Giving Up Your Dog

We have great sympathy for people who must give up their dogs. It’s heartbreaking all around and devastating for the dog. Sometimes we can help, sometimes we can’t.

PLEASE NOTE: We do not “rescue” stray dogs or dogs from abusive or neglectful situations without the owner’s permission. We will only deal with the dog's legal owner. If you know of a German Shepherd or any dog that is straying at large or is being abused or neglected, you should report it to your local Animal Control.

If your dog has registration papers and came from a professional breeder, your first step should be to contact the breeder from whom you bought the dog. Responsible breeders should take back their dogs, and many of them have homes waiting for adult dogs of their breeding.

We encourage owners to re-home their dogs before giving them up. Please screen prospective homes carefully and go visit the prospective home. Make sure the new home has a safe environment and is one that your dog will be happy to live in. Ask for a modest re-homing fee, as dogs that are given away free aren’t valued as much as dogs that are paid for. Some resources for owners to re-home their dogs include:
* The local newspaper
* www.craigslist.org
* http://www.petfinder.com/classifieds/prepost.html
* Rescue Groups with an “Owner Referral” section (ours is coming soon)

If you are giving up your dog because of behavior issues, please seek the help of a professional trainer first. No one cares as much about your dog as you do, and you are responsible for your dog’s behavior, health and welfare. Behavior problems can often be solved with the right training. We suggest going to www.dogpro.org and looking for help.

Our primary purpose is to save adoptable, purebred German Shepherd Dogs from euthanasia in pounds and shelters and to place them as family pets. An adoptable dog is one that is safe, healthy, and reasonably well-socialized to people and other dogs, and that has no major health or behavioral issues.

We are not a shelter, we are not a sanctuary, and we are not professional trainers. We don’t have the resources to rehabilitate dogs with major behavior issues. We don’t take dogs with aggression issues, serious behavioral issues, or medical issues that are terminal, degenerative, incurable, or prohibitively expensive to treat or maintain.

We have no Kennel or other Facility; all of our dogs are housed in volunteer foster homes. If we have no foster home available, we cannot take the dog, no matter how much we would like to. If an owner is willing to sign up as a volunteer and foster their dog until it is adopted, we can usually take the dog into the program. Alternatively, if an owner is willing to board the dog in a boarding kennel for a month, we can usually take the dog by the time the month is up.

Before accepting an owner-surrendered dog into our program, we require proof that the dog is spayed or neutered and is up to date on all vaccinations, including rabies, DHPP, and bordatella. California state law mandates that dogs must be spayed or neutered before being adopted out by a rescue or shelter. See California Food & Agriculture Code Section 30503.

We require a surrender fee of $250. Up to half of that may be waived if the dog is already spayed/neutered and vaccinated.

Foster homes are at a premium, and our mission is to save purebred German Shepherd Dogs; therefore, we rarely take German Shepherd mixes.