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New Stories Coming Soon! If you have adopted a dog from us and have a success story, please submit it to us. Some of the pictures below may get larger by clicking on them.

Here’s another update that Abbie wanted to send to everyone who’s responsible for helping her find a new home.

Hi everyone,

This is Abbie and I wanted to give you another update about how I’m doing in my forever home. I’ve been out of the puppy mill for over a year and a half now and I’m still learning new things every day. I have learned the true meaning of life for all Goldens everywhere; the belly. Filling it and getting is scratched. I just loooove treats. I know the sound of my bowl being picked up and I can hear my people chewing from one floor and 3 rooms away. All a dog needs for a fulfilling life is a full belly and some great belly scratching. And a daily run at the park. It’s all so simple!

I love the park and car rides. My favorite words are dinner, park, treat, walk, banana, out, hungry, car, cheese… I think you get the idea. And I love looking out the front window to watch the world go by. Every afternoon about 4:30 I come downstairs and watch out the front window until my papa comes home from work. Then I run up and down the stairs a few times and jump and spin in the air when he comes in. I even come downstairs to meet new friends when they come to visit; especially if they bring carrots or treats. That’s just another one of those “Golden belly” opportunities.

I love to play tug with my people and my sister and I’ve you should see me swim! I don’t understand why my people sometimes throw a tennis ball to me, though. It just bumps me on the nose and falls to the ground. Huh. Tennis balls are for ripping the fuzz off of, not catching. Dogs catch carrots, bananas, treats, and such; not tennis balls. One day, hopefully, my people will catch on. They’re a little slow sometimes, but I do love them.

I’ll tell you a secret, but don’t tell my people. I’ve trained my people to take me to the park to run! I just get way overly excited, run up and down the stairs, sprint around the living room and do a couple 360 degree spins in the air and soon enough my people say “Crimony Abbie” and I get to go to the park! It works really well! All you beasties out there should try it sometime. People are so easy to train.

I’ve started taking agility classes. I’m not sure what the point is, but I’ve learned the dog walk, jumps, tires, hoops and ladders. I love that 4” dog walk. It makes a dog so tall!! I just stop in the middle, put my head high in the air and peruse my surroundings.

Thank you all so much for helping me to find a forever home. People tell me that my eyes are bright and cheery now instead of scared and cautious. And I never knew the world was filled with so many wonderful people and smells (and FOOD!!).

Well, I gotta go ballistic now so my people will take me to the park. I’ll write again soon.

Love, Abbie

-----Original Message-----
From: Beth
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 8:31 AM
Subject: Diana's success story

Hi,

We adopted “Diana” on August 1st. Here’s a bit of her story of transition into her new home and how far she’s come so far. We’ve changed her name to “Abbie.” She’s come a long way. Here’s what she wanted to tell you:

Hi, I’m Abbie (Diana) and I was rescued from a puppy mill last spring. It was really scary, but really good too. I got good vet care and had some infections cleared up so I’m feeling much better. My foster home was great. I wasn’t too sure about moving again and getting a new older sister, but it’s turned out to be pretty fun. I’ve learned lots of things since I’ve moved here: wagging your tail is okay; being outside is fun; bones and rawhide are great! (and fun to bury in the yard); I don’t need to hide in my safe corners anymore, but it’s nice that they’re still there; it’s fun to jump and pounce when I’m excited. I’ve come out of my shell so much that my momma and papa are sure I’m really only 6 months old and not 3 years old. I’m also getting used to going on walks at the park. Oh, and there’s nothing like ripping the stuffing out of toys! Though my sister doesn’t much like it when I do that.

My sister has taught me lots of things, too. Dogs snort when they’re not happy, treats are good, people are safe, it’s fun to put your head out the window in the car, you can be curious when someone comes to the door and not hide, being outside is fun (though I’m still not sure what’s so enticing about picking up toads: YUCK!!), and snuggling is nice. We sometimes compete for attention, but I’ve learned to pick up my back leg and paw my sister in the face to keep her back.

Oh, and I’ve developed an internal clock. My mom’s an early bird and if she oversleeps I’m sure to jump up on the bed and give her a swipe on the head. (I’m also learning not to swipe with my paws, but sometimes I just get tooooo excited.) I’m also getting used to strangers and men. Last time I went to the vet I even took a treat from his hand!!

Thank you GRR for giving me a new home and a chance to have a good life.

Abbie

View Pictures Here

There can be no justification for causing suffering to animals simply to serve man's pleasure or simply to enhance man's lifestyle.
The Dean of York

Imagine this as your life:

A narrow kennel. Surrounded by many other similar narrow kennels. Each housing a Golden. A Golden whose sole purpose in life—whose entire life—is to produce Golden puppies for sale.

Never let out.

Never taken for a walk.

Never hearing a softly spoken word of kindness.

Never feeling the tender touch of a loving hand.

Just bred for another litter of puppies once the last set has been weaned.

Think long and hard on this.

How could you not go mad?

That puppy mill Goldens do not go crazy, that they still have it in them to learn that life is more than a metal crate and that humans can be their friends, is a testimony to the breed itself. Their loyalty. Their trust.

Diana—identified on her official “Breeder’s Registry” as Golden Huntress—was rescued from an Oklahoma puppy mill in April, part of a group of nine Goldens. The owners were “closing up shop” and auctioning off their breeding stock to anyone who might want to start up a new puppy mill. Among the buyers, however, was a Good Samaritan with a very different goal in mind. She outbid the competition, purchased all nine dogs, and placed them with rescue groups throughout Texas and Oklahoma.

And so Diana came to Gold Ribbon Rescue.

Diana is a lovely three-year-old girl. She’s been spayed, treated for bladder and ear infections, and updated on all her shots. Her hips aren’t sound enough to make her a good jogging partner, but she has plenty of stamina for regular walks and normal activity. (And surprisingly, she really enjoys her walks and does well on leash.)

She is timid, not always sure if the hand coming towards her will be a friendly one or not. Once she decides that she is in safe company, though, a bit of that Golden trusting nature comes out … and seeing her smiling face is something wondrous!

Diana needs someone who will help her work through her shyness. She needs a loving, relatively quiet home—everything is new to her and there are just too many new things that can overwhelm. Someone who could be home during the day would probably help in her progress. She gets along with other dogs—but remember, she doesn’t know how to play, having never done that before. She would probably benefit from having a playmate to teach her the ropes of what life as a loved dog is like.

She will require patience.

She will require love.

And she may always be a more reserved Golden.

But she’s so deserving of a chance.

Can you help Diana? She is desperately looking for someone to help rebuild her confidence and her trust in the goodness of humans.

Our task must be to free ourselves—by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
Albert Einstein

I go into the bathroom and close the door and after a minute there’s a thump—Hudson is tossing his ball against the bathroom door. Will I play? ”Hudson!” I say. Outside the door his tail wags and he picks up the ball and gently tosses it against the door. I laugh, which only makes him do it again. The boy is ball crazy. He brings it to everyone.

I hear my husband at his computer saying, “Hudson, I can‚t play right now, I’m doing bills!”

Hudson flops down and sighs. My husband eventually finishes and gets up, and up pops Hudson. Ball? Ball? Ball!

Hudson’s surrender info describes him as a “foundling.” He was found wandering by a highway and picked up by a Good Samaritan. She posted flyers and signs, but no one claimed him, and although she loved him, she knew he needed more time and attention than she could give him right then. So Hudson came to us.

What a jock! He’s a total athlete, just floats when he runs. We toss his ball and sometimes he catches it in mid-air. But from the first, he was a sweetheart in the house. He’s probably about 18 to 24 months old—just a big puppy still—but he sleeps next to the bed on the floor and has never had an accident. And that big Golden Retriever smile!

When GRR sent him to us to foster, they said, “He’s what we call a goober! A goofy lover, flying paws and good intentions.” Sweet goober! I suppose we’ll never know your whole story.

I didn't know where to submit this on the website, so I thought I'd send it to this email address. We already have a featured "success story" for our GRR Golden Sam on May 2005, however I feel compelled to write yet another update. He is now nine years old, and is in great health and condition. He's put on some weight - he is now 65 lbs, impressive given his thyroid and heart issues.

In addition, in those three years since we've adopted Sam (fka Casey), we've had a child. Sam was always an extremely gentle, loving dog, but we really never knew exactly how much until our daughter was born. He is the perfect dog for a family with a small child - remarkable because it is something many dogs aren't since children do not know dog protocol. He is so gentle with her, and patient. He never touches her toys or acts too boisterous around her. He remains still as she pets him, except for when she talks to him and he feels compelled to give her a kiss. Sam is her first experience with a dog and what a wonderful experience that is. My first experience with dogs actually frightened me, but she doesn't have that fear because Sam is so good natured. We are so blessed to have this dog in our family, and your organization made it possible for dogs to find loving homes. I do get sad, however, knowing that at 9 years old, he will not be growing up with her and she will most likely have to face the reality of death, but while we have him I am glad he gives our family joy. Thanks again Gold Ribbon, for all of the work that you do.

We started looking for a Golden Retriever once we decided that was the right kind of companion for us. We had barely made it through the home interview when the call came. A dog was waiting to be fostered who was actually a return who got adopted last year. Sam (though I believe the original GR name was Casey, which actually was originally K.C. for killer canine....yeah, right!) was a 6yr old guy who'd been brought back. We went out to meet him, and here was this dog, pulling on the leash as hard as possible!

Regardless, we took him home. And from the first day he made an impact in our house. Of course, his first impact was thinking plants were bathroom areas! But we remedied that by moving plants up high. His second impact was on our hearts. Because of his situation, he was very clingy those first few weeks, but as time went by, he began to understand that Mom and Dad were only going to work and that he had a healthy assortment of toys and things to keep him busy. We'd come back home to him every day! He really likes that part.

Poor Sam didn't seem to be real socialized with other dogs. Sure he loves humans (no loyalty with this one, if you have hands, he wants to be petted, regardless if your dog gets jealous!) We placed him in training classes (Sam didn't seem to even have base knowledge of commands) and the first night was a disaster. He was staying near us, and didn't want to train at all. He wouldn't go near other dogs. So we placed him in daycamp, and within two days of starting it, he came out of his shell! While he easily prefers to hang with smaller dogs, large dogs that are nice don't faze him anymore. He chases the ball and sniffs and greets like the rest while in daycamp. It really brought joy to us to see him break out and really begin to enjoy his daycamp time!

But there was another bright side, he no longer froze up in training classes, and as of May 4th, he graduated! And of course, he went from being our foster dog to being out companion at the picnic when we officially adopted him.

At home, he's wonderful. He'll stay in the room with you, but prefers to lay down and just watch you. Don't worry, you can't sneak out without your shadow coming along! He's gots lots of toys (all of which squeak) and our house has at least 3 in each room now. He loves to sleep in on Saturdays and Sundays (what's good for mom and dad is good for Sam apparently) and when we come home, he's ready to play and greet us. He's got a few medical conditions (thyroid, heart murmur) but aside from taking some pills, you wouldn't know it. And if you throw a ball, he's always ready to fetch it!

He's still a little rough around the edges (he likes to door dart, loose leash walking will take some time) but he is most certainly a diamond! He's definantly found his forever home with us!

Tim and Ria Garza

Hi there,
Pardon if I sent to the wrong email address, but my husband submitted a success story for our dog Sam (aka KC, Casey, Sammy, Capitan Slurpo (our nickname) ). He captured a lot of it, but I'd like to let you guys know how special this dog is that you gave us. He is the sweetest of even the Goldens, and he has made big strides in little time. He is a very smart, very loving dog. For a dog that had little to no obedience training his entire life, he was the quickest learner in his PetsMart class (of course I'm biased, but *still*). He learned down/sit stay (for up to a minute, even two minutes) in about two days. Of course, we refresh just to reinforce, but he is always progressing rather than digressing. The way I see it, this dog is directly what you put into it. It was definitely a minor challenge to religiously go to training classes, even when my husband was away traveling and I had no car, handle a full time job, plus train your dog, but the results are phenomenal. All this guy needed was love, time and patience. Like I explained to kathy, you find yourself evolving as well as the dog. He has been great training ground for when we decide to have a child, because they too require time and patience, and sometimes even more so!

I should also let you know that now he is 60-61 lbs, vs. the 55 he was when those pictures were taken shortly after his arrival. While he will probably always be underweight due to his condition, he at least is sporting an actual "average" figure vs. the ribcage he had earlier. He goes to day camp three days per week and while humans are always his preference, he has finally learned simply how to be a dog. He sniffs butts, plays ball…he has really come out of his shell. He is so resilient, so forgiving, so…I can't think of enough adjectives to describe this guy. Personally, I would love to adopt another older dog, but we're new pet parents and it is best that Sam gets us all to himself for awhile. You couldn't ask for a better animal. He is getting better with the door darting..and as for loose leash, he's a dedicated puller probably all of his life. We use the gentle leader, and it makes things so much better. Of course, one day it'd be nice to not have to use it, but if it does the job, it doesn't matter to me. I don't see his pulling as not acknowledging us as leader, because he does when he complies to our commands, it's just a bad habit that he's been doing probably from puppyhood that hasn't been corrected. It's like teaching a 40 year old who had bad habits that went uncorrected. Not saying it's impossible, but you will need LOTS of time.

I do hope that he lives a full complete life with us. Sometimes I get sad thinking about one day, when my kids are still young, Sam will pass. But at least his life would be filled with love, right? That would not discourage me from adopting another older dog. In fact, that's all I probably want to adopt - older dogs, regardless of medical issues. They deserve to have the best of life in their senior years.

Thank you Gold Ribbon, for giving me such a wonderful companion. It makes me tear up thinking about how lucky I really am, even if sometimes he irritates me when he chooses to pant in the middle of the night (like one day my kids will) :)