This is done by rescuing homeless German Shepherds from animal control, animal shelters, and other animal welfare organizations. By spaying and neutering all dogs in our program and educating the public in proper pet care, we hope to lessen the burdens of animal welfare organizations. This means lowering overpopulation and, therefore, lowering the euthanasia rates of dogs— which is our ultimate goal.

Acquisition Policies:

Owner Give-ups

In rare instances we accept owner give-ups.

These instances may include a situation where:

• The owner dies and the remaining family cannot take the dog. This family, however, must be willing to fund the care of the dog until a new home is found. All owner give-ups are considered on a case by case basis. Please note that an inability to take the dog does not include, "we don't have time for the dog" or "I don't think it would be happy with us." In these cases, the family will be expected to find a new home for the dog themselves.
  
  
• A military person is deployed, long-term, overseas. Once again, in this case, an up-front donation for the care of the dog is required. This donation will be based on the age of the dog, the ability for the dog to be placed in a timely manner in a new home, and health considerations related to the dog.

Any dog found to be vicious, will be put down. If, after the given care of the dog and euthanasia costs are considered, a refund of portion of the donation may be surrendered, depending on the situation. The amount of surrender of the donation is determined by the Central Illinois German Shepherd Dog Rescue.

In cases that we believe that the dog can either be cared for, or a home can be found for the dog without our help, we will not take the dog or field inquiries about adopting him. However, we will allow families or individuals to post a picture and information about their neutered/spayed German Shepherd or German Shepherd mix on our Community Dogs page.

We believe that since you, as an owner, made a conscious choice to adopt a dog, you must now take the responsibility for finding your dog a new home.

Please see our Owner Give-ups page before contacting us about giving up a dog.

Where our dogs come from...

When we have spaces open up at our rescue, with rare exception, we rescue only German Shepherds in shelters and animal controls since these dogs have no advocates and are faced with death.

Animal controls often provide initial vaccinations and heartworm testing. Some organizations take care of the spay and neuters beforehand. These organizations also have very experienced animal handlers that can objectively evaluate the dog's behavior around other dogs, cats, children, and people even before calling our rescue. This saves us time, money, and other valuable resources, as well as allows our rescue and the animal welfare organizations to work together and rescue those German Shepherds that can be made ready for adoption out to families.

Maintenance Policies

Health

Upon arrival dogs are first evaluated for their health condition. This includes immediate intestinal worming with Panacur and if needed, Droncit. They are isolated from current residents of the rescue for 2 weeks. Their respiratory condition is noted, range of motion in joints, ear and skin cleanliness, nails trimmed and diet needs are addressed.

After the two week infectious disease evaluation, as well as the intestinal treatment and behavior evaluation, the dogs are set up for any needed surgical procedures. All dogs are given a blood panel test, heartworm blood test, possibly fecal tests (gram stains, float,etc.). Any suspected possible genetic deficiencies (i.e.. pancreatic insufficiency, liver shunts, hip dysplasia) are tested for before the dog is adopted out. Spay/Neuter procedures are performed and any other needed procedures (dewclaw removal, lump removal, hernia repairs, etc.) are performed at the same time.

If the dogs are found to be in good mental and physical health they are given an AVID microchip identification. Dogs that arrive sick are treated at our veterinarian without delay. Most of the screening tests are done immediately to assess the situation (heartworm test, blood panel, fecal tests). If the dog is suspected of a terminal or painful situation that cannot be resolved, they are put out of their pain, in our arms, by our very loving veterinarian.

Dogs requiring extensive treatments that may cause a great financial burden for the rescue to save a single dog (but the prognosis is good and their behavior is good) will have their plight posted on our website. We have never had a situation where the public did not provide for these special needs dogs.

Behavior

During the two week quarantine period, the dog's mental health is evaluated equally with their health care. Dogs with dangerous and/or severe behavioral issues are euthanized and never offered for adoption.

Dogs at our rescue are around other dogs, cats, small animals, children and adults (men and women) and various situations (public and within the home). The dog is expected to respond appropriately to all of the various stimuli and respond to the given corrections, demonstrating trainability. Dogs must demonstrate the ability to bond to human beings and enjoy the interactions.

Dogs are started on basic obedience commands and their daily routine has a regimen that they are to fall into happily. The environment is akin to a doggie boot camp with lots of hugs and snuggles!

Every opportunity is given for the dogs to respond and mature. Even if the behavior quarantine is up, the dogs are given a longer period as necessary to gain their full potential, as long as they are not deemed to have a dangerous behavior. They are not offered for adoption however, unless their behavior issues have been resolved to the point that the dog can successfully and happily become a new member of someone's family.

Foster Homes

There are three different kinds of foster homes that we will use at our rescue: Emergency, Short-term, and Regular foster homes.

An Emergency foster home is needed when we feel that we must save a dog that is faced with death, yet there is no room for him at the rescue. In this case, we would let an Emergency foster home take in one of the dogs we have evaluated already and made ready for adoption. We will not foster out any dog that has not been evaluated physically and behaviorally.

A Short-term foster home may be considered a "weekend retreat" or a "vacation home" for the dogs. These homes provide fostering when allowable (during holidays or on weekends when the foster can devote all their time to the dog). Many who Short-term foster do so because they do not feel ready to have a full-time dog of their own, yet love to give their full attention to our dogs when they have some open time. To be considered a Short-term foster, dogs must spend at least 2 consecutive overnights at the foster home. Any time shorter than this is considered a Buddy. Those interested in volunteering as a Buddy are usually those with very limited time, that like to go hiking or jogging and enjoy taking a dog with them on these outings. They will return the dog that day or the following morning.

A Regular foster is a home that accepts a dog on a permanent basis (usually until the dog is adopted). This allows us to open up more room at the rescue for other German Shepherds faced with death. In otherwords, our Regular fosters are a real life-saver!

If you would care to be a foster in any of these capacities, please e-mail us at . We are always in need of foster homes. If you can help German Shepherd Dogs in this way, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Adoption Policies

Out of Town adoptions

Persons living more than one hour away from Urbana, IL are welcome to adopt, but must be prepared to provide their own transportation to visit the dog and pick up the dog. In place of a required home visit, applicants must provide at least one letter of recommendation from a pet professional (i.e.: veterinarian, animal trainer, or local humane organization) on letterhead. If you have other pets, copies of vaccinations and proof of spay/neuter is required prior to adoption. If you have children and/or other dogs, it is recommended that you bring the whole family to the appointment. In the case of other dogs, prior arrangements for a neutral meeting place will be made.

Adoptions to those who rent their living space

Renters need to have copy of their lease allowing them to have large dogs and/or a copy of a letter from their landlord giving permission to have a large dog or showing receipt of a pet deposit. This must be on letterhead.

Other Pets

It is our policy not to adopt our pets to homes where the other pets are not already spayed/neutered. If you'd like to adopt, you may, but will be unable to bring the new dog home until the other pets are spayed/neutered.

If you show your current pet or are involved in bona fide canine activities where the dog must remain intact, proof must be supplied of active participation in a breed club: registration and breeder references. It is the Central Illinois German Shepherd Dog Rescue's discretion whether of not we choose to adopt to the given situation. All of our dogs are spayed/neutered before they are placed.

Adoption Fee

Each German Shepherd has an initial exam, including Rabies, DHLPP-C, Bordetella vaccination, heartworm blood test, and general exam which may include skin scrapings or ear swabs and fecal tests. If a dog needs heartworm treatment or medication, we take care of that treatment. All dogs are treated with a five day treatment of Panacur intestinal worming and placed on heartworm prevention and flea prevention.

As soon as we have assessed the dogs behaviorally, we set up their spay or neuter. If the dogs need their dewclaws removed, dental cleanings, hernia repairs or other medical procedures, we have those taken care of also. All dogs have pre-anesthesia bloodwork done to make sure they are healthy enough for surgery. Our vet does nail trims, a thorough ear exam, range of motion exams of their joints and AVID identification chipping while the dogs are asleep for their surgery.

Adoption Costs

Adoption fee: $325.00 for dogs under 1 year old   $275.00 for dogs over 1 year old   $250.00 for dogs over 6 years old (negotiable, depending on age and health)   Of this total, $50.00 is a non-refundable application fee. The application fee is paid only if an adoption is completed (ie: you sign, in person, a paper version of an adoption contract and pay). The Adoption fee may be refunded if the dog is returned to the rescue for legitimate reasons that made the relationship not work out. In such a case, the adoption refund will occur as follows: 0-7 days: No Refund 8-14 days: Full adoption fee refund 14 days and after: No Refund These fees include the following: an initial exam, Rabies vaccination, DHLPP-C vaccination, Bordetella vaccination, heartworm blood test, skin scrapings or ear swabs (if necessary), fecal tests, heartworm treatment (if necessary), other medication (if necessary), five day treatment of Panacur intestinal worming, heartworm prevention medication, flea prevention medication, spay/neuter (if not already done), dewclaws removed (with spay/neuter), dental cleaning (with spay/neuter), hernia repairs or other medical procedures (if necessary), pre-anesthesia bloodwork (on dogs having a spay/neuter or other medical procedure requiring anesthesia), nail trims, thorough ear exam, range of motion exam of joints, AVID identification chipping

Not including feed, kennels, bowls, leashes, collars, tag fees, each dog costs between $125-$650. . As you may guess, the fees charged for our dogs may not always cover expenses.