“Schotzee means sweetheart in German and we couldn’t have picked a more fitting name for this angel of a dog!” –Lynn Rehberger, Schotzee’s adopter.
When Schotzee (formerly Shota) came to our Reno Shelter in April she had severe skin issues, in part due to allergies, but mostly from stress. Being in a shelter is incredibly difficult for animals. Our amazing team works hard to provide the highest quality care to the animals in our shelters, but it is a confusing and stressful environment for homeless pets and many of them struggle while they are here.
Schotzee was one of these cases. When she arrived, her skin condition was so severe she was almost entirely bald, and our Veterinary and Dog Care Teams knew that the only way this sweet girl would be able to make a full recovery was if she were in a calm, loving home. So we immediately set to work finding her a foster home. We put out an ask on our social media channels sharing Schotzee’s story and asking for help. We were very lucky to find her a foster volunteer that was a great fit in less than 24 hours!
Schotzee spent several months in the care of this amazing foster family who provided her with a calm environment and made sure she was fed a healthy, hypo-allergenic diet. Within just a few weeks Schotzee was a new dog! Her coat had grown back in and to everyone’s amazement had beautiful, soft fur and even more amazingly… the sparkle in her eyes had returned! Schotzee’s transformation was nothing short of marvelous and in just a few more weeks, she was ready to be adopted and find her own Forever Home.
“Our beloved cocker spaniel passed away the first part of May and I was having a very hard time with the loneliness. Around the end of June, we started applying for cute, little fluffy pets but were never the first ones to apply to adopt. We started to get discouraged, but deep down we knew, when the right dog for us came along it would happen,” said Lynn, Shotzee’s adopter. It turns out Lynn and Jim Rehberger were waiting for Schotzee.
When the Rehbergers read Schotzee’s story on our website and saw her amazing before and after photos they just had to meet her. They called our Carson City Shelter and arranged a time for Schotzee’s foster family to bring her in to the shelter so they could all meet. “Schotzee was about four times bigger than our last dog – which was a bit more dog than we were planning on! But those eyes! We just couldn’t say no to those sweet eyes and it was obvious that Schotzee was just a sweet, loving, gentle soul.” said Lynn.
It was obvious that Schotzee loved her foster family very much, but the Rehbergers were so impressed when they heard that the reason Schotzee’s foster family were not keeping her, was that they wanted to continue fostering more shelter pets in need to help as many as possible find happy homes. As we say at the shelter, when it comes to fostering, Goodbye is the Goal!
Schotzee loves her new happy life with the Rehbergers. Now that she’s made a full recovery, she enjoys morning walks, lots of belly rubs and regularly receives her favorite treat -vegetables!
“We can’t say enough good things about her foster family. Schotzee had extreme health issues which they carefully tended to, enabling her to become the picture of health she is now. We don’t understand how they could part with her -they are absolute saints and we are so grateful!” –The Rehbergers, Schotzee’s adopters.
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