Katie

#13-054 Katie, update 5/23

AVAILABLE

Is there anything better than a pert and self-confident senior girl Golden? They’ve got that can-do attitude & zest for life—they greet every day with such anticipation, as if it’s just bound to be brimming with new friends and new adventures. “She has the best attitude!” says Katie’s foster mom. “It makes me happy just to wake up to her smiling face and watch her having fun.”

… during a trip to the beauty salon, for instance! Katie just had her blond locks shampooed, combed, scented, and fluffed, and she even got her very own snazzy red polka-dot bow tie. “Now I REALLY feel pretty!” she announced. The groomers gave her an A+ for calm & cooperative behavior.

Katie is such a good girl. She’s very reliable indoors, and she’s learned that inside is for snoozing or chewing calmly on an antler, while outside is for playing. And she DOES play with the other pups—unless there’s a tennis ball involved, in which case she couldn’t care less about anything else. “She is totally focused on the ball. If you throw it, she chases it with the best of them. Reminds me of a baseball player.... she hauls butt, gets close to the ground and it's hers.  Never growly or snarky if another dog gets the ball first, though—she just keeps her eye out looking for the next one.  If I'm not fast enough throwing it again, she'll back up like she's dancing and give me a couple of quick little barks.  She's adorable!”

Katie loved the wading pool at a friend’s house and happily lay down in the cool water. What better way to refresh yourself on a hot afternoon?

She doesn’t give two cents if the other dogs hover around while she is eating. “She eats a little slower than the boys and they circle her until I tell them NO – but she could care less.  I put my hands in the bowl, pick up the bowl, put it back down, and she just smiles.” Now, speaking of food, Katie might be a counter thief, but since there were no witnesses to a recent steak heist and the canines aren’t talking, we can’t be sure! However, she has been known to put her paws on the counter. On the night in question, “I asked my husband where he’d put the steaks, and he told me they were to the left of the sink. Ummm… well they aren't there now. Dogs all looked as if butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths but we know SOMEONE got a steak tartare treat! Anyway, we learned a valuable lesson… namely, keep things out of reach!”

Katie has ear infections that we’re treating now, and she’s as  good as gold for her ear drops. She does get a little stiff if she plays too hard, and the vet said her right hip is arthritic, but it doesn't seem to bother her unless she overdoes it.

Katie is a delightful companion! She loves walks, car rides—anything she can do with her person and other dogs. She’s an extra-special girl & deserves an owner who can give her plenty of time and attention and interesting things to do (including tossing the tennis ball, of course!).

#13-054 Katie, age 10 1/2

Weight: 71 pounds (ideal weight: 61 pounds)

AVAILABLE

When the long-awaited storms rushed into Central Texas, they brought rain and hail and downed branches and power outages. And at a local shelter, just minutes before closing time, the severe weather blew something else in, too: a cheerful senior Golden with a real aversion to thunder. A yard dog most of her long life, Miss Katie had broken off most of her teeth over the years, trying her hardest to get indoors when the lightning flashed and the thunder cracked. “This time, she bent the metal frame on the doggie door our little Shih Tzus use to run inside,” said the owners. “We don’t want her to come in the house…  and lately, since we’ve retired, we’re spending a lot of time away, anyway. We really need to find her another home.”

The shelter staff were immediately charmed as Katie “worked” the kennel runs like a pro, wagging her tail and performing a deep play bow at each cage. She was happy to be inside & more than ready to play with anyone who might be game.  (OK – we can put a check mark next to “good with other dogs”!) And the director learned something else right away: “I happened to have a ball in my pocket and when I took it out, her eyes got big and she was like, yes! It is ON!!” Yep, despite her years, Katie just loves that tennis ball. Foster mom reports that she loves chasing the ball, and she’ll bring it back and drop it at your feet.  If you don't pick it up fast enough she will back up and bark a couple of times to tell you to get with it.  “It's very cute. And if she can’t get a person to toss the ball for her, she’ll happily bounce it against the wall herself. Smart girl!”)

The very day after she showed up at the shelter, Katie caught a ride to the clinic, where she had a bath & comb-out and some pretty extensive dental work. Commenting that her  cracked & broken upper canines were “the worst ever,” the vet extracted those. Her lower canines were already gone, and her front teeth (both top and bottom) are worn down to the gumline from years of biting at doors & walls to try and come inside. But Katie says, “No teeth? No problem!” You better believe that she can still hold a tennis ball, and she eats and drink easily. 

Social Katie is a sweetheart who gets on great with everyone. She’s an outgoing, bustly, Happening Girl who loves people and loves attention. Despite her history as a backyard Golden, she’s housebroken, and she’s trustworthy left loose in the house, too. She loves her soft doggie bed and snoozes all night.  And what about her storm phobia? We were hoping that since her inclination is to want to come inside and be close, not to bolt & flee, she would be fine as long she could get some reassurance and a roof over her head. And it looks like that’s the case. “First thunder this week she woke me up by coming up and panting next to me.  I rubbed her head and she was fine.  Next day it thundered and she was fine.  I did tell her that she would never ever have to be outside again alone, with or without a storm.  Her Golden foster brothers don't react to storms and I think that has helped her, too.”

Katie does not like loud noises, so to try and get her to relax about the occasional unexpected bang, crash, or boom, her foster folks are spending lots of time outside in the backyard with her (a new home is going up next door). “She has caught on very quickly.  Katie is healthy and loves to run in the  yard.  You'd never know she was almost 11 years old.”