MASAI
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| These are very special papered youngsters in need of our immediate help.
Zulu and Masai are littermates born February 25, 2006. They are solid black beauties out of import lines that were purchased from a local breeder of blacks. A bad divorce has left them outside and isolated in desperate need of human attention. The couple separated over a year ago and Dad kept the dogs and traveled with them all over the East coast and beyond for about six months. What Mom didn't know right away was when Dad returned to Arizona, he abandoned their previous home and the dogs. Zulu & Masai are living outside in a covered kennel, alone. Someone goes by once a day to let them out briefly. The house is going into foreclosure. We must get them into a safe haven ASAP. They are both obedience trained, house and crate trained and have wonderful, friendly and confident temperaments. They both also have very high prey drive, especially Zulu, and cannot be placed with cats or small dogs. They've been good with neighboring children but have not been exposed to very young kids. We have not seen their pedigrees yet but are familiar with the lines their breeder uses most of which are Czech working dogs...at least on one side. This means very busy fur kids that need stuff to do. Based on their preliminary photos however, we don't see anything that resembles a Czech import. We'll have to wait and see. Masai & Zulu have lived in the house at some point and were trustworthy when left loose. They can be fostered and will be re-homed separately. PLEASE HELP US HELP THEM... If you are interested in fostering Masai, please read about OUR FOSTER PROGRAM and submit a Foster Application (found on the Foster Program page). UPDATE 8/23: Both dogs are in now in town in TEMPORARY foster care, however, they need to be moved soon. Their very generous foster Mom has two GSDs of her own and works all day and her own dogs must be separated from the newcomers for now. Zulu and Masai are currently celebrating the company of humans along with their new found freedom with gusto. Within an hour of arriving they hit the pool and released lots of pent up energy. We will give them a week or so to settle down and get cleaned up after which they both need foster homes. Please check back for updates as we learn more about them. UPDATE 8/25: The twins have been in hog heaven: Zulu does his laps daily and Masai prefers to lounge on a nearby chaise. They are gradually being given closer contact to the two other GSDs in residence. After being isolated and naturally protective of their property they must be slowly reintroduced to dogs unfamiliar to them. They are thin right now and Masai is slow returning to her normal food intake but will come around as she settles in. They are currently learning the English equivalent to the Czech commands they were taught but have their basic obedience down. They took to the doggie door instantly. We are awaiting the outcome of a court battle for custody after which both of these youngsters will be fully evaluated by our staff. Meanwhile we will continue to get to know them better via their very kind and generous foster family. Stay tuned..... UPDATE 9/30: Masai has accompanied her current foster to some socialization/obedience sessions nearby their home and has done very well. She is getting along both with the other dogs at the park and her foster's two GSDs as well. She does still play a little rough but we know that both she and her brother need to develop their social skills. She is very receptive to training. Masai is more passive than Zulu and shadows her human everywhere. She's friendly and outgoing, more so when not being dominated by Zulu. We are looking for an immediate foster home for her. UPDATE 10/5: Masai and her brother Zulu were emaciated when rescued; they have both gained weight and while on the lanky side in terms of structure, are now pretty close to where they should be and healthy. Masai was evaluated by our staff today. She and her brother could not be more different. She is responsive and compliant; her obedience is good and she is all about pleasing her person. She is codependent on her brother and all about pleasing him when they're together. Lots of socialization will make her more independent and confident. She was trained early on with harsh methods including a shock collar from which there is only slight residual anticipation. In a nutshell; Masai has a very nice temperament, is friendly and gentle with strangers, warm and affectionate with those she knows. She so much wants to make up for the lack of human attention and isolation she experienced within the last year. We think she would make an excellent competitive obedience prospect. Masai has higher than average prey drive and will not be placed with any small furry creatures or children..teenagers only. She does well with other dogs when properly introduced but can get overly excited and rough which all goes back to the social skills that were not previously addressed. For a gal who was not walked she does surprisngly well on lead. This is a busy dog currently forced to store energy do to her temporary housing situation. We would like to see her as the only dog for a while but exposed regulalry to dogs unfamiliar to her. GSD and handling experience preferable. Masai needs a shot a new beginning. A foster home with more freedom is an immediate need. UPDATE 10/23: No longer under the influence of her brother, Masai's personality is coming to the surface. Her tail never stops wagging. She fed so much off of Zulu's energy that she no longer chases birds out in the yard; she would rather play with her humans. She is calmer and less passive and more interactive with her foster family. She also plays with her two German Shepherd roommates and is especially tight with the female! As expected, Masai will really bloom once she has an opportunity to bond with her very own people. We are trying to find a way to test her with a kitty soon; there don't seem to be any nearby where she is staying but we will let you know when we do. UPDATE 10/26: Masai came out the park today..what a doll...a real people pleaser. She met her soon-to-be roommate Shadow and was perfectly appropriate. We just have to find a way to do a cat intro after which she will, hopefully, be moved to her new foster home with a stay-at-home Mom. Masai is her "own person" now; friendly, outgoing, more confident and knows her stuff. We still think that once she learns all of the English equivalents to the Czech commands that she knows so well, she would be an excellent obedience prospect. Masai is ready to meet you and will be joining us at Westworld on Saturday, Nov. 1st. Adoption fee $395.00.
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