We regret to inform you all that our most beloved German Shepherd and Belgian Tervuren mix Rapunzel died on Tuesday June 9 2026, at approximately 5:00PM.
This is by far one of the hardest things we've ever had to deal with because she was only 11 years old, and still full of life. Our first two German Shepherds, Ginger and Cleopatra, had lived full lives of 12.5 years prior to their passing, though sadly our third GSD Pepper died early at 8 years due to kidney failure. All of those dogs however were taken down by obvious major medical problems, so there was no doubt as to when it was their times to go. Rapunzel however died of a combination of perianal fistulas, megacolon, and spinal apathy due to spinal bone spurs. This made losing Rapunzel perhaps the toughest one of all as she still had a great appetite and a beautiful zest for life, however she was in constant pain and could no longer eliminate satisfactorily. Her loss has torn another giant hole in our hearts!
Rapunzel as we understand it was found abandoned on the streets in San Mateo County suffering from nose and ear infections, matted fur, and malnourished. She was then taken to the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA in San Mateo where she was treated for her health issues and spayed, though unknown to the people there she was very dog reactive, completely unsocialized, and suffered with severe separation and noise anxieties. The short story is that she totally shut down at PHS and just stared at her cage's wall while refusing to eat, so at that point PHS called German Shepherd Rescue of Northern California (GSRNC, https://gsrnc.org), and they came to her rescue.
We had been looking for a GSD locally without any luck after losing our beloved GSD Pepper a few months previously, so when by chance we happened upon Rapunzel at a GRSNC adoption event we were smitten. However, when we first attempted to take her for a walk we found that she immediately turned into a bucking bronco which ended up forcing me to hand her back to her foster mom Allison.
Many people probably would've given up at that point, but I realized this poor dog had some major issues and needed an experienced owner/trainer as otherwise she would've likely been adopted and returned multiple times, which only would have made her anxiety issues worse. So, I made arrangements to visit her in her foster home environment the next day.
Wow, what a difference! Rapunzel in her foster home environment was a totally different dog, fun loving and affectionate while wanting to play with me after I got on the floor at her level in Allison's kitchen. Rapunzel then brought me her toys to play with before we went to the back yard to play fetch and “up and over” an obstacle. OK, I thought yes, we can work with this pup, and since I was soon to be retired I knew I'd have the time available to work with her, so I agreed to foster Rapunzel knowing full well that Linda and I were planning to fail LOL! Finally, Rapunzel as if to seal the deal jumped in my van without any coaxing when it was time for her to head for her new forever home!
“You wanna play with my toys?”
When Rapunzel came to our place she was pretty unsure of everything, us, new surroundings etc, so we gave her access to some food and water and left her to explore on her own. Later we invited her up on the couch and the look of happiness/disbelief on her face was incredible. That broke the ice some, but then even later that night when we went to bed we invited her up on the bed too, and then she was really shocked.
In the wild wolf pack the higher ranking pack members sleep closest to the alpha, so it's good for a dog's psyche to be able to do that. Rapunzel rarely slept on the bed with us all night, though she would always come up at bedtime and tuck us in by cuddling with us for a while, and then again in the morning at breakfast time. Rapunzel preferred to sleep on her second bed out in the living room or in the hall in front of our bedroom, so as to better protect our entire den throughout the night as she was an excellent "Schutzhund" ("Protection Dog").
“I protect my Mom and Dad!”
Punz in flight in her new forever home's big back yard.
We soon found out that Rapunzel's noise anxiety was through the roof when a broom fell over on the other side of the house and she freaked out. I found her outside at the farthest corner of our 1/3 acre lot shaking and peeing on herself underneath a tree. Wow I thought, what would happen if we had a thunder storm? So, we went to work on that by getting her used to noises by gently dropping things around her and rewarding/redirecting her with treats, and playing a lot of guitar for her, while ramping up the volume in all different environments, different rooms, outdoors, in the car etc, and in no time at all she was tolerating just about any noise without a whimper.
As to her separation anxiety, she would always cringe a little when Linda and I left at the same time, but that was it, and she never damaged anything in the house while we were away! She was always thrilled when we got home by greeting us at the door with a wagging tail and kisses (for which she was handsomely rewarded with a treat or two!).
OK, not too bad you say, well the dog reactivity was a tough nut to crack! I believe she was the runt of her litter and thus picked on, plus completely unsocialized by her previous owners, all in addition to her Belgian side's herding instinct being through the roof, so ultimately Rapunzel always figured that the pack needed her protection. Rapunzel also assumed that a good offense was the best defense, so she would aggressively warn other dogs to stay away (though in a defensive posture as she never approached other dogs to start anything, rather she just warned them to stay away from her herd, i.e. Doug, Linda, Ben, and Data).
The way we handled her dog reactivity is amazing as we met our now great friend Ben, who had a 108lb male GSD named Spock who was essentially a tri-paw with torn tendons in one front leg. He could get around but he really couldn't run very well. Spock was a very sweet and gentle dog, so we made arrangements to walk together every day, and after about 6 weeks of walking together Rapunzel finally accepted him so they could play off-leash together, YAY! Spock was the perfect choice to socialize Rapunzel with seeing he couldn't catch her. Once Ben and Spock were considered Rapunzel's pack members then Rapunzel treated them like she treated us, and she somewhat mellowed with regards to other dogs (not all the way, but to a more manageable level). Ultimately one had to have good situational awareness when walking Rapunzel, and be very careful with her off-leash, though she had a few other dog friends such as Echo, Willow, Pink, Barkley, Missy, and Oz who she was mostly ok with, and of course she was always great with children and people. As Punz got older she continued to mellow a lot, but one still had to be careful with her, so thank you Ben and Spock, we couldn't have done it without you!
So, this brings us to the second love of Rapunzel's life, a 100lb male GSD named Data whom she met after Spock passed. The story of Punz and Data is simply amazing given Punz's pronounced dog reactivity!
I asked our friend Joan at GSRNC for a young large male GSD for Ben and she recommended Diego, a 100lb mostly black pure GSD from eastern European stock, so we went down to meet him at Cooperhaus K9. Diego was being fostered in a crate there due to a lack of available foster homes at the time. We brought the still dog reactive Rapunzel as well, and she waited at the door of the large training area while Ben went in to first meet Diego while he was in an obedience class with many other large GSD K9 candidates. It appeared to me that all of these dogs were around100lbs plus (Rapunzel was only around 62lbs).
OK, here's where the amazing stuff starts as Ben bends down to greet Diego and Diego reaches up and gave Ben a great big kiss! Great I thought, so next we bring Rapunzel in while they were doing a drill where one dog at a time walks around and through the large circle of huge GSD's, which the normally quite vocal and reactive Rapunzel did quite quietly and well behaved while no doubt thinking to herself “though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil!”
Next, we take Data out to start a walk around the block to see how the dogs would get on together. While I was fully expecting Rapunzel to act out to some degree with a dog that's not Spock that didn't happen, but what did happen next was simply amazing! Ben had left his hat in the car so we stop by the car to pick it up, and as soon as the door opens Diego hops in the car and says “let's get out of here!” Well, sadly we couldn't run off with him yet, so we started our walk and amazingly enough Rapunzel pulled up next to Diego like they had known each other forever, and they clicked just like that!
Well that settled things for Ben and Rapunzel, though sadly we had to leave Diego there for an additional day and a half due to the adoption paperwork not being available that day, but soon we were headed back to adopt Diego and bring him to his new forever home. Next, Ben a huge Star Trek fan, decided to rename Diego to “Data” in honor of his previous GSD Spock. OK, so after picking up Data for his ride to his new forever home, Ben and Data waited at a local park while I picked up Rapunzel from home, and then the two GSD's took to hunting squirrels like they'd known each other all their lives! So the adoption story ends at that beautiful moment, the moment the “Dynamic Duo” was born!
These are the only two dogs that Rapunzel fully trusted and accepted, Spock and Data, and I believe she accepted Data so quickly because she was already bonded to Ben (plus of course the fact that Data is just the perfect GSD in all facets!).
The Dynamic Duo, Rapunzel and Data
Rapunzel was a mix of German Shepherd and Belgian Shepherd (Belgian Tervuren), and as such she was able to go from Level 1 to Level 10 in an instant when we were preparing to go beyond the threshold of the vaunted “front door”. As we were getting dressed and ready she'd get excited and cling to us while we got ready, then when it was time to go she'd start dancing near the door turning circles and jumping up and down in excitement. We're guessing that she rarely got to go out into the world during the early stages of her life, and she kept the above trait right up to the end, even when she was very sick.
“Are you ready yet Dad?”
Data and Rapunzel actually caught three squirrels during their time hunting, the first being a tiny baby who fell out of a giant redwood tree and was laying in the ivy at it's base. Data first noticed something and sniffed it, then Rapunzel licked it, and when we looked it was an infant squirrel that hadn't even opened it's eyes yet! Not wanting to disturb it we called PHS and they told us to leave it there for an hour and a half, and if the mother doesn't come down for it then get it warm and call them to pick it up. So, we went to Peet's for some coffee and when we returned it was still there, so we carefully moved it into a small cardboard box, then moved the box into the sun to warm the baby up. Amazingly the little squirrel started to crawl around a bit. and soon animal control picked it up to be raised and released.
Baby squirrel in the ivy under a giant redwood tree.
Baby squirrel now placed in a box in the sun to warm up.
Next, Data caught a squirrel with an already broken leg because it couldn't climb, and he gently picked it up and put it down without leaving a mark, and then the squirrel crawled away unscathed. That squirrel was near any number of trees, and if healthy it easily could have avoided Data, but Data showed mercy as he's a gentle giant at heart.
Data, the gentle giant!
Last, Rapunzel found another baby squirrel who had fallen out of a tree, though this one was older and bigger than the first one. Punz gave it a sniff, then as we started to walk away we were amazed as that little baby squirrel started to follow Rapunzel. After noticing the baby squirrel following her Punz looked at me with a concerned look on her face, as this isn't supposed to happen this way! Squirrels are not supposed to chase GSD's, GSD's are supposed to chase squirrels! I guess the little squirrel thought Punz was her mommy (wow, what big teeth you have mommy!). We then left running while hoping the little critter made it back to it's nest ok. It was gone when we returned later that day so hopefully it found it's way home rather than ending up prey?
Rapunzel on the hunt (squirrel at the base of of the big tree, upper right)!
OK, there it is, three squirrels caught, none hurt, and an infinite number of squirrels chased over the years (which helps keeps them in shape!).
Oh yeah, I almost forgot! One time Data and Punz were standing around in an open area about 35 yards wide, both off-leash, when all of a sudden a squirrel comes running from one side of the area to the other at full speed right between Data and Punz. who of course took off after it even though none of us could believe what was happening? Anyway, the squirrel made it to safety through the fence on the other side of the open area just in time as the two GSD's were closing fast! We guess that the foolish/brave/stupid squirrel probably had a bet going with his buddies that he could pass through the valley of death running between two off-leash GSD's, which he succeeded in doing! I wonder what he won with his death defying feat? Maybe he got nuts for a year, an upgraded nest in a better tree, or perhaps a hot squirrel babe? Man, that was crazy!
"Wow, that crazy squirrel was fast!"
(The area the squirrel ran through is in the upper left background)
Rapunzel got to visit her foster mom at her foster home a few years back and that was an amazing experience. As we drove into Allison's San Francisco neighborhood Punz jumped into the passenger seat and stuck her head out the window to take in the familiar smells. When we parked and I let her out on a flex leash she immediately went up her old front steps, and then we rang the door bell.
This part is funny because when Allison opened the front door Punz immediately ran right past her and up the stairs to look for her old friend the cat, who spent a lot of time in a upstairs bedroom. Sadly though that cat had passed away, so finally Punz comes back down stairs to give lots of love to her foster mom Allison. We had a nice visit, played some ball in the back yard where Allison had taught her to “up and over” a back yard feature (Air Punz!), and it was great seeing Allison again away from a GSRNC event where she's usually very busy. Thank you for everything Aunt Allison!
“That's my foster mom Allison, me, and my dad”
Rapunzel was the second of our GSD's to NOT get skunked, WOO HOO!
"GO" was one of Rapunzel's favorite words (along with food, hungry, treat, love, etc.). We always had a routine to perform when it was getting time to "GO" somewhere. We had to say either "yes, yes, yes, you can go", which garnered a wonderfully happy reaction with Rapunzel running to the front door and joyfully dancing by spinning circles, OR..., the dreaded "no, you're going to have to stay", which earned us the ears back completely depressed treatment, where she'd lose all that happiness and just lay down and stare at us like we had just crushed the life spirit right out of her.
She always wanted to go with either of us as she just loved to ride in the car or take a walk. I've always believed that "going" is very important to dogs. They measure their status in some ways by accompanying their pack members (their people) on the trip/hunt. With wolves, the highest ranking pack members head out on the hunt while the lower ranking ones stay with the pups and guard the den. I truly believe that dogs that get to routinely accompany their people on trips etc have a better sense of self-esteem (no matter how short), and just to be sure Rapunzel always went just about everywhere with us.
Rapunzel hadn't spent much time in cars, but she took to traveling like a pro immediately. She required no extra training in this regard, perfect from day one!
A Bond Made In Heaven With My People
My
Dad and I at the park.
Holding paws with my hot boyfriend at Peet's!
That's Data's Dad Ben with Data and I, and a huge thank you to Ben, Spock, and Data for being my best friends!
Punz
When tomorrow starts without me and I'm not there
to see;
The sun will rise and find your eyes, all filled with
tears for me.
I wish so much you wouldn't cry, the way you did
today,
Remembering how I'd lay my head, In your lap that special
way.
I know how much you love me, as much as I love you.
And
each time that you think of me, I know you'll miss me too.
But
when tomorrow starts without me, please try to understand,
That an
angel came and called my name, and petted me with her hand.
She
said my place was ready in Heaven far above,
And that I'd have to
leave behind all those I dearly love.
But, as I turned to heel
away, a tear fell from my eye,
For all my life I never thought,
that I would have to die.
I had so much to live for, so many sits
and downs to do,
It seemed almost impossible, that I was leaving
you.
I thought about our lives together, I know you must be sad,
I
thought of all the love we shared, and all the fun we had.
Remember
how I'd nudge your hand, and poke you with my nose?
The frisbee I
would gladly chase, the bad guy, I'd "bark and hold".
If
I could relive yesterday, just even for awhile,
I'd wag my tail
and kiss you, just so I could see you smile.
But then I fully
realized, that this could never be;
For emptiness and memories,
will take the place of me.
And when I thought of treats and toys,
I might miss come tomorrow,
I thought of you and when I did, my
dog-heart filled with sorrow.
But then I walked through Heaven's
gate, and felt so much at home;
As God looked down and smiled at
me, from His beautiful golden throne.
He said, "This is
eternity, And now we welcome you,
Today your life on earth is
past, But here it starts anew.
I promise no tomorrow, but today
will always last;
For you see, each day’s the same day,
there's no longing for the past.
Now you have been so faithful, so
trusting, loyal and true;
Though there were times you did things,
you knew you shouldn't do.
But good dogs are forgiven, and now at
last you're free;
So won't you sit here by my side, and wait right
here with me?"
So when tomorrow starts without me, don't
think we're far apart.
For every time you think of me, I'm right
there, in your heart.
If any of you haven't experienced the pure unconditional love that can exist between man and dog, then we strongly urge you to do so. It is one of the purest and most fulfilling relationships that can be had on this Earth, and that's how it has been since the dawn of human history.
