German Shepherd Rescue of Central Florida
About Us
Our rescue is run by volunteers and could not exist without the dedicated people providing foster homes for the dogs and puppies, superb veterinarian care provided by Dr. Angel Smith, the behavioral assessment and treatment plans when needed from Dr. Terry Marie Curtis, a vet and animal behaviorist. We've also added Dr. K.C. Nayfield, Midway Animal Hospital, Homosassa, FL as your orthopedic wizard and Dr. Peggy Fleming as our accupuncturist and chiropractor. We strive to network with leading animal vets to provide comprehensive care for our fur babies.
Dogs and puppies accepted into this rescue live in a family environment inside a home as a pack member, whenever possible instead of in kennels while awaiting adoption. Dogs are not a commodity to us. They are intelligent beings that seek companionship from people and other dogs when in a balanced state. They are not disposable. We believe thos persons responsible for bringing puppies into this world need to be responsible for those puppies for their lifetime. And that lifetime should not be cut short because it is inconvenient to take back an animal.There are too many animals being born to place in homes. Therefore, rescue a shelter animal - do not support breeders until the shelters and rescues are empty. Currently, for every dog or puppy we do take we are forced to turn down three animals as there is just not enough room, money, time, etc.
We are currently seeking to add a marketing director and grant writer to our staff as non-paid volunteers.
Temporary foster families are always needed to allow us to rescue more German Shepherd Dogs. When our foster care is full it means we have to turn down requests to rescue needy dogs. Please contact us today if you are interested in volunteering as a foster home. We pay for normal medical expenses, heartworm medication, flea protection, collars and leashes.
Adoption fees run from $125 for Special Needs and/or Senior Fur Babies to $450 for puppies. Our average adoption donation is $300. Rarely we receive a dog of strong European bloodlines, magnificent on and off leash training, and basically a finished dog. Our adoption donation for this type of dog is up to $700.
Our dogs and puppies are spayed or neutered when age appropriate, micro chipped, heartworm tested, and current on all vaccinations and parasite free.
We have a policy of sharing all known history on each dog or puppy. Many times dogs and puppies come to us from Animal Control facilities with no known history.
Dogs and puppies that are surrendered by their owners must either be fully vetted and spayed/neutered before coming into the rescue or a financial donation must be made at the time of surrender. Those monies will help defray the cost of vetting.
Our adoption Policies Include, and are not limited to the following:
Providing us with a veterinary reference in the form of a name, address and telephone number so we can call and chat with the vet or his/her staff.
Agreeing to an onsite home study.
The adopter's yard must be fully fenced to contain the dog or puppy.
All pets owned by the potential adopter must be spayed/neutered.
We do not adopt outside, ranch and/or farm dogs.
The adopter agrees the dog or puppy will be an inside companion house dog. Further, the dog will be housed within the home when the adopter is not present.
The dog or puppy has the final say on where he or she lives. The adopter may be approved, the adopter may love the dog or puppy and the dog or puppy has the final say. There are no exceptions to this policy.
Falsifying or incomplete information on the Adoption Questionnaire will result in the potential adopter being denied.
Puppies and other designated dogs must successfully complete Basic Obedience with a certified trainer of the adopters choice.
Our policy is puppies cannot be left alone more than four hours or be in a crate for more than four hours. This does not include sleeping at night.
Signing an adoption agreement.
This rescue reserves the right to decline any adoption.
Our Hall of Angels
Alysia Brehmer is an accountant in Leesburg, Florida, and the mother of two brilliant, beautiful children, Shallan, 7-years and Connor, 5-years. She is also the mother of Miranda, a rescued mix breed dog. She gives freely of her resources and time to anything this rescue needs. Most importantly, she is the best daughter in the world. Bless you for growing into such an extraordinary woman.
Shirley M. is an ongoing, almost weekly, financial supporter of this rescue. She also transports, bathes, brushes, scoops the poop and cleans the rescue walls and floors.
Bill and Sally K. are ongoing financial supporters of this rescue. They inquire frequently about the well being of the dogs and puppies and are always willing to lend a hand. Thank you more than you will ever know.
Bette is a very generous financial donor to our organization. She provided financial aid that allowed Candy to have her hip replaced plus many other dogs medical care. She donated a fabulous bed to our dogs at Christmas, 2008.
Gary and Lori also are ongoing financial supporters. They are great ambassadors for this rescue and we love them dearly.
Elizabeth O. and Janet O. each made a very generious financial donation for surgery to remove the cataracts from Cisco's eyes.
This rescue cannot operate efficiently without volunteers, including: Gary and Lori, Judy and Jay, Bill and Esther, Mary Ellen and Mike, Sonny and all the wonderful people that came to us through Disney. Many of the people foster our dogs and puppies while they await their forever homes. The people and families are the heart and soul of this rescue. Thank you for saving so many fur babies!
Our Mission Statement
German Shepherd Rescue of Central Florida is an organization of volunteers dedicated to protecting the health, safety and psychological well-being of German Shepherd Dogs through state-of-the-art veterinarian care, psychological services, high quality food and positive operant conditioning and training to enhance the overall well-being of our dogs and puppies preparing them to be great canine citizens and live functionally as inside companion animals in loving forever homes.
It is the policy of this rescue to follow veterinarian recommendations in treating Heart worm Disease. A shocking number of dogs come to rescue with Heart Worm Disease. They are treated at least two ways, either with Immiticide, a poison, or with Ivermectin and Doxycycline. The final treatment decision is always made by the vet.
We are proud of our reputation for providing the best vet care for our dogs and puppies under the direction of Dr. Leigh McBride and her staff.
Let's Talk About Dog Food
Put a group of dog lovers in a room for five minutes and the topic of what to feed is bound to come up. There are as many opinions on what is best as there are different noses on people. One thing that is not arguable is whether we are talking about humans or dogs what you put in the body is reflects on the overall well-being of the person or dog. Nutrition does matter. So. . . .into the fray we jump.
The foods* that may be a more nutritional choice include:
A RAW diet
Taste of the Wild
TimberWolf Organics**
Solid Gold
Orijen
Canidae
Merrick
and the list goes on
Many dogs/puppies come to rescue in less than sparkling condition. These foods help strength the dogs immune system and provide the necessary nutrients to fuel the body in a healthy manner.
The best dog food is made from human-grade ingredients like meat, vegetables, and for those that insist whole grains. Lots of filler as the primary ingredients is something to be avoided as these are items that have less or no nutritional benefit. Dogs cannot absorb nutrients grains like oats, flour and wheat; therefore, there is no nutritional value for them, according to the Animal Protection Institute. Corn products aren't valuable either, and peanut hulls have no value at all. Glutens are another group of ingredients that experts say don't provide much nutritional value to dogs, and are a particular concern in light of the recent massive recall of pet foods tainted by contaminated wheat and rice gluten from China. Yet, many dog food companies continue to use just such ingredients possibly allowing one to wonder if profit means more than the quality of life of the animals.
Therefore, understanding dog food ingredients is important to the longevity and quality of life of your pet. Those dog food commercials showing wonderful whole meats and veggies falling into the bag aren’t really in the ingredients if you read the label. The advertising is lulling you into thinking you are feeding human grade food when in fact the truth is just the opposite. Education therefore is the key to protecting your pet.
One idea is to have the dog food you want to feed analyzed by an independent lab. Take the time to find out exactly what is in the food you want to feed. We've learned that not all highly rated foods are good. It is very sad consumers are being sold a bill of goods and it is our animals that suffer.
*None of these dog food companies provide any support financially or otherwise to this rescue. Our recommendation is based on the dogs. We asked them of course!
**TimberWolf Organics donated 2,000 pounds of food to our rescue at Christmas, 2008. We gratefully acknowledge their donation to the well-being of our dogs and puppies.
