It has often been said that adopting a second hand dog requires patience and dedication. This is certainly true of our YGRR adopters. Some cope with their dog's extraordinary physical disabilities -- whether the dog had the limitations when adopted or not. Following are the stories of some of those wonderful people and the lucky Goldens who share their homes and benefit from their kindness and patience.


Kelsey, YGRR #1202
by her adopter, Patty

Lucy
by her adopters, Chandler and Darlene

During the week of February 15, 1997, a Golden puppy was found in the north end of a Connecticut city. Two reports were given. One was that the pup had been dumped on a doorstep, in a basket. The other was that she was found in a dumpster. The pup was given the name Precious. She was taken to a veterinary clinic where it was determined that she was paralyzed from the "waist down". They estimated that she was about five weeks old. Yankee was called and within hours, Precious was transported from there to one of our collaborating vets where more tests were done. Soon after that, Precious was taken to Tufts Vet Hospital for more extensive tests and it was determined that she suffered from a neurological injury, either as a birth defect, or possibly from being dropped soon after birth, although no evidence was found to support that theory.

At the vet's office, her name, Precious, was being challenged. Because she wasn't housebroken, and couldn't use her back legs, she was constantly covered in feces and urine. Her nickname soon became "Not-So-Precious." Someone came up with the idea to rename her Lucy, short for Lucifer. Dr. Audrey, who owns the veterinary practice, loves a challenge, so she developed a plan to try to rehabilitate Lucy's paralyzed rear, at least to the point where she could get along by herself. Lucy had always been able to walk on her front legs, but she dragged her rear end resulting in constant sores and bleeding. Audrey hoped that as Lucy grew, she would become strong enough to support most of her weight on her front legs, and then be able to salvage a little use from her rear legs to support her. It was not to be, however. One of Lucy's legs was bent at an angle that hindered the use of the better one. Audrey tried, under anesthesia, to free up the joints and tendons of that bad leg, but to no avail. She made the choice to remove the leg so that she could concentrate on the better one. After the operation, Dr. Audrey continued the physical therapy, using her own swimming pool, in the hope that swimming would loosen and strengthen the leg. It worked, over time, to the point that Lucy would use the leg when she was running, but she still didn't use it while walking.

Lucy was sent to Riverview to try her luck at getting adopted. Between her lack of house training, and her constant need for baths, plus the sight of her dragging herself around, the staff at Riverview felt that Lucy was not adoptable. Lucy was sent back to the vet hospital where one of Dr. Audrey's vet techs had volunteered her parents to help house train Lucy and socialize her with their two YGRR Goldens. Those two people were us, both members of Rescue. This is Lucy's story from our point of view.

Our daughter had been telling us about a handicapped Golden at the animal hospital for months. She now came home and asked us if we could help this little dog by taking her into our house. We were to try to housebreak her and socialize her with our two Goldens, Maggie and Bennie. She explained that this was perhaps the last chance for this dog to become "adoptable". We really didn't want a third dog, but Susan said that it would only be temporary. When Lucy became housebroken, she would go back to Riverview and hopefully get adopted.

I decided that I wouldn't become attached to Lucy. I considered her a work in progress -- a job, so to speak.

We had our work cut out for us that first night. Lucy was a sweetheart, but, oh my, the mess! We began by putting her on a schedule. Just like a puppy, she would go out to "potty" right after every meal, as soon as she woke up, and right before bedtime. We praised her after each successful "outing" and after a few days, she was almost perfect. Sure there were some mistakes, but we could see that Lucy was sorry.

One night, Lucy was sleeping on the couch. I looked over at her and watched as she dreamed. Her eyes, although closed, moved as she watched something in her dream world. Her legs moved rhythmically as she chased it. I wondered if she was still handicapped in her dreams, or if she could run as she had never done. I moved closer to her, studying her face, looking at the perfection in her features. I wondered why something so beautiful, so innocent, could be so imperfect. As I drew even closer, Lucy must have sensed my presence. Her eyes opened a little, and when she saw me so near, they opened wide in surprise. Then something happened that changed everything. She recognized me. Her eyes softened, and she leaned closer to me and gently licked my face.

This one act went straight to my heart. I knew then that I was totally in love with this little Golden girl. I also knew that we would never part.

All our plans for her were now in our hands. She had found her "forever home".

When we first got her, we had originally envisioned Lucy being adopted by a Physical Therapist. Someone who could use her disability along with her wonderful personality to help handicapped children overcome the obstacles in their journey towards rehabilitation. Dee and I felt that Lucy was put on this earth for a purpose. She had come a long way and fought incredible odds just to get this far. Now we had a new "job". We wanted to, eventually, use Lucy to help others.

It took almost one year. We worked with Lucy, socializing her with other dogs, working her with people, especially children. She loved children! We worked with a local rehabilitation hospital, and Lucy became certified as a therapy dog to work in that hospital. Later this year, she was also certified by Therapy Dogs International to work in any hospital or nursing home in this country or Canada.

We want everyone to know that Lucy leads a pretty normal life. She is still small, only 48 pounds. She has learned to swim like any other Golden, and spends hours retrieving her tennis balls. She travels with us wherever we go. She rides in a modified jogging stroller when we go on our walks, but she gets down and plays with the other dogs from time to time.

She has become something of a celebrity. Due in large part to the Internet, Lucy has had her story told in several publications, and her pictures adorn more than one website. We are supported by a wonderful group of people who have stuck with us through everything. Through a Golden Retriever List Group, my nightly stories on Lucy's progress drew comments and cheers. It was that support that made us realize that we had a very special Golden.

We don't know how long we will have Lucy. So far her health has been extremely good, but with the immense strain on her front shoulders, we are aware that this could be a temporary thing. In the meantime, Dee and I will do everything in our power to make sure that this special girl lives life to the fullest, and happiest!

Thumper's Saga - A Love Story
by his adopter, Rona

It had been six months since the death of our sweet Golden, Zev, (not a rescue dog), and we were ready to do the Golden dance once again. YGRR had learned that we had Zev through his city registration and had mailed us a postcard encapsulating just what YGRR is about. We kept that card for years, and finally the time had come to put it to use.

We were visited by a YGRR volunteer in late October, 1994, almost passed muster, (part of the fence needed re-enforcing), and we told the volunteer that because I would be accompanying my husband on a business trip most of November, we wouldn't be ready for a dog until the end of that month. From our house, the volunteer was going to drive to Bridgeport, CT to rescue a thirty pound adult Golden in obvious trouble. Little did we know that the very same dog would be ours one day.

On December 8th my husband and I drove to a kennel and fell in dog love. Thumper is a small Golden, but needed considerably more weight than the forty pounds he had on him. The vets had diagnosed him as making insufficient pancreatic enzymes. In short, he could not digest food, had constant diarrhea and was not able to gain weight. They started giving him enzymes, (Viokase, approximately $75 for a 2 - 3 month supply), and thus began his road to health.

Within 6 months we had a happy, playful, sixty-five pound dog. Then, through happenstance, the Gods created a problem necessitating that Thump be X-rayed. What turned up was one horrendous diagnosis. He had advanced spondylosis, or degeneration of the spine, which, we were told, would result in his paralysis, most likely within the next six months. Spondylosis is an immune system problem. I felt that it was time to turn to an alternative vet, to see if there was anything we could do to strengthen Thumper's immune system. Dr. Robert Goldstein, and Dr. Brien Wessels of Northern Skies in Westport, CT were the answer. I was told, "If you're willing to give him medication, (22 pills in the AM & 23 in the PM - with an absolute promise that he'll end up on a fraction of those pills in a year or so), run him 20 minutes 2 times a day, and get involved in making some of his food, I think we can do it. And, oh, by the way, let's get his pancreas healthy enough so that it can make its own enzymes, rather than giving him enzymes."

Wow! This was a commitment! But, when you agree to share your home and heart with an animal, there are no bounds. We were grateful that we could do this for Thump, and do it, we have. Including a healthy pancreas that makes enzymes. For this he takes Pan 5X, approximately $20 for a 3 month supply.

Every two weeks I peel and chop five pounds of carrots, five large celery stalks and about two-thirds of a package of fresh spinach, bag this into 3.5 ounce servings and freeze, using a bag per meal. Every four days I cook one half cup of brown rice, one half cup of millet, one can of low fat/sodium chicken broth and water. He gets one half cup per meal. The grain mixture was necessary because tests showed that he was not absorbing nutrients well. This did the trick.

Along the way, we needed to solve that Golden bugaboo, hot spots with some allergies thrown in for good measure. I'd been giving Thump antihistamine from my traditional vet, but each night, as soon as it wore off, the poor dog would tear at himself in abject misery. I was becoming rather miserable myself, because night after night, I would sit and massage him, applying every topical product safe for dogdom with less than startling results.

Let's hear it for alternative supplements! A Chinese herb called Kai Yeung was suggested and so ended our misery. One of those pellets in the AM & one in the PM, and no more itchiness at all. At last, uninterrupted sleep.

Every 6 months or so, Dr. Senker, my traditional vet, (who after speaking to Dr. Goldstein, flew to Atlanta for a week every month until he had 1500 hours in, so he could become a licensed acupuncturist - so maybe he's not a strictly traditional vet), draws blood, the results going both to Northern Skies & to me. Drs. Goldstein/Wessels do a Metabolic Nutritional Analysis and determine what supplements to continue, discontinue or add. Within a year we were down to roughly 6 pills in the AM & 6 more at night. (The office ships these supplements throughout the USA.) It will be four years this month that we have been doing this, so thankfully, we made it past the 6 month paralysis sentence. Thump runs after tennis balls, (what else?), 20 minutes every morning and again every PM, along with our play-date black lab, Arrow. We all have great fun doing this, pausing once in a while to play a little hide and seek. About every 6 weeks, or whenever his spine indicates it needs some more help, I take Thump to Dr. Senker and he administers Zeel, a product that provides great relief to the spine, into the appropriate acupuncture spots. Dr. Wessels insists that I should be able to do this myself, and probably if the need were more frequent or if I did not have Dr. Senker nearby, I would.

In July 1998 we had a mishap - Thump, following my husband, tried to squeeze through a heavy swinging door. Everything made it except about 1/2 inch of tail. We were told both by the emergency vet and our traditional vet that 85%-90% of the time, the complete tail has to be amputated because there's just not enough capillaries to allow enough blood flow to heal the tail.

Gangrene was practically a certainty.

I thought we'd probably used up more than our share of miracles, but I called Northern Skies again. Dr. Wessels' advice scared me silly, "Give him 1,600 IU of vitamin E per day." This, I knew, could really be dangerous. He said that, hopefully, this regimen should bear fruit in about a month, at which point we'd begin reducing the dose. (Of course all of this happened two days before vacation, so scratch the vacation.) The tail needed to be smelled frequently to make sure gangrene hadn't started, and dressings needed weekly changing. Four weeks later, during a dressing change, Dr. Senker pointed out the beginnings of healthy tissue, and sure enough, Thumper still has his very beautiful tail, with feathers all grown back.

One day before our vacation this year, guess what? Right. During play it became apparent that Thump was not able to hold on to any ball tossed to him, a first in the 4 + years he's been with us. The mouth problem turned out to be a broken tooth, with an exposed vein. He was not in obvious discomfort except when trying to catch balls. We determined that eating was not a problem for him so we boarded him with the vet and went on an overdue vacation.

Upon our return, Dr. Senker advised us that it is now possible to do root canals on dogs, and that this is preferable to tooth extraction, except, perhaps, in the case of very old dogs. With extraction, one runs the risk of the remaining teeth moving and becoming loose. He referred us to Dr. Donald DeForge in Milford, CT. It's been a week since the surgery and Thumper seems to be doing very well. Dr. DeForge tried to sell me on a titanium crown - I truly believe it was not the money that interested him. This is really new technology, and I believe that he was just excited to have the opportunity to fashion a crown. As he said, he's only one of five vets in the country who is able to do this. When I asked what this would add to the bill, the answer was $850. We were at $1400 for all tests done by my vet plus tests and the procedure by Dr. DeForge. I'm sure I disappointed him terribly when I declined the crown.

Thump is just going to have to survive with one short canine tooth. If he has psychological problems because of this, I figure a couple of sessions with a doggy psychologist would be cheaper. For the root canal, in addition to the antibiotics, the holistic vets suggested Arnica, a homeopathic product that is excellent for trauma, given once a day for two days before surgery, and twice a day on the day of and for the seven days following surgery. We have to change all of our toys, as Thumper chews too hard and has tiny cracks in several teeth that hopefully won't become larger.

Also, he was destroying dentin, recognizable by little dark marks on the edge of his teeth. He can only have soft toys - no more nylabone, no more kong. Dr. DeForge was not keen on tennis balls either, but you might as well shoot Thumper if tennis balls are totally forbidden. I'll closely monitor tennis balls.

To the question, "Can any dog possibly be worth all this time, trouble, and effort to say nothing of expense?" The answer is a resounding, "You betcha!" The joy we have because Thumper is in our lives makes these extras absolutely worthwhile. Watching him bounce a ball on each step as we go upstairs, (which may have to remain in our memory banks), lying regally with crossed front paws, and countless other adorable schtick that make Thumper - THUMPER! - does something to me that I'm sure you, as members of the Golden Fan Club, understand - they are just incredible, precious, special beings.

Conclusion

Adopting a second hand dog requires a willingness to give the dog firm rules and understanding to allow him or her to adapt to a new environment. We think you will agree that the folks whose stories are told here have gone well above and beyond understanding. The Rescue Goldens and the YGRR program are fortunate to include them in our family. Thanks to each of them.


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If you would like to help Rescue Goldens like Kelsey, Lucy and Thumper, please become a YGRR member or consider a donation. Thank you.

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