New Stories Coming Soon!  If you have adopted a dog from us and have a success story, please submit it to us.  Some of the pictures below may get larger by clicking on them.

July 2010 Success Story:

Brick 10-014

Brick is a typical Golden in that he is sweet, loving, and well behaved and has become an important part of our family. Unfortunately, he had to travel a long and treacherous path to get here.  It is evident that he came from a home where he was beaten and treated poorly which likely lead to his flinching when anything long is lifted and contracting heartworms, whipworms and two severe ear infections. Luckily he was able to run away from that situation and GRR was there to take care of him and deliver him to us as our first foster.  Since the day we got Brick he has been on a new journey,  this time to recovery and a living life as a carefree dog.

Heartworms were all I heard when we first got Brick and the concern about his treatment and recovery was on my mind all the time. I soon learned the treatment requires harsh arsenic-based drugs to kill the adult heartworms which did nothing to ease my concern. As we went through the treatment we went to numerous appointments, lived through a heart-wrenching scare and saw dramatic changes to Brick’s coat.  Luckily, today Brick has made it through the treatment and is getting healthier every day.

As he recovers and feels better we have introduced Brick to our pool.  It seems that the true Golden in him has yet to be unleashed as he is very timid about the water and swimming.  However, he is taking it one step at a time, literally! He has gotten to the point where he will stand on the first step and paw at the water from there.  On a couple of occasions, we have enticed him into a short swim with chicken strips (his favorite) as a reward. Since the summer is far from over I am sure he will take to swimming before too long.

When Brick is in the backyard and not swimming he loves to jump onto the outdoor couch and survey the entire yard as he has taken his place as king. When he decides to come into the house he likes to lie down at the window with his head resting on the sill so he can watch over his front yard and see the world go by. All in all he is a pretty good watch dog and is pretty protective (as much as a Golden can be) of his territory. Up to the point as he finds someone in the house then his barks are accompanied by his tail between his legs and running behind me like the other day when the cleaning lady had let herself in and surprised us both.

Brick is also am interpretive artist of sorts which I am hoping will lead to some big money some day.  It started with him getting every one of his toys out and placing them in very specific places around the house.  He doesn’t play with them, just uses them for his masterpieces.  As of late, he has started to incorporate our personal belongs (clothes and shoes mostly) into his art.  I am very flattered.

Brick is quite a dog but, the best thing about Brick is he is a member of our family.  From the beginning Brick was extremely sweet as he will just walk up to you and put his head in your lap, close his eyes and expect you to pet him, well forever I suppose.  It was this sweetness mixed with a little heartworm recovery guilt and his love of sitting on his outdoor throne that led to his being called onto the couch the first time. Since then he was worked his way onto the couch and bed on special occasions that are becoming more and more regular daily.

I think it is evident that Brick’s journey has changed (for the better, I believe) both him and our family. With everything said I believe   a dog’s companionship is unique and personal so it is hard to describe Brick’s impact on us, so I will try and close with my personal feelings. We got Brick a few months after I lost a 13-year-old lab I had literally from his birth (I pulled him out of the placenta). I was worried that the pain of losing him would keep me from wanting another dog. Brick, you have not only helped me moved on but have a place in my heart forever. Thank you.

Drake 10-077

Aside from Dixie, of course, I feel confident in saying that Opie is the finest dog in the world!  He is 57.5 pounds of pure happy happy joy joy love and affection.  I really do feel like he is very happy here indeed, and that we are much happier for his companionship.  He gets a good walk morning and evening and looks forward to meeting the regulars in our neighborhood.  He has found several routes in our backyard that allow him a true all-out run, and he often enjoys simply hauling butt round a circuit of his own making.  Afterwards he can turn relaxing into an art form.  He has a stash of toys and enjoys making a pile of them for admiration.  He also finds any item not nailed down and proudly prances with it to his collection.  Oh, I almost forgot, he is a very gentle dog; he is always cautious with his teeth and front paws, more likely to caress than bite or swipe. I’ve attached a few photos from home.  I wish I had a shot of him flying around the yard, but he comes to us as soon as he sees anyone standing there with a camera.

Oscar -10-044

Oscar (now Odie) is the newest addition to the Miller family, which brings our household to 5 Goldens, all from GRR (see attached family portrait; left to right: Tina, Mojo, Nelli, Odie & Itty). Can you ever have too many Goldens? Odie was renamed in memory of Robb's father "O.D." (Ole Dad) as everyone called him.

Odie is one of those "poster" Goldens. If you see a young Golden on a dog food bag, greeting card, etc.,--that's Odie. He is the cutest little man (as we refer to him). His tail never stops wagging. The minute you look at him,  there it goes and he is forever smiling (what Golden isn't?). He's a very visual dog--he is mesmerized by birds, butterflies, squirrels and TV--yes he enjoys watching TV (especially shows with animals). We believe Odie is quite content with his new pack family.

Whittles -10-026

Whittles came to live with us on Valentine's Day and very soon after we changed his name to Rio. We named him this because he was from the Rio Grande Valley/Brownsville area. He's a beautiful blonde Golden about a year old now and we love him dearly. He came to us a little scrawny, but he's filled out and put on some good muscle now. He has a beautiful coat and enjoys being brushed, but sometimes he tries to eat the brush!

He's a very typically active young male and our little 12-year-old dog, Pip, is somewhat overwhelmed by his playfulness. They co-exist nicely most of the time, until Rio just gets too playful and we have to rescue Pip from him. He gets along well with our cats, but sometimes reverts to chasing them when they run. We have one cat named Hunter who is best pals with Rio. He bumps him and loves to play chase up and down the stairs with him.

He was unfamiliar with, but curious about, our swimming pool and would splash at the water and run around it, but was afraid to get in. Finally we carried him in and over a period of time he realized that Goldens are supposed to love water and now whenever he goes outside he has to take a few laps in the pool .I think we've created a monster! He found out how much fun it is to climb on the pool float with us too and float around the pool.

His main loves are his tennis balls. He loves them so much we've had to outlaw them in the house and allow them only for outside and pool play. We've never seen a dog who likes to retrieve so much! We're glad he has yet to show fear of loud noises such as thunder, fireworks or the vaccuum cleaner. He also makes us laugh at his love for sleeping in the bathtub. Every night he'll start out in our room and then after about 10 minutes, he quietly goes into the bathroom, crawls into the tub and is happy there the rest of the night until he realizes it's time for breakfast.

Rio has been in classes with Cara at Buddy's Chance for reactive behavior towards other dogs. It seems to be working and we're hoping to be able to add to our pack eventually and help GRR by fostering. We think he would eventually benefit from having some Golden pals who are closer to his age and would like to take part in some serious doggie play time with him. He's a fun, beautiful, lovable, goof-ball of a dog and we are so very happy that Rio has become a member of our family.There's never a dull moment with Rio around!

Jesse - #10-074

Attached is a picture of "Jesse" (now named "Rusty") with our kids in the backyard. Rusty is doing extremely well. I still cannot believe how incredibly sweet he is! He's loving our long walks, and he's learning to swim and gaining confidence in the water, enjoying lazy days by the pool with us on weekends, trips to the lake and going to friends' houses with the family. He is a huge hit when we have other families and kids over, which is often! He is doing so well with our older, somewhat anxious, dog and our two cats, it seems he's been here months, not weeks. He's a real pleasure in beginner dog training classes (he and I are both enjoying it very much), and I am already considering taking him all the way through to Canine Good Citizen. Thank you GRR, from all of our family! Best regards, Janay