Update on Halloween Party and Forever Homes.

The photo above is quite a contrast from when Beth was our foster and just recovering from multiple health problems.    Her new home agrees with her so much she came to the Halloween Party as a bee.    A very busy, buzzing bee.    We were so happy to see that Beth and her family are having fun.    She has three golden sister and they were all there to enjoy the Halloween party together.   What fun to see her again.    What a joy to know that a very sick and miserable dog has become a queen bee.

So much news, so little time.   Last Thursday we took Roxie over to meet a possible new family.   Roxie has a habit of getting grumpy and not sharing toys well.    We took her over to Rescue Central to meet a family that wanted to consider her.     It was love at first sniff.   She really liked the  family and they loved her.    They wanted to consider taking an older golden with them as well, one they could hospice for.    Just then the rescue transport drove in and they delivered the cutest little 8 mo old Golden Retriever puppy you have ever seen.   It was love at first lick.    So it was decided, they would take Roxie and the puppy.   They threw a toy to the puppy, and Roxie turned into her old toy hoarding self and she growled at the puppy and sent him running to hide.    So Roxie growled herself out of a home in the high mountains, on 5 acres, with two streams, no fences between her and the far mountain peaks, daily runs in the forest and nights in front of a fireplace.  A dogs paradise, and she blew it over a toy.   The good news is that an older golden lady found a home where she will be the guide dog to train a puppy, and a puppy found a marvelous forever home in the high Rocky Mountains. 

Early this morning we lined up at the front door to go to the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies Halloween Party.   The photo above shows us all lined up at the door to go.   Even Boo Boo is excited and jumping around.   But Boo Boo can't go.    His legs and ankles are in too much pain to have him going to a party where dogs are running all over and tennis balls are being tossed.    But Boo Boo did not want to stay, he jumped up on the human, the first time that his hind legs have supported him upright, he begged to go.   He whined terrible when we went to the car and he stayed behind the door.  So all four of us got to go to the party.    Below is Boo Boo at the party, he found a spot where he could lie down and keep watch on the madness that was all around him.

We had such a good time at the party, everyone, even Boo Boo was running around.    They kept Boo Boo confined a little, trying to keep him from walking.    Finally a lady came up, asking if she could meet Roxie.    She had come to the party just because she had heard Roxie's story and she felt that Roxie needed a chance in a home where she would be an only dog.    With two young daughters, Roxie decided that it was a pretty good offer.   A big back yard, and lots of hands to pet, they even allowed dogs on their couches and chairs.    Roxie was sold, and shortly she had sold them on the idea of a Dog named Roxie.   Below is Roxie, getting some love from her new mommy.  

We are so happy that Roxie has a new forever home.   We are happy for her and we hope she makes them proud to be Golden Parents.    We will miss Roxie, we were suspicious that Roxie was being hard to get along with on purpose because she wanted to stay with us, but she went with them without looking back.    Yea! Roxie.

While waiting for the costume parade, the treat machines were in operation handing out treats to all the good dogs.   The Pied Piper has nothing on these folks. To the far left you will see Boo Boo sitting, waiting his turn, with his pal Beth in the bee outfit.    Did we mention that Beth is now known as Winky, the house elf?  

Meanwhile, the costume parade was a hit.   Here are a few of the participants.

Above, our cousins went as Roman Chariot dogs.

Above, Moose came as a door stop.   Very fitting for him.    He has to be the worlds luckiest Golden.    He came in terribly overweight, it required many trips to the Official Golden Retriever Vet of the galaxy, Dr. Carpenter.   Moose was there so much and he was such a great lover that they adopted him.   Now he spends his days at the Vet's office, greeting visitors and giving love to anyone that needs it, then at night he gets to go home to constant attention as well.   We marvel that he is not bald, he gets so much attention that his hair should be worn off.

Just before we went home, we went to the nail clipping place.   There they discovered that I had broken a nail very badly, split it deeply.   It needed medical attention.   Luckily the Official Golden Retriever Veterinarian of the Galaxy was in attendance.  He drove down and opened up his office just for me.  Now I have a bandage on my foot and I have some new pain pills till the hurting goes away.   

Mogley G. Retriever

Remembering Nala

We received the nicest e-mail last night.     An anonymous donor donated $100 to Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies (GRRR) as a naming tribute for Nala.    This means that a rescued dog will soon be named Nala, in memory of our great lady.    Thank you very much.    Nala will live on in our hearts, and through another worthy rescued Golden.   

Nala also lives on in our computer, the photo above has been our screen saver for a long time.   Along with the photo of me (Mogley) when I was just a puppy and I was cold, wet, tired and curled up in a beach chair at the annual Golden Retriever Rescue Reunion Picnic and Swim Party. 

Another reader has offered to loan an assistance harness for Boo Boo.   They also have a doggie wheel chair.    Thanks so much, we are still working on getting Boo Boo to accept help.    He still thinks he has to be macho and walk by himself and when his assistance canvass shopping bag goes around him he does not want to walk anymore.   We hope a little more time and he will get the idea.     We may need to take up the offer of a lifting assistance harness, but lets see if the bag works out.  

The Paw Challenged One is trying to take a movie of Boo Boo walking so you can see how much he has to struggle to move.   With his broken legs having healed crooked, it has put sideways pressure on his ankles and they are twisting.   His pain pills and anti-inflammatory pills help, but there is still a lot to hurt in those poor legs.  His struggle does not keep him from being close at all times, he considers being underfoot to be his assigned task in life.   As Boo Boo says, "It takes a big dog to fill a hallway".   He is the most talented speed bump we have ever had grace the living room floor.

Thanks so much to our readers for helping out the rescue cause.  

Mogley G. Retriever

New dogs and old dogs.

Above, a photo of Beth.   So much news, so little time.  The humans have been hogging the computer.    He thinks his new company is more important than dog news.   He says he needs to write presentations for something called Venture Capital.   It is not even good to eat, so we need to get him off that train.  The good news is that he says it is working....

Above photo:  Beth and Roxie, nose to nose before they both moved on to new homes. 

First, at the annual romp in the lake, aka, Golden Retriever Rescue Reunion Picnic,  we had official notice.    Beth, our foster who had such a hard life, is off to a new and much better life.    The couple that picked her up to foster her have failed.    A foster failure is when someone takes in a foster and refuses to give it up.    They failed, they told us not to put Beth up on the "available dogs" list, they told us that they wanted to keep her, they could not even imagine giving her up.    They sent us some very nice photos of Beth, along with a nice update on her, below:  

We have sort of renamed her “Winky, the house elf” – ala Harry Potter – she is our little house elf – and when all four line up to get cookies her bitty self, big eyes and ears sort of sticking out – she looks like a little elf.

She is walking every day, part of our triangle of care – exercise, discipline and affection - excellent with other dogs, our 3, plus the cousins (my sister has 2 chocolate labs and they did a sleepover on Wednesday night); perfect in the car – whether she is riding shotgun or at the feet of passenger or in the back with the rest of the crew; walks great on a leash – and have taken her to Red Stone dog park – off leash park in Highlands Ranch – she has a great time. This morning in the off leash park she ran, which we hadn’t seen before, and really played with us and other dogs. In our backyard she perks up for squirrels –and is doing the “happy dog” roll – flopping on the grass and roll and roll - She is re-establishing her balance in life.

Above is a photo they sent us, showing that she is spoiled rotten, she gets to sleep on the couch.  We are so happy for her.   She had a hard life, and she deserves the wonderful home that she has now.    Thanks for everyone that fosters, and fails!   It shows that you truly care for those dogs that pass though your life.

Meanwhile, we welcomed Roxie back to our home today.    If Roxie is a familiar name, it is because a little over a month ago she came to stay with us for the first time.   She was adopted to a very nice home on August 14th (see our post on August 17th).   She only had to share the house with a smaller and much older dog who had seniority.    Roxie quickly tried to become the boss, taking toys away, taking food and in general terrorizing her room mate.   They tried a behaviour specialist, they tried to separate them, they tried very hard to keep her.   It was a traumatic time because everyone loved Roxie, everyone except the senior dog.    Before Roxie was placed with them, the two were allowed to have some play time together to see if there were conflicts, everything was fine.    But as time went on, Roxie decided to take over and she ended up losing her perfect home.   The family was faced with an impossible choice, keep Roxie and let her bully their senior dog, or let Roxie go.    Roxie is such a wonderful lady that they had grown very attached to her, and she to them.    There were tears and heartaches, but today we took Roxie back.

Roxie arrived here, and immediately tried to take control.   We quickly convinced her she was not head dog.    She remembered everything, she was out the dog doors and back in less than 5 minutes.   But then she growled at Boo Boo when he took his normal place at the paw challenged one's feet.   Boo Boo can hardly walk, so he gets special privileges,  Including the right to lie at the feet of the tall ones.   That was quickly set straight, now time will tell if Roxie can learn to share.    Boo Boo would not take her bullying, and neither Bella or I will.  We will keep a close eye on her and help her learn to play with others.

Meanwhile, Boo Boo is the privileged one in the house.  As the senior dog that can't walk, he gets spoiled rotten.  Boo Boo is so sweet, he is becoming a very special member of the household.   It is hard to fill the spot that Nala had as our senior dog, but Boo Boo is trying.   A foster family asked if they could take him, they wanted to foster an older, well behaved Golden.    They said they wanted someone that they could take on quiet walks around the block.   We replied that Boo Boo did not do walks, he does not do anything beyond the mandatory bathroom trips.  Boo Boo makes an excellent speed bump in the hall way, he is not going to go on quiet walks with anyone.    We feel so sorry for him, he wants to play with us when we run and play, but all he can do is limp along a little, then he has to lie down.   He will pick up a toy and try to invite us to play with him, but he has to do it lying down.  He is on pretty strong pain medications, but his legs are so trashed that nothing can give him much relief.    His broken rear legs did not heal straight some years ago, and with the sideways pressure on his ankles, his ankles are giving out. 

We went looking for a harness that would have a handle on it so the paw challenged ones could lift up his rear end and keep some stress off of his rear ankles.  After shopping and finding how expensive they were,  Mary at GRRR told us what to do.   Take a canvass grocery shopping bag, cut the ends out of it and you have a sling with handles that can go around him and help him walk.    We tried it, and it works, sort of.    He does not like it too much yet, it will take some getting used to before he is comfortable with it.  If we can keep some stress off his ankles, he may have a few more good years, so each walk we can help him take is important.    Meanwhile, he has his place, at the feet of anyone that is sitting in a chair.   At night he insists on climbing the stairs so he can sleep with the family, but he waits till he is sure it is really "good night time" before he goes up the stairs.   If he will just let us help him, it would be so much better.    Time, it just takes time for him to get used to being half carried.

We still miss Nala.   We use her photo as a screen saver on the computer.   She was so special that we still look back on the days that we were allowed to share with Nala as a special gift. 

That is all for now.   Thanks for reading.

Mogley G. Retriever