Raven
GSRNE #233
2003 – 10/13/14
It is with great sadness that I write these words. I had to put my beautiful, gentle Raven #233 to sleep this morning. She was 11.5 years old. I adopted her when she was 5 years old and was fortunate to have her for 6.5 years. Not nearly long enough, but I guess it never is. Thank you GSRNE for allowing her in my life.
Laurie Wormwood
Background by GSRNE: Back in March 2008, we got a call asking for help for Raven, a 5-year-old black female GSD. The current owner had her for only two weeks, but never meant to keep her. Raven had been given to another woman, who changed her mind and didn’t want the dog.
Raven originally came from a breeder that had 12 GSDs and Raven was at the bottom of the pack. We were told the dogs were all thin and the previous household was a noisy one with the owners arguing around the dogs all the time. In spite of her background, Raven was a pretty calm girl, though she did need some socialization. She was shy with men but was good with kids and had allowed a young boy to come right up to her and jump around her with no problem. When Raven came in, she was very skinny and had not been spayed. GSRNE took care of both of these, and her foster home worked to help her be more confident.
In June 2007, we lost our beloved GSD Katie to the terrible degenerative myelopathy at 11 yrs of age. We were mourning heavily for our loss, so in October we adopted Zeus, now known as Bronte (Shepherd/Pitbull mix) at 9-weeks-old from Ahisma Haven who also fosters animals.
After a few months, we wanted to have another GSD, so we applied for an adoption. When we went to meet Raven at her foster home, Bronte came along, of course, to see if they got along. He was so excited and wanted to play, but he was too much for Raven, and she put him in his place, which was a good thing. We knew it was going to work out because Bronte seemed to say, “Ok, I’ll leave you alone.” Even Jill was happy about that, so on June 20, 2008, we picked up our beautiful Raven.
We didn’t realize what a teacher she would be for Bronte. Ever since he was a puppy, he would never let us clean or touch his paws, even though we constantly tried from the very beginning. Then there was one day that it was raining, both came in, but Bronte knew what was coming. We decided to do Raven first, and being the good dog that she is, she let us wipe her paws. Of course we were saying, “What a good girl you are.” Bronte was watching this from under the table. It was so amazing because for the first time he let us wipe his paws and has been doing so ever since!
Raven has become such a part of our family; we feel that we’ve had her since she was a puppy. She is such a good companion and a very happy girl. She greets you with tail wagging and a nice nuzzle. When she is ready to play, she does a turning motion that makes us laugh. She constantly makes us smile. She and Bronte run throughout the house taking turns chasing each other. She loves chasing the squirrels in the yard, taking her walks with us and playing with all of the many balls she has. She is very attached to Bronte and will sleep by his crate (he is still crated at night and when we go out. Raven has her crate but doesn’t like the door closed). No matter what room we are in, she is there. She is great to groom and with her beautiful black coat, she shines.
Thank you so much GSRNE for putting her into our life. She is the best!
George & Laurie Wormwood
Raven before 🙁
Raven after! 🙂
