Having both grown up with shepherds Tamar and her husband Ryan always wanted a shepherd puppy but knew they needed to wait until they had purchased a home with an adequate yard for a dog of that size. In October of 2017, after enjoying their first home for almost a year, and after being spammed with rescue pup photos and links by an animal-loving friend (we all have one of those, am I right?!), they decided to start browsing for a new family member. Tamar began at the Gateway Pet Guardians’ website and were surprised to find that there were quite a few shepherd mix puppies available for adoption.
Knowing that they had some busy weeks ahead of them, Tamar and Ryan decided to hold off for a while before filling anything out. By the time they returned to the site, there was only one shepherd mix puppy left. A sweet eyed baby named Aphelion, from the Eclipse puppy litter. They didn’t want to lose their chance, so they immediately applied to adopt him. He was made an official member of the family in just four days. They named him Archer.
Within a few months, Tamar and Ryan realized that there weren’t enough walks in the day to wear out their very high energy pup! Ha! So, once he made some solid progress on his training, they considered adopting a second young dog as a companion for Archer. The “consideration” didn’t last long. While on vacation in February, a sweet wrinkly face showed up on Tamar’s Instagram timeline. He was being featured on GPG’s page and had recently been returned from his first adoption. Tamar says, “Our hearts broke for him and we couldn’t help but remember that face! Once we returned home, my husband asked me to check and see if the returned dog had found a home yet.”
“When I finally came across his photo [on the website], I noticed that he was listed under the name Lunar, and my heart stopped. I instantly knew that he had to be our Archer’s [biological] brother. The same age, a familiar face, another Eclipse puppy. There was no question. The decision was made and we, again, applied immediately,” Tamar shares.
Though there was some concern with littermate syndrome, their time apart since being rescued proved to be beneficial. In March, after a few play dates, Tamar and Ryan were able to give him too, a forever home. His name is now Coach, and boy is he LOVED!