Support Stella's Journey to a Safe Home

Hi, my name Erik Karlsson and I'm raising funds to send my dog Stella to a board and training for 2 months then have an amazing friend house Stella until I can take her home in 8 months.

The backstory. My girlfriend, Mel, has been following animal shelters and rescues on Instagram for a few months now. She has the biggest heart and loves dogs beyond belief. So, every night she would see dogs that were being euthanized because they had not been adopted for a long time which broke her heart. She has been begging and pleading to me if we could rescue a dog. I had been adamant that I didn't think it was a good idea right now because we live in a 2 bedroom apartment with a roommate and we already have 2 small dogs.

Finally, Mel was able to convince our roommate and myself to let her rescue a German Shepherd, Barbara. She got in touch with the rescue and shelter but she had been picked up that day. This made Mel really sad because she felt like this dog's spirit was calling out to her.

Seeing that Mel was feeling down we decided to visit the OC Animal Care and look at dogs because there were a lot of German Shepherds there and that is what Mel wanted. We saw 7 or 8 dogs but there was only 1 dog there that stood out to us, and that was Stella.

When we first met Stella in the meeting cage we bonded immediately. It was as if our souls spoke and knew that we were supposed to meet. She immediately came up to me and melted into my arms. Stella acknowledged Mel but was daddy’s girl right there and then. My emotional support dog, Bella, passed away last year at the age of 15 1/2 which broke me inside...I think Stella picked up on this and had similar feelings.

We picked her up an hour later and took her home.

About Stella.

Stella had been abandoned at some point then picked up by the shelter within the last year. She got adopted in February but was returned the same day because she supposedly growled at the mother. We also believe she may have been abused because she has resource guarding issues and does not like people towering over her or being in her space when she doesn’t know the person.

We were unprepared for how to best decompress a German Shepherd after being at a shelter.

Stella exhibited some aggression problems towards my girlfriend. Stella nipped at Mel twice, nothing serious, minor cuts on the skin but could have been bad due to Mel having Ehler-Danlos Syndrome. We were almost ready to return her because Mel was not sure if she was comfortable working through Stella’s issues and training. We decided to not give up on Stella and signed her up for training and the next few days went well.

Then, our roommate came home a day later from a business trip and was taken aback by the fact we adopted a dog from the shelter because he had only agreed to Barbara. He was willing to meet her and not make any judgments.

This did not go well.

She nipped at him once when he walked by her and growled at him the following morning when he was walking into his room. That day he said he did not feel safe with her in the house and would feel uncomfortable bringing friends over while she was there. He demanded that we get rid of Stella.

I was devastated by this but I understood why he felt that way. It’s his home too and he has the right to feel safe. The following morning we made the decision to drop her back off at the shelter. I was heartbroken but had to oblige my roommate.

I cried on the way to the shelter because I felt I was giving up on a soul that just wanted to be loved and had not been given a chance. An hour after dropping her off I could not stop thinking about her, then I started getting texts and calls from my girlfriend and rescuers who said that she will be put down. Since Stella has behavioral issues and had now been surrendered to the shelter twice it was almost guaranteed that she would be euthanized. I refused to let this happen. Mel and I immediately drove back to the shelter to adopt her a second time. Tears were running down my face when I saw her again because I knew she was going to be okay.

I tried to convince my roommate that I could pay for boarding and training to fix her behaviors but he put his foot down and said to get rid of her. Stella had lost his trust and would never be able to gain it back. We spent almost 4 days straight calling rescues, animal fosters, trainers, family, friends, and coworkers to see who could give her a loving home but had no luck. We even had a rescuer say that we should put her down after Stella nipped at the trainer.

We refused to give up and God or a higher being answered our prayers. My coworker, Jessica, agreed to assess her and said she could foster her until we were able to take her back. The only problem is that Jessica boards dogs and would be at capacity for the next month or so. However, she suggested that if we got Stella boarded and trained for 6 weeks by a trainer she recommended then she would be able to take Stella because she would have room by the time she is done.

That brings us to right now. Our plan is to have her boarded and trained for 6 weeks then have Jessica watch her until our lease expires. Mel and I plan on getting our own place with no roommate and have Stella come back home with us.

We have 2 weeks to get the funds together then get Stella to Texas for boarding. The board and training costs 5k for 6 weeks, then our friend is willing to watch her for free.

Our finances aren’t the best at the moment so I have been planning on selling my music equipment (guitar and dj rig) to help pay for this. Someone suggested that I start a GoFundMe because they wanted to help give Stella a loving family with my girlfriend and I.

All that is being asked for is the cost for boarding and training in Texas and nothing else.

If by any chance there is extra funds they will go towards Jessica because she will watch Stella until we can get her. Anything beyond that will be donated to German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County.

I know that this a lot of effort and work for a dog that I've known for less than 2 weeks but I mean it when I say that her and I bonded. I could not imagine life without her and giving her the warmth of a loving home.