The Pedigree Foundation has announced the 6-year-old German shepherd as the 2025 Rescue Dog of the Year. The foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by Mars Pet Care, a manufacturer of pedigree foods for dogs.
According to the shelter, the puppy named Relic has arrived at the East Bay SPCA in Oakland, California.
“Our staff knows how big a dog is trying at the shelter, but they know that action support and patience is needed to navigate his transition. “We’ve had a chance,” the shelter said in a news release. “In addition, as a ‘working’ variety, they recognized the possibility of building new skills in the relic and responding to aggressive enhancements. ”
Rick moved to a private setup where he was cared for and trained, but the shelter worked to find a foster parent for him “knowing that he would thrive in a supportive home environment.” .
Nurturing for adoption
Ultimately, the couple, who recently lost their 15-year-old cat, contacted the East Bay SPCA with the intention of raising several pets.
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“The house felt empty without him (the cat), but we weren’t ready to open the house to another pet,” the couple wrote in an essay published on the shelter’s website. “We thought that raising our East Bay SPCA would be a good way to put our pets in the house without committing it full time, allowing us to provide the necessary breaks from the shelter for the right pet. ”
The unnamed couple started by raising their pets for several hours before taking them overnight. When he receives an email from the shelter asking if it is open to nurture the artifacts, his story touches them and they decide to take him with him.
“The Foster Family provided Rick with regular behavioral support, including private training, phone check-in and counseling,” the Pedigree Foundation said.
Under the care of the shelter staff and his foster parents, the artifact blossomed and eventually decided that the house was incomplete without him, and adopted him.
“The relic is a sweetly embraced, loyal, good-natured dog who acts well around the house when we put him on the bed with us,” his parents say in their essay. Ta. “He took up much more space in the house than our cats.
Rick’s parents share that he is now friends with his neighbor’s dog, and the two are walking regularly together.
Relic’s favorite activities include playing with toys, especially chasing balls, lizards and hanging out with his father during weekly guitar jam sessions with friends.
“The artifacts fall asleep on the floor between them as his feet move to the sound of music,” his parents said.
Raising: Important intervention for shelter dogs
After the pedigree emphasized the importance of “raising shelter dogs as an important intervention,” Relic said, “such programs are overwhelmed by the shelter’s ability issues and the length of stay. “Reduce and prevent more dogs from helping them find loving homes.” Raising is also important in preparing for adoption by giving puppies an in-home experience and “improving social, emotional and mental health outside of shelter environments.”
The East SPCA states, “The foundation that provides annual grants to shelters to build and maintain the systems and processes needed to help more dogs become recruited will be $15,000 in August 2023. Relic said he received the grant, a direct beneficiary of the grant and received the professional care that ultimately helped him become adopted, the foundation said.
“The Relic story is one of the powerful shelterpet advocacy made possible through the annual Pedigree Foundation Grant Cycle,” the foundation said.
To celebrate the relic chosen as the 2025 Rescue Dog of the Year, the Pedigree Foundation has created a luxurious dog that looks as if it were a limited edition. Plushie can be purchased at the Dog Rule Store for $25, with a portion of the proceeds helping dogs find a home they love through shelters and rescue grants.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA Today. Contact her at sshafiq @gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.