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Featured Dog Thora 
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On January 8, 2011 Arco came to us as a foster who was set to be PTS. He proved to be a challenging foster dog! He was sick with Giardia, high energy and very focused on food and play! As we got to k now Arco, we found that he had been exposed to some different training as a working dog. We had him evaluated by several different trainers (Schutzhund, Police, etc) to see what he was capable of. He seemed to need much more than a comfy bed to sleep on with some playtime during the day. We knew he was going to require training and a lot of structure with a job to do. We took him on many walks throughout the day and evening trying to wear him out and this was during one of our lovely snowstorms….it didn’t slow him down a bit!
Luckily, we eventually met with Sgt Witt of the Virginia State Police who was looking for dogs for the Narcotics and Bomb sniffing classes. He tested Arco and said he was a PERFECT Dog! he was very thankful that no one else had scooped him up! Arco was enrolled in the Narcotics class and graduated top of the class and now gets to play (his favorite pastime) while doing his job sniffing for Narcotics!
A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISH and MANY THANKS go to a young fellow in our area who recently
celebrated his 6th birthday by asking his friends to join him in supporting VGSR!!
Today, he (accompanied by his mother, 8 year old sister and 5 year old GSD) delivered a wonderful collection
of food, toys, treats and $100 in cash for our foster dogs!! He and his sister both think that it really is better to
give than to receive and each year choose a recipient with special meaning to them.
The boy loves his dog and the dog loves his family!! This year, our young supporter wanted to share the love
with the dogs in rescue. Some lucky foster will get a new toy, a tasty treat, a vet bill paid; and all of us will
-Lindsey Zechar
We want to thank those of you who touched Kojack's life and whose lives he touched. He will be/is already sorely, terribly, achingly missed, but forever in our hearts.
Irene Lea and Mike Harkins.
VGSR sends deepest condolences to the Smith family (Lisa, Chris, Michelle, and
Lisa wrote to me on December 28th, "I have terrible news. Our beloved Salena passed away last night. Our hearts are torn to pieces. We think she had a heart attack. She just recently got a clean bill of health from the vet, so we are at such a loss and shock. We were concerned because she didn't eat her dinner and she was not one to leave food! Everything else seemed normal, she was drinking a lot, always does, and the only other concern was she seemed extra tired. Was having a hard time getting up and I assumed it was her hips. We went to bed around 10:30, Michelle stayed up and at 11:40 she ran into our room saying Salena was having a seizure. We rushed downstairs and she was barely breathing and had the faintest heartbeat but she looked up at all of us and we were talking to her and at 11:46 pm she passed."
"This has been heartbreaking for us. I want to thank you for allowing us to be her adoptive family. Even though Salena was with us for such a short time, she was loved so very much, truly the sweetest dog we've owned. It was hard to
sleep last night. We often joked she was our "nana" from Peter pan; she would not come upstairs to bed until everyone in the house was in their beds! That's why she was still downstairs with Michelle! Salena always looked out for us and thank God Michelle was awake to look out for her...we were able to give her one last good-bye and have peace she did not pass alone.
With heavy hearts......The Smiths and Salena"