesn't have one.  Any suggestions out there?

Please someone help Rowan save this beautiful boy, we all know how marvellous German Shepherds are.

If she can find a home for him, it will help her carry on to save many more.  I have just noticed he has double claws on the hind feet like the Beauceron, he is therefore very unique!

He is just asking for a family to love him, see how happy he is to be out for a walk with someone.  He just needs to have that smile permanently.   [:)]

 

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We have a beauceron/alsatian cross found by friends lost in the middle of the Swiss Alps with the double claws. Her name is Gatsby - and we love her very much.

So hope her (younger and slimmer twin) finds a good home soon. xx

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Please somebody, help Rowan find this lovely boy  a home.  I had never had a GSD until, thanks to this forum, I adopted Val last July.  I just didn't know what I had been missing.  He is a wonderful, loving and loyal friend and I wouldn't be without him.  I am sure that  this boy will be just as great a dog as my Val is.  If you have never had a GSD before, and if he is even a quarter as lovely as Val, you just couldn't do better.  This forum has a huge number of members, there must be someone out there who could love this doggie.

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We have two rescued German Shepherd/Beauceron X sisters - they are WONDERFUL gentle, obedient and loyal dogs.  They are amazing companions despite having eachother to play with they are very close to us and the other two dogs.  I could not recommend them more!  This chap deserves to have the home he would make special.

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He doesn't have a name yet, but if anyone wants to think of one, I will christen him. Hope it doesn't turn into the last rights! I have no idea of his history, but from what I have seen, I would guess he has been a family pet, as he is very gentle and playful and tolerant with other dogs, including younger ones. There is some footage of him taken on Saturday on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pfq30AMekw and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiFzKp-AG4M

I know the reality is that the SPAs cannot save all the dogs, and never before have I put an appeal out on this forum, other than a very general one. But this is truly a wonderful dog. We need to save him.

Please please!
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Some one please find him a home ..I have had 2 GSD's in the past and both have been fantastic dogs ... You wont regret it

They are so loyal.

How about Tigue for a name from the Jim Reeves song about a faithful dog ?
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Is that pronounced Tig?

Please, can no one help him? I think he has until Saturday. I don't think I will sleep until then, and probably not for a while afterwards either, unless something wonderful happens.
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Rowan, have you asked Florence to put him on Rescue?  I see she has put these two poor littles souls aged ten and eleven, both males.  It is also very urgent for them due to their age as the refuge is full.  Maybe you know this adorable pair Rowan?

She also says a beautiful two year old male Chow Chow has just come in, no photo yet.  It's not urgent for him, but if someone offers him a home it will make room for the others.

I don't want to draw attention away from the dog on this thread, on the contrary, but if other dogs could be adopted, it could save him.  Have a look on their site at the wonderful dogs they have there.

 

I'll find out about the site for German Shepherds, there is one.

 

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Christine

I know the beagles very well. They are wonderful and I do fear for them, too, but they are not in any danger, as far as I am aware. The reasoning is strange....Although the beagles are old, they are friendly, and the dreaded list seems to be made on the basis of how much the dogs wag their tails or otherwise when the woman with the list walks past!

There are several other dogs who are older than the shepherd and less likely to be homed on the basis of behaviour, in my opinion. Not that they are aggressive or deserve to die, but some are more difficult to walk etc. This boy is so lovely. Flawless.

I am going to try and reorganise the boxes this afternoon to make some space. And yes, I know if any other dogs are rehomed then there is more space, but once a dog has been "listed" it is only a matter of time before the place is full again and he is under threat again.
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Also, and this may sound very harsh, the beagles have had a great life, and putting them down is more justifiable than putting down a young, healthy dog. It breaks my heart to even write this, because everyone knows I adore beagles more than any other breed. However the reality is that the SPAs can't keep an infinite number of dogs, and it is better to keep the younger ones, no?

I am crying as I write this, because the beagles are my favourite, they see my car arrive and know I am going to go an pat them and give them a hug. I removed a tick from one of them on Saturday...I love them. And if I love them so much but can't take them, why would anyone else? . If I had my way I would be surrounded by dogs of all shapes and sizes, but I know my husband would divorce me!
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No, you can't say that Rowan.  I know exactly how you feel and the pain of seeing them there and being helpless.  That's how it was when I first started helping to get them out of Niort and I was alone, I couldn't take them all and they were being put down every week.  The more noise you make about it, the more people get to know about them, being very careful of course not to offend in any way those running the refuge.  Now all those at Niort are being rescued, even the molosses and the oldies, as there is a great team of "younger ones" who have now taken over and are doing the most marvellous work in complete harmony with the mairie which is a great relief to me.

A younger one has no more right to be saved than an oldie, he just has more chance of being adopted.  The oldies are the ones who, yes, have had a life.  They are therefore far more knowing and far more suffering at finding themselves discarded and in this unbearable situation.  My heart really goes out to them.  I am very grateful to people who realise this and are ready to offer a home to an older dog who can be the most pleasant and calm companion.

[quote user="Rowan"] And yes, I know if any other dogs are rehomed then there is more space, but once a dog has been "listed" it is only a matter of time before the place is full again and he is under threat again.[/quote]

I realise that, but it could at least give him a delay.  But what he needs is a home asap.

The little Beagles too.

 

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I need some help as to how to change the place, I think. One problem I have is that my French is pretty bad, and I wonder if the people there see me as an interfering busybody...But I love dogs so much and I want then all to be safe and happy.

I just don't know what to do. Sometimes I think it would be easier on me not to go to the SPA, cos I spend so much time crying and it is killing me. But of course I know that even by walking the dogs that are then put down I am making them happy, however temporarily. Or am i giving them unrealistic expectations and making things worse? I just don't know. I am miserable.
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Take it step by step Rowan, slowly but surely and you will get results.  I saw you already found a home for a Griffon who is now with an English family and their Irish Wolfhound.  A positive result, keep going.  It's hard, but if you have the passion and the motivation, go for it!  You are already doing a lot of good.

Where we were before we got involved with the large shelter where dogs were being put down.  This was way before internet, we didn't have nearly as much contact with everyone as now.  Anyway, I would see which dogs needed most saving or those most adoptable (like Afghans or Barzois) and put them in the local paper.  When I thought we had good homes (you have to be very careful as there are some awful people answering the ads), we'd go and collect the dogs at the shelter and take them to their new homes so we really knew where they went.  If the adoption didn't work, we'd take them back.  But we rescued quite a few in this way.  Then we got known ourselves and people started calling us with their pet problems!  Now we have internet and photos, thing are so much easier.

We need people like you Rowan, what you are doing is wonderful.   [kiss]

 

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One problems here is that the SPA makes people come to see the dogs themselves. So we can't get the dogs from the shelter ourselves and deliver them. They don't do host families, because "it would mean too much paperwork". They would rather the dogs were destroyed. And on days like yesterday when families are likely to come and look for a dog, they are shut!

There have been times when people are interested in a dog, but it needs vet treatment etc. Flo and I have offered to help them out with the money for treatment and the SPA has refused to let them have the dog! I know they think that if you can't afford the vets fees you are hardly the best owner, but if it is something that is curable with a few euros, why not let us pay and give the dog a chance in life!

I would like to get the dogs out to local shopping centres to meet people, like I have seen many times in the US. When our last beagle was killed and I said we were going to the SPA to look for a new dog, all our (French) neighbours told us that the dogs in the SPA are all psychotic and un-rehomeable. People's attitudes need to change, too.
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Rowan, I have sent your posts, the U tube video and the pictures you posted for the German Shepherd to some friends of mine.  I am not holding out too much hope as they already have two rescues but I know that the husband has a soft spot for this breed as he used to train them in the British Army and loves them.  It's the best I can do to help at this point.  I feel your pain for these dogs and understand completely.  It was me who posted on here and recently found a lovely lady through this forum who took on a Great Dane called Connie (which you might have seen last month) who is now in a lovely home.  It's so very hard and I take my hat off to you for the work you do at the Spa as I know that I could not do it without becoming distraught seeing the dogs every day and not being able to take them all home with me!  I have rescued dogs all my life since leaving home forty years ago and I'm still doing it.  I have four at the moment (two young ones and two oldies from intolerable circumstances) and another in the pipeline!  I am hoping to be able to foster dogs in a year or so when we have our home more organised and able to accommodate more in the house as I would never want to keep them in pens.  It is my desire to give old and sick ones some last peaceful years in warmth and comfort, they are so thankful and so easy to care for.  I think it is inevitable that so many dogs are put down and that people are forced to accept it - none of them should be regardless of their age or supposed temperament and it gets to me horribly each time I am faced with it though we know it goes on all the time even as we speak and in some countries it's a lot worse than here!  I try to think that I do what I can by taking in the ones I can but of course it's only a drop in the ocean.  I try not to make myself unpopular but on another forum that often gets posting from people who are breeding and offering puppies for sale, I'm afraid I find it hard to keep my temper.  Just because people are prepared to fork out considerable sums for pedigree puppies doesn't mean they will necessarily look after them and keep them forever.  I was appalled to see our local Magazin Vert in Rodez advertising a puppy sale for the Easter Week-end - what can you do?  How do you begin to persuade people to neuter their animals?  PDSA in the UK had the right idea and it would save a lot of the sorrows of unwanted and cast out dogs and cats - the bulging refuges and the poor creatures who didn't deserve their miserable fate.  I can honestly say it keeps we awake sometimes, when I look at my grateful and loving rescues sleeping peacefully by my fire and at the foot of my bed in warm baskets and my mind thinks of all the unlucky ones!  My husband is a very kind man fortunately but he has his limits and so do funds that mean we can keep the dogs well fed and proper veterinary attention...........  I want to foster but I'm not sure how many would ever leave me...!!  What you are doing is wonderful for the dogs but very hard on you - I admire you and wish you strength and much support.  This doesn't help your lovely GSH I know, but hang in there for you bring the dogs something to look forward to each time they see you.

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Yes, attitudes still need to change and that is what we are working at.  For example dogs are put down in different mairies here after their delay as there is no animal shelter.  They are slowly learning about the rescue network and contacting people like us.  Also the vets are getting to know about it and refusing to put them down, advising the people to contact one of the rescuers.  That's what happened with Vickie the Eurasier amongst others!

I wouldn't personally take shelter dogs out into shopping centres.  You never know what could happen and if there was a problem the shelter could say stop to everything.  Yes, all shelters have the people come to them, that is normal.  We were only allowed to take them out as they knew us very well and trusted us and I always kept contact with the family and followed up.  The lady at the shelter would also call me if she had a real oldie come in as they were put down straight away.  How could I say no!

 

Edit.  Thank you for your lovely post Merlin.  There is a special section on the Rescue site for the oldies and the handicapped who need someone.

 

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Thanks to both Christine and Merlin for their advice and support. I know it will be a long hard road and sometimes I am tempted to give up, but even one dog's life saved is a start, I guess.

It will take a while for me to build up a relationship with the SPA, I know, and no one likes a newcomer to come in and criticise what is established practice, so iI am making sure I tread very carefully. I don't want to ruffle feathers, but I think that gradually they are coming to realise that we want the same thing.

So many lovely dogs.....Sigh.
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