Gazi
Gazi spent his last three years with us. He survived thyroid cancer, almost debilitating arthritis, and had a smile on his face almost every day. Gazi’s joy at just being with his family was infectious. He wanted nothing more than to be loved....and maybe a conveyor belt of treats! Gazi passed away in March 2018 from congestive heart failure. He was loved by all who knew him. It was an honor for our family to give him the retirement he deserved.

Geena (formerly Sheena)

A few weeks ago, Geena (formerly Sheena) gently passed away surrounded by her loving family. She had a heart condition common to Boxers. Until just a few days before passing, she lived a full and happy life with her fur brother, skin sister, and devoted parents. She loved lying under her favorite tree in the backyard in the summer, dozing and listening to the sounds around her, hoping a wayward squirrel or rabbit would enter the yard so she could chase it out. She also loved being curled up inside with her family, playing with toys, and doing Boxer burns. Her fur brother Karl (formerly Keller) was her constant companion and they loved napping together. We miss her and are grateful. ~The Craig Family

Gemma
MNBR Sends our condolences to Mary Murray on the loss of her sweet Gemma. Words from Mary: Gemma was a true wiggle Butt , she wiggled her way right into my heart ❤️. She was a kind gentle dog that made everyone smile with her unique look . The patch on her eye, and her soft demeanor. She walked 3 times daily and met lots of friends on the way both human and four legged. You could not help but smile when she approached you. She was gentle and kind looking for a random pet which always left magical white fibers on everyone and everything , that was part of her super power she left part of herself with you weather a smile or white hair or two. My time with her was way to short but she taught me so much about unconditional love, and brought me so many kind people into my life from everyone at Minnesota Boxer Rescue and all of my neighbors I met because of her and her oversized heart God Speed my precious Gemma till we see each other again and the other side.

Gertrude
Our thoughts are with the Nelson Family on the loss of their sweet Gertrude We were blessed to get Gertie when our grandfather, who had adopted her, past in 2013. She was such an amazing, caring and gentle soul that we were more then happy to give her a home. Little did we know how much she would bless our lives and other. My wife ran a home daycare and she loved all the attention from the kids. She loved visiting with neighbors and was always excited when someone new would come to the house. My daughter's got to spend the last 6 years with her. She made them feel safe at night and always had cuddles for them whenever, they loved her dearly. She was always so excited when we got home. She would stand at the top of the stairs wagging her whole back side for us to come and pet her, or charge down the steps to greet us. She was a big dog and would sometimes knock us over as she turned around to say hi to everybody. It was always funny if somebody got tipped over in her excitement.​ We will miss her dearly for all the love and joy she brought into our lives.

Gibson AKA Gib
MNBR sends our condolences to the Willett Family. Words from the family: Gibson…..ahhhhh, how can I possibly put in to words the magnitude this sweet soul had on our lives??? Our first rescue thru MNBR in 2012, he was a spunky 1 ½ year old that was pulled out of a neglect situation. He was silly, quirky and full of energy. He came to our family as a companion to our then, 4 year old boxer gal Belle. They were a great team….he was the spunk to her sweet, the brash to her gentle….we had the best of both worlds. Gib was an amazing brother to Belle for 5 ½ years until we lost her, tragically, to a cancer tumor that burst. He missed his sister, so we then added a boxer puppy, Molly to the mix. Gibbers was AMAZING with her! He taught her all the rules, the ways to our hearts, especially the looks to give when you might have gotten yourself in trouble!! He was a free spirit – one of a kind for sure! Lots of grunts and groans, snored like a freight train and had an internal clock for mealtime like NO OTHER!! Every person he met fell in love immediately. He charmed them all…even the ones who weren’t “dog people”. He was obsessed with Frisbees and tennis balls. This boy….he was perfect! 2020 was tough on us all, but Gib fought harder than most. He lost an eye in June to acute glaucoma brought on by pressure from a tumor. Then in August, he tore his ACL in his hind leg that required surgery. The old boy celebrated his 10th birthday in November and was on the road to recovery, better than ever!! But a month later, we noticed him starting to slow down and become more lethargic. His naps got longer, his energy faded and we knew that something wasn’t right. So we brought him in to our vet to check him over. Initially, she couldn’t find anything wrong. Vitals were good, he wasn’t showing her any signs of pain or distress…but something told us that we needed to “dig a bit deeper” and run more tests. So after a couple of Xrays and testing his bloodwork, our worst fears were confirmed. We took him to AERC for a second opinion…but our options were so limited and the outcomes were dismal. He had a baseball sized tumor on his liver and his enzymes were through the roof. We could do a CAT scan to see if surgery was an option and if so, we could get another 2 to 3 months with our boy….if we chose to do chemo on top of surgery, maybe 6 to 9 months. Devastated…heartbroken…lost. We were numb trying to process what we were told. So as we conference called with our vet that had loved and tended to our boy for the majority of his life….we knew that we had to do the most selfless thing for this creature that had given us nothing less than everything he had for the past 8 ½ years….we had to let him go. So we picked him up and brought him home. For the next 3 days…he never left our side. We made it our mission to break every rule and give him all the simple pleasures that we could…the last 3 days that this boy spent on this earth would be the best we could give him! There was cheeseburgers and Ice cream for supper and sausage and egg muffins for breakfast. There were car rides and trips to the park. He joined me at work for the day so that he could roam the dealership and make friends with all the customers. And on that last evening, there was a party. There were visitors that stopped by, brought treats and took pictures. One of our sweet friends had a steak and potato dinner delivered to the house just for Gib. We all visited and laughed, shared stories and celebrated this beautiful boy that gave us everything he had. He was able to forget and forgive the first year of his life of neglect and love us so completely….dogs are better than humans in so many ways. And on that last day….Lap of Love came to our home. We took out the blanket that we had made of all the pictures of Belle and Gibson together and laid it in the livingroom in front of the fire. We surrounded Gibson with love and hugs and kisses….promises that we will be reunited with him again one day. We cried tears of joy and of sadness and we held this sweet boy as he left our world. It was the saddest and the sweetest moment I can remember. He forever changed our lives… He was Gib….and he made us better people. We will be forever grateful that this sweet soul rescued us.