Addy
Age 5
Heartworm Positive
Available Now!
Updated 11/4/11
Sweet & Spicy Addy: Have you ever tasted anything that’s both sweet and spicy? It makes all your senses happy by being delightful and surprising. That’s the definition of Addy.
Addy could not be sweeter in the house. She loves people and comfy pillows. She knows SIT and HIGH FIVE and is learning STAY. You have to coax her to go into the crate, but honestly she really does not need one. She has free roam of our house and hasn’t ever done anything to make us change our minds about leaving her “on the loose” when we aren’t home. And she likes to sit outside on the porch and monitor her surroundings – keeping all the squirrels on the alert!
However, when you take Addy outside the home for a walk… that’s when she becomes a little bit spicy. She pulls on her leash, and can be barky and “lunge-y” at other dogs. We’re working on this and she’s getting better, but she’ll need someone who will continue to “refine” this behavior. Addy is so trainable that I have no doubt that with patience and love and time, the spicy aspects of her personality will become mellower. She even spent a week at board and train, and we’ll pass on all the trainer’s insights and advice to you.
Addy also needs time to get used to other dogs in the household. She’s just fine with laidback, “sniff-to-say-hi and go away” pooches, but she is a little snarky with dogs who are hyper, puppyish, and in-your-face. She just needs time, patience, and a safe place of her own where she knows she won’t be pestered! At first she was quite aggravated with Mia, our high-energy little 7-month-old, but now they coexist without problems. She’s so good about respecting baby gates that it’s easy to gate off an area to be her “safe haven.”
Truly, the spicy side of Addy is only medium-hot, and she really wants a home of her own and is so eager to please! Can you be the person who helps Addy become purely sweet, through and through? Addy sure hopes so! She’s waiting for you.
* Due to the nationwide shortage of immiticide, the drug used for anti-heartworm injections, our heartworm-positive dogs must wait to begin their treatment—for weeks or months, depending on when the drug becomes available again. In the meantime, they will start on a course of doxycycline, which may help (in conjunction with Heartgard) to kill adult worms more quickly. But we’d love to find Addy a home now! We will cover the cost of injections with one of our GRR vets as soon as it’s possible to begin treatment.
Updated 9/20/11
Serene, ladylike, and super sweet, this lovely blondie wound up at the pound less than a week after being placed out: “Adopted just a few days ago, was surrendered this morning b/c she has a runny nose & sniffles. We are looking for a rescue or a foster willing to get her out. Anyone interested, please call immediately & ask about 'the Golden Retriever female returned this morning'!”
The tale took a few twists and turns, but 3 days later, Addy had safely traveled from the Waco area to Austin—after volunteer Pat heroically made the round trip TWICE: once to meet and evaluate Addy, the second time to collect her. “This is one calm dog! She knows SIT, HIGH 5, DOWN-STAY and is pretty good on leash too—in no time she was walking by my side with little or no correction. She was afraid of getting on the scale, but hey, aren’t all women?? She is so sweet…”
Addy turned out to have the flu (it’s now been treated); she’s also heartworm positive (darn it), and she had a very bad back tooth that must have been causing her pain (we had it extracted just yesterday, Sept. 19). Her unusually calm behavior was doubtless partly due to not feeling tip-top and to being on pain meds that made her a little dopy—we know she’ll get bouncier as she feels better! But part of it is just Addy.
“This will be a great dog for someone who wants a petite Golden source of calm energy in the house,” says her foster mom. “She is a quick learner. She had not done stairs before and, as such dogs usually do, she went up and then would not come down. I literally had to pick her up and put her on the third step down so she had to descend. Despite her fear she carefully descended and then immediately went back up and down. Go Addy! Sadly I’m not in the market for another dog, but if I were, she would be it because she’s sooooo sweet…” (Do we see a theme developing? And, we might add, she’s as pretty as a picture & will only get prettier the healthier she gets!)
* Due to the nationwide shortage of immiticide, the drug used for anti-heartworm injections, our heartworm-positive dogs must wait to begin their treatment—for weeks or months, depending on when the drug becomes available again. In the meantime, they will start on a course of doxycycline, which may help (in conjunction with Heartgard) to kill adult worms more quickly. If you would like to adopt Addy before she begins HW treatment, just let us know! We will cover the cost of her injections with one of our GRR vets as soon as it’s possible to begin treatment.
