Remington was dropped off at the Heaven Can Wait Animal Shelter a few weeks ago, and has quickly endeared himself to staff.

However, on his vaccination check up last Thursday, the vet noticed a problem with his hip and after consultation with a specialist in Newcastle, it was discovered the best option for surgery would cost up to $11,000.

Heaven Can Wait founder Kate Davies said they would love to pay for the whole operation themselves, but it's just not viable.

"We can contribute a few thousand to it but we can't responsibly spend that much money on one dog," she said.

"That will do a lot of vet work for a lot of other dogs, so we thought being nine months of age we'll put the call out and see if we can raise a substantial amount towards his surgery cost."

Despite having only come into their care recently, Ms Davies admitted she has developed a fondness for the energetic puppy.

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She said aside from some anxiety issues which is common for dogs at shelters, young Remington has a great personality.

"He's lovely, absolutely lovely, he's a typical German shepherd - they're my go-to dog - and he's beautiful," she said.

"He's just a typical nine-month-old puppy and whenever he's with you he's really good ... and with us he's wonderful. He's a really good-natured pup."

Having put the call out on social media last week, the cause has already received a lot of attention with $3000 raised.

There is a GoFundMe page set up, however as it takes up to three months for the money to be released, Ms Davies said the best way to help is to put money straight into the shelter's bank account. Its bank details are on its Facebook page.

Ms Davies also said given the amount of attention Remington is receiving, and his beautiful nature, she expects a lot of enquiries about him following the surgery.

"I think he'd be very popular, German shepherds always are anyway, but with his background I think he'd be even more popular," she said.

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