[FeatherRiverSam]

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

 

[robinsegg26]

Chris my golden rescue was owned by an elderly gentleman that used to take him everywhere. He even hunted with him. His owner passed away and the family kept Chris's at his original owners house for a year in the backyard by himself. (Chris used to be a much loved house dog.) They would come by once or twice a day to feed him and pay a little attn to him but that was it. He contracted HW's and the family paid to have him treated before turning over to rescue. He actually went thru HW treatment loose in the backyard... He got turned over to rescue because he would run up and down the fence line barking at the neighbors dogs trying to get somebody to play with him..The family decided to let Chris go to rescue so could find a new family that would spend more time with him....

I fostered him for a couple of months and decided he wasn't going anywhere and adopted him shortly there after.

 

[coppers-mom]

You'll get tons of stories with this post! Some of my rescue stories I know, but most I don't. Sometimes people deliberately leave the dog at the shelter (Buster....).

Anyway, Pete your dog is gorgeous! sounds like he adopted the right person too.

 

[Penny & Maggie's Mom]

Not a golden, but our springer (Cody) came from ESRA 3 years ago. He was an owner turn in when he was 17 months old. He had been a pet store impulse purchase ( HATE you Petland). When he started growing from a little cute pup to an active, goofy springer, he was thrown in the back yard and forgotten about. The only good thing his first owners did was turn him over to ESRA. At that time, he was on death's door with what was found out to be AIHA. He was covered with fleas and ticks... his skin one huge infection. I found him on their website about a month later and immediately knew he belonged with us. I later found out that there was serious talk of euth'ing him because of all his medical problems.... and who would want to take that on???? The first time they came to meet us and bring him here to see how he'd get along the first thing he did was jump in the kiddy pool. HA He had DH right then. When they got ready to leave, we said our goodbyes and told them we would pick him up in a few days ( we had to go out of town for the weekend.... the longest few days ever!!!). While trying to load him in the car, he got loose and ran back up and was pawing on the front door...... yep, he knew right where he belonged. After about 6 months of some pretty intense medical treatment, he has been off all meds for 2 1/2 years, with a CBC every 5-6 months just to see where he is. To us, he's been a super special gift..... our baby boy.



Who wouldn't love that face???

 

[robinsegg26]

Oh and know most of the foster dogs stories that I have had the last few years =) there have been a couple

 

[AquaClaraCanines]

Holiday's owners decided to get rid of her because of allergies. They advertised her as a two year old intact Golden. I didn't want some miller to get her, so I went and got her. I knew the minute I laid eyes on her she was staying. DH and I decided we wanted a Golden anyway since his Golden, Francine, was NOT suited to living with a child (she is very unstable).

Starlite I bought to rescue him from a puppy miller in Topeka, Kansas. He was later stolen from me (to make a long story short) and I got him just recently. Obviously, he's never going anywhere.

Ivy (not mine- foster) was turned over to me because her owner had a stroke. He was an elderly man who fed her to the point of neglectful abuse. His daughter couldn't keep her, so I offered to take her in and find the perfect home, which is what I am doing.

 

[FeatherRiverSam]

What wonderful stories. You really are hero's being able to see beyond what's in front of you and give these dogs homes or foster them. They're all such deserving dogs.

And Penny & Maggie's Mom that Springer of yours - what a gem. How could anybody possibly just forget about these dogs???

There was nothing wrong with Woody - he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and I got very, very lucky.

Pete

 

[Adriennelane]

We just rescued Dory, a lab / golden mix this past weekend. I've posted her story here http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=65837

 

[ilovemydogs]

Bailey's first owner was an elderly gentleman who surrendered her due to heart problems. She had not been trained to do anything except be his companion. She went out to do her business on a small enclosed patio, which apparently did not translate to a yard to her. They told me she was not potty trained when I got her.

Bailey was adopted by people who I believe wanted a lay by the fire, calm, well behaved golden retriever. Instead they got an untrained dog with a lot of energy. Based on her actions when she came to me their preferred training method was physical abuse as she would cower and snarl when she was given a command. At times she would lash out if you tried to touch her after giving her a command. They returned her because she bit (imagine that).

I got a call one day from my grandmother who had heard about Bailey from my cousin (I come from a long line of animal lovers). She was very disappointed that my grandfather would not let her have the dog, and she was told they were only giving her one more day to find a home. She told me her history and begged me to "just go look at her." Well, of course she came home with me. She potty trained easily by following my other dog. It took me about a year to gain trust to train basic commands and walking on a leash. She is no longer even the least bit aggressive and has become a wonderful dog. I would not trade her for the world.

 

[coppers-mom]

I've had five rescues or "found" dogs in the last 8 - 9 years. I tend to get older dogs since most people want the younger ones.
1. Tramp - a beautiful very old red golen I found when I went fishing one day. He was the first dog I'd had in 15+ years. 8.5 months
2. Boomer- I got him from a little old lady. Her son left his dog there because his wife didn't like it.

 

[coppers-mom]

Oops - I posted before I added the last three.
3. Chance - shelter rescue. Adult male beautiful and big boy! I los thim to liver cancer after 2 yrs 4 months.
4. Copper - my current love bug. He is a rescue from the same shelter Chance was at. I got them 3 months apart.
5. Jack - he is my silly little BassettX I found almost 3 years ago (02/07/2007). He as only 9 - 10 weeks old and so starved he had rickets and could barely stand up. He fell down when he tried running after me from the place he lived. I scooped him up and took him straight to the vet.

I'm sure my next one will be a rescue too.

 

[Rob's GRs]

At the end of 2005 I was looking into getting a second Golden for my house, and a companion for Lyndi. I thought about getting another pup and was going that route but I had remember all the work and time that I had to put in with Lyndi as a pup and I was not quite willing to start with all that again. So I decided to look at rescues and see what was involved there. I applied to 3 rescues that serviced my area. I also kept an almost daily eye out on Petfinders.com for Goldens as well.

I had been into this whole process for about 2 months when I saw a posting on Petfinders.com in the Philadelphia SPCA. At that time they had him named "Jackie". His picture was so cute that I decided to take time off work that afternoon and drive the hour into the city to look at him. Well the first time he had an ear infection and I was not able to really see him, or able to adopt him. So for the next couple of days I kept calling about him until about 3 days later they finally said he is fine now and up for adoption. However it was a first come first serve basis. So once again I took off from work in the afternoon to rush in there and see him. He was a very excitable, very skinny, boy that right away wanted to play as well as be petted and even cuddled. He was found wondering the streets of Philadelphia for who knows how many weeks and/or months. That was why he was so skinny!! The only real bad thing at that time was he would pee from so much excitement, even though he was completely housebroken. Well I decided that this little problem is one I can live with and probably solve. So I filled out the paper work for him and was granted adoption for him. However, he could not go home with me then. The SPCA policy was that he first had to be fixed before release. So off I go home again while they kept him to be fixed.

The next day I took off from work again and drove back in there when they had called to say he was done. He was a pitiful site being very underweight, he had that bad kennel smell, they had an E-Collar on him and he was still "groggy" from surgery.

Well to make a long story shorter, it has been since November 8, 2005 that I have had Liam. He is still a huge cuddler, he still plays ALOT, and is so very affectionate.

All in all, I could not now image not having him around and he has turned out to be one of the better decisions I have made in life. I do not regret for one minute getting him.


Here are 2 pictures of what he looked like when I brought him home......

 

[coppers-mom]

Poor little Liam was so thin!
I'm glad you found him and he found you.

 

[Augustus McCrae's Mom]

Neither of my rescues are Goldens, but I hope you don't mind my sharing

We went to Petsmart to get Gus a birthday present for his 5 month birthday, and we came home with Charlie Brown! The local animal shelter was there that day with their available dogs, and Charlie Brown and another older dog were the only ones still there. I was petting Charlie Brown and talking to the lady from the shelter, and she said we could foster Charlie for a week to find out if we wanted to keep him. Really, I wasn't planning on keeping him, but just fostering for a week and giving him back. Well...after that week was up, I knew I couldn't give him back! The lady from the shelter said that Charlie had been taken from his old owners because he was basically being starved because they were neglecting him. They just kept him in a crate and rarely fed him. He had bald spots mostly on his feet, where he would just bite the fur off the bottom of his feet when he got anxious. He was 6 months old and weighed 24 pounds He was a skinny rascal! We've had him for two years now and bulked him up to a healthy 50 pounds. He's my family's favorite dog because he's such a little lover (Oh yeah, and they said they thought he was a Chocolate Lab/Chesapeake Bay Retriever mix). First picture is a recent one, the other is the very first day we had him.

As for Ace, the black lab, I've told this story a bunch on here. I could probably make a timeline of the whole ordeal from my all my old posts. But to make a long story short, Ace's old owner (a guy who lived a couple miles down the road from me), had Ace's mom Daisy, who got pregnant. They were able to sell all the other puppies, but the owner's sons wanted to keep one. Ace was always escaping and running free, and Daisy would always follow him. We would pick ticks off them, feed them, give them water, and wait for their owner to come pick them up. We finally called the police after about the billionth time this happened, so they put Ace out on one of those zip lines where he "barked for a whole week" according to the owner. The wife said that he had to get rid of Ace. So the guy showed up at my house one morning and asked if I wanted the male dog (he never called him by his name--I had to ask what his name was--that still makes me mad). He said if I didn't want him, he was taking him to the shelter. I took him, thinking I could find a rescue or someone to adopt him. I took him to the vet in town, (where thank goodness they had Daisy spayed) where I found out he'd never even been seen. He was a year old and had never been to the vet ever! Well, I finally gave up looking for a rescue after about 4 months (last Christmas), and he has been ours for a little over a year. He's definitely still got some wild dog in him, but he is a hoot--never still for even a second, and now that he's learned to fetch, he's a fetching machine!

 

[Augustus McCrae's Mom]

Man, poor Liam was really skinny!

 

[Bock]

His owners wanted him given way/put down, due to being aggressive. I took him, exercised him, gave him structure and now he is awesome...that's the short story.

 

[Florabora22]

I love these stories. And oh my gosh, that springer spaniel is absolutely breathtaking. What a beautiful dog!

 

[Penny & Maggie's Mom]

Thanks. I'm loving all these stories too. This is an amazing place with people with hearts of gold!!!!!

 

[unclelar]

Buddy

We got Buddy (his name was Brutus)from the Humane Society almost two years ago. He was given up partially because they couldn't afford to feed him and partial because he suffered separation anxiety. They said if you leave him in a crate for more than three hours he would find a way out and get into the trash.
He weighed 58lbs and the shelter said it was a perfect weight. :no: Took him to vet and her first response was he was severely underweight.
His goal is to be petted

Lady we have had since 12/08. She came from a lab rescue who got her from shelter. Not sure of her past life, she has had pups I think shortly before we got her. The family had a fire and ask the neighbors to watch her and then never came back. She is quite and reserved.

 

[msdogs1976]

I adopted my black lab mix just last Friday. I found him through Petfinder at a rescue shelter on the AL coast, about 2.5 hours from me. He and his sister were originally adopted by a family at 8 weeks of age but due to hard times, the family had to turn them back in. So a good opportunity for me to gain a new friend after having to put down my beloved golden retriever just a short time ago.

Micah is a great dog too. His previous family taught him a few commands, but does need some work with walking on leash. Pulls some but he is only 13 months old. He loves to be petted and is lying at my feet right at this moment. I think his sister was adopted this weekend as she is no longer on the rescue groups website. I know they were having adoptions at the local Petsmart store over the weekend.

Micah