Complaint Review: Mid-Atlantic GSP Rescue Inc. - Sykesville Maryland

I have 2 GSPs. A 9yr old that I rescued from a local shelter and a 2 yr old that I got through the MidAtlantic GSP Rescue. The people I dealt with from the rescue were all very caring and knew about GSPs and their needs. They did a thorough check on my home and my present dog's vet records. My experience has been very good. The people at the shelter where I got my first dog told me that it would be hard because at that time I lived in a condo and he was only 7 months old. I learned the hard way (lost a carpet and couch to chewing) but I stuck with it. Through trial and error I learned that the only thing I really needed to do was give the dog plenty of exercise (walks, playtime, etc.). I also crated him in the beginning when I would not be home. I now have 2 GSPs and a large fenced yard. The new dog is about 2 yrs old. He is full of energy but I have had no boredom issues with him. He gets plenty of yard time and at least three walks per day. His extra energy gets channeled out so that he is able to be a calm obedient dog when in the house. My point is this; it doesn't really matter where you live. GSPs are very high energy dogs and they must be given the opportunity to expend that energy. Plenty of walks and some playtime will do wonders. If they do not get this, they will find their own way to expend that energy, usually by chewing.

I can understand the rescue groups frustration with this. I work with three separate rescue groups and every one of the members of these groups work full time for a living and do rescue, not for the money or glamour or fame, but because we care. If you do not have this type of situation covered in your bylaws I would most certainly change that now. Our foster parents are NEVER allowed to "give away" a rescue. They are allowed to adopt them with the proper paperwork and notification to the officers of the group. Only once has a person taken a rescue with the pretense of adopting and not signed the paperwork before she took the rescue. She then told us that she "gave the animal away" and later changed her story to "it died". We tried to take her to court and the judge told us "it was only an animal" and let her off the hook. No one has since taken any rescue without filling out the appropriate paperwork and we have legal remedies covered if someone tries to pull a fast one. I would be hesitant to allow someone in a condo to foster a large breed active canine unless that person was referred by people who would vouch for his/her character. Fostering is work. People who care can find great rewards in saving companion animals.

Fostering a dog is a very temporary situation. The problem that occurred here was after the foster dog was in her home, Jennifer wanted to keep it. The VP contacted me and I said "no", can't get enough exercise. When the VP called Jennifer back she told her our response and Jennifer assured her that she could get the dog out enough for exercise. At that point it was a silent standoff. Board says not a good idea and we want to rehome the dog, volunteer says "I'm keeping the dog". At this point we either drop it or it becomes a legal matter. We decided not to try to sue one of our volunteers to get the dog back and to simply allow her to learn on her own that this breed is not suitable for a condo. We explained to Jennifer all the rhetoric that people give up dogs constantly for this reason, etc to no avail. The problem the dog became was it was barking all day due to lack of exercise - she was a young GSP. This dog was then given away, a clear contract violation and we were never told until the new owner contacted us. We never told Jennifer there was nothing we could do, we always told her if the dog became too much we would post and list her for adoption. We were simply never contacted until the dog was given away. We were never informed of any barking or problems. The dog started destroying furniture in the new home because that owner lacked the common sense of crating - the dog was crate trained and Jennifer told them if not crated the dog wouldn't behave. She offered them her crate and they refused. Jennifer and this new owner's daughter work together by the way which made it touchy for Jennifer but giving them the dog was her doing not ours. The reason Jennifer gave them the dog was so that she could still see it. Ms. Kim here calls me at 10:30pm at night telling me the dog has to go. I told her to board it if it was an emergency. I called Jennifer on her cell and she was in Pittsburgh for work and knew nothing about problems with the dog and was not pleased with Kim and her Mom. Kim couldn't drop the dog off because there was no one to drop it to. I did inform Jennifer that she was now the owner if this dog and she was basically a new turn in to us once again. If Jennifer felt guilty that was her own doing, we simply had no foster home for the dog on a moment's notice at 10:30pm at night. People have to be realistic after all. The rescue didn't own the dog at this point. We knew all about this dog - a jumper. We knew about Jennifer - a volunteer who told us she would never keep a dog. Jennifer is no longer a volunteer, she was been asked to do nothing for the rescue since this incident and it will remain that way. The dog is now where it should be, with an owner who knows the breed and actually has the dog in agility trials as exercise. Dog also shows in obedience trials. The dog simply had this snag of a volunteer changing their minds about keeping a dog, then giving it away to someone who clearly knows nothing about dog behavior and then we took it back in from the boarding kennel where it was placed by the new owner when they demanded we take it in an instant and it wasn't possible at that moment. We are "volunteers", we all work full time, some of us are in grad school and unlike a shelter we don't have a facility to return dogs to. There has to be an open foster home for the dogs to come into. This we do for free in our spare time. I'd like to see how long Kim would last giving of most of her free time simply out of love for a breed. A breed she and Mom have never owned. Wouldn't last long would be my guess. It is unfortunate that spiteful people such as Kim can't get past what they don't know and see greater good. Even Jennifer can admit she made a mistake - twice. Keeping the dog and then giving it to Kim's Mom. Kim and Mom should have never taken this dog in and then demanded that it was someone else's problem - period. Kim, Mom or Jennifer would never get a rescue dog from us, so she doesn't have to worry about future contact. So now the real facts are revealed instead of the wishy washy story. Faith