Jill has to give up her beautiful Baron

The Story of Jill and Baron

Jill had to give Baron up

About a month ago Diane and I were at Lee County Domestic Animal Services, picking up a German Shepherd. We ran into one of the volunteers who is also a dog trainer. She introduced us to Jill who was there trying to find a solution to a devastating problem.
Jill’s dad is in his 90’s and was unable to care for himself. Jill was there for him in every way but with one sticking point. Her dad’s condo association was not willing to allow her to keep her beautiful Baron, an 80 pound male GSD. Baron was a rescue for Jill and a constant companion. Jill was Baron’s whole world and he became protective of his mom, even to the point of protecting her against her dad and family. Jill was distraught as to how to handle the problem.
Caring for her dad was the most important thing in her life and added a dog problem into that mix was just an unacceptable option for her.
Jill made the decision to put Baron in rescue, but wanted to play a role in finding him a home where he would be loved as much as she loved him.
Jill met briefly with us and asked for advice. Diane and I counseled her on what actions could be taken but Baron was a challenge as he was, in her opinion, somewhat dog and people aggressive.
We asked that Baron be brought here the our Rescue for a hands on evaluation. When he arrived I walked up to the car and told him to get out. Baron responded well. He showed no real aggression but rather curiosity and respect. He got out sat down and proceeded to walk with me and follow my commands. Baron was obviously only protecting his mom and took on the role of alpha dog.
We knew we needed to find an adoptive parent who was alpha to Baron, had some GSD training experience and a person that Baron could look up to and respect as the leader of his pack.
For years I have put out fliers on the dogs we had available for adoption. Once such flier on a different dog landed in the hands of a Cape Coral resident to knew someone looking for a GSD. This is our primary means to get the word out on dogs and through good fortune, we have been able to place a great many dogs by this word of mouth technique.
We received a call from a family who told us they had training experience and were looking for a GSD male that they could introduce to their other smaller dog.
John seemed to like the training aspect of getting a rescue pooch and we decided to have them meet Baron.
Jill was becoming more stressed by the day being responsible for both a large dog she loved dearly and her family responsibilities to her dad.
We brought Baron and Jill here to our home and invited John and his wife to come and meet one another.
Both families felt very comfortable in meeting and though teary eyed Jill gained confidence in John and agreed that he would be the right adoptive parent for Baron.
Since the adoption Baron has flourished under John’s care and Rusty has become his best buddy.
John wrote this letter to us some weeks ago:

Hey Erik I hope all is well. Baron has adjusted fantastically, he and Rusty are literally best buddies now. I couldn't have hoped for his placement to work out as good as it has. I have started some minor obedience work with him. I really have spent the bulk of my time with him socializing him on my walks. He does appear to be dog aggressive and slightly spooky with people but I will continue to work on that. I have had to assert dominance over him a few times at the house. These were usually minor issues in which he just seemed to act like a spoiled teenager...Tess and I were talking today and we truly have already fell in love with him and couldn't imagine not having him in our lives:-)

Again I hope all is well. Talk to you soon.
John