Isabelle is a cheerful little GSD with a huge heart, a perpetually wagging tail, and a capacity for love that is astonishing and humbling. She is a survivor, and it may have been her irrepressible spirit and happy attitude about life that carried her through some profoundly difficult times. Isabelle was discovered jaunting about Prince Georges County, Maryland, in exceptionally poor physical condition. She was starving, afflicted with a skin condition that had caused her to lose most of the hair on her belly and hind legs, and suffering from giardia and yeast infections. She had had a litter (or litters) of puppies and may have been kenneled on concrete runs for extended periods of time, as the skin on her elbows was thick and elephantine-like and her upper/lower incisors were gone (possibly from chewing on chain-link fence). Despite all this, Isabelle was one of the happiest, sweetest, most endearing dogs the rescue folks had ever encountered, and they wanted to save her. Now, Isabelle has achieved a healthy weight, and her hair loss has been diagnosed as being caused by chronic allergies (which are not uncommon in GSDs). Poor Izzy chewed and chewed at her itchy skin for so long (without receiving any treatment, apparently) that the vets say she may never regrow hair in the places she has lost it. She is responding well to prednisone now, but her adopter will need to have her allergy-tested and manage the allergies through desensitization shots or other measures over the rest of her life. Isabelle is very athletic and agile; she loves long hikes in the woods and is joyful about retrieving balls and other toys you throw for her. She will eat anything (including pickles!) and is very creative about opening doors and other barriers to steal cat food and treats that are not hers. Izzy is living contentedly in her foster home with 2 dogs and 3 cats. She has some residual fear-based dog aggression that probably derives from her experiences as a stray, but she is very sensible and trainable, and, once properly introduced to other dogs, she does very well with them. If you would like to meet Isabelle, please call Michelle at 301-460-8894. 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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