He adopted a dog that no one else wanted; it ended up saving his life CNN They say a dog is a man’s best friend. For one New Jersey man, his rescue dog has become much more than that. Sadie, a 100-pound German Shepherd, had been turned away by three shelters by the time she arrived at the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge in Oakland, New Jersey, in early 2020. Sadie was very anxious and especially uneasy around men. “Our shelter is kind of the last resort place for unwanted dogs,” RBARI Executive Director Megan Brinster told CNN. “We’ve gotten really good at finding homes for these kinds of dogs.