Update February 23, 2008

Tyson's next heartworm test will be in April. If negative, he will be neutered and ready to go to a forever home in mid April.

If you are not prepared to wait until mid April 2008 to adopt, please do not apply for Tyson.

Tyson is a pound puppy that hoped for a better life when he was pulled from a shelter. However, he was discovered to be heartworm positive on his first exam. He now looks forward to two painful spinal injections and weeks of confinement to undergo heartworm treatment. He is unaltered, so he will have to wait months until he is medically cleared for surgery before he can move into a new loving family and home.

Tyson is a beautiful male that is very obedient, laid back, sweet, and gentle. He has done well with several dogs of different sizes and children. He looks forward to the time when he is completely healthy, neutered and ready to go home. He will require a complete work up, tests, x-rays, treatment and months of care. Then, when he is medically cleared, he can finally be neutered.

Costs will initially be several hundred dollars for treatment and tests, then ongoing until his neuter.

If it is in your heart to sponsor Tyson for his heartworm treatment, donations can be made to cover veterinary costs.

If you are interested in adopting Tyson, though he will be unable to go physically home for months, please let us know and we will discuss the process of visiting and seeing if he is right for your home.

Update February 23, 2008

Tyson's heartworm microfilaria test was negative!! He is now on standard heartworm preventative tablets. The earliest we can test him again for antigen would be the beginning of April. If he is negative that early, he could be ready by mid April to go home. If he is still positive, we will have to retest each month until we finally get a negative result, prior to having his neuter surgery. Thank you for your patience. As soon as this handsome boy is ready, we will let everyone know!

Important Update February 4, 2008

Due to a photo mixup, the photos originally sent to the CIGSDR volunteer webmaster were incorrrectly identified as Tyson. Actually the dog previously pictured was Callie. Visit Callie's petfinder listing. Callie (pictured right) is available for adoption from Serendipity German Shepherd Dog Rescue in St. Louis, MO. We are sorry for any confusion.

Update January 12, 2008

Tyson is going in for his, hopefully, final treatment injection Tuesday and a re-check. At that time, we will have a better idea of his timeline to get better and be ready for adoption.

Tyson is still an intact male and cannot have his neuter surgery until his heart is completely healed and can handle the anesthesia. So we are still looking at several weeks to months until he can be tested and come up negative for heartworms and be cleared for surgical procedures.

Only after he is neutered will he be allowed to go into his new home. We are currently fielding dozens of great applications for Tyson and hope to have a wonderful new home lined up for him as soon as he is ready to go.

If you are currently waiting for an appointment to see Tyson, please be patient. Our appointment times are very few and we have several dogs that are currently ready to go to their potential new homes. Visits for these dogs take priority over visits for Tyson, who won't be ready to go for quite awhile.

Our mission is to get homeless dogs into homes as soon as an appropriate match can be made, so all the dogs have a chance at the wonderful new life they deserve. Please have patience with this process and understand that Tyson isn't the only baby we love and are searching for a home for at this time.

If you have applied for Tyson, but have since found another dog that matches your family, please notify us at so that we can remove you from Tyson's potential homes list. Thank you!

Please fill out an Application if you are interested in adopting or would like more information about this dog. We receive a large number of emails asking if a particular home or situation is appropriate for a dog in our care. To evaluate this, we need you to fill out an application.

If you have questions about adoption fees and what the fees include, these questions will be answered in the Application information before you fill out any information about yourself. Applications will be responded to before any other inquiries.

We do thank you for considering adopting a dog through rescue and believe that by saving the life of a dog you show that you are a compassionate and caring person. Please remember that we are an all-volunteer, foster-based rescue that receives no government funding and functions on proceeds from our adoption fees and private donations. Please respect the time our volunteer's take away from their family to do rescue and fill out an application before contacting us.

If you have small children, please read this first.