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What's the story behind your Rescue / Shelter dog?

41K views 94 replies 66 participants last post by  Karen519 
#1 ·
I got Woody, an 18 month old Golden Toller mix, from a Rescue Center not far from where I live. I've had him about seven months now and I wouldn't trade him for the world.

He was scheduled to be put down the following day at the shelter he was rescued from. The High Sierra Rescue Center picked him up along with six other dogs who were also going to be put down the following day.

I wonder how this beautiful dog ended up at the Shelter? If only dogs could talk - I'd sure love to hear his story.

He was very people oriented - when I first met him he crawled right into my lap and looked up at me with those deep brown eyes and that was all it took - I'd been adopted.

From what I've read most strays tend to be very shy initially when first captured. Woody must of been raised by a loving family as it showed so much in his personality. He was house broken and careful when inside - no attempt to jump up on the counters and he stayed out of the garbage can on the floor.

Don't get me wrong he was a ball of fire outside but he did settle down once inside. He slept up on my bed his first night and was right at home there.

I think someone breed him purposely for duck hunting. The area he was found was definitely a duck hunting area. He's very likely a cross between a Golden and a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Because there just aren't many Toller's in the area - I myself have never seen one - it would seem someone did some research to locate one and breed it.

My feeling is Woody took off after something - he is a chaser - got lost and ended up at the shelter. And thankfully from there to my home. Why his family didn't search the shelters in the area is beyond me???

How much of the story behind your rescued dog do you know?

Pete

 
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#80 ·
Hi there. I went to a golden kennel with my neighbour who had just lost her dog to cancer.We went and she picked out a female puppy. When she took her for her first health check the vet told her that the pup had entropian in her both lower lids and that was why she was tearing. The vet said choose another puppy and give this one back to the breeder who will then call him to go out and put her to sleep. We went back and she chose anot her puppy. I asked the breeder what he was going to do with the sick pup. He said he will have her put to sleep in two weeks when the vet was coming out to put some older goldens to sleep so he would euthenize her also then. Well I told him off and luckily he agreed to give her to me as I said my husband and I would get her eyes fixed. He said he was shocked that we would do this for her. So I left with my little puppy,Sadie. She is now 17mos.old and beautiful. Her eyes were fixed as soon as the specialist could do them and she was spayed at six months also. We had morphine drops for her eyes until the surgery.she is the light of my life. Well worth every penny. I will get a picture up of her soon. She is a deep red and slightly wavy on her back. Have a good day everyone!
 
#81 ·
Smooch and Tucker

Both of my Goldens have been rescued.
We rescued Smooch from Golden Opportunities Golden Ret. Rescue in 1999 when she was 16 months old. She was the best Golden Girl ever! We had to let Smooch go to the Rainbow Bridge on Dec. 7, 2010. We adopted Tucker from the Golden Ret. Forum. His family had to find him a new home and Ken and I took Tonka to meet him and adopted him on the spot. Tucker is a very special, loving, Golden Retriever, just as Smooch was!!
You can read Tucker's story here:

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/golden-retriever-rescue-cases/89153-adoption-opportunity.html

The second picture is Smooch and the first picture is Tucker, swimming with Tonka.
 

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#82 ·
These stories are all wonderful...thank you for sharing.:) The one common thread I see running through them all is that there were absolutly no regrets in having adopted / rescued your dogs. They're all so special and are able to give back in ways we never dreamed of. I thoroughly enjoy reading all your stories...please keep them coming. Maybe, just maybe, the need to rescue dogs will become a thing of the past...wouldn't that be nice.

Pete
 
#83 ·
No Regrets

No regrets at all in adopting whether from a shelter, a purebred rescue, or from a person!! Rescue dogs are wonderful and are eternally grateful-they are so LOVING! I WILL always adopt/rescue!
 
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#84 · (Edited)
Our younger daughter took one of the Akita/Golden mixes from a litter my mom's Golden had back in 1993. Annie was a great dog, but died from bladder cancer back in 2001. I was distraught and was looking online for another Akita/GR mix when I finally convinced my wife to let her Shi-tzu go. He was 16 years old, blind, incontinent, deaf, and an evil-mean little ******* with bad kidneys and no control over his spincter. (poop just fell out when he walked)

Well, wife snuck up on me when I was looking at the Tenn Valley Golden Retriever Rescue site and pointed at a picture and said, "Thats the one we want." A little gold fluffball that was found in a coal shed with her momma and 7 siblings. All had distemper and were being treated. We adopted her in May 2001 (the last TVGRR adoption in Memphis) and she was a great dog. Turns out that she was most probably a NSDTR. She would sleep on my chest if I dozed off in my recliner. Played fetch all day with short tosses. In april 2009 she was diagnosed with Mast Cell. With a special diet and suppliments, and vinoblastin chemo, she had a great life until April 2011. When it was time, we both knew it and we both cryed as she went to The Bridge.

The house was just so QUIET, so I was looking online again and saw this blonde, curly, skinny Golden that was an owner surrender to a kill shelter in KY, but had been rescued the day before being put down by Middle Tenn Golden Retriever Rescue. We drove up from MEM to Nashville on Memorial Day 2011 to meet and visit with 2 dogs. The first hated men. And the second, Daisy May, ran across the room and jumped on my wife's lap. She said, "This is the one we want." And so it was. After we adopted her, we received a bunch of paperwork including the shelter surrender paperwork. Owners name and address was redacted. Under "Breed" was, "pure bred Golden Retriever". And under "DOB" was "9-16-2009". She had been neglected and backyard kept to the point that her belly and her hind legs and butt and tail had to be shaved because they were so matted and nasty. On her first visit to our vet , they scanned her and discovered that she had an AKC supplied chip, of the type provided to breeders. The chip was never registered to an owner. I suspect that she was a Christmas gift in Dec 2009 to some kid that quickly lost interest, or the parent(s) got fed up with the chewed up stuff in the house, and she was relegated to the life of a back yard dog until sometime in the spring of 2011 when someone took her to the pound. Once we got her home, she was so regal in her bearing that we knew that she was royalty, so she went from "Daisy May" to "Princess Daisy". She now rules over vast rhelms, estates and protectorates. Her adventures are posted over on the "Fur All Dawgies Only" thread. Yes, we are one of "those" people. A dog people.
 
#85 ·
What a coincidence, my Daisy gets called Daisy May :)

She was the first ever pet, let alone the first ever dog, for a family with three kids. But they didn't know how to handle her, what to teach her, so she had become an uncontrollable nightmare.

She had been loved, cuddled by the kids, and physically cared for. I don't think she'd had much peace or a quiet place. She didn't respond to her name, was so difficult on a lead that I think she can't ever really have been out on it. Some of her responses make me think someone got frustrated and angry with her at times.

We have worked on the extreme resource guarding, are winning with walking on a lead, and are working on a recall, responding to her name, and not chasing cats/chickens/ducks/geese........ And having lots of games and cuddles along the way :)
 
#86 ·
This morning with temperature "feels like -40C" fighting with my Charlie to stay in, he knows he will get out and 5 minutes later will be in warmed up with my hugs, I was thinking of all of those who spend nights outside curled up to stay warm with no one to hug hours later. Then I remembered this thread and those beautiful stories posted here.
It has been long time since last post was written, I know we have many with hearts good as gold who joined to this forum in the meantime and never told us their rescue story. Would love to see this thread going on, please share your rescue story.
 
#87 · (Edited)
Buddy'sMomForever, thanks for bringing this thread back up.
Reading through it, I realized I've never posted about my two Rescues/Adopted Goldens.

Roxy is a former Breeder girl, I adopted her through CFGRR. She was only two when she had been turned into a surrounding County's High Kill Shelter by the owner. She wouldn't breed, most likely due to her being in such poor health. She had Stage 3 Heartworms, when she was spayed, the Vet found her ovaries all infected and she had apparently been given a C section one time by the previous owner.

A volunteer from the Shelter contacted CFGRR and she was taken into their program.

I did a Foster to adopt of her while she received the Heartworm treatments over a 4 month period. When she finished her treatments and was cleared medically, we officially adopted her. She has been with us 9 years now and turned 10 in Dec. 2014.

She had been abused both physically and verbally, she had not been socialized. She had never been in a house, touched grass-she spent her first two years in a cage/kennel, never been in car. She was a HUGE challenge, we weren't even sure if we were going to be able to help her learn to forgive, trust or love a human. It took many months of lots of patience to get her where she is today. She's an absolute sweetheart and it was worth every second it took.

I found Remy at my County Humane Society and adopted him after we lost our Bridge boy in Feb. 2011 at the age of 15.5.

Remy was a stray, he was 2 maybe, not sure of his exact age. He was underweight by 15-20 lbs. He had belonged to someone at some point in time because he knew basic commands. Remy has been with us 4 years now and turns 6 in a few weeks. He's been the easiest dog I've ever had.

You can read his story and see pics of them both here-

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...-forum/94313-introducing-my-new-boy-remy.html

LOVE my Rescues, I'd do it over again in a heartbeat!
 
#88 ·
Seeing this thread I realize I have been remiss in posting Joseph's story.
I first saw Joseph's story on a Animal Rescue Transfer site, a group who pulls dogs who are at risk of being euthanized from shelters and arranges transport to where ever those dogs have found safe haven. Joseph was about one year old, a black lab who had been found as a stray. Joseph had been roaming a neighbourhood, alone and afraid, barking in terror at people to keep them away, keep himself safe. Animal services was called, they managed to corner him and had to sedate him to rescue him. Once 'safe' at the shelter, his fear of people continued, barking and growling if anyone appeared, he was deemed unsafe to be adopted out, his only chance was to go to a rescue that would commit to getting him the help he needed. Seeing his story, I contacted the rescue I was fostering with and they agreed to pull him for me - to foster - he was going to get his 'chance'.
Joseph finally arrived, after a long journey, terrified he sat silent at the back of the crate, unwilling to come out, hesitant to see what the world held for him. It took a while to convince him it was okay, and he slowly emerged from the dark of the crate, one look into his eyes told the whole story, tired and worn, alone and afraid, he sat quietly as I rubbed his neck. As Joseph settled in and we got to know him better, he was a bit rough and rowdy, but, we could forgive him that, he deserved a chance. After about a week I took him out for a walk and got the surprise of my life, on spotting another dog, Joseph launched into a frenzy of barking, growling and lunging at the end of the leash, terrified what this meant, terrified he was 'too much' for us, we would have to send him back to meet an unknown fate - my heart broke. We took him to have him a assessed by a certified canine behaviorist - 'He is afraid of the world' she said 'new people and dogs terrify him, but he can be helped, if you can commit to it. And, I am here for you if you choose to do that for him.' Knowing we couldn't send him back, knowing that no one else would want him, we made the commitment to help him and after nine months as a 'foster' we adopted him four years ago.
Joseph has come a long ways since then, brilliant beyond imagination, eager to learn, willing to love and trust, giving his whole heart, surprising us with the things that he does, amusing us with is antics, happy to be alive, happy to have been given a chance, he is not the same dog, he is an absolute treasure. It hasn't always been 'easy', but we have no regrets, no wishing we hadn't committed to him, every moment of 'work' has been paid back a thousand fold an more. To get up every morning greeted by those big brown eyes eager to see what the day will bring, nothing can compare with the love that he shares and the honor and privilege of giving him a chance at life and sharing our lives with him.
They come into our lives to teach, to open our eyes, open our hearts and help us learn life lessons from those who know them well.
Thank you Joseph, you have taught us a lot, we hope we have learned your lessons well.
 
#89 ·
This is a great thread! Jacks story is easy I found him on CL after we lost our bridge dog Sailor two years earlier & my wifes heart dog 4 years before that. Barb said she couldn't handle loving & losing again but when I showed her Jacks pic she agreed to go look. The folks had purchased him and decided after 2 weeks they couldn't handle a Golden puppy so they put him on CL. We brought him home at 11 weeks old. He was never mistreated just spent most of his time in a create.
Sweetie was found on CL by someone(very special someone) on GRF she was 8 months old & weighed 23 lbs. she was very sick & afraid & the vet had us hand feed her rice & hamburger for a week before he would even see her again. She is now fearless with nothing but love for everything & everyone. Jack may be my heart dog but Sweetie is my pride & joy! A true testament to what love can do.
 
#90 ·
When my husband and I were first married and had a house we decided we wanted to fence our yard and get a dog. One day we were working in a nearby city when a man and his young daughter were walking a fluffy dog. They had found the dog and were looking for a home for him. My husband saw him and said, we'll take him. He was a Malamute Golden cross (we think). We named him Cheyenne and he spent 15 years with us.

Our next dog (two months later) we were camping and an emaciated mangy beagle came up to us. Upon inquiry, he was a stray. We took him home, named him Ralph. Our Vet said Do Not Spend a Dime on this dog. We said that was not an option and we had Ralph for 15 years.

Our third dog was a yellow lab corgi cross. My brother called me from a pet store where he was working letting me know that there was a tiny Puppy dropped off there. We found out from our vet that she was 4 or 5 weeks old and had a huge case of roundworms. Again the vet cautioned us that she probably would not live. Daisy Mae lived 16.5 great years.

I was on CL one day and saw a very cute dog. I emailed the owner and the pup had been picked up by a shelter. We adopted him and named him Sonny. Sonny is a very happy healthy 6 year old.

Our youngest pup came from a breede. His name is Seamus and he is a purebred Golden.

We love our dogs!
 
#92 ·
So lovely to have this thread appear out of the blue. Lots of lovely stories to read at my leisure. Karen have just read all about your Tucker!! My SIL just adopted a Chihuahua from an Arizona kill shelter. She has had him about three days and posted this today on Facebook:

Alfie was on the kill list last Thursday. He is a different dog now than the snarling,scared dog I saw there. Great with my cats and Carlita, house trained and knows commands. He is a lovable, loving little fellow.

Another one saved.
 
#93 ·
My first adult dog was Ginger a Dobie/German Shorthair mix. My boyfriend's at the time sister was a vet tech at the local animal hospital that also served as the town pound and they had a puppy brought in by the dog catcher, she had skin issues and no one claimed her and none of the local rescue groups would take a sick dobie puppy so they were going to put her down. The sister didn't want to see that happen (most strays they got in went to the local no-kill rescue) so she brought the pup over to my house, of course I fell in love and that was the end of it. I know why rescue wouldn't take her, she was supposed to be mine. I lost her in 2001 to Lymphoma at the age of 10. The softest "velvet ears", the wiggliest butt - she's the reason I can't have another smooth hair dog - I miss her too much.

A year after Ginger came home, the situation repeated itself. This time it was a huge GSD/great dane puppy. Again the attempts to get rescue to take him failed so Fred came home to me! He really bonded with my mom (I lived at home) so when I got married in 2002, he stayed with her until she sold the family home and moved into senior housing so she wouldn't be alone for that time between my moving out and her moving out. Fred moved in with my husband and I until his death in 2004. He was a good, old man well loved and my vet used to call him "the coolest old dog I know".

Shortly after Fred moved in, for some crazy reason we decided to get a golden puppy. My husband always wanted one - and forgive us as we didn't know better we ended up bringing a puppy home from a pet shop. Up until that time we thought if you wanted a dog, you went to rescue and got whatever mutt you thought was the cutest. We didn't know how to get a pure bred dog (I grew up with English Setters but they came from special hunting kennels - came trained to hunt and were in the family when I was born, we had no idea where to find a Golden just for a pet). But our Bailey came to us for a reason - he certainly would have ended up in rescue if we didn't pluck him out of that pet store, so everyone told us (our vet, our trainer) that we basically rescued him. I still feel badly that we "shopped" and that his poor parents were puppy mill dogs I'm sure, but I don't regret a day we spent with him. He was a very difficult puppy and if we hadn't gotten him, I don't know that anyone would have spent the time and effort on him that we did.

Next came Blossom... after discovering puppy mills and learning more about rescue from having Bailey in training I discovered the local no-kill shelters website. I'd look occasionally, one day there was this pure bred Golden that looked so much like Bailey I almost cried. Showed it to my husband and the next day I was at the shelter when the opened. Blossom came home the next day. Her family had gotten her from the same pet store Bailey came from a few years before we got Bailey. We still wonder if they had a parent in common. Of course they had a new baby who was allergic, we really think they just didn't have time for her - she was in need of a bath, her nails were way too long. She hadn't any idea what toys were when she came home to us nor did she really know how to play with other dogs. She wasn't abused but I'm fairly sure she had been neglected. She was the biggest love, we lost Fred a month after we brought her home and her hugs helped us heal. If you got down on the floor she would come over sit in front of you and put her head on your shoulder - in effect hugging you. Still so much pain over her loss.

We lost Blossom in October 2009, two months later we ended up with Georgie. After losing Blossom I had helped out another local rescue group who pulled dogs from the high-kill shelters down south and brought them up North. I helped out at an adoption day they were holding - Georgie (originally Missy) had been plucked out of a high-kill in GA with her daughter. They had been owner surrenders and usually they have less time than a found dog because "if the owner turned them in, there must be something wrong with them". The group had them pulled and thrown on a transport - when they arrived they didn't know who was who so they called her her daughters name for a few days. Neither of the two of them were scheduled to be at the adoption day, but a family showed up who was interested in the daughter, so the foster brought both to the event. The family took the daughter and left "Missy" behind, I ended up with her leash for most of the day and by the end of it knew I wanted her. Blossom sent her for sure so Missy became Georgie Girl!
 
#94 ·
I've had at least one shelter/rescue or foster (I'm a failed dog foster mom;)) in my home for about 40 years. These are the stories of a few of them. My first "rescue" was a Pomeranian who showed up on my door step one day. I tried to find the owner, called the vet in the little town I was living in. No luck. I called animal control and told them if no one claimed the dog in the 10 days they were required to hold him I would pay the fine and take him. 10 days later Rusty was mine. He arrived full of fleas and after a vet appointment to see why he was limping I learned he was full of buckshot. He was with me for over 19 years and my vet guessed him to be about 22 years old when he died. Goldie was the golden retriever my husband and I got for my dad when my mom died. My dad was grieving deeply and I was afraid I was about to lose him as well. Goldie brought him back to life. He adored her and she worshipped my dad. When my dad was diagnosed with cancer I moved in with him to care for him in his home at the end. Goldie was by his side when he died. After my father passed away Goldie came to live with my husband, daughter and I. She became my dog. She was my special girl. She became a therapy dog and spent her time with the elderly. She had an incredible gift of knowing when she was needed and what was needed. She was an extraordinary dog. Gracie is a Hurricaine Katrina rescue. She came out of the 9th ward NOLA. She had given birth to a litter of puppies either during or right after the hurricaine. She began as a foster and when no one claimed her she remained with us. She is my quiet, gentle dog who has trained all of the other dogs for me. Jack is a black and tan coonhound we rescued. His foster mom told us he'd been abused and had issues with loud noises, resource guarding, was fearful of people and terrified of guns. He had been brought in by animal control after he was found tied to a tree where his owner had left him without food or water when Jack "failed" his "hunting test" in which the owner tied Jack to the tree and fired a gun at the tree just above Jack's head. The owner was charged (and convicted) of animal abuse. Jack has been with us for 3 years now. He no longer guards his food (in fact he usually leaves one or two pieces in his bowl for his buddy Bailey now), he has learned to play with our other dogs, he no longer avoids being touched and if you are willing to scratch the place where his tail meets his back he is your friend for life. He still has issues with loud noises but we are continuing to work on them. I've learned with my rescue dogs that it is not the end that matters but the journey as they make it and I have been so blessed and so grateful to make this journey with all of them.
 
#95 ·
Keep

Keep it going! This is a wonderful thread. So far in life, Ken and I have adopted three dogs: Munchkin, Smooch and Tucker. Munchkin was a Samoyed and Smooch and Tucker, Golden Retrievers!
 
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