.............. We rescue. Period.
Corey grew up with purebred, breeder born, German Shepherd Dogs (GSD's as referred to by the German Shepherd Dog community) and occasionally Lab was thrown in the mix of family dogs. Knowing that he loved me, he said he would look, but he wanted a dog from a breeder, that 's what they always had, thats what he knew. So, as a natural born "challenger" of firm opinions (thanks to my parents always playing devils advocate with my decisions) this "simple" point of view really.... well.... pissed me off!
Corey is a "righteous" person by nature, one of those people that loves the underdog, refuses to let anyone hurt his friends, and bleeds for his family, so in an attempt to tap into his passive, amazing personality I began digging up all the pain I had found when I first got Bengal... to show Corey, why we were going to rescue, and why he had no say... or no dog. It was NOT a difficult sell, he simply looked at me and said "okay! Then we will search for a rescue". Now in my mind, I needed a puppy, I was still in "little dog mode" as I call it and although loved all dogs, did not really understand big dogs!!! .... Plus I thought it was going to kill little Bengal :)
After MONTHS of searching, in February of 2010, I found the "Y" litter of puppies, at Brightstar German Shepherd Rescue, in Rochester NY, my own hometown! (www.brightstargsd.org) ...
The story goes as this: A young kid had two GSD's, and moved, leaving them in the 90 degree heat, middle of summer, to die in his garage of his old apartment. Its believed that his mother is the one who placed the 911 call that saved the dogs that day, who no one knew at the time, were to be Roxie's parents. Emaciated, starving, and sick, they contacted some local rescue organizations, and these two gorgeous purebred GSD's ended up at Brightstar GSD Rescue. Realizing that the mother was pregnant upon taking her in, they nursed her to health, delivered 9 gorgeous puppies, and one of them, the runt (naturally I was attracted to the small dog haha)... was at the time named "Yasmine".
"Yasmine" was claimed when I inquired, in fact they all were, and I felt so let down because I knew Corey was getting anxious to get his first dog, that was all his own. Fate called two weeks later asking if I still wanted to meet her since the family that previously wanted her could not get papers to say she was purebred and in turn they felt she was "worthless". THANK GOD FOR THEIR LOSS. "Yasmine" was just a baby, 8 weeks old, and had been bottle fed because the mother was food driven after being starved, and developed an infection in her tummy so she could not feed her babies. They were completely independent, and ready to go to a good home so they could open up some room for older GSD's that needed saving also.
Love at first sight, "Yasmine" became "Roxie".
Roxie is a 90 lb girl that loves all 3 of us so much, that she guards Bengal from strangers that want to pet him, and circles me when I walk her alone and people try to talk to me. She follows Corey every where he goes. He is her person, and to him she listens obeys and aims to please always. I taught her how to kiss on the lips of course and like all living creatures she has her quirks, but she has been such a blessing, and a game changer in my life. Because of her we volunteer for two organizations, with a dream goal to buy our next house (a huge one with a large tiled great room) and as much land as financially possible so that I can foster more than one small dog at a time, build a barn, and focus on GSD's that are in need as well.... and all dogs of course, because I really am just a sucker for furry babies.
I have learned so much about "strong breeds" as I refer to them, or as some more ignorant people like to refer to them as "killer" or "attack dogs", even "fight dogs" - and what I have learned is that they are the most loving, trainable, aim to please animals alive. I have a place in my heart for GSD's that I never knew existed and I will ALWAYS own one, that was rescued of course, but don't let that fool you, because I love Mutts and mixes just as much - which is why I foster. Roxie has created a really special place in my heart for her breed, and shes been the sister to Bengal (who don't forget is 81 pounds lighter than her) that I couldn't imagine... Did I mention that my sister Lindsay has two Yorkies, 5 & 8 lbs, and Roxie is nothing more than a gentle giant with them?
Without Bengal, followed by Corey, and then Roxie, I would feel as alive and needed, as I do today.
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