Before I
write an update on Goldie, I’d like to give you a brief reminder of who she was
before getting adopted. Goldie was a 3-month-old Retriever/Lab/German Shepherd
mix that was brought to us as a stray. Either this little girl was abused in
her short life or never socialized as she came to the shelter EXTREMELY shy and
scared. If you put a leash on her, she would just lay down and cower. We couldn’t
let her loose in the play yard for fear that we wouldn’t be able to catch her
again to bring her in. You basically had to corner her in her kennel to give
her any attention. What Goldie had going for her was her young age and good
looks. She wasn’t vicious and we didn’t worry about her becoming aggressive; she
was just so scared.
Goldie got
adopted by a nice couple. I talked to Troy and he shared how Goldie was doing
in her new home. She’s doing better every day, but still very shy. She comes up
to them backwards, as if she wants to be pet – but only her back and behind.
She does not like her head and neck being pet, but they are still working on
that. She will shy away from your hand. Goldie never got used to being on the
leash and, like us at the shelter, Troy was worried that she’s run off and
never be found if not on the leash (and they live on 200 acres). Well, one day
Troy and his family prayed about the situation and soon after, Goldie got off
her leash. She didn’t run. She seemed more at ease and stayed close to the
other dogs. It’s as if the leash was part of the problem the whole time. Goldie
has two friends: a 14-year-old black lab that doesn’t pay too much attention to
her but has put her in her place; and an overweight beagle that Goldie loves to
torment. Goldie is herself around the other dogs and loves to follow them around.
Troy takes his other two dogs on his 4-wheeler because one is too old and one
is too fat to run beside it. Not Goldie! She runs beside the 4-wheeler to
follow her friends wherever they go. Now that Goldie does not wear a leash, she’s
become more at home and stays in the yard with the other dogs. She didn’t bark
at the shelter, nor did she bark at her new home (at first). Now she is a watch
dog as well as a puppy. Goldie does the normal puppy things – like chews. She’s
doing pretty good with being house-trained. Accidents seem to happen when she
hasn’t been taken out early in the morning. Troy and his family are very happy
with Goldie and I told him to give us updates because it can only get better
from here. Goldie is a lucky girl to have found such a loving home and I couldn’t
be happier for her!
