I sent my handsome boy, Shep, to the Rainbow Bridge this afternoon (Nov 24, 2013). We have been battling hip and spine issues for about 2 years, pretty successfully until now. He was sort of out of it and sick this last weekend and seemed tired and ready to go. I had the vet come to my house, I put him on his rainbow colored comforter and played IZ's version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.  I had the perfect exit planned for him and that is exactly how he left this world, eating pepperoni all the way!!

Lea Spickler gave him to me as my first foster in 2003. He was so big, nobody really wanted him... so... my first foster failure!

What a statement he made walking down the street, both his size and his color! 134 pounds of white GSD coming at you! Great ambassador for the breed and the rescue. He was 11 1/2  and gave me 10 1/2 years of joy. It was an honor to foster, adopt, and care for him, and now to send him off to the Rainbow Bridge. I will miss the big goober.

RIP Shira 3829  (adopted 3/8/14 - 1/18/23)

It is with a very sad heart that I am writing to let you know that Shira 3829 passed away on Wednesday Jan 18, 2023 while being treated at VT Vet School.  She wasn't doing well and my vet removed several large amounts of fluid from around her heart sac since Christmas. He submitted the referral for her to be seen by Tech's Vet School's Oncology staff and they wanted her to be seen by Cardiology first. I took her in on Wednesday for an echocardiogram and they found a large pool of fluid and requested permission to remove it. I told them to go ahead. While under anesthesia, they removed over 800 ml of fluid. She did not wake when they were done.

My other dog and I have been lost without her here. She had a great personality, always bossy and pushy with what she wanted, and loved to play catch as well as swim in the lake (I'm at Smith Mountain Lake). She was a great judge of character and knew when someone was to be trusted and when they weren't. The world lost a fantastic dog but the upside is that she didn't suffer and didn't have to go through radiation treatments. The staff at VT did notice several tumors around the heart. Anyway, just wanted to let you know. Thanks for helping connect me with such a great dog!  Joe Mollo

Our sweet Sienna died on Friday January 26th.  She was such a gentle, intelligent, tolerant and loving soul.  Our home feels empty without her.  We are grateful for the 6 years we had with her, and thankful to VGSR for rescuing her.  Our only regret is that we did not find her sooner in her life, so that we would have had more time together. 
Lynn and Chris Desautels

RIP 12/29/07 - 11/28/11
This boy was an owner surrender who came into rescue 12/27/08 and passed away while in foster care. 

4/9/19  Sisco went over the Bridge. She was a spunky 10-12 year old girl. Her owner died and she was left in a shelter when VGSR brought her into rescue. She was deaf and had many medical issues which ultimately could not be overcome. Her time in her foster home brought her lots of love, car rides, short walks and fetch games with a Kong. She was happy again.