Welcome to Share Your Pet Stories Blog. We hope you will enjoy reading and sharing your favorite pet stories with us and other pet lovers.
Dutchess
While living in Florida my husband and I were faced with a move to Virginia. We had two German Shepherd Dogs at that time. One was named Duchess. She was getting on in years and we worried about taking her to a cooler winter climate as she was arthritic with poor quality hips. We found what we thought was the perfect home for her a friendly family that seemed excited to have her. They had and over two acres of well fenced property for her to roam in and told us they would keep her in the house. We said our teary eyed goodbyes and made our journey to Virginia.
Almost eight months later I received a phone call asking me if I owned a German Shepherd. I replied yes as we still had our younger dog Baroness Von Ausbach. The woman introduced herself as a worker from the Animal Shelter in Rockville, Maryland. She then asked if our dog was missing. As she was sitting next to me at the time I told her no. She then asked if her name was Duchess. In stunned disbelief I told her that we had a GSD we left with another family in Florida when we had move to Virginia. The Humane Society had tracked us down by her rabies tag that she was wearing. I got directions and arranged to go and see if it truly was our dog.
I quickly loaded all three of our girls in the car and picked my husband up from work. After three hours of driving time we arrived at the Animal Shelter. As soon as the attendant opened the door to the kennel Duchess must have heard our voices. She was on the far side of the kennel and not visible from where we were standing, however we certainly could hear her as she was very vocal. The worker opened the kennel door and she literally flew into our arms. We spent about an hour visiting her but unfortunately, because we told them we had given her up we were unable to take her home that day.
We sadly went home, called the people that had adopted her from us. They told
us she had disappeared shortly after we had moved. They also told us that they
would be unable to take her back as they had purchased a new GSD. We waited
the five days of required time and drove back up to Maryland and picker her up.
She was emaciated and in very poor health. The pads on her feet all suffered
from cuts and her nails were worn very short. She was under weight by 20+
pounds and her coat was matted and filthy.
We have no idea how she managed to come to be in Rockville Maryland, several hundred miles from Florida. Duchess re-entered our lives, returned to good
health and live with us for another four years before her time came to leave us
behind. We have since moved on and have vowed never to leave a pet behind
again. The German Shepherd Dog is definitely loyal for life……..
Thank You for taking the time to join us in our love for our pets, especially our German Shepherd companions.