January 2, 2007: New Pics! Taylor has been with us for 5 months now, and is doing remarkably well. She is comfortable in her 'safety zone,' and behaves almost like a normal dog. In the beginning she was by far the most feral of the 2, but time and patience have definitely paid off with this little girl!
Taylor is now ready for her forever home, but will need someone with lots of patience. She has done very well here, but when she goes to her forever home, and loses her safe place and people, she will need time to adjust. Believe us when we say she is WORTH the effort. You won't find more of a sweetheart anywhere.
Taylor is still a very petite girl at 40 pounds. We do not expect her to get much larger. She is a good weight for her frame, she is just a small dog. She gets along beautifully with other dogs and does notmind cats. She is also wonderful with children (my 8 year old was her first real 'friend' here), but we will not place herin a home with young children (under 10) due to the activity level that comes along with them. She needs quiet and consistency as she adjust to her new home.
If you think you could provide Taylor with the love and stability she needs, please act now and click the link below to fill out an application and begin the adoption process. She'll reward you with undying love and loyalty!
September 27, 2006: Taylor continues to do well in her foster home. She is still not doing nearly as well as Meeka, though. She can be walked now with a leash and collar instead of the harness, and doesn't startle as easily, but she is still afraid of human contact. She is approachable, but will shrink away when you touch her. We are beginning to wonder if she has EVER had any human contact at all.
At this point Taylor would not be adoptable, unless it was to someone with vast experience in dealing with feral/fearful dogs. She is beginning to interact some with the other dogs in her foster home, but prefers a quiet corner.
August 23, 2006: Taylor has been with us for a little over 2 weeks now, and continues to do well. She is not doing as well as Meeka, but is improving. We suspect she has probably had less human contact than Meeka, since she is so young.
Taylor will make and hold eye contact for a short period. She is not sure what to make of her new surroundings and new life, but isn't complaining about the accomidations! We are moving more slowly with her.
Taylor can now be safely walked with a leash and harness, but she tends to bolt and panic if something startles her. She recovers realtively quickly, though. She prefers to be indoors, and has to be coaxed into going out into the yard to potty.
Taylor will be a wonderful adition to the right home one day. All things considered, we are very pleased with what little progress she's made.
Like Meeka, Taylor LOVES toys. Squeaky toys, soft toys; but like Meeka her favorite seems to be the little yellow ball. She rolls it around and chews on it, but if she noticed you watching her, she immediately stops.
New pics to your right, taken earlier today!
August 9, 2006, Taylor and Meeka have a unique story, and neither will be available for adoption for some time. They have both been living at the site of an old Mall. The building has been demolished, and it is all open field with many hazards around. We first became aware of these 2 back in March of this year, and were feeding them while we formulated a plan to safely remove them from the property.
Within a few weeks, both disappeared, and the food we were leaving went untouched. We continued to check, and they did not reappear. We assumed they had been captured or worse, and eventually gave up.
Late last week, we received a call from the property manager, stating there were 2 GSDs on the property that were unapproachable, and they needed to have them caught and removed. We did discover that there had been people feeding them, but no efforts had been made to actually HELP them. They needed more than food and water; they needed medical attention. So we got a group together, and went out with a tranqualizer gun to try and catch them.
Yesterday (8/8), we were able to safely tranqualize and capture Taylor. She is a purebred GSD, and our vet believes her to be betwwen 8 - 12 months of age. Taylor is even thinner than Meeka, and is just as afraid. She does seem to be settling quicker though, probably becasue she is younger. She was infested with ticks and fleas. We are amazed that a combination of malnutrition, heat, and anemia from the ticks and fleas had not done her in. She was spayed immediately, and all other vet work done (with both of them) to avoid having to further traumatize them with another trip to the vet.
Taylor is doing very well now. She is still afraid and not sure what is going on, but seems quite comfortable inside a cool house where feed and water are plentiful. We are letting her move at her own pace, and we anticipate it will take several months of rehabilitation before she will be available for adoption. These poor girls have been without human contact for at least 5 months, probably longer. We will be working with them, and will most likely see a behaviorist with them as well to get some insight into how we can best help them acclimate to a life as pets.
To find about about Meeka, the other half of this pair, please see her listingon this site. Updates will be posted, as well as new pics, as they are available.
Note: Mid-South Shepherd Rescue is a no-kill, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We do not have a shelter location. Our dogs are kept in foster homes as part of a family, to help prepare them for transition into their forever homes. If you are interested in meeting one of our dogs, please contact us by clicking on the email address to your right. We will be glad to make arrangements for a meeting.
