9/2/2010 10:14:42 AM

We are thrilled to announce that our beautiful survivor, Courage, is featured in a 2011 calendar, now available for sale!  OC-based photographer Sherri Regalbuto has created a heartwarming tribute to the dog who refused to die.  A portion of the proceeds from each calendar sale will go to GSROC to help more dogs in urgent need.  A fantastic gift for any animal lover, the calendar retails for $24.25. Visit Zazzle.com for more details!

7/21/2010 8:26:18 AM

We are pinching ourselves with happiness, knowing that we achieved the incredible milestone of raising $10,000 in 20 days to benefit our dogs. Because of the compassion and generosity of our fellow animal lovers, adopters, supporters, care givers and friends, we have earned an additional matching donation of $8,000 to put toward our neediest cases! We owe this success to everyone who participated when we put out the call for help. We are also deeply grateful to the two very special donors (you know who you are, special angels) who extended the Challenge and offered the 'reward' for our hard work. The amazing volunteer and supporter network of GSROC is so uplifting and fulfilling to see. People power WORKS when everyone sets their minds to a common goal and strives hard to achieve it! We keep thinking about how many dogs will benefit from this amazing fund raising push, and it makes us even more excited! To everyone who helped us through their gifts and their encouragement, we can't thank you enough for honoring us with your trust.

7/13/2010 9:25:09 AM

As part of our commitment to continuing our education and honing our skills, GSROC volunteers took time out of their personal lives to participate in a special 3-hour training seminar with well-known behaviorist Vladae "The Russian Dog Wizard". Volunteers were instructed in the correct way to introduce dogs, the proper way to correct dogs, how to lead with authority, how to maximize each dog's potential, and many more techniques for communicating effectively with the dogs in our care. We were instructed in how to "Correct, Redirect and Praise" dogs for positive results, and we were introduced to a short course on "doglish"---Vladae's term for how a mother dog communicates with her offspring to ensure proper behavior within the pack. The session was captivating and thought-provoking, and volunteers were positively amazed by how quickly Vladae was able to train some of the more challenging dogs right before our eyes. In his signature style, Vladae educated while interjecting amusing analogies anecdotes to underscore key points. We all left the session with much better skills, as well as a profound understanding of how incredibly intelligent German Shepherd dogs are. Our heartfelt gratitude to Vladae and his team for helping us to prepare more shepherds for loving homes!

7/2/2010 7:54:06 AM

GSROC has receive a generous offer from a fellow German Shepherd lover: If we can raise $5,000 between July 1 and August 1, we will receive a matching gift of $5,000 to benefit our dogs! This Challenge Match couldn't come at a better time for us because we have many ill and injured dogs depending on us for their care and comfort. We know that we can achieve this ambitious goal if we have YOUR help! Please take a moment to pledge a tax-deductible gift in any amount to help us meet this challenge! You can send your gift through Paypal, or through the First Giving link below. If you prefer to donate by check, please notate on your check that your gift is a part of the "Challenge". You can also help by sharing this important information with all of your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors who love dogs as much as you do. Simply forward the link with your personal message to encourage your contacts to help us save more lives.

We are very excited about this opportunity and look forward to having your help!

www.firstgiving.com/gsroc5000challenge

6/22/2010 8:23:53 AM

GSROC learned about Sea Biscuit through a series of emails. Sea Bee (as she has come to be known by our volunteers) is around 11 years old. She had been abandoned by her owner at a boarding facility. The facility kept thinking that the owner was coming back for her, but sadly, no one did. Sea Biscuit was a favorite of the staff at the facility, but she had been there for almost two years--no life for a dog that had served her family so well. When we met Sea Bee, we knew that her body was growing week and that her degenerative nerve condition was making it increasingly difficult for her to walk. Nevertheless, we didn't want Sea Bee to spend another day imprisoned in a kennel. Our amazing volunteers teamed up to get Sea Bea safe passage. During her first week with us, she hung out with a volunteer who worked from home and had two other pals to keep Sea company. As it is becoming apparent that Sea Bee won't be able to hold herself up much longer, we decided that we wanted to show her as much of life as we could in what ever time she has left. Fantastic volunteers Jon and Barbara stepped up to take Sea Bee into their home so she could sunbathe on the grass with their resident shepherds. As a special treat, Sea Bee got to go to the beach and watch and sniff the waves (she can't hear them unfortunately). She had a grand time resting on the beach and making friends with all of the dogs and people who passed by. She talked to everyone with her signature "Wooo Wooo Wooo", and everyone nodded that she was clearly smiling as she woofed! It was joyous to see and to hear her having so much fun. When it was time to leave the beach, Sea Bee's legs weren't working so well, so a kindly lifeguard pulled up in his beach truck and gave her a lift back to the car! (Shout out for the Newport Beach life guards!!) Sea Biscuit positively LOVES to go for car rides and even though it's a little tricky to get her huge senior body into the car, seeing her so happy makes it worth the extra lifting! Finally, a stop at Dairy Queen for the perfect finish to a lovely day. We hope to be able to give Sea Biscuit many more days of sun and happy times before she journeys to the Rainbow Bridge. It will be incredibly hard to say farewell to Sea Biscuit because she is such an enchanting spirit, but we won't let her suffer out of our selfish desire to keep her with us. When it's time for Sea Bee to leave us, she will be surrounded by friends who truly love and value her.

This beautiful day was brought to you through the devotion of incredible GSROC volunteers and the support of wonderful animal lovers who make it possible for us to continue our work.