Right now we have 4 Weimaraners, two of them I own and the other two I am fostering, all females. First is Lady a 6 1/2 year old Weimaraner half German short hair. Lady we have had since she was a 4 month old puppy. Ashley we just took in on March 2008 at a year old from a nice family who were in over their heads with this girl. Cedar and Buttons are my fosters. I am about 9 days into fostering these girls so far..

My very first weimaraner was Amber who we lost in Feb. 2008 at age 11. We had her since she was a puppy, and it was a crash course in Weimaraner 101. All I knew of the breed back then was that they were a German breed with a beautiful coat and cool looking eyes. I found a good breeder and picked up the only one left, she was the runt. Still grew to be 85lbs though. Her parents were both 100 and 90lbs neither were over weight. Amber had severe separation anxiety in the beginning and tore our small apartment apart. My Mother would run over there while I was working to clean up her mess to cover for her. Amber was the sweetest most loving dog. Though tuff at the start with Amber we stuck it out and she became the greatest dog in the world through love and training. My husband and I thought we might want another one or two, and later get into fostering. I thought how cool would it be to rescue other weimaraners!!!

We took in Lady when Amber was about 5 years old. Lady was completely liver so we call her our German Chocolate Weimaraner. Lady LOVED Amber, Amber was not happy with Lady. Although they adjusted to each other fine, Lady was never allowed to lay to close to Amber. This is when we decided not to get into a rescue or take in anymore dogs. Amber wasn't miserable, they would play some what. But all in all Amber would have been happy being the only dog in the house.

When Amber passed away in February 2008 I thought I was going to die myself. I couldn't even catch my breath when I returned from the vet. The pain was so unbearable that I vowed I didn't want anymore dogs, that I was going to just take care of Lady till she passes and I was done with them all. Not because I didn't love dogs, but because I loved them so much. One of my friends sent me a ad of a blue weimaraner needing a home in my email and told me about it. I deleted it, I didn't even want to see the picture of this dog. Soon another would follow from the same friend on a different weimaraner. I opened it (furious with the friend who sent it) and then I seen a beautiful silver gray weimaraner sitting in a lounge chair outside. I bursted into tears, she looked so much like a young Amber, her name was Ashley. We took her..

Ashley was a mess, don't get me wrong she was well taken care of by her previous owners, and was loved dearly. They took her to training, she was very smart and up to date on all her shots and what not. She just thought she was in charge, the leader and had no manners. Jumping up and nipping, doing whatever she wanted to do. Immediately I let her know who was in charge, and a lot of her bad behavior stopped within a week. Taking Ashley in was exactly what I needed to help heal the loss of Amber. In no way was she a replacement. Taking Ashley in during her problem stage reminded me of Amber when she was a pain in the rear too. Thats when I began to search for more weims in need and refer them to the Great Lakes Weimaraner rescue, so that they be better placed. www.greatlakesweimrescue.com So much for that vow!

First guy I found who needed a home would be Opie in a local shelter. He was a male blue weimaraner due to a divorce. I contacted Tonette and thats when it all began for me.. Luckily Opie found a home before we pulled him YEAH! But of course their were others. Next thing you knew I was transporting weims!! It was so awesome to be a part of!!! To know we were helping these dogs felt so incredible. Unfortunately though the rescue is becoming very full busting at the seams Tonette would say... They need some help!

Tonette asked if I wanted to take on Cedar a very sweet female weimaraner found as a stray. She was pulled from a high kill shelter in serious need of some TLC. Told Tonette I would think it over. With no pressure Tonette agreed with me, and then as a family we decided to take her on.

Trying to be frugal with transports Tonette helped arrange for me to pick up a couple weims on the way to give to her and I would take a few back with me and meet up with a possible new owner and another transport to take on another foster along with my own new foster. In other words... I picked up Stormy and Sammy met up with Tonette and traded those two for Chancelor, Cedar, and Buttons. Met Liz with Chancelor who was bringing Chancelor to his new foster. Liz also drove a potential adopter to meet Buttons or possibly Cedar. Buttons wasn't what she was looking for so I ended up taking both girls home with me. Liz did offer to take Cedar to foster, but I wanted to try them both out since they got along so well in the van.

As I started home I began to get that nervous feeling.... what am I getting myself into??? Trying to stay positive and thinking that introductions slowly might work out better. When I arrived home I put my two girls in the yard first and had the new foster sniff through the fence. Then I brought everyone in and let them run around the yard together. Everyone did fine, but I was still careful with territory issues.

I set up a different room for the new fosters with a large dog gate to keep them apart and able to sniff each other. This seem to help things in the beginning. Each day I would allow more free roam while I was home of the new fosters as I got to know them making sure there wouldn't be any fights that could get out of hand.

Today the four of them as I write this are sleeping together on my bed after running in my yard all morning. They are pooped out, but happy to be together.

Cedar is a great girl, 2 years old smart and very sweet. She is a loyal dog who will adjust well in any home. My fear for her is that anyone looking into a weimaraner rescue will not want her because she doesn't have that beautiful weimaraner coat right now. She is sun bleached from where she came from. You can see her natural color poking through the bad fur. I brush her daily and give her vitamins and olive oil in her food. Already you can see a difference. She is truly a diamond in the ruff ... a true keeper. Shes a stinker as she has managed to steal two loafs a bread from me and hide them in the room I feed her in and later eats it when I am busy. When I caught her she immediately lets me have it and is sorry. She doesn't like to share her toys with other dogs, so I watch her on that because she gets rather possessive about it. I am working with her on this issue by making her drop it to me and giving to another dog and praising her for letting it go. Then alternate where she gets it from the other dog. Whoever adopts Cedar will never regret it!

Buttons, what can I say. She is soooooo freaking cute! The smallest 3 year old weimaraner I have ever seen although Tonette said she has seen one smaller. She too is a great dog very loving, but you have to give her more time to warm up. She is a little more skittish and needs some socialization. She has come around a great deal in the 9 days we have had her here, and we are working on getting her over being startled. I have seen improvement but she has a ways to go. She gets along good with the other dogs though. Despite how short she is she acts like the lion here. She doesn't take anyone's crap and will put the biggest dog in its place. Whoever adopts her won't be able to keep their hands off of her cuteness, but really need to take her to obedience school. She needs to know who is in charge, and know not to be scared.

You would think that things here are hectic and crazy with these dogs. Actually its a very cool feeling thats hard to describe. I get into a routine, where first I let everyone out for their morning potty. Then I get their food and they eat, I pour a cup of coffee and we all go back out again. They run jump play and I sit and watch relaxed at how happy all these dogs are rolling in the grass chasing each other finding sticks. I just think how cool to be a part of this, to be able to help these wonderful dogs till they find a forever home.

No regrets taking this on, I will miss them so much when they get adopted. However each adopted dog will bring on a new foster we can help. 

Missy - Foster mom to Buttons and Cedar