A real rescue story, Butter the Golden Lady.

Above, Butter, voted "Most Fetching" at the Golden Retriever Picnic.

 
I promised my readers that when I have a "handkerchief story" to post, I would warn them.    So this is a warning, one "handkerchief story" coming up.  No, make that a "two handkerchief story" coming up.   Bella and I don't understand this weepy eye stuff anyway, we are so happy for Butter we can not understand why anyone would cry. 

What a good time we all had at the Golden Retriever Rescue Picnic.    It was so much fun to run and play with all of our old friends again and meet new friends from the rescue community.    We have lots of photos and many stories about the dogs that we met and the balls that we fetched.    Bella, I and Coraline ran, played and had more fun that we can describe.  Coraline deserves an entire  blog story to detail her wonderful adventures, and the picnic itself deserves a blog of its own.  But this blog has to be about Butter, it was her day in the sun.

Butter was surrendered about noon on Saturday to Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies.   The story that came with her was that she would not bond, she was fat, lazy and she had spent the last year and a half in a small pen, crate or run.  She went from the surrender directly to the vet, then to the party.   At the party she became the instant star of the night.    She is a world class tennis ball fetcher.  She is also a world class lover and snuggler.    She spent the rest of the afternoon and evening making friends with every human and dog at the party, and trying to fetch every ball that was thrown.  She ran so hard that she ended up falling down, as the evening progressed she fell more as she tired from what may be the first activity she has seen in years.  

Our official Golden Retriever vet was at the party and he pointed out that Butter had many signs of a long confinement.   The sores on her front legs are signs that she spent hours in boredom, nothing to do but lick herself and open up sores.  The black scabs on her knees and elbows were from laying on hard concrete for days on end.   Her extra long, thick coat was from being outside in all weather and spending a Colorado winter in the cold and snow.   Our vet pointed out that she was very overweight, had no muscle tone and almost no muscles, so her running from person to person seeking attention and her ball fetching was putting a strain on her body that she had not experienced in a long time.   As she tired out, the ball throwers slowed down and threw the ball only a couple feet in front of her so she could continue to play without wearing herself down and falling more.  Before the evening was done, Butter had her own fan club.  Everyone was petting Butter and tossing her ball for her. 

Above, Butter in "Full Fetch" mode.

Butter did not yet have a place to sleep that night, she had to be assigned to one of several families that were willing to take this lovely lady as a foster.  Since we have an active household and a very large yard, plus three friends to run with, Butter was asked if she wanted to come stay with us while we work on her weight loss and her muscle tone.  She replied with an enthusiastic "Bark".   When we arrived home, we had dinner, then we all went to sleep.   At 10:00 we had to get up and go outside to go potty, then back inside for a long nights rest.    Boy did we all sleep, it was nothing but silence all night long.

Just one more toss.........

Help us welcome 5-6 year old Butter to our rescue family.   She has won our hearts already.   She certainly does not have trouble bonding, she is now the resident Velcro dog.    She woke up this morning, promptly retrieved a tennis ball and began begging for someone to throw it for her.    At our house, fetch before sunrise is frowned upon, but this morning an exception was made.   Fetch in the bedroom is also frowned upon, but she had a work out before anyone was even up.      At least she will be easy to exercise!   We moved the fetch game outside in the early morning light to take some photos and enjoy our new friend.   

Above, Come on, throw it for me.....

Saturday was her day and it truly was "the first day of the rest of her life".   We will be telling you much more about this lady as the days go on.    She will be up for adoption soon, if you want to help us find the perfect home for Butter, stay tuned.

Below is a teaser, one photo of our picnic.   More to come.    Wait till you hear about Coraline's adventures!

We need to add a note that this blog is not part of Golden Retriever Rescue.   Golden Retriever Rescue is careful to never criticise anyone that surrenders a dog to rescue.    The goal of the rescue is to get owners to surrender dogs without any accusations or recriminations.  Please do not fault the rescue for our blog and any statements in the blot that may make the owners uncomfortable or hesitant to surrender.

Mogley G. Retriever