Major German Shepherd Dog Chesterfield, MO

*Update: Major is currently at training for a few weeks. We will still be accepting applications and talking with potential adopters, but he will not be available for meet and greets until later in March. We do ask for an approved application prior to setting up meet and greets. *

Well, hey there, handsome! Welcome back to rescue, buddy.

This heart-tugging teenager is Major. He's about one-and-a-half years old and originally joined us last year from our friends at the Farmington, MO, animal shelter.

Unfortunately, his adopter had to make the difficult choice to return Major to us due to an out of state move for a family situation. We know life happens, and not always the way we hope it will. That's exactly why we back our dogs for life and will always welcome them back to rescue.

So Major is back, and boy did he get lucky: his original foster family just placed their latest SGSDR foster dog in her new home and had space for this happy boy to rejoin the pack!

Good thing, too, because this time around, it's clear Major is deep in crazy-teenage-GSD mode, full of energy, rambunctious, and fully grown to his big boy size. Major is looking for an experienced home to help him go from a party-on-four-paws to a mannerly and dashing young gentleman. Here's the rundown on who this fella is today!

With Adult Humans:
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You are all Major needs to live a fantastic life. And if you like a snuggler with little concept of personal space, that's Major. Nobody can tell him he's not a lap dog and he loves nothing more than to be wherever you are ... especially on the couch at movie time.

With Little Humans:
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If you have very small children, we think that's a "nope" for Major. He is so boisterous, he can easily knock a tiny person right off their feet. With the right match, he might be okay in a well-supervised home with older (middle school age and up) dog-savvy kids.

With Other Dogs:
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Major's natural style is to come on way too strong, but when he and another well-matched dog agree on each other's terms, he loves doggy playtime. Again, because of his knows-no-boundaries style, adult human supervision is required to compel Mr. Feisty Pants here to remain on his best behavior and not make his dog buddy feel overwhelmed.

With Cats:
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Major hasn't yet made up his mind on cats. He's VERY curious (see his pic in bio), and has not shown aggression but can get very excited and vocal. We're pretty sure he only wants to play, but his fosters love their felines, too, and haven't let him try. Because of his excitement-factor, a kitty-free home would probably be a better bet.

Behavior and Training:
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Since coming back to rescue, we've seen that Major has developed some possessiveness and resource-guarding of toys and food. This is a behavior that never gets shut down on its own and can worsen if left unaddressed, so his fosters are re-instilling his understanding that resources are controlled by humans, not dogs, and definitely not Major. His new family will do well to keep that up!

Also, his leash manners and basic obedience have relapsed, so he's in remedial school and this really must be kept up in his new home. If he can get away with something, he will try! But when he knows the rules and those rules get consistently applied, he's got a whole lot of good boy in him, just waiting to come out. (Also known as a typical immature German Shepherd?! :-) )

Major is also relearning crate manners. He's a bit vocal and anxious when first asked to settle in, but he's figuring it out again and will settle down after a short while.

This sweet-but-rowdy boy is at the age where he must have rules, structure, and consistent practice with obedience training and impulse control. We see a LOT of GSDs between the ages of 1 and 3 get surrendered to shelters and rescues because they didn't have that.

We will require that Major's new family provides him with solid obedience training, preferably with a professional trainer. Alternatively, if you are an experienced GSD family with proven prior experience training your own dogs, we'd be happy to discuss that approach as well. We also suspect Major would fall in love with almost any kind of sport dog training, so if that's your passion, he'd think he was in heaven.

Interested adopters need to know that we will not allow Major to be set up to fail, and that includes going to a home without sufficient structure, leadership, or experience for his needs.

But if you are that experienced home and this fella sounds like FUN? We'd love to speak with you about our handsome, high-energy boy. He's a special guy and we (crazy GSD people) adore him. Please inquire or apply to adopt.

Our Adoption Fees:
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*Dogs and puppies 12 months old or younger: $400

* Adult dogs over 12 months of age: $350

* Senior dogs over 7 years of age qualify for our "Seniors FUREVER" program! Seniors are special to us, so we offer two options:

(1) If your heart has a special place for the seniors, you can adopt a senior dog for the regular adoption fee of $350 and this becomes a perpetual fee. You can adopt another SGSDR senior dog at any time from us in the future at NO CHARGE.
(2) If you aren't sure about your future adoption capacity, you may adopt your SGSDR senior dog for a reduced adoption fee of $250.

For more information on adopting a Serendipity dog, please visit our website at any of the following links:

http://serendipitygsd.org/adopt
http://serendipitygsd.org/adopt/faqs
http://serendipitygsd.org/adopt/seniors

Visit us on Facebook for regular updates on all of our program dogs! https://www.facebook.com/SGSDR/