New Stories Coming Soon!  If you have adopted a dog from us and have a success story, please submit it to us.  Some of the pictures below may get larger by clicking on them.

August 2004

Sasha (formerly Tanya) was turned in to GRR with her brother, Tucker, in the summer of 2003. GRR found Tucker a wonderful home, too—and Sasha came to live with us. She is so dear to us that we can’t imagine life without her. She is very sweet and patient with our other GRR rescue, Sammy (#02-038), who is a bit younger and demands all the attention that he can get. When we brought Sasha home over a year ago, she took to Sammy right off the bat. That initial friendliness quickly turned into genuine love. And now when they are apart for any amount of time (such as Sammy going to the vet without her) she cries and looks for him desperately, and when they are reunited she showers him with her wonderful kisses. Sometimes she has to steal his toys and get onto him for something or other, but mostly it’s all smiles around our house.

We discovered pretty quickly that she also likes to kiss our two kitties (Pecos and Bluebonnet). She doesn’t chase them or bite at them, but she does go out of her way to lick them from nose to tail. And they go along with it just to be good sports.

Sasha has been diagnosed with a slight heart murmur so she will take medicine for the rest of her life. She also has some minor hip problems, so we take walks every day that aren’t too taxing but give her almost two miles of exercise to keep her in shape. She does get out and run and play with Sammy sometimes and chases the ball when she feels like it. Mostly she just relaxes and looks forward to her morning walk and her evening walk (she does a little dance prior to each just to show us that she’s ready to go).

In short, we love her with all our hearts. I think the whole family would agree that she has been a wonderful addition to the family.
 

Duke... Wait a minute, that doesn't look like a Golden Retriever! There must be some mistake! No mistake-meet Duke, an adorable German Shepherd pup with a true Golden personality. Every now and then, when we find a Golden and another dog who have clearly strayed together, we take in both of them.  It's our "companion dog" clause. And that's just how young Duke came to us.

He and his Golden buddy Maxx were a pair of skinny young strays turned into the shelter after roaming a neighborhood together for a week or more. Maxx found a home fast (so quickly he didn't show up on our site), and now Duke is waiting for a family ready to love a Golden heart in German Shepherd's clothing.

Duke is about 10 months old, and he loves people and other dogs. (He DOES bark at ducks, goats, and the big black horse on the farm where he is staying-well, what puppy could resist a little curious chatter when he sees all those strange animals?) He is good on his lead and knows "sit" and "come," and he recognizes his name.  He is crate-trained and housebroken. He's a little goofy, like every dog his age, and will need a family ready to give him plenty of exercise along with working on basic training.

Sometimes when you go out looking for one thing, you come home with something else that's not exactly what you had in mind, but it's absolutely perfect anyway! Maybe that will describe the lucky family who ends up with Duke, GRR's honorary Golden Retriever.

  -----Original Message-----
From: Delia Salazar
To:  Gold Ribbon Rescue
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 10:58 PM
Subject: update on Duke

I just wanted to thank all of you at GRR for finding a wonderful family dog for us. Duke is the most wonderful Golden in a German Shepherd's clothing. When we began the process of adopting a Golden, we were convinced that it was the only breed for our family. We saw Duke's picture and I read his bio out of curiosity, but didn't even give him any consideration because of his breed. We met our first adoptable golden, who was very beautiful, but during our visit with him and his foster family, we (the foster parents, matchmaker and us) found him to be too aggressive with my daughter.

 We left that meet and greet empty handed. We didn't hear anything for about a week, then called the matchmaker to see if she had any other dogs for us to meet, unfortunately, none of the Goldens matched our requirements at that time. I asked how Duke was doing only because he had been on the website for so long. She said that no one interested in him was willing to allow him to live inside, then suggested that we meet him. At first I was not interested because I was afraid he would be too aggressive with Sydney (my daughter). With some gentle encouragement and lots of information from the foster, I finally agreed to make the trip out to meet him. I am so glad we did!!

Duke is the most wonderful family pet. He is every bit the love muffin we wanted from a golden and he is wonderfully protective of his family. He has full run of the house and is very well behaved, even standing guard all night just outside our bedroom door. He is exceedingly patient with Sydney, is great on a leash, fetches a ball like the best trained retriever and is so handsome. We could not have asked for a better dog. Having lived with 10 Goldens in foster care must have convinced him that he was one. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

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