Happy Endings
Elvis is a joy in my life, my constant companion, best friend, and the finest gift I've ever received. We're together all day everyday. He was two and I was living on Camano Island when EGRR gave him to me. He didn't know his own name, couldn't climb stairs or walk on a leash, had no idea that kitchens meant food, and was so desperate for love and attention that he shadowed me through out the day. He was a scrawny gangly fearful guy who was hesitant to try anything new and expected the worst of other dogs. Over time I realized that he'd been trained as a hunting dog and that he responded to hand signals. I'd been wondering why on earth he kept looking at me the way he did. He walked in the circles that you see in dogs who've lived caged. His teeth were ground down, probably from chewing on stones. I fished stones out of his mouth for the first year or so. On Camano he began to come to life. He swam most days, played endless games of tennis ball and frisbee and fell in love with stuffed toys. He carries one everywhere, even to bed, and loves making them squeak. Elvis is eight now. Gradually over the years he's become more confident. He's learned to play and I swear that sometimes he laughs. His eyes twinkle when he's having fun. He's even occassionally been naughty, looking guilty when caught. This delights me. We live in Colorado now and Elvis has become a Rocky Mountain dog. He loves snow.. Plays in it like a puppy. His best friend is a neighboring Golden, Dakota. He's developed allegies as he's grown older, but we can keep them at bay with an organic diet, veggies, and supplements from the holistic vet. He loves everyone except the UPS man. And everyone loves Elvis....except the UPS man. He's ever so smart and amazes me with what he understands. He adores cats. He greets them with that touching noses thing that cats do. I can't imagine life without him. He came to me when my son was dying of cancer and watching him come to life, living with his constant love and affection, has made a huge difference in my ability to keep on.
Cody Comes
to Stay! We had been proud parents of two wonderful Goldens until a
couple of months ago when Butler, our oldest and rescued at age 2 years,
passed away quietly in his sleep at age 12 ½ years. Brinkley, now our
oldest at age 9, came to us as a puppy and had never known a day without
her life long companion Butler. She obviously missed him and visibly
mourned him. The morning Butler passed we took him to his Veterinarian
to have him prepared for his last journey. On that very day for the
first time a representative of Evergreen Golden Retriever Rescue stopped
by
their office with a stack of flyers. The Vet’s Assistant and our puppy
sitter thought it was too much of a coincidence and brought us a flyer.
After about a month of looking at the brochure on our desk and watching
Brinkley mope around we decided to fill out the forms. It was a couple
more weeks before we actually mailed them in. Then came the call! A
young Golden boy was found wandering the streets of Puyallup a couple of months
ago dragging a leash but no identification. His foster parents named
him Cody. It was love at first sight for us, and just what Brinkley
needed. After the first week of
the “getting to know you” rituals which included grunting and snorting,
tumbling and rolling with no one getting hurt, Cody and Brinkley are
rapidly becoming the best of friends with lots of playing and nonstop
running. That’s Cody on the left, isn’t he handsome? He is so expressive
we think he can even make Brinkley laugh. What a wonderful gift for
us all!
Carmel is a joyful,
happy girl and our "Velcro" dog.
Even though her favorite time of day is meal time, with her strict
diet she's lost 19 pounds. She only has about ten more pounds to lose
to get to her ideal weight. There is improvement in her mobility every
day and she can even play chase with her two Australian Shepherd "sisters". Next to rides in the car her favorite game is "catch" with the bright red ball she carries with her everywhere. It's hard to imagine
what our family was like before she became a part of it. We seldom
go anywhere without our "babies" and Carmel
is a perfect lady wherever she goes. She smiles all the time. I guess she knows she has a forever home. And
we're smiling, too.
This
is Tucker, one of the puppies from Carmel's litter.
He is ten months old in this photo, weights about 70 pounds and
is still growing. He is the sweetest and happiest dog ever, a fast learner,
knows all his basic commands and works for praise. He's so good at "leave
it" he can do that silly trick where he balances a treat on his nose until he gets an "okay" and
snaps it up. He did it perfectly on the first try! I'm a self-employed
artist so we get to spend almost every moment together. We're both very
happy and
really thankful for all the great folks at Evergreen Golden Retriever
Rescue.
