Foster Failure?

Have you ever seen this phrase and thought that someone did a terrible job at fostering? Well, it is quite the opposite! A Foster Failure is when the Foster parents decide they just CANNOT live without their little foster baby and decide to keep them.
At GSROC, we are always looking for quality foster homes because it gives our dogs a chance to live in a loving home, and it also helps us to learn all about their quirks and habits. While we are always happy when a foster home goes permanent, we cherish our foster homes that help us keep our pups safe and loved… and they do it over and over again. They are heroes to us.

The weekend of the Pet Expo is always crazy.   We have to ask our kennel partners to open early and stay late to accomodate the very long hours 3 days in a row. 
We do switch the dogs out and give them breaks from the booths, but it is still a very busy weekend. 

Here is one of our volunteers stealing a free kiss from Kenai BEHIND the kissing booth.   One of the perks of volunteering with GSROC!  

German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County Urgent Help detail

Andy is the Malinois we just had to save!   We took him directly from the shelter to an ER vet. 
What they found when they operated on Andy surprised everyone. An entire corn cob was lodged in his intestine and was already eroding into the tissue wall causing infection. The operation required that a significant part of Andy's colon be resected (cut out) and the two remaining ends had to be reattached.

As of tonight, Andy is resting in the ER, but he isn't eating on his own. Who could blame him? He is relying on IV fluids and antibiotics right now, and we are doing everything possible to make him comfortable. He will remain at the ER for at least a few more days--until he is eating and standing up on his own--and then he will move to a more affordable vet to continue his treatment.

Andy's first night and day at the ER cost $1800.

Our volunteers are hard at work trying to rescue a dog who has been trapped behind some pallets in a warehouse for over a week.   We can't wait to get him in safe and sound. 
We are also working to rescue a young male Malinois who was slated to be killed at the shelter.   He is very sick, and we are going to need a push for funds to get him the medical treatment he needs. 

Bakers, are you ready??

We are having one of our amazing bake sales this weekend at the Petsmart on El Toro in Lake Forest and our bakers are already hard at work.   The core bake sale team spend hours every month shopping, trying out new recipes, and scouring craft stores for new, exciting ways to package the goodies so they not only are cute...but so that the goodies transport well.  
THEN, they bake... and bake... and bake.    It is another way that some volunteers have found a nitch in the organization that suits them... and they make a huge impact for the dogs. 

Did you know that most of the dogs in our care stay in kennels across the Southland?   The lucky dogs get to stay in a foster home, but due to a shortage of foster homes most stay in a kennel.   Have you ever boarded your dog when you went on vacation and when you get them back they smell like a kennel?
Well, our dogs are so lucky to have the Roc'n Bathing team who makes sure they smell clean.   We believe this helps them to feel better about themselves, too.   Every week our bathing team makes sure our dogs that need it get not only a bath and a blow dry, but some extra TLC so they know that although they are homeless... they are loved.   We are always looking for help with the bathing and as you may know just from bathing your own dog... it is not only so fun and rewarding, it is great exercise!
This week, in addition to baths... lots of our dogs will be getting their microchips.   Every dog adopted from the GSROC come microchipped.   We believe this is one more way you can reduce the number of homeless dogs in America.   Saturday our volunteers will be microchipping 23 GSROC dogs!    23!!   Don't worry, they are trained to do this, and as always, we take VERY good care of our dogs.   It is a big job though.   These are the kinds of things that our volunteers do, and why we are always looking for a few more good hands.  

Mondays are always busy behind the scenes and yesterday was no different.  Lots of movement with the dogs... as we move dogs who are in more expensive or smaller kennels to the better kennels that have been vacated by dogs going home.  
Every week there are many vet runs with volunteers running all over the Southland.  Mondays are usually busy getting new, incoming dogs into one of our vet partners for the care they need.  This week we are stretching ourselves even thinner and bringing in 4 more dogs in need.   This will require several volunteers help and coordination to get the new babies safe. 
We also have a great program where one of our dogs gets some testing and once passes, is a blood donor dog for an Emergency Vet Hospital.   Many of us don't consider that animals need blood in emergency situations as well as we do, but they do!    Every week we have a dog who gets to be the Hero and donate blood for other dogs who may need it.   In exchange, the blood donor HERO gets more extensive vet care than we can usually afford to provide and much needed spa treatments including teeth cleaning and mani/pedis.  
Major was our blood donor dog last week, and now he is back at the kennel with a new badge of honor ready to go into a forever home.   Jax is our blood donor dog this week, and I know any dog would be lucky to get this great dogs blood in case of an emergency.  

Volunteers in motion

Boy were we busy taking care of the dogs yesterday!   We had volunteers who got Ranger to the vet to be neutered and checked over so he is ready to go into a forever home.  Mariah went to the vet for her checkup and Berlin, who has been neglected for so long went to the vet for some much needed care and upkeep.   She will be so happy to get some of her issues taken care of.  Poor baby had some rotten teeth that must hurt!
We got a new dog ALL THE WAY from East Valley!   She has been bred and bred and then discarded, but now she is safe and we will find her a forever home.  
Several home visits are underway this week so we have families ready to come and visit with dogs this weekend and hopefully make a perfect match!  

We got the dog from the Indian Reservation!   She is just about a year old.   She has already had a litter of puppies, but rest assured it will be her last.   She is sweet and ate right out of the volunteers hand.   We named her Spirit because she is a survivor with a big ole heart!  She is at the vet right now getting checked out and cleaned up.  
A big thank you to the kind people who took time out of their lives to save this soul.    "Saving one dog may not make a difference to the world, but it makes a world of difference to that dog."-Author Unknown

Behind the scenes

Do you ever wonder where rescues get all the dogs?   Many come from shelters, or from people who can no longer keep their dogs for a myriad of reasons.   A lot of the stories behind these dogs can leave you feeling sad...but there are also stories of dogs that come into our rescue because of the sheer goodness of people.  
This weekend we got a call that there were some dogs running loose on an Indian Reservation.   A good samaritan is feeding and watering the dogs, and this week, German Shepherd Rescue volunteers will mobilize and go rescue the dogs.   We will make sure the dogs are healthy and tend to their needs and then place them in forever homes.    You all know the saying... it takes a village...