One more step in a journey, Agnes

There is a song that goes something like this. "It's a new dawn, its a new day, its a new dog!" Well, maybe not exactly like that. But Agnes is really bouncing back.

They had a Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies Christmas Party Sunday, but they would not let Bella and I attend. Something about "too many Golden's spoil a party". How can that be true when 300 Golden's in the lake this summer made the party better? We think there is something wrong with how we were left home while they eat treats and opened gifts. If it was not so cold outside we would organise a protest march and burn our leashes in protest.

The chauffeur came back from the party with some more information on Agnes and her past. It turns out that when Agnes first arrived at rescue, she was weak, her coat was dirty and matted. She was very ill with heart worm, and she was going downhill. She had been left untreated for too long. There was a brief discussion of the risks of treatment vs putting her down as it was not clear if she could survive the drug that she would need to kill the heart worms. The vet wanted us to understand that many younger and stronger dogs have lost the battle waged inside them between the drugs and the heart worms. The decision was made to treat her and take special care of her until she won her battle. Of course that decision was made, if you have any doubt, then you don't know the rescue staff and their determination, they never give up on a dog. Rescuing a dog only to put them down is not in their plan.

When we picked her up to foster her, she was still under the influence of the drugs, they are very strong and will linger in her system for some time. When she arrived at our home last week, she was "Zombie Dog". We did not realise how drugged out and spaced out she was, we did not understand how long the drugs would linger and how strongly they would affect her. With only her present actions to judge by we thought she was just old, crippled. slow and that she slept all day. She got in a lot of trouble the first night because of a couple of stains that appeared on the carpet where there had not been stains before. She did not even remember her house training. She was supposed to spent time in a crate to keep her quiet as she was not supposed to run or exert herself. We did not think the crate was necessary, we did not think she was likely to exert herself, she barely moved.

Then she began slowly coming out from under the drugs. We did not realise how powerful the heart worm treatment drugs were and how much of an impact they had on her. The last several days there has been a major change in her. She now remembers her house training and goes outside regularly, even asking to go out when needed. She has started playing with toys. We took a picture of her with her new toy, but all she did was hold it and carry it around. Suddenly she started throwing toys in the air and catching hem. She found the toy box and has emptied it several times. She started getting up and down better, climbing stairs like a pro. We did not pick up the vest with the handle on the back to use in helping her up and down stairs, no need now with the new and improved Agnes. She goes outside and explores the yard, showing interest in other dogs and birds, even trying to chase a squirrel. She is even stealing toys from Bella and I, right under our noses.

She is still taking some very strong drugs, but as the heart worm drugs wear off, she is improving by the hour in her energy level and her attitude. No longer "Zombie Dog", she is now Agnes Dog, she has joined the pack as a full fledged and functioning member instead of just watching us go by from her place on the floor.

Join us in welcoming a new Agnes who is ready for a new home, and we will all wish a farewell to Agnes, the Zombie Dog. If you want to help write the final chapter in her rescue and her wonderful turn around in health, visit our site at http://www.goldenrescue.com/ and help us find Agnes a forever home. She deserves a wonderful home after what she has been through, that home could be yours.

Mogley G. Retriever