Hello, I have been rescuing Boxers since the early 1990's. Mostly I take the old ones or disabled ones that no one else will adopt. For three years, I had my own rescue, Sunrise River Boxer Rescue, that I funded privately from the insurance money I got when my husband died. However, I did all the work myself, and didn't have time for fund raising. Soon, the money diminished and my psyche became more tuned to dogs than to humans.

Most recently I have worked with MN Boxer Rescue. I left because they are such a new group, I felt I was going over the learning curve all over again, and it was too difficult to weather through their mistakes. Now I am focusing on my blind Boxer, Rocketdog, who has just been certified in TDI and CGC. We have already been to a school to visit kindergarteners, and soon we will begin visiting organizations that help the blind. I already took him to one society for the blind, and they were tickeled pink to meet a dog without any eyes at all.

I have never purchased a Boxer, or bred a Boxer or had a puppy. Most of my Boxers (all rescued) came from situations that were traumatic. I have had three Boxers pass TDI or Delta therapy tests.

The rescues I have worked with, or ran myself, always have the dog spayed or neutered, heart worm tested, vaccinated, micro chipped and teeth cleaned (gums cut away if necessary). It always costs more that we can ask for an adoption fee. If we are lucky, a dog comes to us that has all of the above done already, and we can make enough money to pay for the next dog that comes intact with no vaccinations.

Of course, we always test for personality as well, and do home visits before placing a dog. Sometimes it is very difficult to find a good home.

Lucy is a good example. She came to me before Christmas from an animal hoarder. She was desperately thin, and had been deprived of water. She was very food aggressive. There were many dog fights between Lucy and my own three dogs. Thank God I am a surgical RN with a vet who trusts my judgement and will call in a prescription for me without an office visit. The worst part of it was that Lucy went into heat the day after I got her. As a rescuer, I have never experienced a dog in heat. It was most traumatic for all of us.

Finally, after 6 weeks, I was able to have her spayed, and lo and behold, there was a very understanding couple who wanted to adopt her. She is doing very well with them. It is a miracle.

Enough dog rescue stories for now. I will want to write again, for sure, as I have years of rescue tales. Best regards, Diana Lynn of Sunrise River Boxers in Stacy, MN, aka a rescuer, not a breeder

iv taken 3 rescue boxers the first came from the pound she was desprate thin had kennel cough and was dying before our eyes,she had a long road to recovery,and i placed her in a family home after we had her spayed,and vaccinated,the 2nd was a wee bitch we called tara she lived under a wheel barrow in the back garden of a breeder,who because she had a huge fist size tumour under her jaw,threw her out,the tumour turned out to be a abcess,(god works in misterious ways)and we cleaned her up loved her trained her spayed her and vaccinated her,she would wet herself when she saw the lead,and crawled on her belly,it took hrs and hrs to learn her what a bed was,she went to a lovely home the 3 rd was the lovelist bitch,a lady i knew threw someone else was selling her,she was well bred and from england,she asked me would i take her i said i would to find her a home,she arrived at our house with her and iv never seen such a skinny dog and cried,her owner said y do all your dogs look so fat i said through gritted teeth "try feeding them" and if you dont leave this dog with me and go you will not get of my yard whole,and she did ,it took so long to show her what love was,so long to fatten her up to even begin to look healthy,so long to look like a dog,she was my baby,she learnt so much,im to upset to think that there are so many others out there that die in this state,i reported the lady she had 12 dogs taken all boxers,she had 3 horses taken and so many other animals,people like her dont ever derserve a 2nd chance and i hope when the lord catches up with her she ends up in hell,unfortunatly i happens all to often,when i worked in rescue,we had a jrt come in with half a face we called him danny no nose he had been used for badger baiting no excuse

I adopted Phillip, a shetland sheepdog from sheltie rescue when he was 8 years old. He lived to a happy 16 before he succumbed to cancer. He was the sweetest, easiet dog I have ever owned (even easier than Moxie) He took about a week to settle in and get used to our routine and he was nothing but a love and a joy afterward. His former owner was a BYB of shelties. She was getting married and her new hubby told her to get rid of the dogs. Luckily, they landed in a great rescue organization. Our local sheltie rescue is what I would call a premier rescue. They really do a fabulous job. Phillip really turned me on to the idea of adopting an older dog, something I hope to do in the near future.

Moxie was adopted from a Shelter. I adopted Moxie 45 minutes before her time was up. She had recently whelped, she had severe mange, multiple infected fight wounds, a gunshopt wound to her back leg, and sever intestinal parasites and heartworms. She was such a trooper. It was the heartworms that nearly did her in. She had such a heavy load that her body reacted violently when we treated her and killed them all. She nearly died, but she pulled through. She had severe separation anxiety related destructive tendencies when I first got her. She destroyed a large plastic airline crate and two wire crates, lots of carpet, mini blinds, the door frame, the window sill. But she was very bidable, took to training like a champ and was over the worst of her SA in about 6 months. Today she is a well adjusted happy healthy puppy dog. I think I love her more than my own life.

I have fostered for rescue groups for years. Most dogs come with baggage, but most also come with a desire to be loved and accepted that is so strong as to overcome any behavioral problems. I used to get the "tough cases" agression, destruction, chronic barking, etc. I managed to turn them all into wonderfully well adjusted family pets in a manner of months.

Prior to Phillip, we had always purchased our dogs, but these days its rescue all the way.

Both mine are rescues.

Kip
the shelter told us they thought he ws 5 or 6 (we thought older but that wasn't a problem and our vet said probably 8 or 9). We've had him for 4 yrs and he has been the best dog ever. He was a stray, so no knowledge of his background but I will never ever understand how he came to be there - I just can't imagine anyone wanting to dump him or not to search high & low if they had lost him.



Hoki
Again, we were told 5 or 6, but that's probably about right. She was extremely overweight and came with some issues which we weren't aware of. Nevertheless, she is a lovely dog and I wouldn't be without her.



Both great dogs. In terms of the rescue centre themselves, I felt that they didn't really give us the help/guidance they might have done (e.g. in chosing in the first place & then with 'after care' in the case of Hoki). However, they are an extremely busy rescue centre & i just don't think had the resources to do anything else - I certainly don't hold it against them.

I would choose a rescue dog everytime.

Fudge is a rescue dog, we got her one fateful January afternoon having just gone to see if there was anything suitable to take the children to look at at the weekend.My brother Phil was down visiting and persuaded me that a visit prior to taking the kids was a good idea. We turned up to find a long queue of people so of course I joined it. Being January it turns out that there were 19 pups ready to be rehomed that day.

It was a very bizarre situation standing in a line knowing I could walk home with a pup there and then if i wanted to.OH said it was ok for me to decide.Whilst waiting I looked around the mature dogs just to check we were not missing out on a candidate . I saw a beautiful white bitch who was gentle and waggy at the bars, It turned out that one of the littters was hers.After speaking to a member of staff Iwas advised a pup would be better suited to my youngest daughter who was scared of dogs. Half an hour later I had Fudge in my arms. I went home with pup, bed, bowl , collar, lead and food. I still look back and wonder why no homecheck was done. we did not even get a phone call to see how she was doing.

It was obviously fate that put us there that afternoon, number 13 on my card was lucky for us. We named her Fudge after her mum who was rehomed soon after.

Here is Fudge having just arrived home with me and my neice.Spot the size of my grin!

Jess was a rescue dog. I've probably bored you all before about how great she was and about how many mountains we climbed together etc... Also about how easy she was to train and how well behaved she was. I used to tease her when out walking, tell her to sit and walk on for great distances, she wouldn't move until called no matter what. Also I could lay a plate full of food down in front of her and she'd not even sniff it let alone touch it, until she was told.
She was the most fantastic dog

On the other hand... hate to be negative... But more recently when I was after another dog, (just before I got Jake & Charlie) I was knocked back by a rescue center because I live in a maisonette. Despite the fact I have a garden and despite the fact I have loads of time due to my shifts, and the fact I told them about the kind of walks I do and asured them the dog would have many long and interesting walks and no shortage of excersize... The same rescue center then rehomed a dog to a woman just up the road. Granted she lives in a semi detatched house and has a decent sized garden, but it's all pretty and flowers and the dog is never out there. From what I've seen it gets a walk round the block (about 10 mins) every now and again, it's glaringly obvious from the condition of the dog (obese) that it gets nowhere near the right excersize and is probably spoiled with junk and treats....

I know most rescue centers do a good job, and I know they have to be careful who they re-home to... but I do think they should be more flexible with their rules...

We adopted a our collie cross Jazz from a rescue last year. She was 5 months old at the time and had been passed from pillar to post. We were the 5th owners we think. She is a lovely dog. Really good natured. Don't get me wrong she has had her problems. Seperation anxiety has been one, with her messing in the house when we go our, but she is now getting much better, and it only happens occassionally. I have recently started walking the dogs at our local rescue, The Border Collie Trust, and we are thinking of having a "friend" for Jazz soon (although Smokie the cat is not so impressed with the idea!).
I would certainly recommend people to think about a rescue first.
My husband's cousin is involved with Greyhound Gap, a greyhound rehoming charity. She fosters many dogs and is also involved with many rescues doing home checks etc. I have met many of these dogs and they are all lovely too. Very gently and loving.

Even if there is a specific breed you are interested in there are always the individual breed rescues and some rescues like Many Tears in Wales have many ex breeding dogs who are looking for good homes.

My two previous dogs (now running free at the bridge) were both rescue dogs, but not from a shelter. The first was a GSD who I got as a very skinny and frightened pup. He was thrown from a car and was only around three months old according to the vet, fortunately only had scrapes and bruises and was seen and picked up by a great old fella called Jim. He called the police etc and reported it, but the bar stewards were never caught. Sadly he couldn't keep him, as it was only him and his GSD laddie that lived together and Laddie got very jelous and aggresive towards the pup. He was my first dog of my own and he was the best dog, and I will always have a special place in my heart for him. He is actually now the shepherder of departed dogs according to my young nephew, if he hears of a dog dying he always says, 'it'll be OK, Taz will look after him won't he? cos he looks after all the dogs in doggy heaven', and I'm actually very proud of this.

The second dog we had that was Zack, was found wandering around a shopping centre begging, very thin, with cuts on his face and cigarette burns to his tummy and we picked him up and took him home (my mum bribed him into the car with a sausage roll lol), and again was only a puppy about 4 months old. Again he was reported to the police and RSPCA, but nothing came of their inquiries. He was a cross breed, he was brindle in colour and the vet said he thought he was a boxer crossed rottie maybe, but he was a very special boy, so incredibly loving and everyone who met him fell in love, he was just that big a character and such a sweet natured dog he was a total pleasure to own.

They both had issues initially, but with kindness and care, they were the best two dogs I have ever had the very great pleasure to know and I will love them always.

Sorry for the very long post but I was so very proud of both of them (I'm actually getting dewey eyed writing about them )

As soon as I get a scanner I will post pics so you can all see what lovely boys they were

When we were all still living at home my mum decided to rescue a dog , when we got her we were told that she was extremly nervous, would never be any sort of gaurd, she was actully about 2 years old ,i think already had about 5 homes and we were told her spirit had been broken ...........dont like to think what that actully means , she was a first cross lab greyhound , and we had her from that day till her very last , and she never gave us one reason to regret having her ,she was always gentle ,and became as much part of our family as any of us ,but in all the years we had her she only ever barked once and then she seemed to shock herself , i would say that adopting rippy was a very good experience, and i think if my mum was still with us she would agree .,i do remember mum having to coax her to eat while we were in the same room ,and being petted soon became a favorite ,but as i said we i think got as much if not more prehaps than she did out of the whole experience .rest in peace rippy you earned it .

Jake came to live with me in early September 1999 he was 9months old, he was got from Manchester dogs home by my brother but his circumstances changed and was going to have to go back there. I knew he and Storm got on well and Storm had Started to behave and i liked him and did not want to see him go to the dogs home again as he had been in there twice when my brother had got him, So i said that i would take him and i have never looked back.

When he came he was a timid dog who would shake and cower if he heard a loud noise, a raised voice or even if the tv was on loud, we also noticed a funny lump on his side and were told that it was likely a broken rib form being a young pup this and his timid behaviour led me to the conclusion that which ever b**tard had him as a pup must have beat him often, this made my blood boil as he was and still is a very loving dog.

It took months to get him to be a confident young dog but we got there in the end, he still gets nerv now and then but its not common these days. Storm had a lot to do with this as Jake looked up to him and his confidence rubbed of on him, Storm however would still show him who was boss every now and then, one way being banning Jake from the living room and chasing him off if he tried to come in. But they had a very close bond, this was show when someone tried to break in my house but Storm & Jake made sure the only things he left with were bite marks.

There is not much to say about Jake, he is well behaved, quiet and as soft as they come. He loves dogs but sometimes will go death when he sees one across the fields.

He is 8 years old now and Slowing down but there is nothing he loves better than a nice long run with Star, Skye and nextdoors labs Coco and Junior...