Foster Friends

My human asked me how many foster Golden's we have taken into our home this year. It is over 10, but it is hard to keep track. Some of our Golden friends have spent less than 24 hours with us before going to a forever home, some spent 3 weeks before they could be placed. If they need medical care or they have a behaviour problem, it takes longer for them to move on with their lives. When Kennel Cough came into the house we had to stop everything until it could be cured.

Here are two of the special friends that we enjoyed this year. The human says that he could have permanently kept any of the foster visitors and each one leaves a wonderful memory behind. Thinking back on our foster siblings, a very special one was Thelma, below.If you remember, Thelma and Louise were made "Honorary Golden's" after they were picked up running free on the desert in New Mexico. We had to get them out of a high kill shelter quickly, so we forged Golden Retriever Certificates for them so they could enter the Golden Retriever Rescue system. We do that for a lot of dogs, that is why GRRR is so special, our volunteers go to a shelter to pick up a Golden and come back with several more dogs because they were on the shelters "short list".

Thelma and Louise were so bonded that to socialize them they were sent to different homes. Thelma was distinctive because she had to test her limits regularly. She would pick up a shoe and look at the human to see if she was going to get yelled at. She would start edging up to the table to see how far she could stretch across it without getting into trouble. She was quick to obey, she just had to test to see where the lines were. She had not spent time in a home before and she needed to learn the limits. Thelma needed exercise every day or she would start getting into things. If she was tired she would be a perfect dog. If she was fresh, she would look for trouble.

Daisy, above, was the opposite. She knew the limits, she just became to excited and to exuberant to worry about them. She behaved beautifully, never did anything bad, but she bounced off of walls with her play. She played until she had to drop and sleep, then she would wake up and play some more. If she picked up something she was not supposed to it was only to get attention and force the human to chase her to get it back. She needed action!

Each of the 12 Golden's had a very distinct personality, distinct combination of size, coat, color and face. The human says that if all of them were lined up he could pick them out. He thinks if he could just watch them play he could pick them out by temperament.

That is why it is important that the match team understand both the prospective home and the homeless dog to make a good match. We need to make sure you understand that each dog is an individual. We may all look golden, but we are all individuals. That is why GRRR uses foster homes instead of chain link runs. We are all in need of a home where we can be ourselves.

Mogley G. Retriever