How to Help

We need people to help with all kinds of tasks. If you can help a little or a lot, we can find a place to use your time and talents.

Ways to help include fostering a dog, transporting dogs, helping at Adoption Days, sending out educational materials, fundraising, working at community and promotional events, working with potential adopters, and following up after adoptions. We can also use artists and writers to work on our promotional and education projects, and we need administrative help.

Donate

Our rescue dogs need vaccinations and other preventive care, and some need more extensive treatment. When we have more dogs than foster homes, we need to board some dogs in commercial kennels. Since our adoption fee covers less than half of our costs per dog, we need revenue from other sources. Checks, cash, and dog supplies are always helpful. Easiest of all, you can donate directly from this Web page, using PayPal!

Thank you! Greater California German Shepherd Rescue is a public nonprofit (501c3) charitable organization, and your donations are tax deductible.

We also need a variety of supplies, including dog bowls and leashes. We are short on German Shepherd-size dog crates and choke, prong, and flat collars. We need camping canopies and a small trailer to support our adoption events. Donated supplies can be dropped off at our Adoption Days or by appointment, and we'll send you a thank-you note for your records.

For Memorial Donations, click here.

Foster/Foster-to-Adopt

We strive to place all our dogs into foster homes and rely on them to give our dogs a safe place to stay while they are in transition to their permanent homes. With your help, we can save more homeless and at-risk German Shepherd Dogs.

Unfortunately, there are never enough of these special places so some of our dogs end up staying in boarding kennels until a foster home becomes available.

Fostered dogs are easier to place, since we can learn much more about dogs in a home setting, and we always need new foster homes that have experience with German Shepherds or similar dogs.

GCGSR provides instruction and support, pays the foster dog's vet bills, and provides food, tag, and collar. We can also provide a crate if needed.

In our Foster-to-Adopt program, you will usually have a month to foster the dog at your home. At the end of that time, you decide either to adopt the dog or make the dog available for adoption.

Click here for more information about our Foster/Foster to Adopt program.

Fostering a rescue dog can be one of the most fulfilling experiences you will ever have!

Adopt

The first step toward adopting one of our dogs is to fill out an Adoption Questionnaire. Click here for our Adoption Questionnaire (pdf).

Inside Pet Only
We require that our dogs be part of the family, and spend most of their time inside the home when their family is home. Dogs left outside too much become lonely, bored and frustrated, which leads to destructive behavior. Most of our dogs have come out of that situation, we want to put them into a better situation.

Adoption Fees
Our adoption fees are $350 for puppies 6 months and younger, $300 for adult dogs, and $100 for Special Needs dogs.

Home Visit
We require a physical home visit before we place a dog into a new home, so we are limited to the areas our volunteers can cover. At this time, we are concentrating on the North Bay, Greater Sacramento, and Central Valley areas of California, from Sacramento to Merced.

Out of State
Sorry, we don't adopt out of state. There are many worthy German Shepherds needing homes all over the country, please help save one in your area if you're not in ours.

Adoption Questionnaire
If you are interested in adopting one of our fine dogs, please fill out an Adoption Questionnaire (AQ).

Please fill out the AQ and fax or mail it in to the contact information listed on the right before contacting us about a specific dog. Completed and scanned AQs can be sent to our email contact (quickest method). One of our Adoption Counselors will contact you shortly after we receive your AQ.

If you're planning to attend an Adoption Day, please bring a copy of your completed AQ with you. Thank you!

Sponsor

Can’t adopt? Can’t foster? Still want to help? Sign up as a Sponsor.

• Download a Sponsorship form and fax or mail it to us.
  Toll free fax line: (877) 268-0255.
  Mail to: GCGSR, 913 Leveland Lane, Modesto, CA 95350.
• Call us as (877) 268-0255.
• Email us at mizshepherdist@aol.com.

Sponsors pledge a monthly amount for a minimum of 3 months to help pay for part or all of the expenses for a dog or dogs until adopted. When your sponsored dog is adopted, you will be notified and offered another dog to sponsor.

Sponsors will be listed according to their wishes under the dog’s picture on the Website, and they will receive a certificate with the dog’s picture on it and a thank-you card at the end of the year with the total amount of donations for tax purposes. If possible, a picture of the dog with the new family will be included in the thank-you card.

If you cannot sponsor, we always appreciate single donations of any amount!

Food Sponsor: $25/month to help pay for the food for one specific dog until adopted or for any unsponsored dog in the program.

Dog Sponsor: $50/month to help pay for a specific dog's care until adopted, such as food, any medications such as antibiotics for kennel cough, flea/tick and heartworm preventives.

Rainbow Dog Sponsor: $100/month to help pay for a specific Special Needs or Rainbow dog's care until adopted, such as special food, treatments, and medications.

Medical Sponsor: $250 for a one-time donation to help pay for the basic medical costs for a specific dog or for future use of any one dog. Basic medical costs include spay/neuter; Rabies, DHLPP and Bordatella vaccinations; heartworm and fecal testing. Most of our dogs coming out of shelters have kennel cough, fleas and ticks, and/or intestinal parasites such as whipworms or giardia, which also involves additional treatment with medications.

Kenneling Sponsor: $350/mo to help pay for boarding for one kenneled dog until adopted, either a specific dog or just any dog.

Rainbow Fund Sponsor: $500 for a one-time donation to The Rainbow Fund for a specific Special Needs or Rainbow dog that needs unusual or ongoing medical treatment, or for future use of any Rainbow Dog.

The Rainbow Fund

The Rainbow Fund is for Special Needs dogs with ongoing medical issues or for unusual medical expenses above and beyond the normal spay/neuter, vaccinations, and basic care.

• Unusual expenses might include serious wounds, broken bones, heartworm positive treatment, diagnostic expenses such as x-rays and bloodwork, and Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) surgery to fix hip dysplasia.
• Special Needs dogs with ongoing issues would include Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI), Pannus (an eye affliction), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), and Diabetes, among others.

Why The Rainbow Fund? Because German Shepherds come in many colors other than just black and tan, including solid black, solid white, red, and gray sable, and we love them all. Because we can use this fund to save dogs with serious but fixable health issues who would otherwise be sent over the Rainbow Bridge before their time.