My real name is Berry, Shadowberry, and I am now 10 human years old. Many dog years ago I played the part of Padfoot in a big film that was watched by many people all around the world (or so my Dad told me). I haven’t seen it personally but apparently I looked pretty mean in it sometimes.

I am a German Shepherd and my Dad got me as a puppy. He did lots of exciting things like being a stunt man and animal training for films. That’s probably how I got my part. I love people and my best friend is Porridge who is 13 human years and who I live with. Porridge has also been in some films. Both of us are a bit wobbly in our older years but we still love life.


My Dad contacted German Shepherd Dog Rescue because he realised he didn’t have the time to look after us properly anymore. His work takes him away from home an awful lot and whilst his friends and family tried to help look after us, we weren’t getting the walks or brushes we were used to. This lovely lady came round to visit us one day. She asked Dad a lot of questions about us and then we got in the car with her (I love the car) and went to her house to live. Apparently she is what they call a Foster Mum but we called her Mum. We loved our Mum because she had these lovely soft beds to lie our wobbly old legs on, a nice big garden for us to explore, and she spent lots of time with us making sure we were fed, brushed and loved. She told us that she could only look after us for a few weeks but that we would be moving to another home with another Foster Mum who will love us just as much as she does where we will stay for as long as needs.



It is a harsh fact of life that many dogs are no becoming part of our disposable Britain, no longer are they always seen as Mans’ best friend, but often Man can be their worst enemy. German Shepherd Dog Rescue is contacted on a daily basis with people wanting to re-home their dogs for a number of reasons, relationship breakdowns, moving into smaller or rented accommodation, change in working hours meaning their dog is being left for long periods of time alone, owners passing away and worst of all, cases of neglect and abandonment, both of which are on the increase. Maybe the most heartbreaking reason of all is the faithful older friends that have just become too expensive because they need some veterinary help in their twilight years so are no longer wanted.



We will never turn a dog away no matter its age or state of health. If they need medical treatment we will raise the money to ease their pain and give them a new chance at life. Unfortunately some dogs have been neglected for too long and simply have no fight left in them no matter what treatment they receive, and we have to satisfy ourselves that we did the best we could for them in making their last days as comfortable as possible.

German Shepherd Dog Rescue covers England and Wales and is run by a team of truly dedicated volunteers who give up their time to help this wonderful breed in many ways such as, home checking potential new homes whether permanent or foster, assessing dogs that need to be re-homed, phone work, transport and fundraising. Our charity does not have expensive executive salaries, it does not have company vehicles, it does not have a money draining head office; nobody involved in the day to day running of our charity is paid which is a true testament of the commitment and dedication of our volunteers. A reason many join our team is because unlike many charities, every penny we raise is put back into looking after the dogs, be it paying for a kennel to keep a dog safe or a vet bill to aid a dog’s medical welfare.



German Shepherd Dog Rescue do not own their own premises so the majority of dogs are kept in the owners home until we can re-home them, however we have numerous dedicated foster homes around the country who take in the urgent cases and when needed we use a number of reputable commercial kennels. Unfortunately with the ever increase of dogs needing our help urgently, funds can be very quickly drained with kennel bills being our main outgoing, followed by vet bills. Our goal would be to have our own kennels but this will be a very heavy investment and will take many years to achieve.

Fund raising is a major part of our activities. We rely totally on donations to fund our work and a large amount of this comes from the adoption donation we ask for each of the dogs we re-home. Last year saw the start of the rescue attending many shows around the country where we are also able to raise awareness of the rescue and what it deals with. There are also many sponsored events that take place set up by volunteers and supporters.

German Shepherd Dog Rescue hopes that through the use of the website and other internet channels, and from attending these many events around the country, we can further raise awareness of the plight of unwanted German Shepherds being just one breed in a country of many that suffer the same plight. We are also looking to educate people into the reasons for not supporting unscrupulous breeding, one of the major factors that has seen the number of dogs coming into rescue ever increasing, and in collaboration with other reputable charities and rescues, see if we can bring about changes in the law to help the unwanted dogs of Britain.

Some simple measures that will ease the problem; compulsory micro chipping so that each dog is identifiable and owners therefore answerable, neutering to stem the increase in unwanted dogs, regulating breeders with a firmer hand, not allowing animals such as dogs to be advertised on internet sites that have no scruples as to where that animal ends up. Back street breeding and internet selling must stop if the plight of rescue dogs is to ever end. At present, the councils are spending large amounts of money on fire fighting the problem when the funds would be put to better use ensuring the spark did not ignite. How much money does the taxpayer contribute to the household on benefits who are happily making an undeclared income from breeding dogs?



It is time for this country to stop and think, think about dogs like Berry and Porridge who through no fault of their own genuinely need help from rescues such as ourselves but whose resources are being drained due to those who just do not care about the dog as a living being, but see it as a commodity that can earn them money and when of no further use or an inconvenience, can be tossed away as easily as an old piece of furniture. We have become a throw-away society.

I was thinking the same , but in the 3rd film you see a dog in the shadows that is not a deerhound ...so maybe ..
In the 4th film it is a deerhound..

Thats so so sad. How can someone give thses dogs up after they have worked them like that. Its awful

That is disgusting! Absolute disgrace!

That is awful I do hope they find a loving home in their twilight years. Some people should just never have dogs in the first place.

GSDRUK are a really dedicated bunch though, and I am sure they will find Berry and Porridge really good homes.

People wanting to get rid of a dog often tell monumental lies. They lie to the Rescue and they lie to their families and they lie to themselves.
Whatever the reason, putting an old dog in Rescue because he`s too old to work is disgraceful.