Three years ago my husband and I lost our girl of 11 years.  Our hearts were broken and the house was so quiet we couldn’t stand it.  So we learned of the Georgia-38 pups and decided to honor our girl by saving another sweet ones life.  That is when we found ourselves at MAGSR.  And there she was, Gracie (fka Amika) sitting across the field with a little boy knelt in front of her.  Gracie was so gentle with him she caught my eye immediately.  We walked over to meet her and spent time walking her around.  It didn’t take long to know we had found our girl.  The ride home she was so calm and quiet, from that point we knew we found our travel companion.  Gracie loved going for car rides so much it became a Friday night routine, along with a bite or two of burger we would stop and get for her.  Boy did she love her car rides!  Gracie also loved her walks with her Daddy and did very well in her obedience’s classes.  She mastered sit, stay, come, down and shake very quickly, we know we had a smart girl.  Gracie was a quiet girl her first year with us.  I mean she didn’t make a sound, but one day the door bell rang and there it was; a strong Shepherd bark, the kind that means business.  From that point Gracie always alerted us of strange sounds and we knew she finally felt she was home.  During that first year we had noticed that Gracie had pain in her hips and legs and the vet confirmed it was hip dysplasia. She was placed on pain meds that helped.  For the first time after that we saw Gracie run!  Gracie took to both of us, but her person was my husband.  She followed him everywhere.  They both enjoyed the yard no matter what they were doing, gardening, cleaning up or just enjoying the sun and breeze.  Over the next two years we spoiled Gracie and also felt we had to protect her because of the life she previously had.  As the time passed we noticed it was becoming more difficult for her to sit down without having pain and she began to stumble when walking so she laid more.  The vet said it was degenerative myelopathy.  We changed her meds and did all we could to keep her comfortable; but then sadness happen.  Gracie’s back legs just gave out and you could see she was in pain.  The vet said we could try steroids but other then that there wasn’t much he could do.  So with a very heavy heart September 7th, 2021  the decision was made to end her pain so she could run free and pain free.  

We adopted him from MAGSR August 10, 2010 as (MAGSR told us) a 3 yr old, though he’d been a stray so who knows how old, and was known then as Duke.  He’d recently been ailing with Degenerative Myelopathy, and Friday started to exhibit a vestibular disorder:  he would swing his head around, and couldn’t seem to focus his eyes. When it didn’t resolve overnight, we took him to an animal hospital where the disorder was diagnosed and where he spent the next night.  He could not stand up without assistance, and tumbled over when he could get himself up into a crouch. He could only take a few steps even with help on front and read ends, lost interest in eating, stopped urinating on his own.  We observed him at home for 2 more days hoping to see improvement, but really there was none.  I can’t imagine feeling so dizzy all the time that I can’t stand up.  :…(. 

I wrote you on the 11th anniversary of his adoption just last month, noting that he chose my husband;  It was on a horrifically rainy visit to the kennel to see other possible matches, where his foster mom had brought him for some reason.   Love at first sight.  No regrets. In his life, he had surgery to remove a discal cyst at University of Pennsylvania, part of his tail amputated, bladder stones removed, some various subcutaneous tumors as well as some porcupine needles removed.  He defended our backyard in Delaware from numerous groundhogs (we think he mistook the porcupine here in NH for a groundhog) also treed a bear twice, and generally always took very good care of us, including offering his aid and comfort after my husband’s knee surgeries.  In addition to his own surgeries, he got acupuncture, and something called Bi-com treatments, all to his benefit, I guess.  He had fans far and wide, including visitors from England and Hungary who asked about him afterwards.  Our petsitter kept painting him; we invited her over yesterday just to see him.

We determined to do our best by him, give him every chance and I believe we gave him the best life, and dignity at the end.  But the house is so lonely now.  

Thank you so much for matching us up! 

Sammie was adopted on March 14, 2021, as half of the “bonded pair” Kota and Birch (renamed Sammie and Bosco).  She was an older dog, possibly as old as 10 years.  She had some physical problems and had recently had surgeries prior to adoption.  She was doing very well though and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the 6 months that she was living here.  As the pictures show, she and her buddy Bosco loved their naps and they enjoyed monitoring the back yard for deer. She also enjoyed the two walks per day in the woods, up and down the hills, and along the lane.   She was a beautiful and very affectionate shepherd who quickly learned commands.  My hope is that in her early years, she was owned by someone who cared for her.  We miss her very much. 

I have sad news to share. We adopted Willie from your wonderful rescue almost five years ago. Willie was diagnosed with a very aggressive lymphoma and we said goodbye three weeks ago.

He was my amazing companion and my heart is broken. I wanted you all to know he was totally spoiled and adored, even by his cat brother.

Sincerely,

Elena Schlossberg
Haymarket VA

Smokey came to us on June 2, 2012.

We had to put Smokey down on July 21 of this year. He was 14 years and 2 ½ months, the longest living Shepherd that Chuck has ever had. He was the greatest dog we’ve ever had. 

Everyone loved him: he was the Mayor of the neighborhood. Small dogs who were afraid of most dogs just approached Smokey and he was so gentle that they adored him. Friends with small children and grandchildren who were terrified of dogs used to bring them to meet Smokey and they left here loving him and becoming  more able to be around other dogs. If Smokey wasn’t perfect, then he was the closest thing to perfect I’ll ever see.  

We’ve been spoiled by him. Of course, we did our share of spoiling. We used to kid Smokey that he was a very wealthy dog; he lived in a big house and had two servants, one of whom was his personal chef.

We just wanted to let you know that he had a wonderful life, was beloved by everyone who met him, and I suspect we’ll be grieving him forever.

We are grateful to have gotten him from you for these 9 years.

It is with an absolutely demolished heart and tears streaming down my face that I write to inform you that our beloved Thomas (formerly known as Phelps) passed away suddenly yesterday. Yesterday around midday he started vomiting a lot of saliva and white foam and I called the emergency animal hospital and they told us to bring him in, which we did immediately. They took a look and informed us they believed it was bloat and that he would need immediate surgery. A couple hours later the doctor called and absolutely shattered our hearts by letting us know that the damage to his stomach and spleen was too extensive and that they did not think he would survive the surgery and it would be best to not wake him up. We immediately drove to the hospital to say our goodbyes and will be getting him privately cremated so that we can forever have his remains.

My husband and I are beside ourselves. I still have not even begun to process the loss that we have experienced and the 95 lb hole in our bed and our home. He was only 6 years old and hadn’t even begun to slow down in the least. Our sweet girl Josie (formerly known as KitKat) is also devastated and is having trouble coping as they were inseparable. 

I wanted to let you know yesterday we lost our beautiful Volker. He was absolutely amazing and the most gentle loving soul. It happened very quickly.
Sunday we noticed his breathing was a little off.
Monday I walked him, he walked fine, seemed ok. Monday night he couldn’t get comfortable, I was sure he ate something and it was lodged in his digestive tract somewhere. Tuesday we tried to get him into our regular vet and could not. We took him to PVSEC. they found he had a hermangio sarcoma in his stomach and lung cancer. He was there for 2 days while they stabilized him and gave him a dose of chemo. He came home Thursday. Friday morning we went for a very short walk, but he was having progressively worse issues with mobility. His type of cancer was causing little bleeds everywhere. By Saturday morning he could not stand. I held my beautiful boy in my arms as he crossed over the rainbow bridge.

Thank you for rescuing this beautiful boy, and allowing us to bring him into our family. 5 years, and 6 months was not nearly enough time with him.

Letting the rescue know that after 13 years of a wonderful life rescued by your organization and adopted by my family. We had to put our beloved German shepherd down today. Bella was a wonderful dog and we are thankful for all the work you do and saving German Shepherds.  She lived out the rest of her forever home as the queen of her home/ castle here in Millersville Pennsylvania.

We adopted George on New Year's Day in 2013. It took some time for our current dog to get used to him, but shortly after adoption, they became best friends and inseparable. Over the next several years, he ate our banister, broke a leg off of our kitchen table, destroyed a chair, and barked at everyone that walked past our house, but he was also the most loyal dog we've ever had. He protected us and loved us, especially after our daughter was born. As soon as she came into the house, he watched over her with extra care. He let her do whatever she wanted to him and gave her a best friend from birth. Unfortunately, last summer, he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and was given 3-5 months to live. We were heartbroken. We recently had to make the difficult decision to end his suffering and say goodbye to the best dog we've ever had. We will miss him terribly for the rest of our lives, but we are so thankful to have such wonderful memories. And a special thank you to MAGSR for bringing such a wonderful being into our lives and into our hearts forever. 

It is with enormous sadness that we are letting you know about the passing of our beloved dog Argo, fka Jenner. We met Argo at MAGSR in 2014, and instantly fell in love with him. He was approximately five years old at the time. Our boy incarnated all the wonderful qualities for which German Shepherds are known, he was a strong, loving, loyal, devoted, intelligent, friendly, sweet and sometimes silly companion. He was great with people, dogs, cats, he adored children and he loved greeting everyone at the door, his tail was always wagging. He had a huge appetite for food, for cuddles, and for life in general. He loved treats, and just seeing the treat cabinet being opened would turn him into a puppy. Then, he would stare at treats without blinking, still as a statue, the only movement visible on his face would be a thin stream of drool from the corner of his mouth, his focus was incredible. He loved playing with us, while making funny noises.  He loved rolling on the grass on a sunny day, playing with his MAGSR brother, Lupo (fka Santino), fetching the ball, and chasing deer in our backyard, while accompanying his excitement with a funny sound that we called “the German Shepherd cry”. For a period we moved to California, and he loved to run free on dog beaches. Then we moved back to Maryland, and he loved snowy days, diving in the snow and eating it. Then we had children, and he welcomed them as he had always known them. He became a loving, sweet, patient, furry big brother to them. He was perfectly content in any surroundings, a happy, easy-going, gentle giant. He loved to find treats hidden around the house, and he loved to enjoy them while being praised for being an incredibly good boy. We had him for seven wonderful, fun, love-filled years. Unfortunately in November 2020, our vet found a mass in his abdomen, and after his spleen was removed, he was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. Although during the next two months, despite being very ill, he was doing well and enjoyed every day with excitement, on February 5th, he developed bloat, and because of his age, and the aggressive cancer, we had to make the painful decision of having him euthanized. He had an enormous presence, was a huge part of our family and our home is just not the same without him. We miss him every moment of the day, he was constantly by our side and shared every moment with us. Every little thing we do now reminds us of our sweet Argo. We hope that during these years we made him as happy as he made us, he was the perfect dog, and we loved him, still love him and will always love him so much. He will always be our four-legged child, our Argo, our good boy.

Thank you MAGSR for rescuing our wonderful Argo and for letting us be his family, we are very grateful for this, and for all that you do for these amazing dogs.

Romina and Sean

With heavy hearts we are notifying MAGSR that Ike (aka Patriot) has crossed the rainbow bridge on Jan 21,2021. We were so blessed to have Ike joined our family on 9/25/2011. He has been our best friend and family member for the 9-1/2 years. He loved us and we loved him so much. Ike was our first German shepherd and the best companion ever.

We are writing to let you know that our precious, sweet Pete passed away Tuesday, December 22nd. 

Pete was known as "Chase" during the (very) short time he was with you.  We adopted him on August 29, 2010 when he was an 8-10 week old pup.  Puppy days are hard, but boy was he worth every second.  He evolved into such an amazing dog.  He always knew what we needed or what was expected of him before we even said anything.  If he didn't know exactly what you were saying to him, you could see in his eyes that he wanted so badly to. 

Pete went everywhere with us.  Massachusetts to visit family?  He was in.  The beach?  The mountains?  Tree farm to tag a Christmas tree?  Wherever we were going, he was in.  He was the absolute perfect dog for our family, and an amazing dog for our boys to have grown up with.

Unfortunately, he fell very suddenly ill in August, at which time we found out he had hemangiosarcoma.  He underwent an emergency splenectomy, followed by metronomic chemotherapy and a regimen of other medications and supplements recommended by his oncologist.  We had three amazing months with him, but then he fell ill again the day after Thanksgiving, and we learned the cancer had spread to his liver and possibly his heart.  The emergency vet said he wouldn't make it through that weekend.  Well, they didn't know our Pete.  He made it through not only that weekend, but a couple more.  Eventually, though, it became too much for him, and we had to make the awful decision to end his suffering. 

I'm sure in time there will be other dogs here at Casa Zanelli, but there will certainly never be another Pete.  He was truly our heart dog, and we miss him terribly.

It is with profound sadness, we announce the passing of our beloved Mina. We adopted her (after fostering her for two days) in April of 2010. We knew after two days that we couldn’t part with her. She gave us 10 amazing years, which we will cherish forever. Thank you MAGSR for having given us this amazing sweet dog. Until we meet again Mina. 

This past Friday, our beloved Simba crossed the rainbow bridge. 

e adopted him from MAGSR in November 2011 and the nine years that followed with Simba were wonderful ones. I always said he drew the Lucky Dog card, as he spent many summers on the beaches of Greece with us where he is pictured below. He swam and fetched stones and was my constant companion abroad and in Washington, DC. 

I’ve owned other dogs, but there was never a dog quite like Simba.
Thank you for your organization which reaches out to help this outstanding bred.

Simba, RIP