There are some dogs that we just know that we have to save---despite the fact that everything is going against the dog. King is exactly this dog. 7 years old, never been an inside dog, overweight, unkempt, needs some veterinary help, etc. However, King is the epitome of why we do rescue---to be able to help the underdogs, those that no one else will help.

King's owner called us when she was in the midst of making a difficult decision. You see, her husband had passed away almost 2 years ago, they had lost their home and job and King had been living alone in the backyard of the home that they lost. King's owner was anticipating having to euthanize King, as she had nowhere for him and knew that he couldn't keep living alone in a dirt backyard. She told stories about how King was once a dominate male--scaring every UPS man who attempted to make a delivery. She explained that he was a dog that they could not walk down the street as he would pull and need to check out everything. We agreed to meet King, although we really weren't sure that we could help him. We were his only hope though.

When King arrived and jumped out of the truck, I saw a spirit that had just about been crushed. I saw a dog whose entire focus in life was protecting his family, and that job had disappeared when his leader died and his family moved out and left him behind. King's ears are fly bitten and show the years of built up soil and scabs. His nose is suffering from years of digging his nose in the dirt and through fences. He is overweight from a lack of exercise and a sedentary life for the past 2 years while he lived alone and just received his food to keep him going. But, what I also saw was a gorgeous boy whose life should not be snuffed out. A stunning, regal guy who deserved to be shown the good life!

We let King relax and unwind overnight in the indoor kennels and he seemed to decompress from the stress of living alone. Within 24 hours of being with us, one of our volunteers who knew of King's plight offered to give him a shot at being her new foster dog. King is now in a foster home sharing his space with three other German Shepherds. He is learning how to be an indoor dog and is taking it all in stride! Who ever said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

King has had a good grooming and his ears are looking better already. He will be visiting the vet this week to have his nose tended to. If you would like to help King with any of the expense that we will incur with his vet bills you can make a tax deductable donation using the paypal button below.

King is looking for his forever home where he can continue to enjoy dog beds, belly rubs, good food, leadership and affection. If you are interested in giving King his happy ever after, please contact Tiffany via email tiffanycgsr@sbcglobal.net.

Updated photos 10/20/2008: King is looking Good!

Please make a donation to help King!
You can make a tax deductable donation to King's care by clicking the button below!

 

Toby is Safe
But Still Needs a Home!

Toby is a wonderful senior, who's owner has cancer!
Can you just imagine how sad, confused and lonely he must be
finding himself in a crowded Animal Shelter!
He needs rescuing TODAY!
He has been granted extra time, but will be Euthanized if not out of the shelter by 10/14/08!

This is Toby, Animal ID #A0985514. He is a large 8 year old male German Shepherd. He is at the West Valley Animal Care Center in Chatsworth. This is a very crowded shelter where adult dogs have a slim chance of getting adopted. They had to pick him up from the owners house because she has cancer and could not take care of Toby any longer. He is a great dog with a great personality. He loves to be walked our the Shelter volunteers and the owner's wishes were to find him a loving home because he is such a gentleman. He is very active for his age. Here is a link to a video of Toby at the Shelter!

Toby has very little chance---without the help of our adopters and supporters---to get out of the shelter alive. If you have been thinking of adopting, call the West Valley Shelter today. Please forward his plea to other animal loving people, in hopes that together we can find him a home!

Update 10/14/08:
Toby was saved by German Shepherd Rescue of LA and is currently at their facility in Burbank. If you are interested in meeting Toby, please contact Grace at GS Rescue of LA. You can call (661) 822-7260 Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm or (818) 558-7560 Saturday and Sunday 1 :00 pm - 5:00 pm.

 

We're Popping with Puppies!

Looking for a warm, fuzzy companion to provide hours of fun? Love the smell of "puppy breath"?
We have several young Puppies available for adoption and more on the way!

In addition to individual puppies, we have recently saved a few GSD mothers with litter's
from local shelters. They are varying ages from newborn to 8+ weeks old.
Some of these youngsters are currently in foster homes
and well on their way to learning house manners and being house broken!

Most our pups are crate trained and spend time with their foster familys which usually include children and other dogs. These little darlings are well socialized and thanks to our wonderful foster homes, have received a great start to be wonderful additions to their new families!
Visit our "Puppy Section" for more information on these little darlings!

 

Interested in Volunteering?
Come Join One Of Coastal's Southern California Chapters!

We are always looking for a few good volunteers!

We have 2 Chapters, one based in Orange County and the other in San Diego County.
Both groups hold 3 weekend adoption events per months. We also have miscellaneous weekly needs
like shelter and vet runs, dog walks, and we could always use more foster homes. Check out our Volunteer page.

If you are interested in volunteering please fill out our Volunteer Application and one of the Volunteer Cordinators will contact you.

If you have questions about Volunteering in Orange County please contact Sanika at sanika@coastalgsr.org.
If you have questions about volunteering in San Diego County please contact Jessi at jessi@coastalgsr.org.

Become a member of "Team Coastal" today!

Weekly Adoption Events:  
Saturday November 22, 2008 at the Petsmart in Aliso Viejo
Saturday November 22, 2008 at the Petsmart in Encinitas.
Click here for more information about these and all of our upcoming events.     Come visit us!
Drop by to say hello and to meet some great dogs!

URGENT! Foster Homes Needed!
We are always in need of Foster Homes, especially for (but not limited to) our Senior and Special needs dogs!  These are a few of our dogs currently in "Kennel Boarding" that would love to find the comfort of a Foster Home!
Click here for more information about our Foster program.

Hans

Wonder

Autumn

Quinn

Hasso 2001 - 2008

Coastal would like to express our condolences to Michelle McLeod and her husband Malcolm MacIntosh for the loss of Hasso who died of Cancer on 8/28/08 and thank them for the donation they made to honor his memory!

Having some reservations about adopting a rescue dog?
Read letters from Coastal adopters here.

Hi Beth:

We adoped him from you on 7/12/08 from you at the Aliso Viejo Petsmart adoption event.

I wanted to give you an update on Carter.....his new name is Duke and he is actually younger than anyone thought...more like 10-12 months according to our vet. He just had really dirty teeth from being on the run.

He is doing fabulous and is so sweet tempered. He is in his third week of Obedience Training and doing fantastic!! He has grown a little bit and is filling out nicely to where you can no longer see his ribs or hip bones. He enjoys his basket full of toys, a walk every morning and lots of yummy treats at bedtime.

I have attached a couple of pictures that my parents took of him while we were staying at their house for your adopted page. One is of him on the grass in the backyard and the other is of him fitting his big body into the tiny little dog bed that belongs to my parents shih tzu.

Enjoy!

Stacy & Brian

 

Zeus's succcess story.
Watch his inspiring video. Here you will see the full circle of what Rescue is all about! Zeus's journey has been documented in the vidoe below. It begins with him being saved from the shelter, show the the angels who helped him along the way and the family who has adopted him.

 

Hi Tiffany,

Just wanted to send you a quick e-mail to let you know that we are completely in love with Myra! She is doing great and seems to be acclimating well to our family and routine. She gets two square meals a day and lots of walks.
She loves to hang out with us in the front yard on weekends doing projects like washing the car or fixing the fence.

She loves to roll in the grass at her many parks, 3 to be exact, and she also loves to bite at the hose when we are spraying anything!

She is so sweet and gets along with everyone dogs and people, just like you said! Thanks again for all of your help! We definitely feel not only are we all happy with her but she seems very happy with us. She is energetic at meals, loves her walks, loves to chase toys and play tug of war, and she sleeps peacefully every night at the foot of our bed! I think she is definitely a success story!

Much Thanks,
Christine, Doug, Robby, Brandon and Myra (Simone) Dillard
(my older son chose her middle name)

 

Dear Tina and Beth,

We're celebrating Montana's 2nd birthday, and our first anniversary of becoming a family of three again, so we thought we'd give you a little report and pictures.

When we first met Montana (then: Queenie) last year she didn't answer to any name, she didn't know a single command, and she had never had a toy--apparently her only toys used to be empty water bottles in the back yard where she was tied up for the first year of her life. Even so, she was a trusting, friendly soul, but terribly emaciated.

Today Montana is a proud, healthy, happy young lady who knows her commands, but retains her self-reliant nature. It is still obvious that she has lived her first year without relating to human language, so she'll probably never be the word whiz that our Rowdie was. Rowdie knew 200 words! But Montana's mind is still developing, she is learning all the time, and she still has that sunny confidence that must have carried her through neglect and deprivation during her first year.

Her favorite activity is playing with her friends at the dog park, but she also likes to just hang out with her humans, and go for rides in the car. She has developed the natural GS instinct for protecting the home territory, with a deep bark that everyone who lives along our canyon is by now familiar with!

You have helped bring a new love into our lives after the bleak first 6 months without our Rowdie. Montana is a joy for the eyes, and our hearts soar when we see her running toward us in the park, or doing voluntary "guard duty" out on the deck above the canyon. And her cheerful companionship is priceless.

Thanks so much to CGS for all that you do!

Best regards,
Nina, Craig and Montana

PS As you probably remember, we wouldn't have been able to adopt her if it hadn't been for your flexibility and understanding, because we were going on vacation the day after we met her. Thank you for taking such good care of her in the interim, and giving us peace of mind so we were able to come back from vacation to our new family member! We are eternally grateful for your help!

 

Hi Teresa,

Well, the kids celebrated their first birthday on July 17 (vet estimated their birthday). They have become really good dog citizens in the short three months we’ve had them. They are good with other dogs and loveable to humans. But they are great watch dogs too!

We’re all in training, and I think that in the near future I will be able to walk with both of them side by side on leashes. Right now, they have to be taken out separately; otherwise we’re fighting the dominance factor. Singly, they are perfect. Gus even walks with a backpack – and he is so proud when he walks using it! I’m preparing him for hikes.

Ruby is as sweet as ever. She goes through a little anxiety when I take her brother out, but she doesn’t look back when it’s her turn! She has too many dog friends to say hello to in the neighborhood.

They’ve taken to their new home, almost as much as I’ve taken them into my heart. I thank the rescue for bringing them into my life.

Enjoy the photos of the pair.
Sincerely,
Nita and Chris

 

Hi Beth,

Thank you for sending Keeno's AKC papers. It's pretty cool to see the names of his ancestors.

Keeno is doing great. We absolutely love him. We have a park around the corner from our house and he's met lots of dogs but two who he really likes. They are both German Sheppards. When they see each other it's like their old long lost friends.

I took him to Dog Beach today; it was his second time there. He doesn't like the water very much but he got closer to it this time than the last time. He is such a joy to walk and run with. He helped me pick out his beds at Petco! We put one in the living room and one in our bedroom. He doesn't care about the cats and they are starting to not care about him either.

Mark works for Public Works Monday through Friday 6 am to 4 pm with every other Friday off. I work for Huntington Beach Police Department Monday through Thursday 4:30 pm to 3 am. So Keeno is never home alone and he is getting lots of walks. Mark has to lock the restrooms at Central Park at 7:30 every night and Keeno has made this task a lot more enjoyable for him, sometimes they make a stop here at my work to say hi.

I cannot thank you enough for the work you do, for saving Keeno, and for letting us adopt him. We are so grateful and feel so lucky. He is an absolute joy and everyday is so fun with him around. I still frequent your website and am amazed by the new arrivals that never seem to end. &n bsp; Thank you again for everything! I will keep in touch.

Nadia

 

Hi Beth,

I just wanted to send you some pictures of Bella after last night's graduation from Puppy Class.

The little 12lb puppy formerly known has Abby has grown into a beautiful 50lb Bella at just 5 months!

She is a delight and I am so glad to have found her.

Thank you and your organization for all the great work you have done.

Nancy Seidler

 

 

Hi Beth,

We adopted Astro, who's new name is Jude and here are some pictures of him with his new friend Kiya.

Jude really adopted us, he jumped right into our truck bed and walked all the way to the back and laid down, he wasn't moving for anything. When we adopted him we were told he was in a kill shelter and had not eaten in about a week, but I'm happy to say that he is eating now and becoming healthier and healthier everyday.

Jude and his new friend Kiya go on two walks a day and he follows Kiya around everywhere! They get along great, Jude has really grown on her as well as the rest of us. He is a great dog with a great personality and loves to sing and talk...we are happy to have him in our home!

Tonya Summers

 

Hi Beth,

I apologize all over the place for not communicating sooner. My communication skills are right up there with my picture taking skills. Every single day I vow to take pictures of Rio to send to you, and well, so much for that. As you can see, he is recovering beautifully from his surgery. He is putting almost all of his weight on that leg now, and doesn't seem to have any pain in that area at all. He still can't lift his leg, but I might want to take advantage of that as long as I can. He is slowly gaining confidence; still somewhat reluctant to bark at visitors, but being a GSD, I'm convinced the guard dog is in him and will eventually prevail. His appetite still isn't great (except for people food and cat food), but I won't give in to him, so weight gain is slow but steady. His hair is growing back nicely, and in another month, I don't think there will be any evidence of surgery.

He loves the dog park and playing with other dogs, and holds his own when the bigger dogs try to dominate. I don't want to baby him, but still a little nervous about the fractured pelvis, so we limit our trips there to about twice a week.. He made his first trip to the River last week, and did better than expected. He rides great in the truck and the boat, loves the water, and especially the golf cart! Unfortunately, it was just too hot for him to be outside as much as he wanted.

I kept saying I couldn't wait for him to be able to be a puppy again, and now I realize that I probably could have waited much longer. He is a PUPPY, by every sense of the word - chasing and tormenting the cats, chewing, digging and wanting to play constantly - I think he has more energy in one day than I've had my entire life. Training is going pretty well - every once in awhile he wakes up and acts like he has totally forgotten everything! Thankfully, we were ready for the puppy syndrome, and by comparison to the last one, he is very good. Despite all of his puppy faults, we love him dearly, and can't imagine life without him. Thank you again for everything, and especially everything you continue to do.

Take Care,
Terri & Greg Jacobs

 

Hi Tiffany

More progress! Mitzi is totally comfortable now and doing so well! She even got a little playful with a ball last night, which is the first time that I've seen her get spunky. She met a little beagle that wandered into our garage last night and she did great with her as well.

She's walking with confidence on our walks and seems to be getting stronger rather quickly. She still limps a little, but a lot less than last week. We couldn't be happier to have her in our lives! I think that she likes her new home too. As you can see, the boys LOVE her and she loves sleeping in their bunk bed.

Take care,
Christina Thomas