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