Mom says I should be polite and introduce myself and tell you folks a little bit about me.
I’m Riley and that really is me in the photo. Pretty handsome, heh? I’m a black and red Plush coat German Shepherd so my fur is a little longer and my coat is thicker than the standard Shepherd coat and it’s really soft.
We think I was born in July of 2006 cuz the vet told Mom she thought I was about seven months old after she checked me over in January of 2007 when I first came to live here with Mom and Dad. We actually can’t be sure this is my birthday because I was found running loose by a man who was kind enough to take me to the animal shelter where I waited for two whole weeks for my family to come and get me. I really don’t know what I did wrong to make them not want me anymore or why they didn’t come looking for me. I worked really hard to be a good boy for them.
My Life at the SHELTER
It was sort of ok at the shelter, at least it wasn’t as cold in there as it was outside where that man found me that day in December. At the shelter I got to eat real dog food instead of digging through people’s trash to find something to eat and I didn’t have to look for warm places to sleep anymore. I really missed my bed that I had at home, the floor at the shelter was awful hard. It was awful noisy though with all those other dogs barking and nobody had much time to play with me so I just mostly sat there in this little kennel … waiting for my family to come get me. Each time the door opened and people came in I looked for my family. I was very sad, confused, and lonesome. It was almost Christmas. I was really looking forward to meeting that guy they call Santa Claus and laying under my first Christmas tree watching my family open Christmas presents. I must have done something very very bad for them to leave me here so long. If they’d just come and tell me what it was, I would for sure promise them that I would never ever do it again!
From Shelter to RESCUE
One day, this nice person at the shelter told me that they had to hide me before something really bad happened to me because I didn’t have a home to go to. So, they took me to Judi’s GSD rescue and she put my picture on another rescue’s web site because the CWGSR didn’t have a web site at that time. (Mom fixed that after she adopted me!) It was really nice living with my Judi-Mom. There were other dogs there and Judi thought I was real special, but she had lots more dogs than me to take care of and I still wanted a family of my own. My Mom found my picture on the web site and she tells me it was my eyes that first attracted her to me. She says I had this look on my face that said “please can I come and live with you?” I tell ya, I can get my Mom to do just about anything by batting my baby browns ;)
Anyway, Mom and Dad came to visit Judi’s rescue. I saw Mom and I ran over and put my head in her lap and Mom started crying and they both fell in love with me! They said I was just the guy they had been looking for. Aren’t I goooooood?
Time to GO HOME!
So, they took me home. My folks had lived with these itty bitty little dogs for like 20 years. They call them Yorkshire Terriers, which are very tiny, very hairy, yappy dogs. I heard that some people call them dustmops and ankle biters. I know they had three of them for a very long time but when I came to live with them they only had one left. Mom told me those itty bitty real pretty flowered tins that sit on her desk are where the Yorkies live now. It’s kinda strange because they don’t bark or anything and I can’t smell them very good. Mom and Dad both get teary in the eyes when they look at those tins. I don’t get it, but that’s ok. One of them has the name Damien on it, the other one has the name Crocket on it.
I got to be with Katy for a couple of months and then one day she got really sick. Mom and I rushed her to the vet but the vet said she couldn’t help her and that it as “time.” The next time I saw Katy she was living in one of those tins with her name on it, too.
Katy didn’t like me to much but Mom says it’s not my fault, that it’s because she was really old and didn’t like to play anymore. When I’d try to play with her she would nip me on the nose and growl at me. It didn’t hurt though, Mom says it’s because she was so old she didn’t have any teeth anymore. I don’t think I want to get old. You can’t chew on things when you don’t have any teeth and Katy sure didn’t look like she ever had any fun.
A GRAMMA a GRAMPA and KIDS, too!
A couple days later they introduced me to my Gramma and Grampa who fell in love with me, too. The first day I met them I heard Grampa say “it’s about time you got a REAL dog!” They think Nissa and I are just the greatest dogs in the world and it’s nice when we go visit them and we get to show them the newest tricks we’ve learned and Gramma gives us treats! Gramma and Grampa have a lake at their house and me and Nissa are learning to swim there.
I also have kids to play with now! Mom and Dad call them “Grandkids.” There’s one named Braden who likes to play ball with me which is really cool! They come to visit and they like to play the “Find It” game with me and Nissa and that’s lots of fun. We get to go find treats that they hide for us. They have two dogs at their house and sometimes they come over and play with us, too. Braden’s sister Carley tells my Mom that whatever tricks and neat stuff Mom teaches me and Nissa, he goes home and tries to teach their dogs, too! I guess that makes me and Nissa teachers!
We also get to to on walks and Mom finds these neat places like open fields that Nissa and I get to run around in without our collars and leashes! Mom says when we go to these places its our time to “just be dogs.” Way cool, heh?
The best part is that it’s really ok now that my previous family didn’t want me anymore because I’m very happy living here!