Stray and Expecting: How Trudy’s Journey Reached California GSP Rescue

A small GSP Mix was found walking down a rural mountain road, where the hum of an occasional passing car's tires was swallowed by the vast openness. The shelter calls asking for help. They say she is pregnant, alone, and about to give birth. How do you answer?

For California GSP Rescue, the answer was simple: you say yes.

Even when it’s inconvenient. Even when resources are stretched. Even when you’re not sure how everything will come together.

That’s how Trudy, a petite and impossibly sweet German Shorthaired Pointer mix, came into our lives.

The call came in urgently: a tiny female GSP mix had been picked up wandering the road, ready to whelp at any moment. The shelter was remote, adoptions were rare, and transports even rarer. Volunteers messaged each other nonstop, trying to coordinate help. But before a plan could be finalized, Trudy went into labor inside the shelter.

She delivered her puppies as other stray dogs barked in the background.

With the window of a medical waiver closed, Trudy had to remain at the shelter for several days in case anyone came to claim her. No one did.

After her hold was up, volunteer transporters Ray and Irene met shelter volunteer Darin to bring Trudy and her puppies to safety. Despite everything she’d been through, she greeted them with gentle eyes and a careful wag. Small, delicate, and nervous around strangers—but full of love. A devoted mother. A sweet young dog herself.

Today, Trudy is healthy, weaned from her puppies, and available for adoption. She’s playful, affectionate, and joyful with people and dogs. While not yet available, we’re also accepting applications for her puppies.

Her journey is a reminder of why rescue matters—and why saying yes matters even more.

See her first tentative tail-wag.
Watch the full video of Trudy’s rescue here.

If you felt a connection to Trudy, imagine how life-changing it could be to welcome her—or a dog like her—home. Your support helps us continue saving German Shorthaired Pointers and GSP mixes in need.