$450 · Puppy Love

Sam is a new addition to our rescue Guide Us Home German Shepherd Rescue Society (CRA #837147776RR0001). We saw his condition while in a high kill shelter and we knew we had to act fast. Sam's story as we know it... Sam is approximately 9 months old and was a stray in San Bernadino California. He happily followed a lady home from the grocery store and she invited him in. She claimed to Animal Control that he was such a happy-go-lucky pup and very sweet. She noticed a very large wound on his throat and at that point she called Animal Control. Animal Control takes strays to high kill shelters and the dogs get put on a stray/hold for 7-10 days depending on the shelter. Because Sam had such a nasty injury instead of putting him on a stray/hold, they put him on the kill list. This particular shelter doesn't have a vet on staff even though they have about 400+ animals in it. Having no vet on staff means no treatment. Someone requested an extension on his life because he was such a friendly puppy and they were hoping a rescue would take him. I don't know who that person was but they were granted the extension. That extension came and went and then another extension was requested. At this time, the shelter granted the extension and then decided to ship Sam off to an outside vet to get his wounds tended to. His neck got shaved and he had stitches horizontally on his neck as well as a gaping hole on his throat sutured up with multiple layers of sutures. This poor puppy's second extension came to an end and he was signed off to be killed that evening.....a Friday evening. I just happened to be looking at the shelters euth listed dogs and I saw Sam. The shelter was closing in 10 minutes so I quickly called the rescue coordinator to tell her I wanted to pull him but I went to voicemail. I panicked so I backed it up with an email. Luckily they answered my email within 20 minutes. I told her I wanted to pull Sam and she said he was slated to be killed. I begged her to ask the Director for an extension so that I could get a transporter to pick him up the following day. An hour of sweating bullets later, I was given the extension and got him out of there first thing Saturday morning. Fast forward, Sam is here on Vancouver Island and is learning a whole new life. It's evident he's had no training. I'm working on basic commands and although we're progressing, it's a slow process. Haven't attempted to do any walks off property because I don't want to put any pressure on his throat with a collar or slip lead. He's wearing a collar with ID tags but it's loose and doesn't affect where his injury was. He's had all of his vaccines, I did a blood panel on him to get a baseline, fecal test, heart worm test and he's neutered. He's a playful boy and loves bouncing around with my 2.5 year old female. The odd dog has been in his presence and he obviously didn't get a good vibe so he stood tall and made a gut noise. No barking, snarling or lunging....just a gut noise. Sam is crate trained and sleeps in his crate any time I'm not at home. He is not potty trained so that is being worked on. He may have been an outside dog that just went potty where ever he stood. He's never soiled his crate. He's got husky in him and has some of the husky traits, such as being chatty and howling if he's in his crate and he thinks he's missing out on something with my dog. He runs very fast on my property and is very inquisitive about everything. Husky's tend to be escape artists and so far he's not tried that but then he's with my dog a lot. Sam is personable and he's very sweet and affectionate. He's a medium size dog of 50 pounds and I doubt he will get any bigger. He needs a home where basic training will continue and a definite secured fenced yard and be an inside dog. While he's learning his new environment and rules, Sam would need eyeballs on him at all times while outside in a yard. A bored dog will look to find something to not be so bored! If Sam might be a good fit for your lifestyle and you're interested in meeting, lets start a conversation and see how it fits.