Great Dane Rescue of North Texas

Great Dane Rescue of North Texas, Inc. is an all volunteer, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing medical attention and foster care while seeking permanent homes for abandoned Great Danes in the North Texas area.

GDRNT works with animal shelters to save the lives of Great Danes on death row. Many dogs that come into our program are sick, injured or have suffered abuse but there are just as many happy, healthy, well-adjusted Great Danes that find themselves facing the euthanasia needle because of hardships faced by their families.

GDRNT finds loving and knowledgeable permanent homes; educates the public about the temperament, characteristics and special needs of the Great Dane breed; teaches responsible pet ownership; and promotes animal identification programs, spay/neuter programs and general animal population control.

We do not have a shelter – all the Great Danes in our care are placed in trained foster homes after the dog is spay/neutered, heartworm tested, given Rabies, DHLPPC and Bordetella vaccinations, fecal tested, micochipped and treated for any other necessary veterinary needs.

While a Great Dane is in GDRNT’s care, it lives as part of a foster family. During this time, each Dane’s health and temperament is evaluated which helps us make appropriate permanent placements in approved adoptive homes. In addition to providing medical and emotional rehabilitation, all foster homes crate train, work on basic obedience and housebreaking.

This organization could not exist without its many volunteers. Some people donate their time by fostering, and some donate their time through administrative work or transporting sick dogs, while others donate money to support the cause. It’s not often we get to properly thank these people for their long hours and dedication to this breed because it seems that just as one dog gets to go to its forever home, several more dogs come in. Fortunately, the people who do this sort of work appreciate the sight of a once homeless dog driving off with its new family more than pats-on-the-back from other humans.

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Austin German Shepherd Rescue

German Shepherds Are Known for Helping People… Now It’s Our Turn to Help Them
Our Mission

To rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home German Shepherds from across the State of Texas. To educate the public about the versatility and ability of the German Shepherd Dog from Family Pet to Working Dog.

Also known as Austin German Shepherd Dog Rescue (AGSDR) we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit, 100% volunteer organization.
How We Work

Volunteers from the Austin, San Antonio and Houston area rescue and foster all of our dogs. AGSDR is a group of volunteers, animal lovers like yourselves; volunteers with a shared mission — to care for and protect, adopt out, and keep German Shepherd Dogs safe from harm whenever possible.
What Care Do Our GSDs receive?

The first order of business for each dog brought into the program is the Veterinarian’s office. The dogs are immunized, fecal checked, heartworm tested, and are examined for obvious injuries or other health problems. They are checked and treated for fleas, mites, and external parasites. It is also determined whether or not they have been spayed or neutered (most usually not!)If not, they are scheduled for surgery. By the time one of our dogs leaves for its forever home, it has been spayed/neutered, is current on vaccinations, has been (and shall remain!) on heartworm preventative.

The second order of business is to assess the dogs’ personality, behavior and temperament so we may know what type of foster home to best place them in, a home where they will enjoy socializing with humans and usually other animals as well. If they have been sickly or starved emotionally, this is the time in which they are nursed back to health and begin to learn to trust people again. In order to be sure of temperament, each of our dogs are home fostered. Our foster caregivers work on housebreaking, if required, and basic manners as well. The foster family will then be able to discuss the dog’s personality with a prospective approved adopter. One of our goals is to try to match the personality of the dog with the people and their home and lifestyle.
Our History and Growth

In the mid-1990’s a woman adopted a German Shepherd Dog puppy. The puppy’s litter mates were dead or dying, and the puppy was trying valiantly to stay alive by eating gravel and dirt from the rural drive it called “home”. The puppy grew strong in her care, and became a loyal and cherished family member. The puppy taught the woman about the incredible strength of the human-animal bond.

Started in 1999 and incorporated as a Texas non-profit Corporation several years later, Austin German Shepherd Dog Rescue is a tribute to that puppy. The organization has grown and developed and acquired federal 501(c)3 status, yet ten years later it remains true to its roots.

AGSDR is run by a small core of dedicated individuals who donate all of their “spare” time to the mission of the rescue, along with an expansive network of extraordinary volunteers. The volunteers and the organization are dedicated to acting in the best interest of the GSD’s in the program.

AGSDR has always stressed quality of the home over quantity of placement. AGSDR has never been interested in becoming a high-volume adoption service. Instead, the volunteers take their time, carefully screen applicants, and search for the very best homes for their dogs. AGSDR does not place guard dogs, yard dogs, or allow dogs to be given as holiday gifts. AGSDR focuses on finding homes where the human-animal bond will be nurtured and grow strong. As of mid-2009 AGSDR has found exemplary homes for over 1200 dogs.
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Border Collie Rescue Texas

BCRT is a volunteer non-profit organization which accepts Border Collies from owners, shelters, and other rescuers. Some rescues are pedigreed, some look and act purebred but have no verification, a few are known BC mixes. Rescues are 1 to 3 years old, on average, but we do receive puppies and seniors on occasion. All BCRT listed dogs are spayed or neutered, fully vaccinated and heartworm free and on preventive. Due to the recent increase of incoming dogs with Hip Dysplasia, we have elected to include a veterinary screening for this with all of our dogs. Adoption fees and completed applications are required. Application information will be verified.

BCRT matches families with Border Collies of compatible temperament and abilities. Fosters whenever possible try to evaluate all Border Collies with cats, other dogs, children, herding, agility, obedience, etc. A rescue dog will bond with a new family. Dogs seem to know when they’ve been ’saved’ and have a desire to work with the new people in their lives.

If you want to help Border Collies, contact BCRT for more information. Foster homes are screened before acceptance. Volunteers are needed for transporting dogs, shelter checks, distributing posters and pamphlets, writing articles, training for herding, obedience, agility and much more! A hard copy of the dogs listed on this site may be obtained at no charge by contacting BCRT.

Our Mission:

* To provide proper emotional and physical care to Border Collies whenever possible.
* To spay or neuter all rescued dogs unless precluded from doing so for health reasons.
* To educate the public in regards to the nature, needs and natural tendencies of a Border Collie.
* To place rescued Border Collies in appropriate homes after proper screening.
* To euthanize those dogs that are unable to function properly within society due to health or mental reasons.
* To actively raise funds to meet Border Collie needs.
* To respectfully come to the aid of other Rescuers whenever possible.
* To teach and support those individuals that have adopted Border Collies.

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Rescue Challenge – Day 5!

Thanks to everyone who has been sharing how you’re celebrating National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week, which is sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.

As you all know, Big Paw Designs , Romeo the Cat and Peoplepets.com teamed up to encourage everyone to find ways to celebrate our local rescues and shelters and to let them know how much we love and appreciate all they do! So do anything you can – no matter how big or small – to show them you care.

We wish the week lasted longer because there are so many people we want to showcase who are doing awesome things. There are two wonderful people we wanted to tell you about who are gearing up for some great activities this weekend.

Vicki Boatright, an artist in Canton, Ohio (and twitter@brewksiebutt’s mom), is opening up her art studio tonight for Canton’s monthly First Friday gallery walk event. Tonight she is doing something special and hosting her local rescue, Friends of the Pound of Stark County, and some adoptable dogs in her studio during the gallery walk. Brewskie is not that excited about having dogs in his staff’s studio but he’ll tolerate it for the good of the animals.

Cody Keith, of Cody Keith Design in Austin, Texas, and a team of friends and colleagues are rallying together to help rebuild Centex Humane Society in Killeen, Texas, whose facility was recently devastated by a fire. Cody and his friends are also helping solicit donations and volunteers and are working on a design idea for a memorial for the pets that were lost in the fire.

Countless others of you volunteer and donate on a regular basis and support and cheer on our wonderful shelters and rescues all the time. I want to recognize your ongoing efforts too!

Together we can make a difference. Thank you all for participating and reading and for your continued support of animals.

The Rescue Challenge – Day 4….

Thanks for all of the great and amazing stories of how you’re celebrating National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week, which is sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.

As you all know, Big Paw Designs has teamed up with Romeo the Cat and Peoplepets.com to encourage everyone to find ways to celebrate our local rescues and shelters and to let them know how much we love and appreciate all they do! So do anything you can – no matter how big or small – to show them you care.

Jessi Sensabaugh of Lynchburg, VA is hand knitting soft comfy pet beds for A Place to Bark , in Portland, TN. Jessi, who is cat mom to Kitty and Tripsie, says she is going to send along food and other supplies as well.
What a wonderful way to give! I am sure those sweet animals will appreciate cozy little hand knit beds and they are sure to be very popular nap spots!




What are YOU doing this week to appreciate your shelter? Send your story to romeo@romeothecat.com, along with a photo, and you might be featured too! Every day, we’re selecting a winner to win a Rescue Mom or Rescue Dad car magnet or sticker, courtesy of Big Paw Designs.

Blue Dog Rescue

Blue Dog Rescue is a volunteer organization whose purpose is to end the needless killing of homeless dogs. In 2006, Austin killed over 12,000 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens at one area animal shelter alone. Many of them were healthy, well-behaved animals who could have made someone a wonderful pet. They were killed because there wasn’t enough room to keep them until homes could be found for them.

Blue Dog Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, funded by donations, fundraisers, and adoption fees, that works to find permanent, loving homes for homeless dogs in the Central Texas area. All donations are Federal Tax deductible.

Most Blue Dogs have come from Central Texas animal shelters. Blue Dog Rescue takes only those animals who are in danger of being euthanized. In order to give these dogs a chance, we must limit the number of dogs we take from private homes because their owners no longer have time for them, are moving, etc. Blue Dog Rescue will accept animals from the public only as a last resort IF space is available in an appropriate foster home. If you are looking for another home for your dog, please see our referral page here.
Why was Blue Dog Rescue formed?

Blue Dog Rescue is a volunteer organization whose sole purpose is to end the needless killing of man’s best friend. In 2006, Austin killed over 12,000 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens at one area animal shelter alone. Many of them were healthy, well-behaved animals who could have made someone a wonderful pet. They were killed because there wasn’t enough room to keep them until homes could be found for them. We think Austin can do better than that.
What does Blue Dog Rescue do?

There is a gross overpopulation of dogs within our community due to irresponsible pet breeding. Because their lives are often undervalued, many dogs end up in area shelters and are ultimately killed. Blue Dog Rescue takes in adoptable dogs from the area shelters and fosters them in volunteer foster homes. By fostering dogs in our homes we are able to save lives and provide the public with healthy spayed or neutered dogs. The foster home provides a transition period between life in the animal shelter and its new, permanent home. The dogs are given the opportunity to learn any needed social skills and to receive the much needed love, shelter, and medical care they deserve.

When a dog is rescued from the animal shelter it receives a health exam by a veterinarian, the vaccinations appropriate for its age, and a heartworm test and preventative. All dogs of 6 months of age or older are spayed or neutered. Dogs under 6 months of age are adopted under the agreement that they will be spayed or neutered at the appropriate time.
How does Blue Dog Rescue find the best homes for the dogs?

Blue Dog finds homes for dogs through adoption events, newspaper advertisements, and postings on this website. We keep each dog for a minimum of seven days in order to assess their personality, temperament, and training needs. By doing this we are able to ensure that we place each dog in the most suitable home. Individuals interested in adopting a BDR dog must fill out an adoption application and be interviewed in order to ensure that the needs of both the individual and the dog are met. The nature of our adoption process, home visits, and trial periods dictate that our dogs are only available to adopters in the immediate Central Texas area.
Adoption Process Information:

As of 3/1/2008, our adoption fee is $165.00, which includes spay/neuter, age-appropriate vaccinations, vet exam, microchip implantation and microchip registration fee with Home Again. Typically, our average costs per dog are much higher (around $300). We make up the difference with fundraisers, generous donors, and sponsorships.

Homes with fenced yards are strongly preferred, but exceptions are made based on the size, age and activity level of the dog. An application is required and a home visit will be conducted before an adoption is final. Blue Dog Rescue does not adopt to homes where a pet has been abandoned in the past or where there are currently un-sterilized, adult dogs or cats in the home.
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Have a rescue you would like profiled?
Find out more here
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Shop for rescue themed products at http://www.bigpawdesigns.com

Shelter Challenge – Day 3 – whohoo!

Great stories continue to come in from readers about how you’re celebrating National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week, which is sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.

Big Paw Designs, Romeo the Cat and Peoplepets.com have teamed up to encourage everyone to celebrate our local rescues and shelters let them know how much we love and appreciate all they do! So do anything you can – no matter how big or small – to show them you care.

Artist Patrice De Avila of Portland, Oregon and mom to Bubba, Pinkerton and Loki is thinking “outside the cat box” and donating artwork to the Harlequin Great Dane Rescue to sell or auction as a fundraiser.


She is also donating the design and printing costs of business cards to her favorite cat rescue, Persian and Himalayan Cat Rescue.

She’s pledged to spend the week educating her not-so-involved friends and relatives about the week’s events and how they can help.

Finally, Patrice is extremely generous and donates to animal rescue on the 5th and 20th of every month. This month she said she’ll donate double on the 5th in honor of this special week.

Wow! Those are some wonderful things to do and great ideas for everyone to consider.

What are YOU doing this week to appreciate your shelter? Send your story to romeo@romeothecat.com, along with a photo, and you might be featured too! Every day, we’re selecting a winner to win a Rescue Mom or Rescue Dad car magnet or sticker, courtesy of Big Paw Designs.

Day 2 of National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week!

As you know, We’ve teamed up with Romeo the Cat and Peoplepets.com to encourage everyone to celebrate our local rescues and shelters let them know how much we love and appreciate all they do! So do anything you can – no matter how big or small – to show them you care.

We’ll be featuring your stories of kindness and giving here on our blog, the Romeo blog, our Rescuepower blog and on Peoplepets.com.

Wow! You guys are amazing. We cannot believe all of the wonderful things you’re doing to support and appreciate your local shelters – from delivering dog food to blankets to fostering. AH-MAZING!

Today’s featured “do-gooder” is Dr. V., a veterinarian in sunny San Diego, California who blogs at Pawcurious . She has pledged to do a 24-hour Blog-a-thon this weekend, from Friday evening until Saturday afternoon. Proceeds from the event will benefit her local shelter, the San Diego Humane Society and SPCA.

She’s going to do one blog post an hour and her sponsors and donors will be eligible to win fun prizes throughout the event. And, the best news is she’s a very entertaining writer so she’ll definitely be able to keep everyone interested for the whole 24-hours!

So mark your calendars and go support Dr. V. this weekend!

What are YOU doing this week to appreciate your shelter? Send your story to romeo@romeothecat.com, along with a photo, and you might be featured too! Every day, we’re selecting a winner to win a Rescue Mom or Rescue Dad car magnet or sticker, courtesy of us here at Big Paw Designs.

Monday’s Rescue Challenge Winner

Happy National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week! This week, November 1-7, is time to show our local rescues and shelters how much we love and appreciate all they do! So do anything you can – no matter how big or small – to show them you care.

We’ll be featuring your stories of kindness and giving all week on www.romeothecat.com, at the Big Paw Designs Blog, on the Rescue Power blog and on Peoplepets.com. Send your story to romeo@romeothecat.com, along with a photo, and you might be featured too!

Every day, we’re selecting a winner to win a Rescue Mom or Rescue Dad car magnet or sticker, courtesy of Big Paw Designs.

Today’s story of giving is about Boris Kitty and his siblings Edgar and Bella from Pennsylvania.

Boris and his family kicked off Animal Shelter Appreciation Week by sending Edgar out to Trick or Treat for cat goodies for their local rescue, Berks County Animal Rescue League in Berks County, PA.

Boris tells us that Edgar got lots of treats from Halloween but that they all gave up their “kitteh allowances” so their humans could supplement their Trick or Treat loot with food and blankets that the rescue desperately needs.

Boris and his team are sending their staff to drop off the goodies at the rescue this week.

Way to go, Boris!

You can read more about Boris’ adventure at his blog, http://www.boriskitty.blogspot.com.

Enter the Rescue Challenge this week!

This week, November 1-7, is National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week. All of us pets here at Big Paw Designs and our partners at Romeo the Cat (Romeo & Pugsley) and I are asking all of YOU to show your local shelter or rescue how much you appreciate them by donating your time, money, support or goods. It can be as simple as donating a bag of dog food, taking them your extra old towels or playing with kittens for an hour. The point is to do something. Many of you do things on a regular basis anyway so tell us about what you do to support them and that certainly counts too.

We all know the wonderful people who work and volunteer at shelters work their tails off day in and day out. We often take them for granted so let’s show them our appreciation!

Our challenge to you is to go do something between now and November 7th and then email us about it. Romeo the Cat and the the big paw blog and our rescue blog will feature all of your good deeds every day.

And, in addition to featuring you, all submissions will be entered into a daily drawing for your choice of a Rescue Mom or Rescue Dad car magnet or sticker.

Imagine what we can all do if we each do a little bit. We are so excited to feature all of your wonderful activities.

So give back to your local community, however small or large, and give yourself a paw high five!