Thunder

Update: 12/22/09

What else can we say about Thunder except that he’s loving life! He is no longer taking any seizure medicine and he’s bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and enjoying all the comings and goings at his foster home. So many new dogs to meet, so many things to keep tabs on! What with socializing, eating, napping, and “supervising” mom and dad, the days just fly by. Old Thunder definitely puts the “grand” in grandpa. (:

Update:11/16/09:

Old Thunder  is so settled into his foster home, and his foster family is enjoying him so much, that they say “we are just too attached to our little man to ask him to move to another foster home.” Thunder can stay put until the perfect adoptive family comes along! He is doing great.  He loves mentoring each new foster dog who comes into the household and has a real soft spot for the ladies!

Old dogs are the best dogs.

There’s nobody more touching, endearing, and inspiring than old Golden Retrievers. Their faces may be gray, their joints a bit stiff, their teeth a little worn, but their hearts are forever young. The silly puppies they once were are still there, and so easy to see – in their bursts of rowdiness, their eagerness to trot after a gently tossed tennis ball, their rocking-horse “happy dance” when the leash or the dinner bowl comes out. To see the young dog looking out of those soft brown eyes in a venerable white face—it can’t help but melt your heart. But the oldies are so easy to have around – no eternal vigilance required. They’ve earned their retirement, they’ve seen it all, and they’re happy to snooze in a comfy spot or set up a command post at the living room window and watch the world go by. And so often they have all the patience in the world for the real youngsters – it’s a joy to watch them teaching those pesky puppies how to behave, which of course involves playing with the young ones, too. It’s really something to see when Youth and Age start kicking up their heels together!

More than one GRR family, after fostering an old gent or gal, has commented to us, “OK, from now on this is the ONLY age of foster dog I want.”

Right now we’re looking for a foster or adoptive family for a nice old grandpa: 13-year-old Thunder. This handsome gent comes to GRR from a wonderful family who cherished him from the time he was a tiny puppy, but in the past few months, life changes meant that they needed to find their Golden a new home.

Despite his name, Thunder doesn’t care about storms. He’s great with other dogs and loves the young ones… and when puppy Penelope (age 12 weeks) dropped in for a few days, he was smitten and “chaperoned” her everywhere! (That’s Thunder to the left of young Penny in the group photo.) He’s delighted to carry toys and bones about but isn’t possessive. Mostly he likes to keep his humans in sight—where you are, he is, settled down to keep you company. He grew up with young kids, but at this stage in his life, he’d do better with gentle older children or teenagers and a quiet household.

Thunder is having a blast at his current foster home, but we’d love to find him a foster or adoptive home where he could have more one-on-one attention. He’ll need a family who’s at home much of the day and can take him out for frequent potty breaks—he is housebroken, but ideally he’d get a chance to go outside every several hours (well, any human who is over 50 can relate to this situation!). He also needs assistance getting up off the floor occasionally, especially after a long nap when joints are stiffer. He came to GRR on thyroid tablets and phenobarbital for seizures, but we’ve already successfully reduced both medications and hope to wean him off the pheno (it was started ten years ago, after he’d had just a couple of seizures…he may not even need it). He needs eyedrops every now and again, just to keep his eyes moist.

Do you have room in your home and heart for a special senior dog? You won’t find a more charming companion to keep you company and make you smile throughout the day. If you’d like to learn more about Thunder, please let us know.

Adoption Procedures