Testimonials

Adopted or fostered a pet through GRAB? If you would like to comment on your experience please email us at grandriverrescue@hotmail.com and we will post it here!

From Shannon and Jeff, who adopted Socks!

We just wanted to send an email thanking you for your wonderful addition to our family. We adopted Socks on Valentines Day, after searching extensively for another member of our family.

We knew this: He had to be grey with white paws. Originally he was going to be called Rolo-Boots(for the candy and for the paws) but his name given to him by his foster mom, through Grand River Rescue, stuck with us.

We want to thank Andrea for working with us and meeting us half way in what would have been a 3 hours drive, to get us our kitten.

He's adjusted well to his 5 siblings and runs the house. I'm enclosing a recent picture for you all to post on your site. Thank you for allowing us to be part of another success story!

From Rosalind and family, who adopted Joanie, now named Bella!

Adoption - an instance of adopting somebody or something such as an idea, name, or attitude. In our case, the quest was to adopt a dog. Given what I knew about dogs from my brother, there was certain qualities that I knew would be better suited for my family and our lifestyle. In that category of must haves, we were looking for a mid size dog, young – but not a small puppy, and mixed breed was preferable. We started our search with Pet Finders on the Internet and enquired about dogs that fit our category of qualifications description. We were thankful, that we got honest and loving responses from almost every shelter we dealt with. We missed out on some due to timing and some were just not suited to our home. We stayed the course and landed great success with Grand River All Breed Rescue. We interviewed with Robin who believed that she had the perfect dog for our family! We were thrilled…she presented us with a beautiful dog that fit all of the criteria and then some. Bella is a wonderful addition to our home and we couldn’t image our family unit without her love and companionship. The decision to adopt from a shelter was the easy part…there are so many beautiful, loving animals out there that are waiting for a home! We were thankful for the connection to GRAB and the introduction to Bella.   I have had many inquiries in to her breeder, how we found her and would I ever sell her…this includes 2 cash offers from people I barely knew!! There is no price for a friend like her…she is priceless!

Below is a picture of Brett and his best friend, Bella

From Tracey and Elisa, who adopted a very special dog named Maverick:

We want to thank the Grand River All Breed Rescue team for all the time, effort and care they put into their work.
    My daughter and I were looking for a dog in Oct/Nov. and came across their site. We decided to investigate the possibility of adopting Maverick.
     He had been rescued originally from a Montreal puppy mill, and sadly stayed in the Montreal SPCA for some time as well, until he was (in my opinion) re-rescued by Grand River Rescue.
     Maverick was put into a wonderful and loving foster home, where they worked to help him start trusting people. That being said, when we met him he was still very afraid of people and would not allow himself to be pet.
     In fact, he was diagnosed with Anxiety disorder and it was felt that he may never be really loving and affectionate.
     It is now February, and I can say that we would not know what to do without with very character filled dog. We believe he is a mix of mastif/boxer/lab...lol...and who knows what else.
     He is doing brilliantly in dog training, has gained some solid weight and muscle and is an absolute mush...at least with me (his mom), and to a lesser degree my daughter.
     He is no longer afraid of people, just cautious.
     Although we love the name Maverick, he may be starting to take it a bit to seriously as he is now (with his new confidence) trying to push the boundaries a bit. It's actually quite funny and refreshing coming from him. Of course, it also won't work. His character even comes out in his talking. He has this happy little howl that he does which if you could translate would sound something like Scooby-doo did in the cartoons. (Maybe he should be re-named..lol)
     He loves to play, especially in the snow, loves his walks, and of course food. As I said, he is doing well in training and is very smart. He learns very quickly and mostly listens..unless he gets too distracted.
     So, once again we wish to thank everyone involved in rescuing and then caring for this wonderful dog, in order that he could become part of our family.

Tracey and Elisa

From Mandy, a foster home who turned into an adoptive home:

"We were looking to adopt a larger breed when we took in Darla as a foster. We had seen that she was about to be put down at an over-crowded shelter. Since we were already intending to foster until we found our "forever" dog, we quickly volunteered to take her in. We had every intention of fostering her until she found a forever home, but she fit so perfectly in our home with our cats and although she was smaller than we wanted I can't imagine a larger dog in the house now. We failed fostering 101 and Darla found her forever home.

A year later we fostered a cat and her remaining kitten. We had recently adopted a new cat from a foster group. The kitten and our new cat got along very well, but I had no intention on keeping a kitten. I usually avoid them for all the reasons we named the kitten Monkey! We were certain the kitten would find a home quickly, but to our surprise her mother found a forever home before she did. After several months we decided to adopt the kitten ourselves as a playmate for our new cat who was taking her time adjusting to life with a dog, but was encouraged by the kitten's presence to join the family. Once again we had failed fostering, but none of our companions are complaining.

With a little more room we would most certainly take in more fosters. The opportunity to save an animal's life, whether through adoption or fostering or volunteering, is its own reward. The companions we have been blessed with is simply a bonus. I continue to volunteer with GRAB in whatever ways possible in order to help save the lives of the animals I can't take in to my home right now."

Diane, a wonderful adoptor, wrote this article after adopting Harley. It first appeared in Women's Post on July 6, 2007:

Meet the new dog

Published: July 6 2007
by Diane Baker Mason

It won't be groundbreaking news to anyone (except those kind people who followed the saga of the death last year of my dog Licorice, and offered me their sympathies on her loss), but I wish to make this announcement: I have a new dog, and he swims!

Harley is a "rescue" dog. One of the reasons I got another dog, despite a nagging feeling that to do so would be a betrayal of Licorice (I know that's silly, but it was the way I felt), was that there are so many dogs out there who need homes. I knew Licorice had been happy with me. I could offer another needy dog an equal shot at happiness.

I had to be careful, though, not to try to "replace" Licorice. She was one in a million. She enjoyed jogging, swimming, and socializing, but also liked to lie around like a slug, or take a four-hour car ride to the country, just to look at the scenery. In the summers we would swim together out to the rock reef at our cottage, and sit there in the shallow water, watching the waves come in. Then we would swim back together. She was my do-anything, go-anywhere, pal. She'd be impossible to "replace," and it wasn't fair to expect a new dog to be her equal.

Careful as I wanted to be, the pet rescue agencies were even more careful of me. Many of them balked at the fact that I live in a three-bedroom apartment, or that the dog would have a five-hour stretch alone between my leaving for work and the arrival of the dogwalker in the afternoon. Besides, I wanted a "Labradollie", since they have a combination of breed traits that I find ideal, but most of the Labradollies in the rescue groups were too high-strung for someone with as little free time as I have nowadays. I needed a more mature dog, with a longer fuse and an ability to chill when necessary.

Enter Harley. He's a black, long-haired, big-hearted mutt, probably flatcoat retriever and border collie, whose background and age are anybody's guess. After a thorough interview with the rescue organization, we were introduced at his foster home. He'd been rescued from death row at a "kill pound" in Ohio, but his close call didn't prevent him from bounding around the living room, grinning and wagging and hysterically happy to meet me. I took him home, and we began to learn about each other.

He looked a little like my old girl, and had her happy nature, but none of her work ethic: he retrieved only intermittently, and wouldn't do "come here" unless bribed with liver snaps. To her, every visitor had been a friend; Harley bayed like a maniac whenever anyone approached my door. As for swimming, well –- not a chance. Harley had obviously never seen a lake. When I took him for his first walk in the Beach, he sniffed carefully at the water's edge, and then leaped two feet in the air when the ripples touched his toes. "Oh, well," said the Boyfriend, "I guess you're going to be swimming alone."

But it didn't take long for Harley to become "my dog." A few months later, he comes when called (without liver snaps), and jogs with me off-leash in the leash-free zones. He merely grumbles when the paper is delivered, instead of freaking out. And this weekend, when I clambered off the dock and started swimming to the reef, Harley splashed in after me. Before long the two of us were sitting together on the submerged rocks, brushing away the flies and letting the breeze ruffle our hair. I never thought I'd get to do that again, but Harley and I just did it.

The pain of losing a dog, I have heard, is the payment we make for the joy of owning one. When Harley smiles at me, I feel that Licorice is there. It's wacky, but I like to think she taught him how to swim, and how to come when called. I like to think she's with us now, as we begin our too-short time together: me and my dog Harley.