Back in March of 2011, my boyfriend Ryan and I were walking a trail in a Forest Preserve. Out of nowhere, came a black German Shepherd. He was roaming and clearly lost. He came by us, sniffed us and sat right in front of Ryan. We were both stunned. He was gorgeous – but had no tags, collar, nothing. He kept following and we’d ask people along the trail if this was their dog – everyone said no. Well we couldn’t let this guy be away from his family (if he had one) so after our walk was over we brought the Shepherd to our truck. He jumped right in. He was the friendliest dog and didn’t want to hurt a fly. He was clearly out there in the forest for a while as he was very skinny. We had a lunch packed for after our walk so instead we gave the dog our Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and water. He was in heaven. We wanted nothing more then to bring his dog home but we knew what we had to do. We drove him over to the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, IL which is the local shelter. We wanted to see if he had a chip in him and a home who was missing him. He was chipped to a breeder who was no longer in business so they couldn’t get a hold of anyone. We had to leave him for 2 weeks to see if he got claimed. Ryan and I visited him every single day for those 2 weeks and eager awaited bringing him home. Finally we got the call that we could officially adopt him. We rushed to the shelter that evening on March 16th to take our Gunner home. He was 10 months at the time and now is 3.5 years old and a terrific dog. He is loving, caring, kind, protective, and wants nothing more then to be loved. German Shepherds are the best and we were so lucky to have found and rescued Gunner!