Sunny is everything his name implies.  He has a beautiful golden grin, happy smiling eyes and a personality that lights up the room.  One minute he’s a tender, gentle soul nuzzling for attention, and then next he’s an exuberant playful GR nudging you for a game of fetch or a walk.  Don't let his beautiful "white mask" fool you, this boy is young, happy and carefree.

            At age 3½, Sunny’s owners decided they didn’t have enough time for him anymore.  He had been in the backyard most of his life and they felt it wasn’t fair to him any longer.  When he came to GRR, he was an easy foster and quickly endeared himself to all who met this “sunny” personality that loved everyone.   

            A few days into Foster care, a limp was noticed.  A check of the medical records- nothing noted previously about problems with his hips.  “Maybe he just strained it…” we hoped.  A week later the limp was still there and signs of fatigue were also noted.  Sunny tired out easily and was not as active as his foster brother and sister.   He definitely had the desire to romp and play, he just couldn’t do it for very long.  A trip to the vet was in order...  

X-rays were taken and our worst fear confirmed:  Sunny had bad, symptomatic canine hip dysplasia (CHD).  He showed significant arthritic changes and joint degeneration in his left hip; the only good news was that the right hip was healthy.    Many GR’s have Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD) on x-ray finding but most never show any clinical signs or symptoms – it does not affect their daily activities or quality of life.  Most do quite well throughout their lives and the CHD manifests itself as “arthritis” in their senior years.   In Sunny’s case, he has bad x-rays along with the clinical signs and symptoms.

The prognosis was good for Sunny, but bad news for GRR financially.  The recommendation was a surgical fix to make him pain free and return his quality of life.   Sunny has only one bad hip, which is very unusual.  Normally dogs with genetic CHD have evidence of the disease in both hips.  Was Sunny injured at some point in his life to cause this?  There was nothing obvious on the x-ray but there is no way to know for sure.   

As Sunny was examined, we realized how wonderful he truly is.  As the vet gently manipulated and examined his hip and leg, he whimpered in pain.  He clearly hurt but the amazing thing was as he whimpered in pain, he licked his foster Mom’s face & hand.  It never occurred to him to move, snarl or even growl at the vet.  He just tried to comfort Mom who was stroking his head – guess he thought she was hurting too and wanted to comfort her to make her feel better!  At that moment, we realized this dog was too special to put to sleep.  Somehow we had to find the money to help him.

Sunny's Guardian Angel was working overtime and sent a message to his very special human angels.  They graciously donated the entire amount of his surgery!  Sunny had a total hip replacement the end of May and is doing wonderful.  

Sunny is ready for his new forever home.  He is crate trained, housebroken, great with kids and other dogs.  He will have activity limitations until the end of August.  He will make a full recovery and be better than new with his new hip.  

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