Here is another great story:
This is how I found Murphy, the Best Dog in the World. My kids and husband were ready for a dog long before I was. We already have two young cats, and my last dog was difficult to say the least. He was a shelter pup who turned out to have really dominant aggression issues—bit multiple people (including me) before we finally found the right training and routine for him. He never did become a lovey dog, and he was completely untrustworthy around kids, but we worked it out. However, that experience left me somewhat anxious about dogs—especially after we had kids.
This summer, I read all the details of the saga of JC looking for a dog, finding Missy/Lily, preparing for her to come home, helping her adapt, etc. I thought about how happy he seemed, and listened to all you snarky folks testify on the happiness your dogs bring…so I did some research, and found the local breed rescue for golden retrievers. It took me quite some time to make the move, do the paperwork and be evaluated…etc. When they called in mid-July and said they had a young male dog named Buddy (all homeless goldens are named Buddy, it seems), I was overwhelmed with worry. I thought, I don’t know his past. What if he bites one of the kids? What if the fact that he’s not neutered yet means he’ll be aggressive, even after neutering? Etc. My husband and I went to meet him, and though he was very friendly and nice, I still wasn’t sure. DH was ready to bring him home that day, but all my anxieties were making me fear dog ownership. Then we thought, OK, let’s take the kids and see what he thinks of them. We told the children: don’t run up to him. Let him approach. Don’t grab, extend your hand fist down. Blah blah safetycakes. Of course, we got there, they ran flying up to this dog, grabbed him to pet him, and fell to the ground with him, where he flopped over and put his head in my 5-year-old’s lap and started getting belly rubs. So much for caution.
We named him Murphy, and he is the sweetest, most easygoing creature on the planet. He came home to us skinny, with mats all over, three kinds of parasites, and his ears full of gunk. Despite the fact that he spent most of his early life tied to a tree in someone’s yard, he loves everyone, including the cats (who only sort of love him back). He lets all the neighbor children pile on him, he loves to go places and see new people, he lets us do all grooming and stuff, and all he asks is cuddles and food. I feel like John said about Lily—this is one of the best decisions I ever made as an adult. Goldens are sort of the happy stoners of the dog world, and Murphy is even happier and more lovey than most.
Middle TN Golden Retriever Rescue, http://www.rescueagolden.org. I started volunteering with them right after we got Murph, and it’s amazing to contribute to these wonderful rescue stories.
So none of you knew that your dog testimonials were helping this lurker along the road to dog life…but never fear, even when he ate my favorite red shoes, I didn’t say “FY John Cole and Balloon Juice!” I just told Murphy, “who’s a bad dog? You are! Yes, you are, you sweet thing!” Thanks, JC and BJ.
Going to be a fun few weeks, because we have a lot of these stories.
Annie
He is absolutely beautiful. What a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing….
Just Some Fuckhead
Can’t we just come up with a shorthand like “Megadittoes, John Cole”, or something?
CaseyL
ooooh, look at that face! Who is the faceness? You are!
Wonderful stories. They make me tear up and smile big.
Keep ’em coming.
demkat620
Thank you, whoever you are. God made Goldens because he loves us and wants us to be happy.
Shelter and rescue dogs are the best.
abo gato
Oh, these stories are gonna make me cry, I’m tellin ya.
adhocheretic
Oh man. How am I going to keep saying “I have no regrets about living in New York City” if there are a stream of posts like this.
I looked into the ASPCA and Animal Care and Control Shelters this morning after the earlier post. I spent half an hour trying to figure out how lazy a dog I could get that I’d be able to be away from for 10 hours a day on my salary.
Drat.
Demo Woman
My first golden was a give a way golden from folks that I dog sat for. I was newly married and the folks called saying that they could no longer care for Duchess and would I like her. Of course I said yes and I said that I would drive the 5 hours to pick her up. The husband was concerned cuz how could we take care of a dog with both of us working. I explained that it was a lap dog and they truly were not that big. Damn Gerald Ford had to have his picture with his golden on the cover of Newsweek right after that. Newsweek always posts incriminating photos. She was my first baby. Many years later when she got sick, the husband was working late and I called a neighbor to sit the boys. The neighbor called another neighbor to sit the boys so she could come with me to the vet. I’ve said goodbye to many dogs but Duchess was the best. Enjoy your golden. Of course, I have to whisper this cuz Miss Moxie would be insulted.
Brian J
You’re right, that was a great story. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something inside both dogs and humans that let those who need a good home and those who want to give a dog a good home click.
The dog my family had before our current one was abandoned on the side of our house, undernourished and bleeding from his penis, among other things. Our neighbors took him in and cleaned him up, but my mom initially didn’t want him when they offered him to us, claiming she needed a dog like she needed another kid. (I’m one of five kids, and my dad died when I was very young, so I understand where she was coming from.) Eventually, after spending some time with us, we put him in a shelter just to make sure he wasn’t lost, but after a week or so, he would be ours legally if we adopted him. We did. Cocker Spaniels aren’t very aggressive dogs by nature, as best I can tell, so it wasn’t a surprise that this dog was a very gentle creature. Suffice it to say that everyone was glad that he came to live with us and that when we finally had to put him to sleep because he was so sick, I sat on my couch and cried for a couple of hours.
Anyway, it’s always nice to see a situation work out so well.
Mister Papercut
OMG PUPPEH! Seriously, he’s presh.
Curse dogs and their damn how-can-I-possibly-be-mad-at-you faces…
Cat Lady
Murphy gives me hApPy. Good dog Murphy, good dog!
J in WA
Oh, god, these stories are going to push me over the edge. I’ve been holding out on getting a dog for too long.
@demkat620: Shelter and rescue dogs are the best.
Exactly what I was thinking! Something about having seen the harder side of life makes them so calm and appreciative of being treated with some decency, I guess.
Morbo
That tail appears to be wagging. What a lucky guy.
asiangrrlMN
I am tearing up here. I don’t know how I am going to make it through all these stories. Murphy is so precious. What a big, happy, handsome dog!
@Brian J: Aw, that’s a very sweet/sad story, too.
mandarama
I would admit to being all **squeeeeee fangirl!** over seeing my dog & kids on the front page–and over getting snark from JSF, too–but I’m supposed to be cooler than that.
Oh, screw it. I’m not cool. **squeeee!**
@ Demo Woman: I love hearing other golden stories…Duchess is a great name and I like the way you tried to pass her off as a lap dog! The great thing is that they do think they are lap dogs, and they’re always amazed at how they won’t fit in a wing chair with an adult human. “I don’t know where these 70 lbs and these 2-foot-long legs came from! I am just a baby, I promise!”
South of I-10
What a beautiful Golden. We had one when I was a kid – my Dad’s hunting dog. Every one I have met has been a big softie. I am really enjoying the new pet series. I got Katie the kitty from the local shelter, which is a kill shelter.
asiangrrlMN
@mandarama: What a beautiful, moving story this is! Murphy looks like a big bundle of love!
John O
Please keep those stories coming, John.
Politics is horribly depressing, as good as you and the gang are at explaining why (particularly good effort by AL on SP), but dog-love is incredibly not depressing, and amazing at the same time.
This post turned a bad day into a good one for me, and I’m grateful.
Tattoosydney
That last photo:
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Puppy dog!!
Demo Woman
@mandarama: You probably didn’t hear it first but Sarah wasn’t the only one that complained about Newsweek’s photos.. Goldens are lap dogs though as I’m sure Murphy’s owners know.
demkat620
@mandarama: Squee all you like.
You did an angel’s work. He is beautiful and obviously happy.
slag
Awesome.
Demo Woman
@John O: Why do you feel that way about politics..
Could it be
or could it be this
Must thank Josh Marshall for the copy and paste but Sarah has nothing on these guys.
superking
Goldens = the best. Happiest animals on the planet by far.
My family has had two goldens. We got one when I was in middle school and he became “my dog” in the family. We bought him hand balls to chew on and he would focus on those like they held the secrets of the universe. He would do a little happy dance if you scratched him on his back right above his tail. He eventually developed cancer and we had to put him down.
A couple years later, my parents got a new golden and named him Bonner. Bonner is dumb as dogs go, but it’s a good natured stupidity like the some of the football players you might have known in high school. He knows he’s dumb, but he’s only asking to enjoy the world a bit. And he comes sprinting for me every time I go home, even if it’s been months.
If we could all be as happy as Golden Retrievers, it’d be a fine world.
gf120581
I always love hearing dog stories, especially golden retriever stories. I’ve never owned one (my grandparents did, though, and she was a sweetie), but every one I’ve met is lovable and exists only to be your friend. That’s why goldens were made, to be man’s truest buddies.
For an example of how lovable goldens are: Dug the main talking dog from Up is a golden. And ever since I saw that movie, I wish they’d invent those collars so dogs can talk already.
“My name is Dug. I have just met you and I love you. My master is good and smart and he made me this collar so that I may talk – SQUIRREL!!! – My master is good and smart.”
Max
You guys are such good people for the work you do for and with these animals.
Makes me misty.
Max +.75
Betsy
@J in WA:
Er, except when it doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in rescues; every pet I’ve ever owned has been from a shelter or rescue and my stepmom runs a rescue org. But some dogs and cats react differently to early lives of neglect and/or abuse, and can have all kinds of issues with aggression, neediness, etc. But it’s SO important to make sure the individual animal is the right one for you.
But, on a happier note:
@mandarama:
Fabulous story. Awesome dog. :D
RedKitten
Must…stay away…from shelter’s website…
I can’t get a doggeh right now — not with a newborn. But while I’m on mat leave, I’m putting out a bunch of feelers, to see if I can do some PR writing from home. And if I DO manage to get an at-home gig, you better believe that the second thing I do, after setting up my desk, will be hightailing my ass over to the shelter to find me an office mascot. :)
John O
@Demo Woman:
LOL, DW, that’s about in the vicinity of something that could just possibly make me a bit down on sane political discourse.
The truth is, I find it all fascinating to watch, and the only thing that really bums me out is that I won’t live to see the peaceful end of this particular political nightmare.
Sarah F. Palin? For President? I’m with DougJ on that one, since both of us tend to associate that with the End of the World.
Dogs, however, are timeless.
Laura W
@mandarama:
It gets old fast.
Trust me.
;-)
Demo Woman
@mandarama: Duchess was so sweet we had her bred with another sweet golden (spoiled rotten old dog). She had 11 pups and hopefully her genes still live since they were sent to families and friends across the country many years ago. The second Golden I repurchased was from a student at SMU. She had bought the pup but was going to France and could not take him. I had been looking at ads and new that this dog came from a back yard puppy mill but he had those eyes. Sunny lived 16 years. When Sunny was 11, he had a stroke and I brought him to the 24/7 doggy care. The emergency vet sent him home and gave me instructions on how to nurse him back. A few days later, the poor pup could not move and wet everything in sight. I called my vet to bring him in, but bathed him first so he would not be embarrassed. Long time Juice readers will remember this part, but when I got to the vet, you could smell urine. I apologized and mentioned that he had been bathed, at that point, I realized it was me. The vet smiled and said that was okay. Sunny had many more years of romping and tearing up stuff. I love dogs.
Petra
Aw, rescued pets are the best and most loyal ever. Murphy will absolutely adore you. Enjoy!
Mary
Beautiful story.
valdivia
Thanks for these John. I adopted my two cats from a shelter when they were little and would never think of doing anything different. Such a warm looking dog. He looks like a mensch.
Demo Woman
@RedKitten: OMG, Mandarama is going to hate me with all my golden stories but when the first born appeared, Duchess did not believe that it was necessary to allow a child to cry in a crib. She really felt that it was necessary to pick it up. So we have a pretty spoiled first child. The second child came along and Duchess decided enough was enough. She had done her duty.
Just Some Fuckhead
@mandarama: You have beautiful children.
Laura W
@mandarama: Also. If I EVER get another dog once Leah the Insane Australian Cattle Dog crosses the Rainbow Bridge…it will be a rescue Golden.
I’ve wanted one since I was 16.
Now I’m on record with it. I love your story.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Laura W: It’s sad what’s become of Balloon Juice. Before John was a liberal do-gooder animal activist, and even before he was a reclusive cat lady, he was full of piss and vinegar and the site was a place where all the bad people hung out. Now we talk about how bad we are while exchanging recipes and exfoliating techniques and synchronizing our periods.
John O
*cough/choke/sniff*
When are we gonna start on Ol’ Yeller stories?
Trust me, I’m kidding.
This is a nice place, people-wise.
Keith G
@mandarama: I’m thinking that the pic of dog and kids could go a long way in solving what’s wrong with the world.
Thanks.
Demo Woman
@John O: lol.. ask my boys about me and Old Yeller. When they were small we went to see the Fox and the Hound, my youngest climbed on my lap, not because he was distraught but to console me.
Demo Woman
@Just Some Fuckhead: I figure that when Blind Side comes out we will all be cheering for the Ravens, too. Maybe not John though.
WereBear
How anyone could tie that face out in the yard and neglect it… well, it boggles the mind. Congrats on something Meant To Be.
Goldens are the surfer dudes of dogdom. And look for their mixes! Like labs, they can make any other breed a little more laidback, and some of them need it.
Gus
@Betsy:
Yeah, thanks for injecting some reality. My rescue dog has some serious issues. He bit a friend and has only been prevented from biting another because we were vigilant. We’re working on him, and he is getting better. I love him dearly, I wouldn’t take him back for any amount of money, but he’s a lot of work. And yes, goldens are my favorite dogs. My wife’s allergic, so we need dogs that don’t shed, so I can’t own one, but I’ve never met one that wasn’t sweet and eager to please.
madmommy
@RedKitten:
We got a Lab when my big kid was 2 1/2 and the little guy was 6 months old. That dog has been ridden like a pony, had her ears and tail pulled, shared her food with the kids, and rolled and romped with them for 6 years. Never once has she so much as looked sideways at them, much less barked or snapped at them. She would sit patiently on the floor with the little guy when he was a toddler and let him feed her goldfish crackers one at a time. It took a couple of years for her to outgrow the puppy brains, and she’s still not the brightest bulb in the fixture, but a sweeter dog you’ll never find anywhere.
John O
@Demo Woman:
I get it. Whenever there’s a creature v. man story in the news my heart goes out to the creature, obligatory “not insects” caveat notwithstanding.
Politics is the art of warfare without violence. Dogs are the art of love without condition, exceptions be damned.
All I can remember about I Am Legend is the damn dog saving the protagonist and dying for it.
Xenos
Grew up with a couple Goldens – sweet beasts that could walk around for hours with a fresh tomato or uncooked egg in their mouths, never biting down. Maybe they are to blame for my misanthropy, because those dogs spoiled me so. So very few humans have the fine, loving, and loyal character those Goldens displayed.
Demo Woman
Last two Duchess’s stories, the ex and I would go canoeing in LA when where we first married. One creek was blocked to fallen trees and we had to take the canoe out. Duchess did not follow and was caught in a whirl pool. While I screamed, I insisted that the hubby save her which he did without consideration to him. (Yeah we are divorced)
The last (maybe) Duchess story was the day she brought home a homeless cat. She quietly entered the house and tried to hide a baby kitten. She nursed it, loved it and tended after it. We found it a home for the baby kitten.
Golden’s are the greatest. Must not tell Miss Moxie though.
Laura W
@Just Some Fuckhead: Well I started on Monday, two days early, and am thrilled to say that my flow has been sparse and my cramps minimal! Like the Dream of All Periods! Easy Peasy!
I was a little bitchy over the weekend, however, but I do not know how anyone would be able to differentiate that from the other 28 days of my month. (Shaddup! You know who you are!)
Just Some Fuckhead
@Laura W: lolz
Emma Anne
Yeah, people. Be careful out there. I’ve heard some really sad stories too – some dogs aren’t able to recover and become socialized.
Anne Laurie
Now that is a fiiiine looking towhead!
And the kids, also.
You do good work, Mandarama.
geg6
LOL! I’m laughing at all the surfer dude mellow comments about goldens and their mixes. One of my John’s 3 rescues is Otis, a golden/yellow Lab mix. He is the most hyper and excitable dog who ever lived. With terrible bladder control when excited. Which is any time there is a human, especially one he loves, around. But he was horribly abused as a pup and you can’t really blame him. Plus he has the sweetest face and doggy eyes that you have to love him. Rescues are the best. I love all these stories!
Anne Laurie
@gf120581:
Oh NO you don’t. Talking dogs would tell knock-knock jokes… over and over and over. And they would laugh at their own jokes, and look a little disappointed every time you didn’t laugh along with them.
Also, I do not want ever to have to listen to a dog explaining why used underwear is delicious. Or to the dogs at the dog park comparing stenches the way oenophiles discuss vintages. Not to mention… well, does everybody hear know the old folktale about Why Dogs Have No King?
latts
@mandarama:
Well, you always knew The Murphster was a star .
@Keith G:
If you saw them (the kids, not Murphy) playing Wii, you might reconsider.
Demo Woman
@Anne Laurie: Some of us wouldn’t mind the repeated knock, knock jokes. I do love the gist of your post though, cuz it’s so true.
kdaug
My God. We have a golden retriever named “Murphy”…
Litlebritdifrnt
@Anne Laurie: Which is why I love “Get Fuzzy” Satchel is truly a dogs dog, he is the epitome of dog, (and of course Bucky is a cats cat), I can just imagine mine telling the same jokes over and over again and then laughing themselves silly at them. Cueball would of course also say “oh when you said do not eat the kitten food you meant do not eat the actual kitten food, I thought you meant do not eat the other kitten food, that I have not eaten, cause you know, kitten food and kitten food are two ENTIRELY different things” and then he would fart.
ZIRGAR
@Anne Laurie:
I disagree. I think most, if not all, dogs would be sensitive souls and free thinking philosophers, walking around sniffing crotches, rolling on dead animals all the while quoting Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida, trying to decontextualize meaning insofar it is it considered to be self-evident and not contingent. Or something…
Yutsano
I’m kinda glad I read this. Today I had a bit of a surprise. The cowboy who took away my parents’ border Collie Jack brought him back today. I was indulging myself in massive Jack kisses when Justin (the cowboy) told me Jack was getting to stay! I am now officially esctatic over this possibility of having a companion in my car to charm the ladies at Starbucks with.
ZIRGAR
Oops. Forgot to blockquote that second paragraph. Damn!
hamletta
Murphy is precious! As are your little ones!
I’m in Mid-TN, so I showed Miss Sophia, my feline overlord, his handsome portrait and asked, “Don’t you want a doggie like that for your very own?”
She sniffed. No sale.
hamletta
@ZIRGAR: I think multi-graf blockquotes will work if you enclose each graf in paragraph tags: [p]Blah, blah[/p] (‘cept with angle brackets).
But don’t quote me on that. FYWP!
tripletee
@gf120581:
Best Pixar character evah. “I do not like the Cone of Shame.”
tripletee
Huh. Never run across this error message before: “You are posting comments too quickly. Slow down.”
I’ve got a better idea – fuck you, WordPress!
JerryS
Dear John –
With no disrespect intended, you shouldn’t steer people to Golden Retreiver, Labrabor, German Shepherd, or Chihuahua rescues. Those dogs don’t last long. There is always a LINE of people who want those dogs.
The harders dogs to place are Boxers, mixes, pit-mixes, Aussies, Jack Russells, etc. The difficult dogs. Those are the rescues the need volunteers, and rescue angels.
I worked with So. Cal Golden Retrievers for a year before I left because it wasn’t rescue as much as just placing dogs.
/end rant
ellie
Puppeh!
Anne Laurie
@Yutsano:
And now you have an exercise buddy, whether you wanted one or not!
If you get really ambitious, chickens are un-herdable, but I have known Border Collie people who put in duck ponds just so their dogs would have some ‘friends’ to practice with. And you’d get to experiment on cooking with duck eggs, which I’m told adds new challenges to baking…
Bad Horse's Filly
@Anne Laurie: Oh I have so many duck stories I could bore you with…and tell you about duck/dog love. And how my duck herded my dogs (of course, they were not Border Collies, who would never, ever tolerate a disobedient duck!). But I won’t. Must go to bed.
And damn you John Cole for making me cry twice today. But what a great diversion from Palinpalooza and other nonsense.
Allen
I have just come in possession of a second cat. She needs to find a new home (not here). If anyone in the Portland, OR area would like a cat, let me know.
Yutsano
@Anne Laurie: If you get really ambitious, chickens are un-herdable
Jack has already met my flock, in fact he ended up funning two of my chicks to death! I think him herding the chickens at his age (he’s not even a year yet) is a bit too ambitious, however he should love the horses. Whether the horses love him is another story!
I had ducks growing up, some of the best omelettes I ever had were made from the eggs. The only problem is they’re not constant layers like chickens are, so we usually had to wait for those. There is a recipe for duck egg cake out there that I’ve been dying to try if I can get a steady supply of them again.
Lesley
The Internet made me cry again.
*sob*
Thank you for rescuing Buddy, now Murphy.
Anne Laurie
@Yutsano: See, you’re ahead of me in the culinary arena yet again!
If you’re looking for something new to keep Jack exercised, two relatively new (organized) dog sports are rally-o and flyball. (Probably not enough snowpack in Washington state for skijouring.) For obvious reasons, any dog-sport group is going to have some Border Collie people involved, so if you need moral or practical support they can be a very handy resource. And it’s a great way to meet nice people, too.
Trinity
Thank you so much for doing this John. These stories are really wonderful and so warm. They bring much needed perspective about all that is important in this life.
harlana pepper
Beautifully written and heart-warming.
harlana pepper
@Just Some Fuckhead: I think we haz morphed into FDL
GReynoldsCT00
*sob* what a beautiful story… a perfect way to start the day. you can see the kindness in Murphy’s face. thanks to Murphy’s human and John for sharing
comrade scott's agenda of rage
I’m blinded by TEH CUTE!!!!!!!!! THE POWER OF A 1000 SUNS!!!!!
One could sell Dubya as President *again* if the campaign were nothing but imagery of little boys with dogs.
Don’t let anybody know about that. 8 years was 8 years too many but perhaps we could pass that along to campaigns in the midterms.
Great story worth many “attaboys” and numerous karma points!
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@harlana pepper:
John is no Hamsher. That. Is. A. Good. Thing.
mandarama
@Just Some Fuckhead: Thank you! They are amazing creatures and we’re doing our best to make them good O-bot DFHs. They have their horrible moments too, of course.
@latts: …aaand, latts is my sister, so she can corroborate their occasional authoritarianism and Wii violence.
@Anne Laurie: Yes, Murphy would definitely love to hear the same joke again and again. Every day, he’s thrilled: Hey, kibble! Hey, time to jump on the boys’ beds! Hey, my tennis ball! Oh…you have to work? Bummer, man, [email protected]kdaug: Good name choice!
mandarama
@JerryS: I totally see your point about breed placements. I think there are some regional differences, though. Here in the south, even golden rescues are always bursting at the seams…and we have some dogs in ours that have been with us for a year or more. Based on speaking with other rescues around the country, I feel like the south has tons of unwanted dogs and fewer animal protection laws…many, many backyard breeders of “popular” breeds like goldens, and lots of folks who consider a dog a disposable toy to ditch as soon as they do something annoying = full shelters, pounds, and rescues. It’s tough. Talk about making you cry…we have rescued one beautiful golden who was found wandering with a bullet hole completely through her neck. It went in one side and exited the other, but did not hit anything vital. She now lives with a family who has two little girls, and they have a chart going for who gets to snuggle the dog each night. Whew.
mandarama
@Demo Woman:
No way! I can hear heartwarming pet stories all day, especially about Goldens. It helps assuage the near-constant agita I have from living in a red state in crazy-realtor-on-acid Marsha Blackburn’s district! I’ve already signed up to volunteer for her challenger next year.
And yes about Dug from Up–they totally nailed the golden personality there. “I just met you, and I love you!” The only downside is that they are very needy / lovey–they want constant attention. But for me, that’s a feature, not a bug. If you want an independent dog, though, or one who will at least attempt to protect you instead of throwing himself at a burglar’s feet like a big love sponge–goldens are not for you.
mandarama
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
Heh. I would like to think Murphy would bite W. if he met him, but he’s really pretty indiscriminate. My little boys, however, have already had the indoctrination at home and from TEHPREZSKOOLMESSAGEOMG!!, so they believe that KenyanObamaislamohippiesoshulism is good.
The Tim Channel
Some of our snarkiness is offset by canoodling with our dogs. Imagine how snarky we’d be without them.
Enjoy.
koolaide
@mandarama:
Re: the south & more dogs in rescue, as a southerner, I wonder how these three factors impact our perpetually full shelters. 1) fewer dogs getting spayed/neutered. (particularly male dogs) than in other areas 2) many areas of the south tend to be poorer and that leads to more pet abandonment and 3) warmer winters so abandoning them through out the year doesn’t necessarily = freezing to death immediately. I’m sure there is more to it than that but my $.02
The pics of Murphy remind me of my own rescue golden/BC mix. The golden part was just as crazy as the BC part of him. He was one that had big issues when I got him (he loved, loved, loved people–he just didn’t know how to appropriately express his love. Other dogs, well, he didn’t love them at all). Eventually, after finding the right help and a lot of work, he b/cm a pretty good dog and trusted w/ the small child niece. Still miss him.
I can’t possibly have a dog now b/c of work & housing sitch but I am allergic to cats. That leaves me pet-less.
Comrade Darkness
God, I love goldens.
That’s all I have to say.
wonkie
Thank you for the story of your golden. I volunteer in dog rescue and its the happy endings that keep me going.
Here’s one from our rescue:
The Junkyard Dogs. These two boys, as puppies, were thrown over the fences into a junkyard. The guy who owned the yard didn’t feed or water them but he didn’t shoot them either. They dug a den for themsleves under a car and foraged for provisions from the neighbors. They grew up feral. Then one day the folks from a cat rescue group came out to round up the feral cat colony that lived in the junkyard and found the two boys. They brought tthe boys into our rescue.
They are big black mutts. One has the ridge of a ridgeback but otherwise they seem to be lab/chows. They were right from the start friendly.
They got adopted by a single lady who lost her dog to old age. She sent us pictures of them sprawled on her couch.
I could tell lots more stories, Since it is mostly a no kill rescue nearly all the sotries have happy endings. I love volunteering at the rescue. I’m addicted to it.
Kirk Spencer
With two exceptions in a very long list, all my pets have been rescues of one sort or another. One of the two was a kitten of a cat already owned. The other was a kitten from a neighbor’s cat. Otherwise…
There’s Monster, the cat currently sitting on my monitor. (She was walking on my keyboard earlier telling me it was feeding time.) She and her sister walked in the front door two Christmases ago – age then about a year (we think). They’d been dumped, abandoned, for being (we think) no longer kittens and large. (She weighs 14 pounds. She is not Tunch, and she is a short-hair.) A friend took the other cat, but we kept what was then Smokey. Then she and the other two cats and two dogs got into a discussion over pack order. She did not come on top, but her use of furniture and walls to make her point led to the name change. (By the way, “Nature’s Miracle” is the best I’ve found at neutralizing cat and dog pee, both odor and residue. Just as an aside, you understand.)
I said she didn’t come out on top. We had to put the winner down last year and I still get wound up about it. We were house-hunting and this small – SMALL – cat played “I want to/I don’t want to”. We went back to capture and take her to the pound – she wound up in our hearts. A declawed calico of about 8 pounds soaking wet, she was ticklish all over her body. yeah, I know, but the only place we could pet her was her head or she’d, well, she’d twitch and wiggle and run away, then come back demanding you rub her head. I said declawed – it’s an important point not only in regard to ruling the house. We lived for a while in a place that picked up some rats. We discovered this when Kiki – the smallest animal in the house – came into the bedroom dragging a monster (quite dead) as large as she was. She killed six of the things that season, one in front of my eyes. Yes, she’d play with mice, but something serious got a no-nonsense SLAM with both paws followed by a jaw-lock on the neck to finish it.
There’s Jezebel, a schnauzer-corgie mix (I may see if I can get pictures), a rescue from a no-kill. Or there are the two new puppies picked up because my daughter TRIED to do volunteer work and the shelter was the only place she could find – and they had such a glut they were going to have to put down some animals. Two didn’t go down, and unemployed as I am I will still see they last.
By the way: parvo, that killer. I’ve had dogs die to it. These two puppies – Raven and Buffy – came home with it. I am here to tell you that tamiflu DOES work against it, provided you also work hard at the fluidation routine for several days. Both today are strong and healthy, just having had their spaying from the vet who prescribed the tamiflu when they were about 8-12 weeks old.
There was Ginger, so many years ago, who was double-jointed — she could escape any harness put on her, and had a philosophical objection to cages and fences. She worked with Boots – the kitten of a cat already owned – to terrorize the neighborhood’s pets. A medium sized mutt, she’d wander around and bark at the animals, getting one to chase her. She’d come back at a dead run and go under the tree in the front yard. As her pursuer went under the branch, Boots would launch and land on the head/neck – one set of claws near the nose, one on the side of the head, and the other two grasping the neck – and it would turn into a bull-ride, er, dog ride with ginger nipping at the heels. When the visitor crossed the sidewalk both our animals would cease, the cat going back to the tree and the dog just sitting, seeing if the visitor would return. Within three months, ours was the only yard in the area that never needed cleaning of small brown bombs delivered by neighborhood visitors. Dogs WOULD NOT ENTER, regardless of what they were chasing.
Gah – 50 years of life, lacking pets only while enlisted. Yeah, I’ve a tale or two.
keenanjay
We have five dogs including a golden. Last weekend we tried something new, fostering a golden from the Emerald Coast GR Rescue here in the FL panhandle.
It turned out to be less than optimal as this beautiful mature female had spent too much time bouncing from kennel to homes and back and had a propensity for fighting at the first dropped snarl. So back she went.
It was very sad as she is a beautiful, playful dog and very friendly to people. I felt so bad taking her back! I made a donation towards her boarding and hope she finally finds a good, “one dog” family.
Dog is My Copilot
We have two rescue goldens. They are the sweetest dogs on the face of the planet. Our male is named Buddy (I kept the name because it fit him so well) and he is the gentlest soul there is. He was two years old when I adopted him, and he had been through two homes before, if you can imagine. He had been part of a littler that was abandoned with their mother in a ditch somewhere. I don’t know how these people sleep at night.
CynDee
@RedKitten: When I was writing technical manuals from home, every now and then our Amazing Trio (rambuntious beagle/Jack Russell, needysweet black lab mix, determined collie mix) would go into riot mode just outside the office window when I was on the phone with a major corporate client manager or subject-matter expert . Or worse, a conference call.
After the first mortifying experience, I took to coolly saying, “Pardon the interruption; that’s my Canine Support Team.” There would be a sharp halt in the conversation and then the people on the other end would chuckle and titter a bit, and we would resume the call, and there were never any problems about it.
It wasn’t nearly as annoying to the group as the different cell phones going off and having them with their cell phones in one ear and talking into the conference phone.
Gracie, the collie mix knew how to tell time. At exactly 3:15 p.m. most days, she would walk in and wuff at me to go for a walk. If I didn’t move, she would try to pry me out of the chair, wuffing and muttering the whole time as she used nose and forelegs to get the job done. If I wouldn’t go, the look on her face was something not easy to live with . . .
Phillip J. Birmingham
The story of our rescue dogs is kinda boring.
Roxy and Jet apparently belonged to a family from Mexico who had to move back. They spent a few months in shelters near the KY-TN border being shuffled back and forth across the border before they came up to Illinois.
Lori and I saw them on Petfinder, went to visit them with the kids, and decided immediately after we left that the dogs would be coming home with us.
They were thin from their time in the shelter, and they had some issues with knowing where it is appropriate to pee, but after they settled down, they act like they’ve never known anything but love.
RememberNovember
Awesome. We adopted a golden/collie mix from NC that was slated for euthenasia because he had heartworm- a rescue group grabbed him and put him up for adoption. We had to submit letters of reference and intent to treat the guy. Well,4 months later he’s happy and hearty. He still has some territorial marking issues and has had two accidents in the house, but he’s adjusting and gets along well with his big brother and cat-brother.
serge
Great story, happy outcome, and a beautiful dog…
Paul in KY
That’s one good looking dog! And I say that has a confirmed cat dude.
Glad you gave him a home.
MH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psi6kmbhwUw
Another happy dog!