Gretchen was born in December 2002 and purchased by her previous owner from a breeder in April 2003. Due to moving to a smaller home, her family dropped her at the shelter. I have all of Gretchen's previous medical records. According to the staff where she was a patient before, her owner kept her in the garage most of the time. Thus, at six years old, Gretchen is not house-trained, but we're working on it! She is a sweet girl who wants to please. She responds to gentle corrections. Gretchen is still a very active girl and will need a home with an active family to keep her busy. She is exhibiting a couple of obsessive behaviors, such as pacing and continually chasing her tail. I've only had her four days and already she is exhibiting these behaviors less and less often. With regular exercise and toys to keep her occupied I think she can learn not to obsess. She does not get along well with one of her foster sisters but is fine with the other. If she's going to be adopted into a home with another dog, a face to face meeting will need to occur first. Currently Gretchen is very underweight. Once she's at her ideal weight she should weigh about 75 pounds. She is a bit of a fussy eater. This girl needs a family who can provide her with the time and attention she deserves. Please check out our web site at www.shepherdrescue.org for more information about our dogs, our adoption process and to download an application. You must have a fully approved application on file prior to privately meeting our dogs. We do not have a facility, all our dogs are housed in private foster homes throughout MD/DC/VA areas. More information available on our web site, so please read through our web site before emailing questions, as it might save us both some time!

VGSR can only adopt dogs out in the Virginia/Maryland/DC area, no exceptions.

Although donations of all types are needed, our primary need is foster homes for our lovely dogs while they wait for their new family to find them. Fostering is an extremely rewarding experience. Vet care is paid for by our rescue, and we can even provide you with food. All YOU need to add is love and security.

The adoption process starts with the applicant filling out the adoption application. This can happen at any time during the process, before or after having met a GSD that might be the ideal companion. (It's an advantage to have a pre-approved application on file with VGSR. It should be stressed here that being pre-approved does not mean that any potential adopter can select any available dog at will and take that dog home immediately. VGSR will exercise its best judgement as to which GSD will be the best match for that specific adopter based on a number of qualifying criteria. Many GSDs that come to us are matched up with their new people very quickly because their people have been pre-approved.) The applicant then submits the application form with a non-refundable $10.00 processing fee. VGSR reviews the application, then schedules an interview and home visit during which a number of questions are asked and the home is reviewed to be sure there is a contained/safe yard, and to meet the family involved. Once the application is approved, the applicant is asked to submit a $250.00 donation to VGSR, and the adoption is completed.

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