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Prancer’s come a long way from being found tied to a bush with a shoelace on one cold morning in late December. In fact, you’d never know he once had a broken leg—the left femur was snapped in two, with jagged, unaligned edges and chunks of splintered bone free-floating.

Almost three months later, Prancer seems unaffected by his previous injury as he happily horses around with his doggie sibling, Rodeo. As if making up for lost time, Prancer and Rodeo get quite rowdy tugging on one another and playing “keep away,” but after 4+ hours of mutual pestering (! yes, these young Goldens DO have energy to spare), he tends to settle down.

Prancer is friendly with people, and though he has not had an up-close experience with children, he is fascinated by them; he stares at them as if they are a funny- looking type of puppy he’s never quite seen before!

Prancer loves carousing around the house with his other siblings. Though he is housebroken, his foster mom prefers to keep him in his crate when he doesn’t have other dogs to roam around with in the house. And when his foster mom needs to crate him, Prancer marches in—especially if he is enticed with a special goodie (:.

Before they begin their daily walks (because this teenage pup needs lots of exercise!), his foster mom brags “he is extremely obedient” as he “sits immediately and will stay until told to move. He even did that on the trail today with all kinds of distractions!” But because Prancer is such a young pup, he needs some work walking on his leash—he tends to act like a sled dog. ”Mush! Mush!”

Just the other day, Prancer had his first swim—and he waded right in without fear. And even with enough novel sights, sounds, and smells to overload even the most mature Golden, he was able to retrieve his toy a few times (a truly remarkable feat for a teenage boy!).

This sweet boy who loves to play would be an asset to an outdoorsy family with high energy. He definitely is not a couch potato pup! Prancer would also thrive in a home with a doggie partner he can tug and pull on, and eventually bond with.

#12-176 Prancer, age 8-12 months

Weight: 50 pounds

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#12-176 Prancer, update 2/20

Yahoo! He is ready for adoption! Prancer arrived in GRR care on December 18 and now, just two short months later, he’s recovered from surgery to repair his broken leg and is good to go! Dr Kerpsack at Central Texas Veterinary Specialty Hospital gave him a glowing green light. His leg is doing really, really well—he sometimes walks a little bit “sideways,” but no limp.

Kudos to foster mom Gail for rehabbing this energetic youngster—it has not been easy keeping such an Energizer Golden quiet. But now that he’s cleared to kick up his heels, it’s been all go. “I took Prancer to the doggy party (boy, did I need that!) on Feb. 17 for his first social outing. He was wonderful! He played tug of war with a young shepherd, chased the ball with another GRR rescue, and played nicely with big dogs and little ones. There was just one other dog there when we arrived but many, many more when we left. He ran and played, then rested, then did it again. I was so proud of him!!!!! Now he's napping, all tuckered out but the happiest I've seen him be. Yay!

“The next day I took him to the lake behind my house and he had a blast!!! Boy does he love water! Happy happy joy joy!!!! What fun!

“Prancer is a strong-willed boy who has the world by the tail and he knows it! He's still a puppy and needs manners training. Case in point – he is still very puppy-mouthy and chews on your hands, brings toys to you and then chews on them, pinching you. Ouch! Best home for him? He needs a high-energy, engaged family who will keep him busy and entertained. This is not the dog for little kids or for an owner who is easily pushed around; he needs someone who is comfortable being his boss & leader, or else he will rule the home and neighborhood. Prancer will absolutely eat up lots of happy, upbeat, cheerful training that gives him a good outlet for his energy, drive, and smarts!”

#12-176 Prancer, update 1/31

“Prancer” is just the right name for this guy—and that despite the fact that he came in with a badly broken leg! If he’s this bouncy while recovering from surgery, we can only imagine what feats he’ll accomplish a few months down the road.

One of the last GRR dogs of 2012, Prancer earned an early release from the shelter after he was found outside the door one frosty morning clearly injured (he’d apparently been left there overnight, tied to a bush near the main entrance with a length of shoelace, of all things). The staff could tell he had a broken leg, but my goodness! As soon as he saw the first person coming down the walk, the energetic boy’s tail began wagging at top speed as he greeted his latest friend. “Social” is his middle name.

Once Prancer arrived at the clinic, X-rays showed just how severe the break was: the left femur was snapped in two, with jagged, un-aligned edges and three or more chunks of bone broken off and essentially “free floating.” (He had bruised ribs, too; it all points to him being hit by a car.) Surgery was a must—and the very next day, Prancer had a successful repair. The vet put in a metal rod, six screws, and a metal plate, and straightened the leg nicely; the tendons & ligaments will loosen up with time. “Prancer will be stiff but okay on that leg. I left the floating chunks of bone in the leg, instead of fishing them out; that way, there was less damage to the muscle, and the chunks will simply resorb into the body or fuse into the repaired area.”

Prancer has just had his 2-week post-top check, and all is well (the hard part, of course, is keeping this spunky guy calm and quiet!). Foster mom reports:

This was Prancer's first trip out of my house, and boy oh boy was he excited. He rode nicely in the car, but once in the vet's lobby, you'd have thought he was Bernstein himself as he orchestrated a chorus of barking from all of the dogs in the room. The vet took “Mr. Wiggly Butt” to the back to remove the staples. Hopefully she got them all, but apologized that she may have missed one due to that nonstop wiggling! She thought the incision looked great, and he can stop wearing the “cone of shame” this weekend once the staple holes are scabbed over. I still need to limit his activity for at least six more weeks. No running, jumping, rough-housing, etc. Short leash for potty breaks.

Leash walking needs work—I plan to get a harness to hold him back without choking him! He's doing very well with other commands: SIT, LIE DOWN, GO TO BED (crate), and STAY (somewhat). He's also eating much better now that I'm mixing in 3 or so heaping teaspoons of canned food with his dry food and mixing it all together with water. As he's been eating better, his energy is better... so... he's chasing the cats and throwing stuffed toys in the air, etc. He may be thin, but he is ALL BOY. He's a puppy. When he's well, I think he'll need a kiddo to play with to keep him active. I also think he'd do well with agility courses, nose work training or anything that will use those smarts of his. He's very good in the house, too. Of course, he's not allowed to jump, but I haven't seen him try to take something off the counter, chew shoes, or have any other bad habits... yet.

He's a sweetie pie with an attitude. No shrinking violet here!

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Hotline: (512) 659-GOLD

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