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GPRA Update - January 5th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Happy New Year!!! 2010 was a remarkable year for our entire GPRA Family. We rescued 178 Gentle Giants in our first full year, raising our total to 285 since we started in 2009. We have 7 in or incoming already in this first week of 2012. We now have close to 700 volunteers and, thanks to many of you, we are financially sound. We have attempted to run GPRA compassionately, professionally and with a sense of urgency. We rescue the GPs most in need and are often their last and only chance for survival. Imagine Korrine,Yoda, Cody, Greta, Bruno, Jasper and so many others that simply wouldn't be the healthy and beautiful GPs they are today. We have experienced many success stories and I think most of our forever families are very happy and I know our Gentle Giants are in the homes they so desperately deserve. I know I am guilty of talking numbers and, on behalf of our passionate board, I want to make sure you know our goals and objectives are focused on quality, not quantity. We will be more than happy if we rescue the same substantial number of GPs in 2012 as long as we continue to improve and strive for excellence. We have a bittersweet problem. We continue to lose outstanding fosters, who are intent on fostering only, that get so attached to their GP that they adopt them. Heading into the holidays we were down to zero in boarding after our big Adoption Day. We now need fosters for Syd, Coco, Nick, Vienna, Hank, Frosty, Magic, Kallee, 2 incoming and probably Evey and Sheba. Most are laid back, easy and house broken and don't deserve to be boarded. Please let us know if you would consider fostering and we will match you with the right Giant. Thank you again and please continue your support as we anticipate 2012 to be a spectacular year. John GPRA Update - December 17th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Christmas came early this year!!! 19, yes 19 of our Gentle Giants were or are about to be adopted during this week,with most occurring at today's eventful Adoption Day!!! Sally, Shiloh,Minnie, Jack, Jethro, Suzanna, Shadow, Whitey, Sophie, Sebastian, Cosmo, Comet, Holly, Blitzen, Rupert, Thomas, Bonnie, Tom and Noel have found fantastic forever homes. This success is directly attributed to our dedicated foster families who nurture our Giants and then, often with heavy hearts, let them go to the next exceptional family. I feel privileged to be associated with and be a part of the GPRA family and we can't thank you enough for your support and involvement. Have a Happy Holidays. John GPRA Update - December 8th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's all good!!! Below please see AJ who is doing great after receiving a plate and 5 screws in her front leg following her run in with a car in Alabama. She is being nurtured by the Walters after being coddled for the first few nights after surgery by Mark S., as he did with Yoda. With AJ is Sally, who's forever family is flying from NJ tomorrow to drive her back on Sat. We have now adopted our Gentle Giants to Washington state, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, Tenn., Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and one of our GPs family's will be moving to Finland. The puppies are almost all taken and the 7 week old Blitzen, Holly, Comet and the 13 week old Noel are adorable Pyr/Golden mixes. Our 3 legged Greta is doing fantastic with her new family and our boy Yoda is getting a bone graft tomorrow at UGA Veterinary which we hope will complete his full recovery process. Don't forget our easy holiday gifts of GPRA tee shirts and our new sweatshirts and hats. We expect to rescue # 300 GP this month since our Feb. 2010 inception and will come close to 200 rescues this year. We now have over 500 volunteers and many of you I consider priceless. Adoption Day is next Sat. Dec. 17 from 11-1 at the Petsmart in Dunwoody. Tis the season to be thankful. John  GPRA Update - November 22nd Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Please read the bottom with a picture of AJ who was named after the highway in Ala. where she was hit by a car. We took her in thinking her leg was in a cast and healing. It turns out her leg was only splinted and after xrays we discovered her radius and ulna bones are both broken and so much time has passed that they are actually growing together. One of our orthopedics will have to now break both bones and plate the breaks. She is being fostered by Mark and Susan and they confirm she is the sweetest Gentle Giant ever. We estimate her surgery will be $5,000 and as we have found out with Yoda, additional surgery is sometimes necessary. This, after Yoda, Greta and Bruno, is a big hit, so please consider helping us with a tax deductible contribution to our paypal or to our mailbox for AJ. Thank you. John GPRA Update - November 9th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,This is Greta now. It was her back leg that was removed, not her front, which is a huge difference. She can be normal in every way as the back leg is not weight bearing. She has been at Russell Ridge Animal hospital for many months and as much as they love her, it's time for her to find her forever home. She will be at our next Adoption Day but I hope she is adopted before then. She is both beautiful and inspiring. 
John GPRA Update - November 7th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,15!!! In just over the last week, that's how many of our Gentle Giants found forever homes. Klaus, Yoda, Pebbles, Ruger, Carly, Deek, Samson, Tao, Roxy, Colorado, River, Duke, Tiny, Cleo and Ceaser!!! This is just amazing and is directly attributable to the love our GPs receive from the moment GPRA takes them. From our intake volunteers to our walkers and fosters, our GPs are evaluated and placed into the best possible environments. Ultimately, these GPs give us back infinitely more than we can ever give them and our adopters discover this quickly. Pictures coming soon on our puppies - 4 boys and 1 girl. Thank you. John GPRA Update - November 3rd Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Congratulations to our fantastic volunteers at the Atlanta Marathon who the Atlanta Track Club recognized as the top earner of $7,500 for GPRA's extraordinary effort. Not only were our Gentle Giants the hit of the marathon but also our Joel dressed as a GP put us over the top. As icing on the cake, we have 5 four week old pure bred puppies arriving in a couple of weeks that Sheila will be fostering!!! John GPRA Update - October 30th Atlanta Marathon PicturesGPRA Update - October 30th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,I could not be more proud of the way our wonderful volunteers represented GPRA today at the Atlanta Marathon. We had over 70 volunteers and about 25 of our Gentle Giants that comprised a cheering section and water station. Philip took pictures of our decked out members and Giants which we will forward. There was no doubt the marathoners highlight was at mile 16. Marathon officials lauded our boisterous group and we got at least a smile from almost every runner and some actually STOPPED to pet our GPs!!! We will not know the total dollars we will be awarded until mid-week but it will be somewhere between $3,500 and $7,000. Yoda was there, looking spectacular and we are indebted to Susan Edwards and Lori Imoff for making this such a success. I'd indicated that puppy Amanda, whose hind leg had to be removed, was adopted by the vet that removed the leg. Similarly, Greta, whose front leg was removed at Russell Ridge, has become so loved there that the entire clinic was going to adopt her. After much discussion, it was decided that a forever home would be better long term. So, she will not go to a foster but will be fostered by the clinic until we have the right forever home for her. Please contact me if you would consider adopting Greta so I can share my family's experience with our three legged dog Jack. Thank you. John GPRA Update - October 27th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Please see the fantastic signs we will be displaying at the Atlanta Marathon on Sunday. John GPRA Update - October 16th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Our Ala. puppy after her successful hind leg removal. 
John GPRA Update - October 13th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's raining Gentle Giants!!! Since my last communication we have rescued Colorado, Nova, Cloe, April, Ice, Destiny, Duke, Daisy, River and Everett and we have four more incoming. Our fosters, walkers and adopters continue to be amazing which allows us to take in record numbers with our latest batch being the gentlest GPs yet. Please consider fostering. We were contacted tonight by a vet in Ala. who has a beautiful 4 month GP female who was apparently hit by a car over a month ago. One of her back legs needs to be removed and we said we would be happy to take her. We will keep you posted. We are experiencing so many great stories. A woman from Texas fell in love with our puppy Cotton and drove all the way to Atlanta to get her. We are bringing in Daisy from Ala. who we think is Cotton's sister and are afraid she may want to drive back to claim her as well!!! Adoption Day is this Sat. and hopefully it will be as successful and fun as our last one. We were pumped up for Pyrs and Beers but were alerted 2 days before the event that the festival planned at Piedmont Park would attract a quarter million people and dogs would no longer be allowed. So it's probably better that we are rescheduling. We have a good turnout for the Atlanta Marathon on Oct. 30th but would like to see more participation so please let us know if you can join us with or without your GP. Thank you. John GPRA Update - October 3rd Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Well the Gentle Giants are flooding in. Thanks to our fantastic fosters we have most with families but we have six more coming in over the next few days who will need homes. Our foster network has allowed us to rescue those who otherwise would not be. We are approaching rescue # 250 and we have 35 currently available for adoption. We like to have that number around 20 at any given time. Look for Carla, Bella, April, Sophie, Sebastian and Cloe, who was to be put to sleep today, to come onto our website. Many of you have followed Greta, who has had multiple surgeries in an attempt to save her front leg after being hit by a car near Athens. After spending months as the favorite dog that ever boarded at Russell Ridge animal hospital, Greta's leg was amputated. Many of you know that one of my golden retrievers, Jack, had bone cancer and had his front leg removed and was an inspiration to my kids and to all that met him. After the first week he was a normal dog in every way and led a happy life. This will be the case with Greta. She will be going to one of our best fosters and please let me know if any of you would consider adopting her as I can share first hand what our Jack meant to my family. Please let us know if you can make the Atlanta Marathon on Sunday morning Oct. 30. We will be located at mile 16 in front of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. This will be fun and will be no pressure. Bring your Gentle Giant or don't. Dress up or don't. Just be there!!! Pyrs and Beers this Sunday from 2 - 4 at Park Tavern - 500 10th St. NE, 30309. Meet our spokespyrson Journey and my 150 lb. Jenkins. Thank you. John GPRA Update - September 14th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's all good. After conferring with Drs. at GVS and UGA and additional testing, the consensus is that Bruno does not have cancer but has a rare congenital abnormality in his kidney that is not causing pain and his new forever family will monitor with occasional blood tests. This is a far cry from the early indication and we hope this plays out well over time. Yoda had his check up at UGA today and the x-rays revealed he has a loose screw in one leg and a broken one in the other. The good news is his bones are healing and if he can stay quiet for Sue a while longer, the bones will heal and the screws will have done their job. He gets checked again in a couple of weeks but we expect a good outcome. Our fosters have been remarkable. We had 10 in boarding and will shortly be down to three - Ireland, Louie and Tiny. We need a foster for Ireland NOW. Ireland is a sweetheart alpha female that has been through training and has been in boarding too long and is getting depressed. She is not good with small dogs and we had to refuse an adopter for her because she had a small dog. She is great with kids and other dogs. She needs a home. Tiny is a 7 month old who one of our adopters rescued and needs TLC as he is frightened in boarding and Louie is just great. We're looking at a big Oct. to show off your Gentle Giant. We are counting on 100 volunteers and your Giant for the Atlanta Marathon on Oct.30 where we are hosting mile 16. Mingle at Pyrs and Beers at the Park Tavern on Oct. 9th and come to GPRA night at the Gwinnett Gladiators on Oct.22nd. We are adding female GPRA tees and GPRA hats to our merchandise that will be on the website. Thank you for your involvement. John GPRA Update - September 7th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,I hope all had a fun and safe Labor Day. From the weekend through tomorrow we have rescued Armistead, Stewart, Barkley, Rupert, Luca, Rose, Dolly, Grace and Tiny with the last six going right to boarding. They join Ireland, Louie, Alfie, Francis and Jackson in boarding. We have dedicated and fantastic walkers that treat our Giants with love and affection but we desperately need to get them into families and most are really easy, laid back and house broken. We have had Bruno at GVS and UGA and what we thought would result in a kidney removal may in fact be cancer. Out of 226 rescues, he would be our first with cancer and he is only a year and a half. We will have more test results tomorrow and fortunately he has a loving adopter that is nurturing him through this. We have an impressive network of foster families which has allowed us to rescue so many but we are getting record numbers of owner turn ins. Unlike the many we take from the shelters, most of these GPs are healthy and ready to go to a family. Five more will be on the website over the next day or two plus Barkley is the perfect 8 month old puppy. Yoda is progressing well and Minnie, Opa, Humphrey, Parma, Tucker, Jasper, Gracie, and Bruno have been adopted or are about to be. We have multiple GPRA events in Oct. including the Atlanta Marathon. Adoption Day is Sat. Thank you. John GPRA Update - August 22nd Let's not forget Greta who has had multiple surgeries and been in the hospital for months.John Hi I visited Greta today at Russell Ridge Veterinary Hospital. What a beautiful facility and nice people! I got to visit with Dr. Miller, who as it turns out, grew up with Great Pyrenees. He said that Greta is about 90% on her leg. He is doing additional x-rays today and will determine if he needs to add more bone. Apparently some of the bone added in recent bone grafts has died. He also told me that he had actually considered adopting Greta himself but decided not to :( Greta is beautiful. She walks with a limp, but it's not too bad. She is very calm and loving and they have her wonderfully groomed and clean. I tried to get a good head shot but she just wouldn't cooperate and I'm not the best photographer. Dr. Miller said that she will be ready to go soon and would do best in a foster home without steps. The technician said that she never potties in her crate or run. Susan E  
GPRA Update - August 21st Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Inspiring is the right word. John All is well and have attached a few photos and one video from YODA's life this past weekend. (You may have to tilt your head to the left to play the video). I hope they bring a smile to your faces. It amazes me that the act of cruelty to this great hearted dog did not harden his heart. He is an inspiration. Enjoy Susan     GPRA Update - August 17th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,See article from the Dunwoody Crier below. Yoda is fantastic. His staples were removed today, both legs are healing well, he is fully mobile on his own and is 100% house broken. Mark is passing him to Sue Brooke for 2 weeks and then the Walters will foster him on their farm where he will join Opa and Pebbles. They nurtured Alfred after his ear surgery and Alfred was just adopted!!! We think Fox 5 will do another GPRA segment with Yoda in their studio. Thank you to the many who donated for Yoda's surgeries as it has allowed us to continue to take in the volume of needy GPs that seem to be never ending. We continue to need fosters as we have or will have Louie, Levi, Alfie, Ireland, Tao, Stevie, Jackson, Francis, and incoming Cotton in boarding. Check the website and see who strikes you. We have a special group of walkers who have gotten to really know the personalities of each. We are one of 18 non profits that have been selected to support the Atlanta Marathon on Oct. 30th. Other than the humane society, we are the only animal rescue participating. Please mark your calenders for the morning of Oct.30 as we will want 100 volunteers AND their Gentle Giants to participate. We are guaranteed $3,500 and can make up to $7,500 if we have the enthusiastic participation I anticipate. Lori and Susan will be providing specifics. We also have GPRA night at the Gladiators game on Oct. 22 and Pyrs and Beers at the Park Tavern in Piedmont Park from 2-4 on Sunday Oct. 9th. Bring your Gentle Giant!!! John Read Article GPRA Update - August 7th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,See latest update from Mark on Yoda below. Fox 5 will be taping a segment on GPRA and Yoda tomorrow morning that will air Tues. morning. Yoda will not be there but they will plan to have a follow up with Yoda in about a week. John Yoda is doing fabulous. Both last night and today he has been going out without any cart or towel support, all on his own. My hat is off to the UGA Orthopedic team. He will be ready for pick-up tomorrow. They have a lot of surgeries during the day and have ask that I come around 4:30 PM, at that time the surgeons will be available to cover his continued care with me. As you know, upon his return, I am planning on being his initial nurseman. We can decide his move after that. Although it sounds like he is almost normal, the reality is that he will need to be kept calm and requires someone who can be with him a lot at the start of his healing and deal with making sure he gets his follow up medical visits and exams. UGA expects to see him back at least once if not twice. I love them and the work they do, but the appointments can turn into an all day adventure. Side note: The few days I had him, he was a great dog. However, he was not quite up to snuff. As he begins to feel better we shall see. As I mentioned in one of the other emails, he knows no basic commands. We will work on that. Have a wonderful evening, Mark GPRA Update - August 6th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's all great!!! See Mark's update on Yoda. Mark and Susan will foster Yoda for the first week. We will need a foster or adopter after that. Remember the transformation of Korine/Lulu. Yoda is an exceptionally affectionate Gentle Giant and will certainly be up and around during the next week. Fox 5 is planning to do a story on Yoda next week. Mark Stottlemyer has been heroic throughout the Yoda process and thanks to his embracing the magnitude of the problem and his sense of urgency, I believe we will have a happy ending for Yoda and his new family. We will keep you updated and will provide pictures as soon as practical. Thanks to the many of you that have been so generous and caring through the Yoda process thus far. John Yoda is doing great. They have removed all of his bandages. He is being a little hesitant in walking, but that is understandable. Jess (his baby sitter and our contact) is back with him at 10PM and again in the AM, she will call me in the morning. At this point, they think he will be ready to come home Monday. He has a lot of staples that need to be removed in 10-14 days this can be done by our vet. As of now, they would like to see him back in about a month to x-ray and be sure everything is positioned and healing perfectly. Believe it or not, in the right (worst) leg they removed one bullet fragment. In the left leg that he was still primarily using, they remove two fragments. You have to love good news, Mark GPRA Update - August 4th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's all good for Yoda from here!!! 
John GPRA Update - August 3rd Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,In order to allow enough time, Dr. Rose made Yoda his last surgery. He focused on his right elbo which was even more complex than anticipated. Yoda's right front leg has been repaired and Dr. Rose is pleased with the result. There was not enough time to address the left front leg and Yoda is now scheduled for that surgery on Fri. morning. I will continue to keep all apprised and GPRA thanks you for your concern and generosity. John GPRA Update - August 2nd Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,I'm sorry to report that Yoda was shot in both front legs, shattering one of his elbows. Now we understand why he can't walk and why he kept trying to pull himself forward. How gutless can a human being be? We can't unring the bell so we will focus on that which we can control. We believe Yoda's legs and elbows can be surgically repaired. We will confirm this over the next couple of days. We believe the cost to do this will be in the $6,000 - $10,000 area all in. You may ask, "why bother"? That much money can save and treat a lot of GPs and we are overwhelmed with GPs in need right now. The answer is fundamental and goes to the core of GPRA's mission. We will save the Great Pyrenees that are the most in need. Yoda is about 2 years old and when repaired, should have a reasonable life span and a good quality of life. He deserves that and more. Those of you that can and want to contribute to Yoda, please do. I will personally make up the balance. Thank you, John GPRA Update - July 29th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,We saw that Yoda was in a Ga. shelter with a bullet in his chest yesterday. Today he is in treatment at our Village Vets in Stone Mountain. We have 7 in boarding, which we hate, and have Bruno, Jackson, Parma, Bishop, Chloe, Yoda and Tao II who is to be put to sleep on Tues., all just in or about to be plus two from Ala. and a number of owner turn ins we are sorting through. None are up yet on our website and we could end up with 15 - 20 in boarding at this rate. It's pretty simple. If we don't take them, they get put down. This is exacerbated by a number of our wonderful fosters who, for legitimate reasons, need to return their GPs. This may be a summer phenomenon but all these Gentle Giants in need is beyond challenging. We will figure through this but if you or those you know could just meet our GPs, they will understand how unique and beautiful this breed is. Adoption Day is next Saturday. Our funding is being stretched, we desperately need both fosters and adopters and yet I am more optimistic than ever as we have built such a strong foundation of talented volunteers who are selfless and passionate about supporting our GPRA mission of rescuing GPs that are most in need. John 
GPRA Update - July 10th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,We rescued Magic (see below) at the very last moment. Magic is a 4 month old mix that is beyond adorable and our puppy expert Diane will foster. Appropriately, Magic is GPRA's 200th rescue!!! Not that long ago, we saved an entire family that was certainly not typical. The mother, Mia, was severely heart worm positive, emaciated and had an upper respiratory infection. We were very concerned about her survival but thanks to one of our fantastic fosters and getting her with the right vet, she is now beautiful and flourishing. The father, Ripley, was totally unique as he was BLACK with dewclaws and white markings on his feet and chest. We don't take black dogs but Ripley was so cool looking and with so much personality that we had to take him as well. He also had an upper respiratory infection and ultimately was heart worm positive as well. He went through separation anxiety with a couple of foster families before he found his perfect forever family. Their puppies are the famous "rock star" puppies, named and fostered by Diane - Axl, Mick, Syd, Jewel, and Pearl. These 5 personality puppies were adopted into fantastic families as close as Atlanta and as far away as Detroit (Motown). We spent about $5,000 rescuing this family but the joy this family will bring to 7 other families is priceless and that is why the many of you who give your time or who donate to our rescue should feel fulfilled and gratified. Ripley, Bobo, Bailey and Karma were adopted and it appears that Annabelle, Belle, Maddie and Lydia are close. We really need fosters for some of our heart worm positive GPs. We just got Humphrey in and he is HW+ and needs immediate treatment as does Ashley. Byrd is getting his last shot and now needs a foster to keep him quiet for the next month. We cannot put these Gentle Giants in boarding. Jasper is all better and ready to go and we need to move him to a new foster. He is a senior to senior and Kelly has brought him back to life. Ireland has been trained and is at PL and needs a foster and our latest Stevie needs a foster as well. Thank you for staying engaged with GPRA. John 
GPRA Update - June 20th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's all good. Check out our website www.greatpyratlanta.com to see our latest arrivals Karma, KiKi, Maddie and Lydia. All beautiful females and all in good shape with the latter two turned in by their owners who lost their home in the Ala. tornado. These two must be kept together and we will not transport them from Ala. until we have a foster or forever home as they are in a safe place for now. In addition to Karma and KiKi, Bertie and Ireland need fosters. We've spent a lot to train Ireland and need a leader to continue the training. We have a number more coming in this week as we approach our 200th rescue. GPRA has had really good media coverage over the last few weeks thanks to Lori, Lisle and Gail with multiple TV segments and newspaper coverage. We expect to finally have a copy of the channel 2 ABC segment this week and will forward. We are currently treating or about to be treating 7 of our Gentle Giants for heart worm. Sabrina, BoBo, Klondike, Charlie, Samson, Jewel, Storm, Lightning, Ripley and Prissy have been or are close to being adopted. We have Adoption Day this Sat. at the petsmart in Dunwoody from 11-1 and Pebbles, Bertie, Syd, Pearl, Baxter, Annebelle, Bruce, Karma and KiKi should be there. Thank you for your support. John GPRA Update - June 8th GPRA tornado rescues featured on Fox 5 News:http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Group-Helps-Dogs-Get-New-Life-After-Tornadoes-20110530-am-sd Dear Great Pyrenees Friends, Thanks to last week's GPRA segment on Fox 5 about our Ala. tornado rescues, we have experienced five or six potential adoptions. Channel 2, ABC aired a segment on Sun. that we will forward when we get the link. The AJC had an article with a picture from our adoption day in today's paper and the Marrietta Daily is featuring an extensive article on GPRA in this coming Tues. paper. Our emaciated Ala. GPs are in really good foster homes and Storm has been adopted. Lightning had two seizures Sun. night but is recovering and seems to be doing well but is being carefully monitored. We are taking in a mother and daughter from Ala. this week that look to be in good shape and a 6 yr. old turn in named Roscoe that is good to go. BoBo, Ripley and Pebbles are at PetLodge Resort and need homes. Pebbles and Ripley are great dogs but have separation anxiety. BoBo needs a strong leader. All are really good in families and with pets. Cody is at Man's Best Friend, has been shaved down because he was so matted, is heart worm positive but very gentle and easy. Bertie's foster leaves for 3 weeks this weekend so she needs a home. She is a small female who is very affectionate and seems to be good with most male dogs but not females. Ireland is an alpha female who has been in training for 3 weeks and is ready for a home. We don't want to board her as she needs a strong leader that will continue her progress. Please contact me if you think you may be able to help us with any of these GPs and we can discuss the possibility to see if there may be a fit. We continue to be amazed how responsive so many have been, particularly our fosters, and on behalf of our passionate board of directors, we thank you. John GPRA Update - June 1st Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's all good again!!! The Fox 5 segment on the Alabama tornado GPs has resulted in at least six possible adoptions thus far. Channel 2, ABC, shot a segment on GPRA on Tues. that will air Sun. morning at 6:30AM and I believe will be 10 minutes. We will forward the link. The Marietta Daily is doing an article on GPRA that will be a focus a week from next Tues. All of our Alabama GPs are in foster homes and some are lined up with forever homes. Our fosters are just unbelievable. We have six Gentle Giants that are heart worm positive with Cody, who came in this week, needing a foster. BoBo, Pebbles and Bruce are boarding at PetLodge. All three are really good GPs that need to get into a family. We will have a large group at Adoption Day on Sat. - BoBo, Pebbles, Bruce, Windy, Tucker, Samson, Baxter, Klondike, Ripley, Zeus, Jewel, Mick, Pearl and Bertie are planning to attend. Storm, Mick, Edith, Apollo and Bear were adopted and Prissy, Charlie, and Lightning appear to be pending. To those who have stepped up by fostering, transporting, donating, getting involved and of course adopting - THANK YOU!!! John GPRA Update - May 30th Click below to see the Fox 5 segment on our Alabama tornado rescues that is airing throughout today.http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Group-Helps-Dogs-Get-New-Life-After-Tornadoes-20110530-am-sd GPRA Update - May 27th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,We just completed shooting a GPRA segment on Fox 5 featuring three of our Alabama tornado GPs - Ramblin, Twister and Lightning plus Byrd from a north Ga. shelter. The segment will air on Mon. at 5:30AM, 7:30, noon and 5PM. We will forward the link. Byrd is awesome and the other three are heartbreakingly wonderful. They are skinny, submissive and craving attention. All three are female and it was hard to leave them in boarding. Melissa, who adopted Cookie, is driving up today to foster Ramblin and one of the other two. Tim will foster Byrd starting tomorrow. Prissy goes to a wonderful foster today. We need a foster for Lightning or Twister. Also for Ireland who has just completed 2 weeks in training. Channel 2 ABC will be shooting a segment on GPRA this Tues. at 10 and we will advise when that will air. Have a great holiday weekend. John GPRA Update - May 26th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,We have had active periods before but I've never seen the volume of Gentle Giants needing rescue like we have seen over the last few weeks. We have now taken in a dozen Ala. "tornado" GPs, a number have been heart worm positive, and some have required significant medical attention. Check our website www.greatpyratlanta.com and you can see today's arrivals - Prissy, Ramblin, Twister, Lightning and Polar. Bruce is a midwest flood GP that arrives Sunday. All will go to boarding as we are struggling to get the right personalities with the right fosters. We had a fantastic response as many volunteers offered to foster a couple of weeks ago but this latest surge taps us out again. Prissy is a 15 month female that is spayed, vetted, gentle and scared to death. Jim had to carry her into PetLodge today as she was afraid to walk. We need a foster for her. We have 34 GPs in foster homes or in boarding that need forever homes and Pebbles is coming back on Fri. As rough as this sounds, we are rewarded with email after email from owners that are ecstatic about their GPRA giant. We received another one on Gulliver today. There are exceptions and those tend to relate to separation anxiety which relates to what their life was before GPRA. I continue to be proud of the effort our volunteers are making and the many that have stepped up should be gratified as we rescue # 187. Other than adoptions, our greatest needs are fosters and funds so if you can foster, please do and if you can afford it, please donate. We will figure this out. Thank you. John GPRA Update - May 22nd Paul,Thanks for your remarkable effort here and for giving us the sight we could only imagine. As I indicated, we have been after these GPs from the beginning and since we took in Storm and Windy last week, two more females popped up late Sat. night which we are making arrangements to take, that will bring our tornado total to ten. I am copying our GPRA distribution so they can embrace the magnitude of what you just experienced. We are so fortunate to be in a position to help. John -----Original Message----- From: Paul McMillan John; We went out to Shoal Creek Road today to try to learn first hand about the slab Pyrs. Stopped at the volunteer fire department first. They weren't aware of the fireman contact, but definitely knew the Pyrs in question and told us where the property was located. We went to the Isbell property - a large farm completely devastated - absolutely nothing left standing. Seven family members (all of them) perished in the tornado. We walked the property, but no Pyrs - only some chickens. The property had been picked and sorted by family obviously, so if there were Pyrs, our thought is that they would have come around with people on the property. Talked to one neighbor and he mentioned seeing a female and two puppies at the gate the following morning, but today was their first day back after the storm so they had no knowledge. Went to the farm on the opposite side - again, complete devastation and nothing remaining. They too were aware of the Pyrs, but hadn't seen them in a while. The gentleman that owned this property has Anatolian Shepards and gave us the name and number of the St. Clair County Animal Control Officer. Couldn't reach him, but scoured the area for a while and talked with other neighbors in attempts to find the Pyrs. No luck. We just got a call from the Animal Control Officer - the man has been working non-stop since the storms. He wasn't aware of the female and puppies as mentioned by the one neighbor, but stated he got to the Isbell property first thing morning after: found one dead female Pyr and two dead Pyr puppies. He said he was walking the property and wasn't sure if he was seeing an angel or a ghost, but a female Pyr came out of the rubble to him. He took her in for a week and got her nursed back to health. She has gone to what he said was a "very selective family". At some point later, he and a veterinarian from Moody, AL who was on a ride-along with him came across the two "slab Pyrs". They scooped them up. One seemed to have minor injuries in the hind quarters. Both have been with the vet in Moody and have healed and are doing well. He knows who the owners are, but is not yet releasing - and says he may not release them back due to their situation. He said he would call me if they needed to get them to the group. He's been out there everyday since the storm hauling hundreds of bales of hay, feed, grain, etc. He's not aware of any other dogs running loose. Nor did we see any. I think we can close this one unless at some point they feel they need to turn the two over to us. Paul GPRA Update - May 6th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,We still do not have the three Ala. tornado "slab" GPs. The woman that originally called in, called again this evening and it appears their whereabouts are unknown. We have taken in eight other Ala. GPs from shelters and please know they had no identification, were not chipped and were in really bad shape. We are hearing stories of packs of homeless GPs roaming the valley following the tornado tragedy. Our fosters have been fantastic. We still need fosters for Ripley, Byrd, Bertie, Bobo, Tucker and incoming Ramblin. Ireland is in training and will need a foster as well. Bertie has been in boarding way too long. She is small, sweet, great with people but not with other dogs. Ripley, Byrd and Tucker are laid back. Bear, Edith, Sugar and Ellie are being adopted into great forever families. We have more of our Gentle Giants available for adoption and more with foster families than ever before. Channel 2 - ABC - has indicated they would like to do a segment on GPRA. If this comes to fruition, we hope more will become aware of how special our GPRA dogs are and we will be able to find many more forever homes. Thank you for stepping up. John GPRA Update - May 6th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,We have 10 of our Gentle Giants in boarding at a cost of about $5,000 a month which we cannot sustain. I had just indicated that we cannot take anymore GPs in until we get more fosters and adopt more out. And then we received [the attached] voicemail from Ala. We are now working at getting those Ala. GPs from the tornado and others. We desperately need fosters as these GPs need families, even if temporary. Let us know if you can help. John GPRA Update - May 1st Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Enormous thanks to Susan Edwards, Lori Imhof and the approx. 50 volunteers and 20 Gentle Giants that worked hard for 4 hours to raise money for our rescue at today's Braves game. I was proud to be part of our exceptional group that makes GPRA special and unique, like our dogs. I can't believe how many GPs are in need. We just took in Charlie, Baxter, Shiloh, Samson and Edith. Kloe, Tucker, Byrd, Bear, and a GP/Golden mix are incoming. At least 2 are heartworm positive. If we don't take them, they get put down. It's that simple. Jasper is with Kelly and she is spreading her magic just like she did with the 3 mange puppies. Mia is with a great foster and starts her HW treatment tomorrow after recovering from other infections. Her puppies are adorable and Axl is already adopted. Ripley is a GP/Newfy mix with dewclaws and is the coolest dog ever. Ellie is back and is as playful and beautiful as ever. I hope to see you Sat. at our BBQ. John 
GPRA Update - April 21st Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,We have rescued Jasper, who has been roaming south Ga. for months, and will be delivering him to  Dr. Good today for evaluation and immediate treatment. He obviously has mange and is emaciated and would think he is heartworm positive as well. I am not sending this for shock value but more as a reminder that with all the beautiful GPs we rescue, we try to never turn our heads to those that are pitiful and unwanted. Let's not forget Rudy, Cody, Korrine, the mange puppies, Faith, Alfred and now Greta, all who were given up on and all who now,thanks to their fosters and forever families, are happy, healthy and yes, beautiful.
Over the next few days we will better understand the magnitude of Jasper's medical issues. We already know he is very gentle and, surprise, surprise, good with cats. Jasper will eventually need a foster and I hope someone from our GPRA family will step up. Needless to say, contributions, even $5, will be helpful as we anticipate he will require real medical attention. Thank you and we will keep you posted. John JASPER UPDATE APRIL 22nd: Jasper is safe and doing well and I think we have good news. Dr. Good and his staff really responded when Jasper arrived yesterday and the good news is Jasper does not have mange and is heartworm negative. He does have serious skin infections from neglect. This could be a result from flea and or food allergies, untreated fleas, and a thyroid problem. He also has a yeast infection. Jasper will be shaved down, given medicated baths, will be put on anti-biotics, given pregnisone, given flea and tick prevention and put on a good diet. He should be ready to go next week and we will watch him become the handsome GP that he is supposed to be. Kelly, who saved and nurtured our three mange puppies, will foster Jasper. She was the first of our four generous volunteers who stepped up to foster our boy who Dr. Good believes is around 5 yrs. old. Thank you to those who so quickly responded with your donations and concern. John GPRA Update - April 10th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's almost all good. The big news is our happy, lovable Odie was adopted today to a fantastic family with 2 kids and will be moving to his forever home in Greenville, SC!!! Also adopted were Samson, Bernie, Charlie, Ellie, Jenny and Troy. Please visit our website and see the 5 six week old puppies, Axl, Mick, Syd, Jewel and Pearl we rescued along with their parents. The mother, Mia, is heatworm positive and way under weight and will be moving to a new foster tomorrow. The father, Ripley, is unique as he has the GP dewclaws but is black!!! Snowdrift visited my dogs this week and is the most affectionate little girl ever and I met Angus on Sat. and he is a GP/Golden mix knockout. Our fosters are really coming through. Pebbles went to her new foster today, Klondike yesterday and we are hoping to get Bertie out of isolation as her upper respiratory infection is better. Our vet is fostering Greta as she continues to recuperate from her two leg surgeries. We will have at least 10 of our Gentle Giants at Adoption Day on Sat. at Petsmart in Dunwoody from 11-1. We would love to see you at my home for our Spring BBQ on Sat. May 7 from 5-7PM. Rain date is Sun. May 8. Invite and directions to follow. GPRA day at Braves game May 1. John GPRA Update - March 20th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,THANK YOU to our fabulous fosters. We had 10 of our Giants in boarding and lost five foster families this week for legitimate reasons - three to allergies. Despite this, many of you stepped up and thanks to new and current fosters, Bernie, Madison, Charlie, Buddy,Justin, Lucy and Gulliver have gone to foster families over the last few days. This is Gulliver's third family in two weeks through no fault of his own. Now I finally understand "Gulliver's Travels". We now have Pebbles, Ireland and our special Odie in boarding until our incoming arrive this week. We have an Adoption Day this Sat. from 11-1 at the Petco. at the Mall of Ga. This is our first time at this location as we try to expose our GPs to an additional customer base. We will be back at the Petsmart in Dunwoody on Sat. April 16. Since we have GPRA Day at the Gladiators on April 1 and at the Braves game on May 1, we are pushing the Tavern get together planned for April 10 so please remove that date from your calender. We have much to look forward to. John GPRA Update - March 13th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,A good Adoption Day and a big puppy week. Toby's new family drove all the way from Maryland to pick him up on Sat., Scarlett and Rhett were adopted by a morning radio show personality and blue eyed Sinatra has a family with children to now call home. All of us at Adoption Day fell in love with Odie. He is like a big happy puppy that has now learned sign language. A number of volunteers wanted to take him home to foster but they work during the day and I'd like Odie to have more consistent attention, at least in the beginning, so he is back at Man's Best Friend. Odie needs to be adopted by a family, preferably with kids. All you have to do is meet him and you will want to take him home. We will teach you his sign language. Greta had a second operation last week and we hope to send her to her foster soon. Check the website to see Jenny, our GP/ German Shepard mix and our new arrivals, Lucy, Ireland and Justin who was hours from being pts until a great volunteer rescued him " JUST IN " time, hence his name. A few hours ago Tillman, who is now Beau, escaped from his Lawrenceville home so please be on the lookout if you live in that area. The more volunteers we have on May1 for GPRA day at the Braves game, the better plus it should be a lot of fun. We also will look forward to seeing your GP at The Tavern from 2-4 on Sun. April 10. Thank you for making Ireland our 45th quality rescue already this year as we are now in the 150s as we recently completed our first year. John GPRA Update - March 6th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,We are taking in so many Gentle Giants, over 40 in Jan. and Feb. already, and they are the best looking and best behaved since we started GPRA. In the last week plus, Bonnie, puppy Pebbles, Big Ben, Quigley, Sandy, Boeing and Betty have been adopted to fantastic families. It turns out Alfred did have squamous cell cancer in his ear but it's gone now and he is all clear and doing great with his foster family who adopted Talon and are fostering Sabrina. Greta has had some ups and downs and is continuing to progress but has stayed an extra two weeks at our Russell Ridge vet so far and may require some additional surgery. She will survive this. Odie will go to his foster this week after learning sign language. Big Earl, Toby and Patches are recovering from HW treatment with their outstanding fosters. Please go to our website www.greatpyratlanta.com and view our orphans. Our latest puppy Toby will be massive and Snowdrift and Apollo are just adorable. Older puppies Scarlett and Rhett are near perfect in appearance and demeanor and need a foster. Sinatra has piercing blue eyes and is timid so really needs a foster. We've never seen a GP with eyes like this. Samson is being fostered in Ala. and Charlie, Bernie, Madison and HW+ Buddy need fostering as well and all are laid back and great looking. We will have at least 10 of our GPs at Adoption Day this Sat. and may have some of our puppies there as well. Don't forget GPRA day at the Gladiators game on April 1 and the Braves game on May 1. Thank you again to our fosters who are the real heroes as we continue to rescue those in need. John GPRA Update - February 19th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,The big news is Alfred had successful surgery on his ear at GVS and is home with the incredible Walters who are fostering him, along with Betty and Sabrina, until Jo can take him back or we can find a forever home for this senior. Odie is finishing up his deaf school and his foster will be learning his sign language. We will teach anyone adopting Odie this as well. Big Earl and Troy are in the middle of heartworm treatment and should be ready to go in March. We've been fortunate in placing many of our Gentle Giants into exceptional homes recently including Hart, Bam Bam and Bonnie over the last few days but I continue to be amazed at how many are still pouring in and how sad some of our rescue stories are. Gulliver, Buddy, Quigley, Patches, Greta and probably #140 Laney are not yet up on the website. Buddy and Patches are HW+ and will need treatment. Greta was hit by a car and found on the side of the road in Athens, Ga. AGA came to the rescue and we are working in conjunction with them to repair Greta who has multiple fractures and other injuries. We have much excitement ahead which Lori and Susan will be providing info. on. It is GPRA night on April 1 at the Gwinnett Gladiators hockey game, we have a GPRA gathering with your GPs on April 10 from 2-4 at the Tavern downtown, and Sunday May 1 is GPRA day at the 1:30 PM Braves/Cardinals game. We need a ton of volunteers and GPs for the Braves game so it's a good time to get involved if you haven't been active. The only thing better than our people are our dogs!!! We have much to look forward to. John GPRA Update - February 9th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,We've had a big adoption week so far. Jessie, Tillman and puppies Snowdrift, Cookie and Rooster were adopted into wonderful families and I expect puppies Sandy and Georgia will be adopted by the weekend. Max and Maxine are being adopted tomorrow and Buddy will officially become the brother to Cody and Gus!!! Alfred, one of our senior citizens, is having $4,000 ear surgery on Mon. at GVS after months of various antibiotic treatment has failed. We expect him to be a new man but this is a big hit to our funding. I hate to always be asking for money but a generous donor or two will go a long way to helping us absorb this shot. These are hard decisions but we will not let him live in pain and we will not consider the alternative. Adoption Day is this Sat. from 11-1 at the Dunwoody Petsmart and Bonnie, Champ, Big Ben, Hart, Zeus, our mixed up puppies Pebbles and BAM BAM and probably Big Earl who is in the middle of heartworm treatment will be in attendance. Thanks for your involvement. John GPRA Update - January 15th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's all good as we had our biggest Adoption Day ever. In addition to our fully recovered parvo puppies, Fraser and Spruce, being adopted by the same family so they can grow up together, Bonnie, Marcia, Courtney, Big Earl, Sabrina, Talon, Scooby and Shaggy are going to outstanding forever homes. In addition, a few more of our Gentle Giants are about to be adopted based on today's meetings. Today I had the chance to step back and marvel at how our passionate volunteers interacted with our beautiful GPs and their prospective new owners. Our second GPRA rescue, Jack, brought his family to visit which was also a treat. We have 6 puppies arriving tomorrow and will be fostered by our first puppy Duke's family. They should be up on the website by Mon. The CBS segment on GPRA will air Jan. 25. 2011 is off to a great start!!! John     GPRA Update - December 16th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Thanks to the volunteers who braved 15 degree temp. on Tues. morning and the 20 of our well behaved Gentle Giants who showed up for a CBS segment on GPRA that will air after the holidays. See attached as it was a blast - a cold blast!!! We will be live tomorrow morning on Fox 5 on Good Morning Atlanta around 9:45 where Korrine and Shaggy will be our stars. Our GPRA donation Holiday cards came out great so if you need a meaningful last minute gift, contact our info. on our website. We have Adoption Day this Sat. from 11-1 at the Petsmart in Dunwoody and expect to have 9 or 10 of our GPs present. We have surpassed 100 rescues now and have a number of our dogs at PetLodge and Man's Best Friend so we really need new fosters, even if temporary. We should have 1 or 2 adorable GP puppies coming onto the website in the next day or two. Thank you for making our first almost year such a success. It's been an honor and a lot of fun working with so many passionate people who truly love our unique breed. Have a great Holiday Season. John Dear Great Pyrenees Friends, We hit 100 this week!!! On Feb. 4th 2010 our first GP, Sam, was adopted. This week we will rescue Samantha, # 100. We expected to save about 30 of these Gentle Giants our first year. Well thanks to so many of our extraordinary volunteers, we've saved 100 in 10 months!!! (see attached article from the front page of this Sunday's Gainsville Times lifestyle section). Our mission has never been about volume but has been about the quality and respect we provide to our GPs, the shelters or families they come from and most importantly, the forever families they go to. We have been fortunate to have exceptional fosters and it has been bittersweet losing so many of our fosters who become adopters after they experience the Gentle Giant breed. We have experienced so many successes together - from old Rudy with his double hip surgery in Ala. after being hit by a car, to Cody with his massive kidney stone who went from barely walking to prancing, to our 3 mange puppies that were nurtured by Kelly into the handsome and confident GPs they are today, to the famous Peter and Paul enjoying their spoiled lives with the loving sisters in the cloistered monastery, to the puppy Faith who survived and is now flourishing from her serious neck injury and now to the emaciated Korrine who is at full weight and thriving. We have taken many of the worst cases and more heartworm positive GPs than I care to remember. We just recieved a $9,000 bill from one of our vets that has treated a large number of our HW+ GPs and two of the three we just took in from the Gwinnett shelter on Mon. are HW+. Please consider GPRA as one of your charities as you do your yearend planning. From just Lisle and me in the beginning, we now have almost 200 on this distribution. We have come a long way quickly and I am most proud of how our volunteers have conducted themselves - a combination of professionalism and compassion. We have had a number of small fundraisers and are hoping to have a GPRA sponsored 5K in the fall but our fees and a handful of generous donors can't offset the vet bills we incur. Please consider a $25 donation to GPRA to help us offset some of our costs. If you can do more, it will help compensate for those who can't. WHITE OUT CBS and Better Morning Atlanta host Tracye Hutchens are planning to shoot a segment on GPRA on Dec. 14 at 9:30 AM at Brook Run dog park in Dunwoody. Lori will provide specifics but all of our past and present GPs are invited to attend and we are hoping to have 50 of our GPs featured in the segment so save the date and plan to get to work late so you and your Gentle Giant can be on TV!!!. Adoption Day is this Sat. at the Dunwoody Petsmart from 11-1. Korrine, Snuffy, Betty, Alfred, Talon, Emily, Buddy and maybe the Gwinnett 3, Blizzard, Shaggy and Daphne will be there. Also, Jonna, the unique puppy that my family has been fostering. She is about 6 months old and is smart , playful and a perfect miniature GP. She has duclaws and we think she has Border Collie in her as she weighs about 35 lbs. and is just incredible.
From Sam to Samantha, it's already been an incredible Journey!!! Thank you from our dedicated Board who I am forever indebted to. GPRA Update - November 1st Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Another active week and it's all good. We have fantastic volunteers that made it possible for Promise, Aiden, Beluga, Tara, Archie, Maggie, and Jasper to find forever homes. We rescued Bosco, Dakota and Jonna on Fri. which puts us into the 90s since Feb. Two of our outstanding volunteers went above and beyond to rescue Bosco and Dakota who was to be euthenized tomorrow. I am fostering Jonna who we think is part Border Collie as she is a beautiful miniature GP that I'm afraid will never leave our home!!! Korine was at Adoption Day on Sat. and she is doing really well and is the gentlest of all gentle giants. Lori and Susan E. made our GPRA nite at the Gwinnett Gladiators game a huge success. We have already scheduled the next one for April 1. We have a GP adoption day festival this Sat. from 2-5 at E. Coweta Animal Clinic where we will have 10 of our GPs available for adoption or fostering. Specifics are in the newsletter. If you want to be active as a volunteer and we haven't engaged you, please contact Susan Edwards and we will get you involved. John GPRA Update - October 3rd Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,It's all good!!! We had a terrific Adoption Day last week and our next one is this Sat. Oct. 9 at Perimeter Petsmart from 11-1pm and then again on Sat. Oct. 30, same time and place. Linda P. is orchestrating a GP festival with 10 of our available GPs on Sat. Nov. 6 from 2-5 in conjunction with E. Coweta animal clinic south of Atlanta. Lori will provide specifics and this should be a blast. We can't thank Kelly Beedle enough for the job she has done with our mange puppies Scout, Griffen and Ranger. Check out the website and see the transformation of Ranger, our puppy still available. In the last couple of weeks we have found forever homes for Scout, Griffen,Marley, Riley, Daisy,Moby, Molly and Faith, Gus and Lilly's fosters have indicated they plan to adopt!!! Rebound is a 9 month old GP whose owner lived alone and passed away. Rebound stood guard over his owner for 2 days until he found his way out of the house and brought back help. We are flying Rebound to a fantastic new family on 10 acres with horses in the state of Washington next week. We are planning a 5K run in April which will get ALL of you involved and will extend our rapidly growing GPRA brand and also will be a lot of fun. We also have GPRA night at the Gwinnett Gladiators hockey game on Fri. night Oct. 22 - ask Lori about tickets. Thanks to those that attended the BBQ last night as we have a passionate group that have made it posssible to rescue 84 Gentle Giants in less than 8 months as we have just added Hudson, Talon, Archie and Trooper over the weekend. Thanks again for your involvement. John GPRA Update - September 13th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,Thanks to the many volunteers who are contributing, we have more foster families than ever before. We also have more gentle giants available for adoption than ever before - 23 with more arriving this week. Thanks to Kelly's dedication to the three pups with mange, they are now all better and Scout is flying to his new forever home on Tues. We also have the best looking and healthiest (other than the 5 HW+ we have just taken ) GPs since we started in late Jan., but unless we can get more adoptions and fosters, we will be forced to turn away GPs that desparately need rescue. If you have one GP, please consider fostering another. Dave and Linda are perfect examples of a one GP family that have had outstanding experiences with Snow, Pete and now Moby. Our next Adoption Day is on Sept. 25 at the Dunwoody Petsmart from 11-1 and we will have plenty of our GPs raring to go.
Please respond to Lori's evite for the 5-7PM BBQ on Sat. Oct 2 at my home. The GPRA Board of Directors and Jenkins and Journey would love to meet you!!! John GPRA Update - August 22nd Dear Great Pyrenees Friends,A big week for GPRA. Pete, Marley, Heidi, Coda and Landon have been adopted into GREAT families. If you recall, Landon was barely alive when we rescued him and Linda P. nurtured him back to health and into the beautiful GP he is today. We had a successful Adoption Day yesterday as, in addition to placing our gentle giants into forever homes, we have added a number of new fosters. Most impressive though, were our volunteers. We have enthusiastic, compassionate and committed members who have helped us rescue 65 GPs since our first adoption in early Feb. of this year. We have 4 to 5 more GPs arriving early this week - 2 from Ala. - so new fosters are critical. We are working on a fund raiser, hopefully in the fall, that we think will also further raise our visibility and promote the GPRA brand. Please mark your calendars for 5:00 Sat. Oct. 2 for a BBQ at my home, rain date Sun. Oct. 3 - details to follow. Thank you for supporting GPRA and if you have not yet, please get involved. John
Dear GPRA Volunteers and Supporters, I hope you are all enjoying your summer! Many of you may know that we are planning our first official Adoption Day for our GP Orphans. We are scheduled to be at the Perimeter Petsmart from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday, June 19th. The address is 128 Perimeter Center West Atlanta, GA 30346 770-481-0043. We are still in need of fosters - and as such, we have several dogs at Pet Lodge. The following dogs are there, and will require transporters & handlers for the day: Boomer, Everest, Murphee, Rocky & Roy. Transportation would include both pick-up from PetLodge by 10 am, and transport back after the Adoption Day has concluded. Even if you can only taxi one-way, please let me know. We will also need many volunteers on hand to help assure the day goes smoothly. If you are available to help during this time, please let me or Susan Edwards (edwards5648@bellsouth.net) know as soon as possible so we can plan ahead. We are very excited to have this opportunity to show these beautiful dogs to the public, and hope to have a successful day - don't forget to spread the word! Hope to see you there! Jen Greenberg Director - Foster Team Great Pyrenees Rescue of Atlanta 678-296-1440 (C) GPRA Update - May 28th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends, Happy Memorial Day Weekend. We just rescued four beautiful 8 week old pure bred white fluff balls from Ala.that arrive here in the morning. Two girls, Liberty and Honor, and two boys, Patriot and Freedom. We will put them on our website early next week after they are vetted. Pls. spread the news to those who may be interested. We also will be taking in a mother and daughter that are vetted and ready to be fostered or adopted on Tues. - mother Renee is about a year and a half and Willow is about 3 months. Pictures will be on the website shortly. That's 9 GPs this week so far and a record for us. Thanks again to those who have so quickly stepped up, especially Linda.
John GPRA Update - May 26th Dear Great Pyrenees Friends, We rescued three GPs today, all heartworm +, two were to be euthenized tomorrow and one, Landon, is being checked for mange and requires immediate heartworm treatment. He is number 30 rescued in less than 4 months, many of which have been hard cases. Thank you to the many volunteers who have played roles in saving our Gentle Giants. As importantly, we've found wonderful homes that are terrific fits for our GP families. Our recent success stories are truly heartwarming. Rudy continues to flourish with Linda from his double hip surgery, George(Bob) has found a loving home, Beau(severe skin infection) was adopted in one weekend by a great guy, my Cody(kidney stone) was adopted by a fantastic family this past weekend and Bonnie and Clyde(see website) are living in Nirvana with a new forever family that includes horses, goats, geese and a lab. Jen sent out an update on the group of males we now have available and I am surprised Noah, Rocky and Zeus have not been snapped up as they are really good GPs. We will need to raise special funds for Landon. Congratulations to Lori Imhof who, with many of our volunteers, made our booth at Woofstock exceptional. We have had outstanding media coverage including the recent CBS segment as our GP Brand continues to grow. We have the coolest black GP logo tee shirts that are selling for $20 a pop and worth every penny. Let Lori know how many you want. Thank you again and please get involved. Many of those that have are finding it not only rewarding but fun.
John May 11th, 2010 GPRA Update - May 2nd Dear GP Friends, On Monday evening we completed one of our best successes. After seeing the front page article on GPRA in the Gwinnett paper, the Mother Superior of a cloistered Monastery with 15 nuns in Snellville on 27 fenced acres contacted us enquiring about adopting 2 male GPs. Serendipitiously, the next day 2 brothers showed up at a Huntsville Ala. kill shelter. We appropriately named them Peter and Paul and sent Mari (no joke) on the full day round trip drive to rescue them. You've seen the pictures on our website - they were not in good shape as Peter needed operations on both eyes and Paul required an operation as well. Thanks to the help of multiple volunteers, Peter and Paul have recuperated and were heaven sent to the sisters Monday night where all rejoiced (see photos below). Rudy is safe and recuperating, Casper's improvement with his foster is like night and day, Maggie is a sweetheart and ready to go, Blizzard is being adopted and I am fostering Cody who is a fantastic GP. We just saved a puppy, Avalanche, that may already have a forever home by Tues. CBS channel 46 did a segment on GPRA this week and we will advise when it will air. Please join us Sat. May 15 at Woofstock sponsered by Star 94 - Lori will provide details. GPRA tee shirts are on the way. Thanks for your involvement.
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