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

I'm sorry to pass along sad news. Charlie (formally known as Bennie) died today from complications with cancer. He owned me for 8 good years and I thank you all for giving him to me all those years ago.
 

Dr. Naomi Abrams

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Packie (formally Zach) and Shelby who we adopted in 2013 from MAGSR.  Brother and sister who have never been separated one single day in their lives.  On October 1st Shelby passed away due to Heart Failure and severe Osteoarthritis and muscle wasting and today, October 12th Packie passed due to bone cancer and I’m sure a broken heart. These two shared a love that I never even saw with humans. They never left each other.  We feared Packie would go shortly after Shelby and we were right. These are the saddest days of our lives but we are so grateful for the 7 years we had with them.  They were both 12 and they lived an amazing life with us.

As five time adopters with the MAGSR, please know we are forever grateful for all that you do. 

It is with great sadness that I inform you that "Jaxson aka Ozzie" whom I adopted in 2018 was peacefully laid to rest on October 5th. Last month APAW Veterinary Hospital diagnosed him with lymphoma and within 3 weeks his health declined. He had an old soul and a wonderful spirit, and he was my gentle giant, my companion and my protector. His pawprints will forever be in my heart!

I enjoyed having him by my side for 2-1/2 years. Thanks MAGSR you for your support.

Julia S. Banks