ShepHeroes®

Powered by volunteers and funded by donors, we rely on many heroes to help deserving abandoned German Shepherd Dogs; in return, these shepherds provide unconditional love to the families adopting them. The goal of ShepHeroes is lifelong placement; we take pride in finding the ideal lifelong match possible for dogs and humans alike by placing all of our dogs in foster homes to allow them to decompress and for us to learn their personalities, temperament, and needs. 

When committed foster homes are available for long-term care of medical dogs, we prioritize assisting those shepherds as they are the most at risk in shelters. Bean, Hayzel, Shania, Tori, and Stewie joined us in the past year for extensive surgeries and lengthy recoveries. Bean arrived with a chunk of her lip missing and will have surgery to repair her maxillofacial trauma when her muzzle reaches the adult stage at seven to eight months of age. In Shania's case, her fracture exam revealed a severe heart defect that, untreated, would have caused heart failure, which was repaired with heart surgery to give her a whole, healthy life. Shania was with us for seven months through three surgeries. Tori, in addition to her fracture repair, had an eye enucleation. Also, in 2023, Abbott and Costello were treated for parvo and survived thanks to prompt medical care.

Multiple dogs have recovered in our care from surgeries for ingesting foreign objects like socks and balls before coming to our rescue. We have treated ear and severe skin infections, mange, influenza and kennel cough, reduced many hernias, altered cryptoid male dogs,  heartworm positive shepherds, and ensured emaciated ones received care to reach optimum weight for their age. And have provided routine ongoing veterinary care of vaccinations, heartworm, flea/tick preventatives, spay and neuters, and deworming for over 340 shepherds since 2018. One of our special pups, Kenzo, came to us at the behest of his ER vet. Found on the street hit by a car, Kenzo was rushed by a good Samaritan to the local ER. He suffered from a brain injury, fractured leg, and bodily trauma, initially unable to walk, hold his head up, and possibly blind. With the guidance of his neurology vet, we gave him supportive care, trusting that puppy brains can heal. His brain healed with a residual head tilt, giving us a sweet, loving, active pup thriving in his adoptive home. We also assisted many shy and frightened shepherds who needed to learn to trust people, become at ease in new environments, and learn good pack manners thanks to resident dogs of our foster homes. 

Two of our dogs have become working dogs, completing service dog training and supporting their owners as hearing and seizure-alert dogs. A few of our dogs have completed therapy dog training and provide comfort through various venues.

Since inception, we have assisted 24 municipal animal control shelters and partnered with seven rescues to bring shepherds to safety from the Sacramento Region south to Monterey County and north to Butte County. Our most significant concentration of work supports the Sacramento Region; 30% of our dogs arrived from the region's shelters. Last year alone, 40% of our dogs were adopted within the Sacramento Region.

ShepHeroes was established in Sacramento in May 2018; our volunteer board and management team's experience saving shepherds encompasses over a decade of dedication to the breed.