Jäger: GSP Rescue of NJ

Posted on August 2, 2020 by Cello's Corner | Leave a comment

We had taken ourselves “off the market” for fostering, but this guy found himself in a bit of a predicament and needed a spur-of-the-moment place to go, so……Meet Jäger!

(He came to us with this name, I swear!) This handsome root beer head is a 3 year old German Shorthaired Pointer. He is an owner-surrender because his family could no longer take care of him with his special needs. Unfortunately Jäger suffers from seizures due to Epilepsy. Jäger has a dominant personality and from what we know at this point will most likely need to be adopted into an only-dog household. He is be available through GSP Rescue of New Jersey to approved adopters in NJ and NY. Further medical and behavioral details about Jäger will be shared privately with approved potential adopters.

Be Your Dog’s Hero: Chase Away Canine Cancer

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Cello's Corner | 6 Comments

Week 7 Recap and Oncology Visit #8

Margarita had a slightly rough time this past week, but she did get to spend some time outside enjoying the softness of our newly sodded yard.

The side effects of chemo usually show up 3-5 days after the treatment day. Although we started her on anti-nausea medication on the day of her treatment as a preventative, by Sunday Margarita was very lethargic and was not interested at all in food. This continued for about 3 days. However, she slowly began to find food enjoyable again, and ate well the rest of the week.

Oncology Visit # 8

This was Rita’s “off” week for treatments, which meant she only needed to get blood work and a physical exam done to make sure she was healthy enough to continue treatment. Her CBC showed no abnormalities, and her nurse noted that Rita was a good girl during her visit!

This Week’s Treat:

This week we stopped at Arby’s ! Margarita enjoyed a few bites of a roast beef and cheese slider.

She also had a curly fry for the first time!

“Chase” Away Canine Cancer

Chase away Canine Cancer is a division of the National Canine Cancer Foundation, and is an organization that is near and dear to our hearts. Chase was a female black Labrador Retriever, who was an Elite division dock diving competitor. Her PAWrent, Cera Reusser, discovered a lump under Chase’s chin while petting her. The lump turned out to be metastasized cancer, which spread from nasal carcinoma. Unfortunately, even after the best possible care from her oncologist , Chase lost her battle to cancer, and passed away three months shy of her seventh birthday. Chase’s steadfast devotion to her family and her courage throughout her battle earned her the title of hero.

Cera became Chase’s Hero

Driven by the loss of her beloved Chase, and determined to find a cure for this devastating disease, Cera Reusser committed herself to being a hero for Chase, and set out on a mission to do all she could to help others in this difficult battle. Through fundraising and the start of Chase Away Canine Cancer, Cera’s efforts in conjunction with hundreds of volunteers and donations from across the USA & Canada have made a huge difference in the fight against canine cancer.

Chase Away Canine Cancer posts resources for people who have fur-kids battling cancer. Click HERE to view the current posts.

Chase Away Canine Cancer also has a volunteer-run online store , which carries products such as the personalized reversible bandana Rita is wearing in this post. Profits from the K9 Trading Company’s sale of Chase Away Canine Cancer merchandise go directly toward the Chase Away Canine Cancer Organization. A portion of all other merchandise on the site also goes to Chase Away Canine Cancer.

How can you be YOUR dog’s hero?

Take a few minutes to do a body check each month.
- Choose a monthly date (Chase away Canine Cancer suggests the 14th since this was Chase’s birthday) and do a body check on this date each month. The National Canine Cancer Foundation has graphics you can print out or save to help guide you through your monthly checks:

Be sure to schedule and attend your dog’s routine veterinary appointments.
- Follow up with an additional exam outside of your routine appointments if you observe something suspicious
Keep notes on any growths or abnormal behavioral observations
- This will help you track important information about your dog’s health, and also will be helpful if you need to share notes to your veterinarian or a specialist on quick notice

As you may have read in our very first post about how we found Margarita’s Lymphoma, we did not discover any lumps. Sometimes cancer does not show itself in the form of visible lumps bumps. So what do you look for? The National Canine Cancer Foundation lists these top 10 early warning signs of Cancer:

Abnormal swellings that persist or continue to grow
Sores that do not heal
weight loss
loss of appetite
bleeding or discharge from any body opening
offensive odor
difficulty eating or swallowing
hesitation to exercise or loss of stamina
persistent lameness or stiffness
difficulty breathing, urinating, or defecation

Thank you for joining Margarita in her journey to take a bite out Lymphoma.

Maxeen: GSP Rescue of NJ Foster

Posted on December 8, 2018 by Cello's Corner | 2 Comments

On Friday night, October 26, 2018, Brian and I were on our way out the door to go to dinner when we got a call about someone in our area who wanted to surrender their German Shorthaired Pointer, and wanted the dog out of the home as soon as possible. GSP Rescue of NJ had a foster family who quickly stepped up to foster, so all we needed to do was pick up the dog and have her as our guest for the weekend until the foster family could pick her up.

We contacted the owner, and postponed our dinner plans.

We met Maxeen in the owners home. Her owner told us that Maxeen is 15 months old, and was purchased as a hunting dog. Maxeen did not have any interest in hunting, and spent a lot of time in her crate. Since her owner was avid hunter, and knew he could not give Maxeen the time she needed, he thought it was best to re-home her. After proper paperwork was filled out, we brought Maxeen back home with us.

We weighed her in on the antique scale, as we do with all of our fosters…

Maxeen was amazing. Super affectionate, crate trained, house trained, and very eager to please!

Maxeen went with her foster family on Sunday. In a few days, that family decided they were interested in adopting her. Before the adoption was official, however, Maxeen and the foster family’s resident dog had a few issues with getting along. It was determined that Maxeen was not a good fit for the foster family to adopt – and in everyone’s best interest, it was determined that the ideal situation was to find Maxeen another foster. Rather than have Maxeen go through another adjustment getting used to another family, we decided to take Maxeen back to our house until she found a forever home.

On November 27th, we picked Maxeen up again to take her in as our longer-term foster.

Maxeen is smart, full of energy, and willing to please!

GSP Rescue of NJ had many approved applicants waiting to add a fur-kid to their family. However, that list was greatly narrowed down knowing that Maxeen was best fit to be an only-dog.

When we spoke to the family we thought was the best match for Maxeen, we knew immediately that they’d love her like we would! They drove 3 hours to come meet her on December 8, 2018 , and as soon as they came through the door, Maxeen greeted them both with lots of kisses.

We all knew immediately that Maxeen’s forever family had been found, and Maxeen’s Christmas wish had come true! Her family took her home with them that day.

Merry Christmas, Maxeen and family!