We are deeply saddened to share the news of our 2021 Alumnus Archie's passing. Archie, who entered foster care with us in August 2021 after a brief stay in another foster home, bravely battled heartworms and health challenges during his time with us. In 2022, he found his forever home, kept his forever name, Archie, and what an adventure-filled life he led from then on.

Archie's spirit knew no bounds as he traveled across four states, scaled the 1500-foot incline of the South River Falls Trail in Virginia, and enjoyed a peaceful week at Tuckerberry Farm, hanging with horses. He embraced every mode of travel, from boats to Priuses, and even rode shotgun in a truck and a BMW. His charismatic presence made him a beloved showcase foster dog at the SEWE festival not once, but twice.

Archie's heartwarming personality endeared him to everyone he met. He never encountered a friendly face he didn't love, and he had a special respect for our feline friends. His talents were as diverse as his adventures; from mastering the doggie door to showcasing his food-balancing skills on command, Archie charmed us all.

Though our hearts ache with his absence, we are forever grateful for the joy and love Archie brought into our lives. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all who cared for Archie along his journey, especially during his final days. Rest easy, dear Archie—you will always hold a cherished place in our hearts.
 
“The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.” – Thornton Wilder

We said goodbye recently to our 2021 Alumnus Peppers. His family sent us a beautiful tribute…
 
“This sweet of the sweetest boys came into our life after being lovingly fostered by Sharon and Andy, who we considered his godparents. We were so blessed that they picked us to adopt this special boy.   Peppers was the 6th GSP we’ve had and the third rescue. He was 5 and so very anxious when we got him which showed up in nervous zoomies. He wasn’t scared, just unsure, and like he didn’t want to disappoint his new family. We told him over and over we are your forever mom and dad, don’t worry Peppers, we’re never going to let you go.   
 
Over the years he got used to the routine of my husband and me – and found deep love, stability and predictability in his days. What he gave us is beyond words, but brings loving images – of how he curled up on my lap if I was on the couch, ready to snooze for as long as I’d be there, how he loved to be covered up with his blanket at night and pull his front forepaws to his chin, would sigh, lick his lips, and close his eyes. How he went back to bed in the morning to sleep with my husband and escape his new 10-month-old sister rescue pup who bugged him endlessly. How he’d look in your eyes – directly – with so much love and peace. And how every single day, my husband took Peppers to the dog park to harass the squirrels – he’d run for an hour underneath the trees – and every morning at 11:00 am let my husband know it was time to go to the dog park. He would lay his head on your lap and look up adoringly – pleadingly – politely. He did the same if he wanted to go outside. Always a gentle gesture of connection. He had a very kindly little-old-man energy.   
 
About 6 months ago, the nightly tuck-in ritual had an extra sense coming through me to really really tell him with kisses, petting, sweet talking and tucking in how much I loved him. "I love you sooo much Peppers," I’d say, and he’d sigh and close his eyes. Every night this message came through me with such energy – I just had to tell him. Every night. It felt like my heart would burst with this love for him. At the same time, he was telling me something: Hey mom, I’m going to be leaving soon.   
 
He wasn’t sick, he was only 9. His message to me was not clear until the time came when he had to go. Over a month ago, he had some trouble breathing and we took him to the vet – panting and when he wasn’t hot, and kind of wheezing. Nothing was discovered. Three weeks later I started to get a pressure in my heart area, but along with that I felt this deep opening of love – for Peppers and for life itself. It was noticeable and wonderful.   Then a week later he could not get comfortable and kept wanting to go outside. I must have let him out 6 times in the middle of the night and he would just pace the backyard. He would not or could not lay down. Only stand and look forlorn. 
 
In the morning, we took him to the emergency vet and they discovered cardiac hemangiosarcoma. He had blood pooled all around his heart due to the cancer – thus the breathing problem.   Peppers was so full of energy with his old man playfulness.  We both sensed his beautiful spirit was ready to run free. It was okay to let him go. He was suffering.   The vet brought in a pillow so Peppers could finally lay down once they sedated him and I laid down with him and held his beautiful form as he prepared to leave. I closed my eyes and told him how much I loved him – his heart stopped beating and I had a vision of him at the dog park running along the back fence like he did to find squirrels into a brilliant white light. Of course, we cried all the way home and still the tears come.  All the pain of losing Peppers is worth all the love and joy he brought us. That’s the deal, isn’t it? With great love comes great pain – and dog lovers know this – and we will pay up every time.”
 
 
“The comfort of having a friend may be taken away but not that of having had one.” SENECA

Some sad news today… Our 2018 Alumnus, Jack, passed away on Friday morning in his sleep.  His dad Joe sent us this loving tribute…
“Jack was our first GSP after a lifetime of Labs and was the perfect choice for learning about the breed. He settled in quickly and bonded with all of us soon. But he bonded most with me and loved to stay close to me.
He loved his treats (generally anything we were eating) playing fetch until exhausted, multiple walks per day and sticking to his routine time to go, cooling off in the pool during our long hot summers here, his favorite spot on the couch and protecting us from the neighborhood squirrels or if the UPS truck drove past. He especially loved car rides and was always ready to go and even more so if we were going to the dog park where he would be singularly focused on retrieving his tennis ball. He would get so excited and start whining as he recognized the route. 

I am heartbroken he is gone because he was so attached to me and was simply the most loyal dog. He would mope when I traveled for work and when I worked from home, he stayed on his dog bed in my office to be near me. I think because it took him some time to learn to trust others, once he did, he just bonded with me like no other dog I have known. He helped me in so many ways as various changes in life came along. But he was always there, ready for an adventure and could always sense just what was needed to be the loyal and true friend. He was so much more than a dog. He really was a family member. 
Thank you for choosing us to be his family and we did everything we could to make every day his best day. We probably spoiled him and catered to him more than some would think we should, but I wouldn’t change one thing.”

We are so very sad to announce that our 2021 Alumna, Trixie, has left for the Rainbow Bridge.  Her mom Bonnie posted this beautiful tribute:

"Today I am sad for me but feeling at peace for Trixie. She was awarded these titles by me, I deemed her GCH Winterwood's Foster Fail MH, as she was all of these accolades in her heart and spirit, she was her previous owner’s hunting partner. We rescued Trixie almost 5 years ago, (she was 9) and made an easy decision after only 2 weeks that she would remain here at Dal Riada for the rest of her life. Trixie was such a sweet GSP, never any trouble and you barely knew she was around. On her daily walkabouts, she would check out the entire property, I would catch her flirting with the young handsome Winterwood boys even as recently as Christmas. This morning, she told me she was ready. She had been suffering the past year from liver failure and more recently a thyroid mass. Her attitude and her heart were whole, but her body had failed her, and I promised her a peaceful transition and it was. Forever in our hearts sweet girl."


“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They speak more eloquently than 10,000 tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and unspeakable love.”
—Washington Irving  ​

We are very sad to announce that our 2021 Alumna, Zoe, has passed away.  Her family, the Hamptons, sent us this beautiful tribute to her… 
“We are saddened to share that our sweet Zoe quietly passed over the rainbow bridge on January 21st, 2025. Zoe came to the SEGSP rescue in 2021 via a kind Samaritan who found her advertised as a “submissive” dog. We suspect she would have ended up a bait dog for dog fighting if our good Samaritan had not stepped in. The SEGSP asked us to foster her until she found her forever home, but it became apparent after a few days that she found it with us. Her soulful eyes and gentle nature made her a foster fail and we are grateful every day she joined our pack.
 
Zoe bloomed into a loving family member, often accompanied us to the local coffee shop, Saturday morning hikes and shopping trips. She was my shadow. Although she never liked thunderstorms, she loved car rides, stuffed toys, playing with her siblings Jagger and Lexie, and at 75 pounds, thought she was a lap dog! She was an excellent hole digger, possum spotter and rabbit hunter.​

Zoe began to have seizures over the past year, and we knew her time with us was limited. The last few weeks of her life were spent laying in the sun and having special homemade dog food. On the night she passed; her human brother Lucas stayed by her side into the wee hours of the morning. We know she did not want to leave us or cause us any pain. Her love for us allowed her to slip her earthly bonds just after Lucas went to bed and cross the rainbow bridge.

She left a dog shaped hole in our daily lives but the same size memories in our hearts
forever.”

“It’s not so much what we have in life, but who we have in our lives that matters.” Unknown

With immense sadness, we’re sharing that our 2019 alumnus Lucas (formerly Lucious, aka Spinner) has passed away. He was blessed to be adopted by the infamous Parson family (aka Parson Posse) and we share their Jan. 24th tribute to Lucas…
“I shared last week that Lucas’s mast cell cancer had come back with a vengeance. At that time, we thought he might have a month but unfortunately this was the most aggressive tumor I’ve ever seen. By last evening the largest tumor had grown to the size of a small melon in the span of 10 days. The wonderful photographer Bill Reaves had reached out to me about doing a photo shoot with my dogs and we scheduled it for yesterday before we knew it would be Lucas’s last day. Ever since the recurrence of his MCT on Jan 13 we had been taking Lucas on daily walkies that he loved, went for pup cups, cheeseburgers, and chicken tenders and on his last day he had a professional photo shoot. 
Lucas was his usual energetic self yesterday spinning and eating like a champ. Matt and I left at 5:30 to grab a quick dinner and when we got back we knew something was really wrong. Lucas couldn’t sit or lay down, he was shaking, breathing hard, the tumor had grown even more and his gums were white and cold. I was texting with our amazing vet Dr Jackie Price Carter and we wanted to wait til this morning but Jackie said don’t let him struggle. Matt and I sat with Lucas and talked it over and knew it was cruel to let him suffer overnight so we loaded him up and headed to VEG. As usual we were welcomed by the incredible team at VEG who showed us and Lucas such kindness and compassion. They even fixed Lucas a forbidden foods charcuterie board complete with two chocolate chip cookies. Lucas passed so quickly and so peacefully with us talking to him and loving on him the whole time. 
As always, thank you to Southeast GSP Rescue for entrusting me with such special babies. Lukey joined the family in Aug, 2020 at age 10 and had a lot of anxiety issues as his prior life had been terribly unkind but we found what worked for Bukey and did everything we could to give him golden years that were safe and loved and happy. Thank you also to his foster mom, Debbie. You will be missed terribly Lukey Bukey! ”

We start the week off with very sad news… Our 2016 Alumna, Bailee, passed away unexpectedly from an inoperable liver tumor.  She lived a beautiful life with the DeRocher family, and her mom sent us this touching tribute to Bailee:

“Our hearts are broken!  We unexpectedly lost our sweet, crazy, Bailee, shortly before Christmas due to liver cancer. 

She came into the rescue 9 years ago as a bonded pair with Sophie (brown GSP).  We fell in love with both of them immediately and knew they could never be separated, nor would they ever leave our home and we became foster failures.  She loved to hunt in the backyard and would spend hours searching the pool and filters for frogs.  One of her favorite things was to roll the ball in the pool, bark at it until she got it or someone else did and do it all over again.  She loved to tear open her Christmas presents and destroy the toys.  But most of all she loved everyone and everything.  She was a typical Velcro GSP who could never be close enough to you. 

Run free my Sweet Girl! and get all those froggies and butterflies.  We miss you!”

“The two hardest things to say in life are hello for the first time and goodbye for the last.”   Moira Rogers  ​