Photo Gallery & Brag Book

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.

December 2009:
Nilla Molly Macy Delilah Jake Perkins Maggie Dillon Max Daisy Sherman Julianne Golda Jackson Toby Daiquiri Bradley Jude

Update 12/03/2009

From: JUDY

Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 3:16 PM

Subject: Nilla

I just adopted Nilla (formally known as Jacqueline 09-191) after a two week foster. She is being treated for kennel cough and the meds were getting her down, but in a few weeks, this little girl is going to be right at home with me, Maggie (my Chocolate Lab), and three cats (Gizmo, Sam, and Zooey). I've attached a couple of pics. .
Thanks,

Judy

Molly (09-011) is a delightful lady and completes our home. Currently, she’s in the Statesman photo contest, but as far as we’re concerned, she is already #1. Molly is a love and welcomes any other Goldens who visit us as we provide respite. She has a calming aura and reassuring spirit which makes our guests, great and small, feel right at home. Molly loves to retrieve her ball and when not chasing it, she is carrying it around in hopes of inspiring a good game of fetch. We’ve had our RV since August, and camping with Molly is an adventure. She understands what loading up the RV means and is the first to crawl into the truck “ready to roll.” Molly understands camping involves water and swimming, more water and more swimming—and when she isn’t in the water, wondering just why not! She's a great hiker and ready to climb any “mountain” we are trying to conquer. In fact, I'm thinking without her barreling ahead, we'd be even farther behind. While she may be an “older Golden,” you'd have a hard time convincing her she is. What is so nice about Molly is her instinctive nature and how she understands the needs of her family. She tolerates a new puppy, a half-grown kitten, a bossy Pomeranian, and two Golden siblings with the dignity which befits her maturity. We love Molly and she’s a blessing to our lives.

When we met Macey (09-045)for the first time, she happily came to us and lifted her paw for a handshake. We knew right then that she was our forever dog! She had just completed heartworm treatment and needed to take it easy while she built her strength back up. That was 4 months ago, and she is doing great! She enjoys running with us, playing with her tennis ball, and socializing! She is also a fantastic camping companion— we went to the Big Bend area at Thanksgiving and she was the consummate outdoorsy dog on her first camping trip! We are also happy to report that she & Misu, our 10-year-old cat, get along just fine. (Macey is also a better mouse-catcher than our cat, apparently!) We plan to do therapy training with her so that we can take her to hospitals and nursing homes, since she has the sweetest, gentlest way with people, especially little ones. She is an amazing snuggler too—one of my favorite things about our girl! She is simply the perfect dog for us, and we love her dearly. People say that she is a lucky dog to be with us, but I think that we are the lucky ones. The joy that she brings to us is priceless. Thank you, GRR, for rescuing Macey and bringing her into our lives! We are happy to be her forever family!

Attached is a photo of Delilah (09-103 now named Kacey). She is on the right in the photo (with the ball) and the blonde is her new sister, Hannah. When we brought her home, the dogs were instantly in love. They wrestle inside and outside all day long. We don't know what her previous life was like, because she was a little shy with us humans for a few days, but she got over that in a week or so. She is VERY affectionate now!

Attached is a photo of Jake (09-128). We adopted Jake on November 11th and he has truly enriched our lives. He is sweet, smart and at times pretty goofy. He loves his walks, thinks his is job to herd the neighborhood deer and to keep the squirrels out of the back yard. He loves his stuffed animals and loves to play. He eagerly goes in his crate when told to and patiently waits to be let out when we get home. He loves our other dog, a 14 year old mixed breed, and is gentle most of the time. Jake's manners are unbelievable given the challenges he faced earlier in his life. His favorite thing is to be brushed. He will freeze for as long as you brush him. Jake's first night of obedience training starts next week and we are sure he will do well. We appreciate the time GRR spent in matching us with Jake... we feel he the exact dog we were looking for. We are also very appreciative for Jake's Foster Parents while he underwent his Heartworm treatment. We will keep you posted. Thanks for everything.

We adopted our second GRR dog, Perkins (09-084), in July of '09 (our first GRR dog, Carmen, passed away from cancer in late April). Perkins is all boy, all puppy and a ball of love! We cannot imagine our lives without him, and he has only been with us for 6 months! He keeps us laughing, running, and is just a joy. I took him to Capital Area K9 for obedience (he is a BIT strong willed), and he was the star of the class. He is everything we could ever want in a dog, and has added so much to our hearts and home. We thank GRR from the bottom of our hearts for all that they do for all of the dogs, and for bringing us Perkins.

PS..wish I had gotten a picture of him when it snowed yesterday-he was leaping into the air and trying to bite the snowflakes!!

Miss Maggie (09-068) is loving life these days! She just can't be out in the middle of everything enough! With the cooler weather she and Chloe are really frisky and enjoy playing outside and going for walks. She is always hungry and loves mealtime and now knows when and where to wait for a treat. She has lots of energy and I think she is making up for lost time in her first 4 years

Dillon (09-051) was adopted in May. He has adjusted beautifully to our family and is such a wonderful addition. He is full of puppy energy and loves playing with other dogs! He has absolutely no problems getting around on his 3 legs and keeps up with the big dogs quite nicely. In fact, he runs very fast and if you are chasing him, good luck catching him! We are very grateful to GRR for matching us with Dillon!

In June 2009, I lost my Golden Retriever to a terminal illness. "Blue" had been in my family for over 13 years. Naturally, we were all devastated at the loss. Our other dog "Cali" (a black lab mix) also seemed to seemed to be depressed and listless from the loss of her buddy. I started looking online for a dog to adopt, thinking this would be the best solution to help us move on. While searching, I discovered Gold Ribbon Rescue. This turned out to be a fabulous discovery! I kept coming back to the site daily to read the stories of the dogs and look at the wonderful photos. It truly lifted my spirits to see so many wonderful Goldens! I ultimately took the plunge, and decided to go through the application process. The process was thorough, painless and quick. Before I knew it, we were called with the prospect of adopting "Max (09-110)." In relatively short order, Max came to the house and it was total love at first sight! He is a big ball of fluffy sunshine that brings out a smile to all that cross his path. On his first trip to the pet store, one of the clerks was so smitten she kept following us aisle to aisle. She kept saying - "Just one more hug and then I'll get back to work." Everyone that meets him wants to give him a hug, hold his face, pat his back or rub his belly! And Cali was quite impressed with her new "man." They immediately bonded and did that dog wrestle thing everyday. Max had a special way of signaling Cali that he's ready to "play" and it brought happiness and laughter to our family to see the courtship unfold. In true Golden fashion, Max is also a tennis ball junkie. He has learned to gently push the ball to us when he's ready to play. It's his own version of table tennis. He thinks he's quite clever, I'm sure. He has brought so much joy it's hard to measure it and describe it adequately.

Incredibly and sadly however I lost Cali suddenly last month. And although this loss is just as hard to swallow as Blue's - Max has been a true healer. Sometimes it does seem that things happen for a reason, Max came into my life at just the right time. It would have been incredibly difficult to go through this second loss without him. There are times he just looks at me as if to say "It will be okay" (now to help you feel better throw me the ball!) He is my angel...

#09-083 Ruby Bella, success

Daisy (Ruby Bella) is doing beautifully! She came to us as a nervous, timid girl who didn't know how to play and has blossomed into a gorgeous, confident, energetic playmate for our boys. She loves to run, wrestle, fetch, and jump on the trampoline with the boys. She spends time with my students who have autism at school and is such a gentle soul with them. She has learned commands, a few tricks, and how to walk on her leash. We love our Daisy!

Thanks, Kelley & Doug

Sherman really thinks he is human. He sleeps in bed with me like a person and even uses the pillow. And to this day, he still doesn't bark. He is truly my best friend, and as my mom says, my main squeeze.

I have attached a few pics because I couldn't decide which one to use.

Thanks,
Jana

#09-021 Julianne

After talking with you yesterday and thinking back upon all the joy Jessie has brought to our life, it's going to difficult for me to keep a description of her to a brief paragraph, but I'll try!

Jessie came to us in February as our first foster dog for GRR. She was found abandoned at the dump, so we had no history for her—other than that we knew she was very social with people and dogs. She came into our home, hearts and life with that wonderful “Golden spirit” and a huge willingness to please. She really did want to chase the outside cats, but quickly learned they were part of the family and exercised all her self-control. Jessie was instantly a buddy to our Toby boy dog and a great caretaker of our little deaf Pomeranian - what a sweetheart. It's no wonder we quickly adopted her into her forever home—everyone who visits here falls in love with Jessie. On our grandson's first visit she quickly proved she was a fun and playful companion to children. By the time it was summer, we had bought her a swimming pool which she willingly shared with our grandson.

“Jessie Girlfriend” constantly entertains us, keeps Toby and Teddy (our newest foster) energized with her running games—we call her the Emmitt Smith of Golden Retrievers. She can catch any throw, run zig-zag patterns, avoids all tackles and can stop on a dime, sit-up and shake you hand!

I hope you are able to use the below photo. Bailey is such a sweet girl but she is not fond of having her picture taken! You have to surprise her because making her pose usually doesn’t work well!

She has been the perfect addition. I cannot tell you how many times I thank God when I watch her with both children. She is loving and affectionate with both of them and there are no worries for us. She has done so well in the house, she doesn’t require crating as long as you keep the kids’ stuffed animals and balls as well as any food out of reach!

I didn’t realize Marisa had added a sucker to the present she wrapped for Riley and the other day I heard some crunching under the tree. Sure enough, Bailey was helping herself to the sucker!

On August 6, 2009, #09-122 Jackson joined our family as a foster whom we hoped to adopt. Jackson is the typical wild child year-old goofy pup. He came to us with no manners and lots of bad habits. Jackson gets on the trampoline, chews the back porch railing, jumps on people, pulls like a train on the leash, swallows toys whole, and steals food from the counters and little children’s hands. He is BAD. But we love him. You know why? Because we see the potential in him. We know that one day with lots of love and even more training this wild man dog we have nicknamed “Galumpus” will mature into a wonderful, calm dog. About two weeks before we brought Jackson home, we lost our first Golden, Ben, to liver cancer, and unbeknownst to us, we were preparing to lose our three-legged 13-year-old wonder, #04-026 Miss Heidi, that very same day. Bryan and I both swear she took one look at wild man Jackson and said, “That is it, people. I am too old and tired for such nonsense!” Those two dogs were older, calmer, and beautifully mannered, but they had also been bad pups in their day. Bringing a young Golden into your family is lots of work, but the ultimate reward makes it well worth all the effort. I know that one day we will be sending in an update (in two to four years!) about how calm and wonderfully mannered Jackson is. Until then, I am off to pry some Christmas ornaments out of his mouth as my kids are yelling “Jackson is eating Christmas!” Happy Holidays!

Toby is our wonderful 2 year old rescue Golden from GRR. When we first got him we found that he probably hadn’t been very socialized, as he was very skittish and nervous in new situations. He’s getting over that with patience and a lot of help from our older Golden, MacKenzie, who hasn’t found a situation he can’t handle!

We had hoped to get a younger dog for MacKenzie who had been alone for several years and was starting to slow down. Toby has done a wonderful job re-energizing MacKenzie, and we have frequent doggy wrestling matches and games of chase through the back yard. Toby has been a great addition to the family and a great new “little brother” for MacKenzie!

We thank all of the GRR volunteers who helped make Toby's adoption into our family go so smoothly!!!!!!

#09-033 Daiquiri, success

I talked it over with Daiq (now Dax) and she would be very pleased to be featured as a GRR February Success as long as the photo spread is “tasty.” (I think she meant “tasteful.”) See of this bio works for your GR Reviews...

Dax's favorite pastime is playing ball. She loves to jump and catch balls. She will carry two balls in her mouth and will chase balls till she is totally exhausted. Dax can clear the fish pond in our yard by about 3 feet and catch fly balls, grounders or bouncers with no problems. Attached is a photo of her amazing hang time as she comes down with a high ball.

The latest story: We were over in Houston for Thanksgiving. My daughter's home backs up on a green belt so I run the dogs there every morning and evening. Dax loves to go crashing through the underbrush like she is a super hunting dog with her nose on the ground picking up all sorts of wild scents. But the day before Thanksgiving, she came out of the brush rolling and rubbing her face. She found a black and white "kitty" that did not behave like her other kitties. Yep, we wound up with a skunky smelling dog, smelly house (for Thanksgiving dinner) and a smelly car for the long ride home to Austin. Even now, when she gets wet, she still smells of skunk. And that's after multiple tomato juice and hydrogen peroxide baths and Febreze air freshener.

Gosh we love this dog!

I am happy to report that Bailey (Bradley), GRR #09-117, is doing very well. He has put on a little much-needed weight and, thanks to good homemade food, has lost most of his "horsehair" coat. We have learned that he loves to chase a ball, play with other dogs (especially puppies), and hang out on the couch watching for evil squirrels.

In the enclosed photo we think he was missing his new sister, who was in the hospital after eating something unimaginable. I'm guessing that he needed a hug so he climbed into this too-small chair to wait for us to come home with her. I'm only partly kidding—he has never before shown any interest in getting into that chair!