BLANCA - A SUCCESS STORY!

----- Original Message -----
From: Anita Schindler
To: echodogs@echodogs.org
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 1:52 PM

You have a beautiful dog by the name of Blanca listed as available for adoption on your site. I would like to let you know that she has found a very loving home. Wasatch Humane brought her to Petsmart in Layton Utah a two weeks ago, I had no intention of adopting a dog that day, but Blanca captivated me. I just could not walk away from this dog for some reason.....and I tried believe me.

I have to tell you that this is the most wonderful dog that I have ever had in my life...she has simply stolen the hearts of my entire family.
It is clear to us that she has been hit in the past as she is very skiddish around men, especially when they have any object in their hand, fly swatter etc. Or if he speaks loudly even if it is a joyous sound. But with love and persistance she is slowly starting to trust men (husband) more and more each day.

I have found so much joy with this sweet girl, that I am considering fostering another White German Shepherd, and have applied to be a volunteer at the local no kill shelter.

Thank you for posting her on your site! We look forward to many years with this wonderful girl!
Anita Schindler
Clearfield Utah

UPDATE!!
----- Original Message -----
From: Anita Schindler
To: echodogs@echodogs.org
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 4:07 PM
Subject: Blanca Update

I finally have an update for the Blanca success story!! I have also attached an updated photo.
Blanca (affectionately called "Bink") has fit into our family nicely. The kids love her and play football, fetch, and racing with her often. Our "mother" dog, an Australian Shepherd, loves her when they are alone, and keeps busy herding her away from us when we are with them. Blanca greets us with the shepard howl / talking every day, and plenty of affection.

I will continue to support the rescue groups in my area with donations every chance I get, especially the one that rescued my sweet "Bink"!

Thank you again for all you do for these incredible dogs!

Anita Schindler
Clearfield Utah

KEYSHA - A SUCCESS STORY

Things around here really couldn't be better!! Keysha and Unali are loving life to the fullest extent. They share pretty much everything with out any conflict. We still have not had any sort of hierarchy struggle at all, just a lot of play and fun without any worries. We took the two on their first run in the mountains today and they had a blast. Keysha did pretty good for her first mountain bike/run trip. I think it wound up being about 11 miles by the time we were done and although we thought we had drained the energy from those two, as soon as we got home they were in the back yard playing just a little more. Keysha got to taste a little of last years snow that was still hanging around, run through some nice meadows, chase a few squirrels and even went wading in a small mountain lake. I can't thank you enough for everything, it is an absolute joy to have Keysha and I am sure Unali would agree. Both Unali and Keysha couldn't be happier to have someone to pal around with and the same goes for us. It is really cool to have two dogs again, especially ones that are close to the same age and energy level. Since both of the girls love running through the sprinklers, Rob and I are thinking about getting them a wading pool to help beat the summer heat. P.S. Keysha sends her love!!

(one month later)
Things still couldn't be going better. In fact, I am wondering how these two ever got along without each other. They are in a continual state of play and I honestly don't know how they do it. The Wind River Range was absolutely fantastic and the temperature was a great break from this heat. I don't think it got over 75 the whole time we were there and it actually snowed on us the last night!! Unfortunately we had to roll on back to the city where yesterday we hit 107 (uggh). Keysha is getting to know and love the bikes, she also got a taste of what it is like to herd cows on our last trip. Rob and I let her off the lead one early morning and apparently a cow had come over the ridge. She and Unali bolted after them and before we knew it they had the entire herd rolling quickly across the hillside. The fun experience has her dreaming of cows. When she wasn't thinking about the cows, or tired from riding, she spent her days trying to get the pesky squirrel that was hanging about. Although neither her or Unali had much success in capturing the creature, they sure had fun trying.

Take care,

Britt

Tasha Singing

Going For a Ride

Getting Brushed

Smiling Pretty

Mmmm... Watermelon!

Carpentry Lessons

Updates On Precious, now named TASHA

Hi Marilyn,
Thought you'd like to know how Precious is doing. Before we left to go meet you we tried to set up her bed for her so it would be ready for her, but couldn't find where we had put it, so on the way home we took her into Pet Smart to pick a new bed, just for her. Got her a nice soft box style mattress. While there I took her over to the pen of cats. She was
interested and stuck her long nose into the cage. The beautiful black cat in there came over to her and they touched noses, sweet as could be.

We came home and she was a little confused about her wherabouts when she got out of the truck. Today (Tuesday) she is more alert and more like a normal dog, but Sunday and Monday she was very thirsty, wouldn't eat, and didn't
seem to notice things around her, not even a deer standing not far off watching her.

The next morning she ate some yougurt. Her first food. At supper I made her a warm bowl of oatmeal with a little maple syrup, milk and more yougurt. She ate all of that, so I made her some more this moning, and by now it is a familiar dish and she ate it without coaxing. For lunch I gave her canned salmon, the fishoil ought to help. I mixed it with some Science Diet, so she got some bulk,too. She should be eating normally in a day or two.

I am keeping her with me all the time. She is sleeping at my feet as I type this. She has a great deal of understanding of human beings and their habits, and is fitting right into our routines.

She is really wonderful, and I love her.
Afton

Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 3:59 PM
Subject: Re: Precious

What a dog! This morning I wanted to bathe Tasha (Precious). So I filled a tub with warm water, got the shampoo and extra towels ready and then brought Tasha into the bathroom no collar, no leash. Tasha, I said, I want you to get in
here so I can get you cleaned up. She hesitated a second, and then jumped right in, all four feet! No coaxing, no lifting. She did it all. Later, when I wanted to clean her ears, I sat in a chair, with her sitting in front of me, ears up. After I had done what I could with a wash cloth, I reached behind me to get some Q-tips and she lay down to get comfortable. It was obviously a little uncomfortable for me, so SHE got up and repositioned herself so I could reach her easier, and we ended up doing a very good job.

I simply can not imagine why anybody would let go of such a dog! Are all of these white shepherds this special?

Afton

Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 8:14 PM
Subject: Re: Precious

Tasha is filling out some. She loves vegetables, including lima beans, new potatos, and brussle sprouts, whole. She is easy to control by voice, but I am not sure she has ever had obedience training, as such. She lopes and gallops all over this place, miles every day. Her stitches came out today. Her energy level is at what I would call a normal level now. We invite other dogs in for her to play with, she enjoys that very much, and so do the other dogs. The baby ducks and goslings are still safe with her, though I don't know how much longer she can put up with the papas quacking and honking at her. Rabbits, now, are another matter altogether!

Best to you,
Afton

King

King in the grass

Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2002 9:39 AM
Subject:

We first heard about King in October, 2001. A plea went out for a foster home to help this wonderful white German Shepherd who's time was up in a southern IN shelter. I took one look at the attached photo of a big, smiling boy with toenails so long that they were curling under, and I knew that I had to help him. And fast, his deadline was rapidly approaching. With a lot of frantic effort, we did get him out in time .King was neutered the day before he was to be transported to us, a requirement of the shelter, but suffered complications during the trip. He would have died if it weren't for a very kind and caring veterinarian who kept his clinic open past regular hours so that he

could help a poor dog that he had never met. King was stabilized; then we had to wait through the night to see if he would make it. He did! I saw King for the first time the next day. Still covered with some blood, and still very weak from his ordeal.

I spent the next two weeks nursing King back to health before he was to make his debut at Petsmart for adoption events. King stands 29" at the shoulder, but he only weighed 82lbs when he arrived. His ribs, hips, and even his spine were protruding because he was so thin. We immediately started him on a diet of high calorie prescription food, and he was fed 4-5 times a day. He slowly gained weight, becoming stronger over this 2 week period. And I found myself slowly falling in love with this gentle giant. We had 3 white German Shepherds already, all rescues, and had no intentions of adding a fourth dog. We have fostered many, many dogs who have all gone on to wonderful homes. It is always difficult saying goodbye to a dog that has become a part of your family, even if only temporarily. But you know you must send them on to a new life with their own family so that you can help another dog. There was no denying it though, I was becoming very attached to this very special dog who's life we saved not once, but twice. It seemed like the more interest there was in adopting King, the more I realized that King's place was here with us. I mounted an enormous whining campaign to convince my husband of the same. We officially adopted King right before Thanksgiving.

King is incredibly brilliant - an Einstein among dogs. He has never needed more than one or two repetitions to learn an obedience command. He learned to walk on tile floors and climb stairs quickly. Housetraining was a snap! That only required one time of saying "no", then bringing him outside. He was housetrained from that moment. He ALWAYS has a smile on his face, and even laughs! He is the happiest and most gentle dog that I have ever met. Even though he has sometimes taken a special interest in remodeling projects around our home's exterior, like pulling off a drainpipe. Or offered landscaping help by chewing down a couple of saplings. King is perfect in my eyes. How can you be mad at a dog who looks at you with such constant love and devotion?

I don't know anything of King's background except that he was brought to the shelter as a stray. His "family" knew he was there and refused to come and get him, or to even admit that King was their dog. The name "King" was given by the shelter staff. It suits him, too. King was not only very thin, the tips of his ears had also been chewed off by flies, and his teeth were worn down. Our veterinarian suspects that he tried to chew his way out of his kennel. There were other indications that he had spent his life in a kennel in the backyard, uncared for and unloved. How very sad that those people never knew what a special and wonderful dog they had. But if they had, then King would not be here with us today.
I bless the day that this big boy, now well over 100lbs, with soulful eyes and an amazing sense of humor came to us. Our lives are richer now because he is a part of our family.

Marilyn Manley and Dave Balster
Elliot, Emma, Lily, and King
Indianapolis, IN

KING
A SUCCESS STORY
(not same dog as above)

Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2002 10:27 PM
Subject: Re: King

Hi folks,

We are truly enjoying King. What a gentle giant !!!!!! He wants so badly to please. We have done fine so far on the house training. Scott is working with sit, stay, down/stay. King does fine in the kennel at night as long as he can see us so we put it in the bedroom. We got chew bones last night and a collar and leash for him. We've been generous and liberal with the treats. When they each are good dogs, they each get a treat. Sheba is very accepting of King. The cat,,,,on the other hand,,,, chased King to the utility room twice as hard as he could go. The third time, guess who chased who???????? I thought I was going to split when the cat chased him to the utility room the first time. I think it shocked the cat.... I'm not even sure she realized he was ahead of her.....She was just running. He just happened to run first,,,,and fastest !!!!!!! I'm sure they will work it out to their satisfaction !!!!!!!

Thank you each for your part in putting us together with a "custom chosen" family member. We couldn't have done better if we'd ordered him !!!!!!!! God Bless your rescue efforts. I hope there are adequate homes for God's magnificent creatures !!!!!!!!!!

Thanks once again !!!!!!! We've passed the word that this is the way to adopt family members !!!!!

Scott, Billee, Sheba, King and........Sabrina !!!!!!!

***UPDATE***

Sent: Friday, February 22, 2002 9:36 PM
Subject: Re:King

King is adjusting nicely,,,,as are we. He's such a joy and tries so hard to please. Scott works with him nearly every night 1 on 1. He's really filling out and would eat even more than we feed him. He's a bottomless pit..... so different than Sheba. She picks at her food...He dives into his !!!!!! I have to keep them separated while they eat. I sit near her outside the kennel and coax her to eat !!!!! King is an escape artist too. He learned how to open the latch on the dog kennel and escape so Scott made a pin to go thru the latch. Then King dug and crawled under the wire and got out so I moved logs and rocks to block his escape routes. He had 2 places he got out. Now, I've been leaving them for short periods of time in the dog kennel on nice days and watching them from the kitchen window. When I see him head for his "spots", I open the kitchen window and yell "NO, King" and he turns around and comes back from his "spots". I also have been giving them "good dog treats" WHEN I LEAVE THEM IN THE DOG KENNEL. That way, I'm hoping they won't feel like they're being punished. I thought, if this works and they get content in the dog kennel, I'll start leaving them a little longer each time until they can stay there and be content when I need to be gone. Is this a workable plan???

As of right now, one of us stays home with them all of the time. This hasn't been a problem because I've been sick now for almost 2 weeks so I don't want to go anywhere anyway. I've got that bronchial cough, etc that goes around. I started antibiotics a week ago so I think I'm getting a little better.

King plays a little rougher than Sheba. She's a gentle soul. I keep telling him to "Play nice" so I hope he winds down when he gets out of the puppy stage or when the hormones are out of his system. I take King back to the vet after the first of the month for some booster shots and we'll do heart worm preventer in April.

It's so much fun to watch the two dogs run and run and run. When they are outside the kennel playing, one of us always is there with them because our site is not fenced. King is more responsive to his name than Sheba is to hers. He also minds better !!!! When we discovered that he had learned to open the latch on the dog kennel, our hearts just sank but ,,,,,,, he didn't leave home when he got out. He stayed right here !!!!!!! I'd say we were very lucky !!!!!!! Now we let him out of the dog kennel off-leash. I think he knows this is home now. If he didn't, he would have been long gone when he opened the latch on the gate !!!! Anyway, we watch him like a hawk.

I took some photos of them playing the other day but it's a 24 exposure roll so it may take awhile to get the roll finished off and developed. I'll have Scott scan some photos to send. I re-read your article about Roo and Shadow today. I'm so glad you found her and she was not injured. I hope she too has adjusted to her new home.

Well, must close and clean up after supper. I've been brushing the 2 dogs' teeth every night. King is so good about it but Sheba still thinks she's being punished !!!!!!!

***UPDATE***

Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2002 10:41 PM
Subject: KING

A RED LETTER DAY FOR THE SCHAIBLE HOUSEHOLD/ZOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, King learned to hit a string of Sleigh Bells on the Utility Room Door when he wants to go outside to go potty !!!!!! He swats that sucker with his front paw and makes them really ring !!!!!!! Yay !!!!!!!!!!!! Yay !!!!!!!!!!!!! We've been working on this since we got home with him 2 weeks ago. He's doing great !!!!! We sure love him. He tries so hard to please us !!!!!! He's really a smart boy !!!! Well, I just had to let you all know that he's mastered the "bell thing" !!!!!! We've been watching him like hawks to try to figure out when he needs to go outside. Now it's up to us to listen for him to bat the bells !!!!!!! He's pretty good about prancing around the LR incessantly when he needs out so we've had pretty good luck and now it should be even better. He's got the idea now so it should get easier from here on I think !!!!!!

***UPDATE***

Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 12:38 AM
Subject: King

We sure are impressed with our new "guy". He learns so fast and is so responsive. We all love him !!!!!

I had to share this with you. I love to watch them play in the meadow. I have a chrome mixing bowl I've used as an outside water bowl since we moved here. When the temps are low, it freezes so I take it in the kitchen, run hot water over the back of it until the chunk of ice breaks loose, then I pitch the chunk of ice out onto the patio.

Well, these 2 dogs have in their minds that those "huge great big ice cubes" are the grandest of playthings !!!!! If I had known they would get so much enjoyment out of playing keep away with chunks of ice, I'd have saved my $$$$$$$$$, not taken a second mortgage out on the house to buy "chew toys" for them (KIDDING !!!!) and I'd just simply freeze ice in the mixing bowl !!!!!!! You should see King !!!! He struts and prances around with a big chunk of ice in his mouth tempting Sheba. You would think he was carting around a huge chunk of pot roast !!!!!!! King remembers where he piled his chunks of ice from one trip outside until the next....He heads right for his "stash" and checks it out when I let them out !!!! They are just a hoot to watch !!!!!! We have experienced so much enjoyment with this "Pair of Clowns"!!!! I'll be taking pictures to get developed soon and will scan some in to show you. He is filling out and has slowed down in his eating a little. We still need to do a Vet visit for some booster shots. It's been stormy and cold and I've been sick so we will try to get that done this week.

SUNDANCE
A SUCCESS STORY

Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid & Chuck

Butch Cassidy (Luke's), Sundance Kid (Nuka's) and Chuck (Nunu's)

The Butch Cassidy & Sundance Kid Gang

Here is another letter from a very happy family! They adopted this young male, "Sundance" that Carrie Rollison was fostering in Ohio.

Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2002 10:27 AM
Subject: Sundance kid doing great!!

Hi Carrie, Denise and Mark,

We hope you're all doing well and yours ."Sunny" has truly been a blessing to us, especially to Luke. Luke is now comfortable with the thought that "Sunny" WON'T go die on him too! (God forbid!) Anyways,some might think it's a "gamble in faith"! Sunny is insured through pet veterinary insurance with the best plan "E50 SUPERIOR" and is now due for neutering a week from thursday with our vet at the "Dekalb animal hospital" here in Auburn, IN. Our vet is wonderful and really took his time talking with us last year when we just about got Sunny, he's great. They had our older cats boarded with them while we went to family gathering in Virginia beach, VA over the thanksgiving days. Sunny had a lot of fun, lots of experiences, he didn't like the water though!! This past holidays we were supposed to spend time with family friends in Detroit, MI. But our truck's transmission decided to quit on us, so we had a nice and quiet christmas at home!! Sunny is now basic obedience trained, he was just a JOY and just plain FUN working with, he's SO smart! We love him to death! He's got his absolute just funny moments! I guess after losing our two big boys just made us even more appreciative (not to mention greatful) of his presence. We love him very much.

We're spoiling him more than we did our big boys. His "babyness" is just so.."delicious"!! We're finding ourselves today allowing him certain things that our big boys used to be limited to! Not ONE day ever goes by without him getting AT LEAST 3 kisses and hugs from all of us. So, sure enough he's less timid and scared of the world around him today, because of all the reassurance and unconditional love he's receiving from us. He was in just plain TERRIBLE condition when he came to us, just terrible. It made us angry. Today he's more reassured, a little more outgoing and .."coureageous"! He's getting better all the time.
Ideally we thought at first that we were going to get him a brother his own age, once he's settled and we've gotten more used to each other, but now we see that he'd be better off getting an older brother at about 2-3 yrs. A brother that is more outgoing, more self assured and NON skittish.
So, we have now started to look for "Butch Cassidy"!! If you have "him" we'd love to take him in for adoption to become "Sundance kid"s big brother! Naturally he too will become neutered and vet insured as well.

We are a VERY pet loving, high energy, active and many times a traveling family! "Butch Cassidy" WILL love us as well!!! Promise!
Hoping to hear from you soon.

Thank you again for our wonderful new "baby boy"!!

Paneerak Wilkins.

CRACKER
A SUCCESS STORY

Sent: Friday, December 28, 2001 8:07 PM
Subject: Cracker the WGSD gets a New Home

Back in October I had received a call from a girl in Shelby Indiana. She had heard about Echo Dogs when calling local Animal Control and the Sheriff about her neighbor's neglected dog which happened to be a White Shepherd. They all blew her off, but one of the volunteers at AC told her to try contacting Echo Dogs, which she did. I was told that the dog was under a year old, chained to a tree, and had no dog house or any kind of shelter at all. We had been getting alot of rain that week and she was very concerned.

I was on my way to Rockford to man a booth for Dog Scouts at the Rockford Pet Expo, so won't be able to do anything until Monday. I talked to my friend Tina Graham (her Choc. Lab was on the cover of Bloodlines afew months back) about going to see this dog and get the whole story. Well Tina came back with the dog and got her father to let her use one of his
unused kennel runs while we found him a home. The dog's name was Cracker, but the people living there said he wasn't their dog. They were renting the house and Cracker was there when they moved in. The former tenant had supposedly bought the puppy from a breeder for $600.

He had lost his Job ,his Truck, had been evicted, and just left Cracker. Cracker was now 9 months old, intact, no training, not housebroke. He didn't even show the slightest response to his name. He also had a bad habit lifting his leg on, and trying to hump everyone and everything he met. He had no manners at all, but loved everybody. He looked more like a White Husky/Shepherd mix. Pink nose and pads, and tail curled on to his back and he has 2 rear dew claws on each back leg.

Cracker was very smart and after just a couple sessions was doing very well on leash. He still needed a lot of work before he could be an inside pet but I had a lady who met him and didn't want to wait. Tina and I worked with this lady and Cracker for about a week. We helped her get a crate and instructed her on crate training and house breaking. We got her an appointment for neutering. At the end of the week we let her take him home. We were gone for the weekend, when we got home Sunday night, there were 31 calls from her on my machine.

Turns out as soon as she got him home she gave him free roam of the house. He peed everywhere and wouldn't stop jumping on her, and humping her. I had him picked up and taken to Sherry B's in Sauk Village I L to learn some manners. Sherry has dogs,cats and a kid. Within a couple days he was housebroke and behaving. Sherry changed his name to Jordan and he seems to like it, cause he comes to it.

Last week on the 20th I picked up Jordan and we drove to Munster, IN to meet a family with 3 young kids ages 3-7. It was like he knew what was going on. He was on his best behavior. He started playing with those kids like they knew each other. The Mom gave him a rawhide chew which he immediately began to devour. I was about to warn them that they may want to keep the kids away from him while he has a bone or is eating, but before I could open my mouth one of the kids dived on him and he didn't care, in fact he seemed to like it.

Its been just over a week now and they are doing great. Pray this time its forever.

"A NEW HOME FOR ROO"

Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 2:47 PM
Subject: Fw: Roo's Story

We had our jealous spurts, and Roo had always picked on Shadow, but we thought we had it under control. Roo would also play very well with Shadow. They shared food and toys no problem.They often slept with there heads on each other. But when we were in Florida in early September for my mom's funeral, something snapped in Roo's head. Roo started trying to kill Shadow! Roo had only one thing on her mind, kill Shadow! It continued after we got home. So we separated her from Max & Shadow. She basically stayed in the other room & would have the back half of the house at night while we watched TV in the other room, but into her room & crate for the night. One evening we were putting the dogs out for the last time. I let Shadow into the kitchen area, forgetting that Roo was loose in there. Well, Shadow went wiggling up to Roo & Roo attacked her. She had gotten her neck, front leg and paw before we could pry her jaws open and get them separated.Shadow had 7 puncture wounds around her leg. Anytime Roo would see Shadow she wanted to finish her off. When Shadow heard or saw Roo on the other side of a gate or door she'd run upstairs and hide.

Mark kept trying to work with Roo. Even muzzled and leashed there was no stopping her. That was it . We had to find a new home for Roo or keep her kenneled all the time. Mark put Roo on the rescue list hoping for something. Around the 1st of November Mark got an email from Deea, one of his rescue contacts from Hudson, Wisconsin. She might have someone for Roo. An older couple in the country. Roo would be a very spoiled only dog. Yea, great...Just what Roo wants. Well, after checking the people out, Mark made arrangements for he & Roo to take off on Wednesday (11-7) for WI. to check their place out, and spend some time with Sue & Dennis on Thursday. Everything went well. Mark stayed another day just in case. Once home, we heard things were going good.

Then on Sunday we got a call from Sue, Roo's new mom. Roo got away from them & they couldn't find her. We received 3 more calls that day stating she had been seen but wouldn't let anyone get near her. Each time she was gone by the time Dennis or Sue would get there.They had everyone out looking for her. Strangers were trying to get her, but that doesn't work with Roo. Mark wanted to go up there to get her, but that would only reinforce her behavior. (Oh, I'll run away cuz DADDY will come get me). Come Monday evening no one had seen her in 24 hours. Deea had called & emailed us. Well,now its like a nightmare. Was she lying dead or dying in a ditch, or shot or what? Mark decided to go up in the morning and take Max to help track her down. Of course the whole weekend was very upsetting. I kept praying that all our angels would guide her back to her new home. All of a sudden Mark says "I'm going now. Get some things together & I'll take off ". He packed up the van, got Max ready, and left about 8:15 pm. I was crying & telling Max to find Sissy & get her home. Shadow wanted to go too, but not a good idea. I told Mark that I felt like in the movie "Rudolf" when Donner takes off looking for Rudolf leaving the females home alone.

Mark drove the 435 miles in a little over 6 hours, getting there about 2:30 am.
It's the middle of nowhere, NW Wisconsin, you see signs that say Deer crossing next 38 miles, and its raining! So he decided to drive around the area roads and plan his search for daylight. He drove all the roads out there around their house. As he was heading back to turn onto the highway they live on, he could see the red flashing stoplights of the intersection in the distance. Beyond the intersection he saw brake lights flash several short times. Could they have seen an animal in the road? Maybe Roo? So instead of turning at the intersection he kept going. About a 1/4 mile down the road he suddenly sees something white up aways along the other side of the road.Its Roo!She's trotting down the other side of the road towards him. When he called her name she didn't really look, just kept going. When he called her a second time she turned right around and stared at him for about a fraction of a second,then ran over and tried to jump into Mark's lap thru the open window. She had lots of burrs in her coat, but other than sore feet, no injuries. She was real happy to jump in a nice cozy crate with fresh food and water. At 3:14am they where heading back to Sue and Dennis'. He called home at 3:38am telling me he had the crazy dog. What a relief.

But now what? Will she accept the new people or not. Well Roo's scary little adventure and spending two nights out in the Northwood's with the badgers and the wolves seems to have helped her accept her new family. Sue says Roo seems more comfortable now. They had some real bonding while Sue brushed all the burrs out and bathed her. As of last weekend Roo sounds like she's doing well. Acting like a clown, running like a nut, jumping like a kangaroo, and bonding well with her new family. She is adapting to her new surroundings quite nicely. Oh, they get lots of snow where she's at & she loves snow...

Maralynn Echterling

OUR ADVENTURES WITH ROO
By: Sue Rohl


In September of 2001 our family had to put our dog of sixteen years to sleep. It
was a difficult adjustment not having a dog at our home after all those years. So this is where Roo comes into our lives. We adopted Roo from Mark & Maralynn Echterling on November 8th, 2001. We couldn't wait to finally get her after weeks of going through the adoption process, e-mails and seeing pictures of this adorable dog. When she arrived, Mark went to the back of the van and releases Roo out of her kennel. Out she jumped and barked and frightened the heck out of us. Many thoughts were running through our heads at this point, but the one that sticks out the most was "Oh my gosh what did we get ourselves into." Mark talked with us and showed us some basic training things. He also showed us some of Roo's tricks and how smart she was. It was all so exciting, yet so overwhelming.

We all wanted this to work out and were determined to make this placement work. It was very difficult in the beginning because Roo missed her previous family tremendously. She would lie down and turn her head as if to say I don't want to be here. After four days Roo showed us that she didn't want to be here and ran away. For three days we searched and everyone in the area helped. We had people calling and stopping by to let us know where they had seen her, but every time we got a lead we were unsuccessful in finding her. On the fourth morning it was as if an angel was sitting in our driveway. Mark had driven up from Indiana with his other dog Max to track Roo. They were successful and found her in no time. Roo had been living in a church that was just being built across the road. It was one of the happiest days ever when she was brought back. We were so fortunate to have someone like Mark and Maralynn who cared so much. From that day on we bonded with Roo one at a time, at Roo's pace. First Denny, then Sue, and finally after several weeks, Alyssa. Now wherever Sue is, you'll be sure to find Roo.

Roo now is the head of the house. She has her own futon, had a blanket made for her by Grandma, sleeps with Alyssa, and makes her rounds from room to room in the morning waking everyone up by licking them. What a great wake up call ! !

A lot of time and care goes into Roo. But all the demands are so worth the rewards. She brings us so much happiness and laughs. Her personality is truly unique. From talking up a storm, to lying on her back with her legs sticking straight out, or being crazy, but if anyone looks at her she'll sit there and look at you like "What, I wasn't doing a thing." You never know what she'll come up with next. We love her so much and she enjoys us as well. She'll jump up and whine and lick us when we come home. She is always right there waiting. Roo is also our protector. She is protective of her home and of her owners. It makes us feel very safe and secure.

Everyday is a new adventure with Roo. Each day is more exciting than the day before. I encourage anyone who is considering adopting a dog to adopt a White Shepherd. You will be amazed with the qualities and traits they posses. You won't regret adopting. We certainly don't and couldn't imagine a day without our Roo.