About Us
Our mission is to promote and encourage the use of German Shepherd Dogs in all aspects of search and rescue. This mission is accomplished through education, research, standards and training. http://gssarda-il.org/our-mission#sthash.rMhEdJ8n.dpuf
In addition, we provide information to assist handlers in hopes we can air in their success in:
- sport activities with your dog,
- giving your dog a long, healthy, comfortable life
- search and rescue
- positively promoting activities people can enjoy with their German Shepherds
- promoting German Shepherds for the loving and important member of the family that they can be
- supporting ethical breeders working to improve the breed
Our ages range from 20 to 70 plus years old. Some of “us” are enjoying our first German Shepherds. Some of “us” have been raised by German Shepherds and couldn’t imagine a life without them. The search teams are not novices. You are reaping the benefit of decades of SAR work with German Shepherds. Our focus is wilderness and recovery searching. We understand and have experience in urban search and rescue (disaster work) but our team’s forte is deep wilderness. Membership on the team is by invitation only. Since we don’t know every handler in the world, if you would like to join our ranks, please contact us and we will discuss it.
None of “us” are being paid. If you would like to make a donation, it would be appreciated. We are a recognized 501c3 in the United States of America. If you file a long form with the IRS, the donation is tax deductible. Every single penny you contribute will go to training the team and funding searches. No salaries will be paid by your donation. It costs about $10,000 to field a deep wilderness team for a week. It costs about $1,000 to provide annual training sites. What is not covered by donations comes out of the individual team members pockets.
We would like to be a resource to German Shepherd owners everywhere without an agenda of getting something back for what we give. Everything on this website is given freely and to the best of our knowledge and abilities is accurate and truthful. Links are to places we have found useful. In many cases these are commercial enterprises who will sell items or trainings. We have linked to them because we have found them helpful. We do not receive any portion of the sales and the link is not a carte blanche endorsement. In other words, use your own best judgment as to what is the best thing for your dog.
If you would like to contribute articles or written materials or videos we will be more than happy to review them. If we feel they are in keeping with our purpose and goals we will post them with full credit to you. Please no dog fighting or abused animal videos, we want to sleep without nightmares from what was submitted. We retain the right to accept or reject a submission without cause.
We applaud those who adopt rescued German Shepherds, and any pet for that matter. We promote the use of well bred, pure bred German Shepherds for the wonderful contributions they make to our lives and our society. While we understand and agree that outstanding individual performance can come from any breed of canine, this website is dedicated to the joy of having a German Shepherd.
