ADOPTED

Tucker...

February 8, 2006:

We were lucky enough to be chosen to adopt Tucker, aka 05-94. Following is our success story (It's kinda long and drawn out, but as I started typing I couldn't stop). If you need me to shorten it, please let me know, or if you want to edit it, please feel free:

On Sept 15, 2005, we lost our beloved soon to be 4 year old, Golden Retriever Max, to cancer. It was especially hard on me as we were extremely close (he even slept in our bed on my side). We got Max as a puppy 1 week before Christmas in 2001. Someone was selling Goldens on the side of the road and he was the last one left. My husband happened to drive by and saw him, paid the $100.00, brought him home and it was love at first sight. Our extended family has always had Goldens and we were thrilled to have him as he was our first. As it usually happens, my son SWORE to take the puppy out, feed him every day...etc. Anyway, we all know how that works out. So, Max and I went to obedience training at Rob Cary, and for months we had a date every night at 2 am to go potty. The rest is history...he and I bonded and he was officially named "Mommy's Doggie", and he totally lived up to his name.

To make a long story short, Max started acting lethargic on a Sunday...we took him to Dr. R, our vet on Monday. He went downhill from there...and after extensive tests to determine what was wrong, and an Internal Specialist that also had no clue as to what was wrong, we had to put him down less than 48 hours after the first symptoms. He went into heart failure before we could determine what was wrong. His doctors were stumped and so assisted us in getting a necropsy from TX A&M which came back with the diagnosis of hermangiosarcoma. This is a very fast acting cancer that usually attacks the pancreas first, THEN the heart. In Max's case, it showed no signs, and went straight to his heart. It all happened so fast that it seemed almost like a dream. I was traumatized so much that even I was surprised at the extent of my grief. I had such an emptiness that I truly felt like I needed another dog to help me heal, as all my love for Max had no outlet anymore.

I ran across the GRR website one day while searching for a breeder for a new puppy. At once we knew that this was we needed....we couldn't save Max so we wanted to save another Golden in need.

We were so impressed with your site, the dogs, the adoption process (I loved the fact that you would not give the dogs to just "anyone") that we knew this was the right thing to do. We were lucky enough to adopt Tucker and met some of your fabulous volunteers along the way...Nancy, who did our phone interview, Mike Chamberlain, who did our house visit, Cam Snyder, Tucker's wonderful Foster Dad, and Margo, our adoption coordinator.  Everyone was just great and others that deserve credit but I cannot recall their names.

In comes Tucker (aka "Tucker bug"), and the rest is history! We brought him home October 21, 2005 and the fun never ends! This little guy is soooo loving. Whenever we come home he grins like crazy (I have NEVER seen a dog grin like this one can) and we have to have at least a 10 minute kissing, and cuddling, and petting session before we do anything else. Sometimes I think we should have named him Shadow as he follows me around from room to room. While doing dishes or cooking, he lays right down on my feet and does not move unless I go to a different part of the kitchen and then he lays on my feet again. If your not careful, he will trip you, but we have just learned to walk around him. As I type this he is sprawled across my feet....such a wonderful "foot warmer" :-)

When he first came home, he was very skittish about being picked up or handled, even when we were just getting him in and out of the car, but now he doesn't even flinch! He is too short to get in the car or on the bed yet but he lets you help him without even raising an eyebrow now. He fits in with our 3 year old Dalmatian Zoe, and they are the best of friends! They play bitey head all day and chase squirrels. At night they snuggle on the couch together and when we go to bed they are both on the bed with us. He is growing by leaps and bounds and is becoming quite the handsome boy. Quite the student, he has learned to sit, stay, shake with both hands, high five with both hands, and down. And of course he expects his treat for all these tricks he can do, but more than often a big hug and a belly rub is all he needs. We take him in the Suburban with us whenever we can and loves to look out the window as we drive. He prefers to sit in the front seat so can lean over and sneak kisses from me at the stoplight. He fits in perfectly with our family, has the epitome of the Golden personality, and is adored by all that meet him, and is such a blessing for us. I consider him my own special "healer".

Thanks GRR for entrusting us with Tucker, rest assured he is spoiled, loved, cherished, adored, and living the life all dogs deserve.....and did I say spoiled? Please keep up the wonderful work, you are all truly Golden Angels!

Tracy, Michael, Tyler, Zoe, and Tucker
Schertz, TX
 

Hi again,

Forgive me for sending more pics but I had to show everyone the latest ones I took tonight. I would love to add these to Tucker's success story.

As you all know, Zoe is the Queen of the House, and that has been her position since Max died. The chair in the picture is her THRONE, and she takes that very seriously. No one is allowed to sit in her chair unless she is sharing it with us. Well, tonight Tucker decides that HE is going to sit in the throne....Zoe is not happy about that so she climbs up in the chair with him and at the same time is trying to nudge him out. Tucker doesn't budge, so she gives up and shares her throne with him (see how she is laying ON TOP of him?).......is that love or what?

The other pic is after Zoe successfully shoves him out of her throne. He then shares the couch with Tyler while he surfs....can you get more comfortable??

Thanks for letting me share....not everyone appreciates life with our four legged friends like you guys do!


Tracy
 

His story when he was available for adoption...

 Hi, I'm Tucker! You can see my siblings Sassy and Jazz up on the GRR website, too, and everyone agrees that we make a pretty cute set of puppies. But, just between you and me, I think I'm the smartest. I've been working really hard on this house training thing, walking on a leash, and sitting for treats and taking them gently. I know my name and come when called, although I do get distracted by things along the way—I AM still a puppy, after all.

Looks like I’ll grow up to be a big, handsome Golden. Some feathering is already starting to come in on my front legs.

I play tug-of-war with my big sister Bonnie, and we romp in the backyard & play “bitey-head” and other fun games. Recently, she's shown me how to chase frogs and race around in search of our arch enemies, the squirrels, who always seem to elude us. I went visiting a week or so ago and played with the dogs at that house, too. One of them was a big black Lab, also named Tucker, and when we got going at bitey-head he could fit nearly my whole head in his mouth! I wasn’t scared, though, and we all had a great time.

There's an indoor cat here, too, and although I've done my best to get him to play, he puffs up and bats at me with his paws. What a grouch! We could have a lot of fun, as he's just about my size and yellow like a Golden, but for some reason he just doesn't want to wrestle with me. Oh well, his loss!

I sleep through the night in my crate and stay there when my foster family is out of the house or occupied with some of their business stuff. I'd love to help them with record keeping, as I'm a first-class paper shredder, but they give me stuffed toys instead. Chewing on bones is another one of my favorite pastimes. Right now I seem to think that anything on the floor is fair game, but we're working on that, too. How was I supposed to know that parading through the house with the toilet brush in front of company wouldn't be appreciated?

I'm a pretty energetic guy and will need someone with lots of patience to get me through my puppy phase. My ideal family will be able to spend lots of time with me—training, walking, playing, and scratching my ears. I'm ready, so let’s get going!


 

View Pictures Here