GOLDIE
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| Goldie was found wandering in a cemetery in Southern Arizona, alone, pregnant, hungry and baking in the sun while searching for a nesting spot in the sand.
Her Good Samaritan Donna, a local Golden Retriever breeder, took her in and shortly after Goldie whelped 5 healthy mixed breed pups. Goldie is said to have a nice temperament, has trusted and allowed Donna to handle her puppies with no sign of aggression. We hope to have a spot for this lovely lady as soon as her pups are weaned in about 3-4 weeks Our Southern Arizona volunteer Bridget will be conducting a preliminary evaluation when the puppies are a bit older. Right now all we know is that she appears to be American bred and has shown much gratitude for the benevolence of her caretakers. Soon after arriving in Phoenix Goldie will be reevaluated, tested with dogs, leashes and kids, vetted and vaccinated. We'll have to wait at least a month before she can be spayed. UPDATE 7-5-10: Bridgette and her husband Jim took a drive to Douglas today to meet Goldie and her fur kids and do her preliminary evaluation. It was apparent that this was not Goldie's first litter. As expected, Goldie seems a calm, passive and gentle lady a bit on the submissive side. Her handlers were all strangers to her and like all devoted Moms, she was wondering when she would get back to her puppies; nevertheless, she walked off with Bridget without any fuss. She was then introduced to Bridget's male with whom she was very appropriate and accepting. Her estimated age is 5 years old, subject to change when reevaluated in Phoenix. One thing was abundantly clear; Goldie's face lit up from the human attention!
As soon as the pups can be weaned we'll be moving Goldie into temporary foster care while we learn a bit more about her house manners, have her visit the vet, get vaccinated then transported to her Phoenix foster.
Donna of Golden Angels Kennels will be handling the adoption of Goldie's pups; they were born on June 16th and will be good to go at 8 weeks of age. There are 4 boys and one girl, all seem plump and healthy. We know that Mom is a purebred GSD, Dad or Dads are unknown..we'll just have to watch them change as they mature. Obviously there's one little dude who sure looks like his Mom!
Please click here to see Goldie's puppies >> GOLDIE PUPS @ 6 WEEKS OLD UPDATE 8/2: All of Goldie's puppies have been reserved and will be going to their respective homes this Friday. We will also be taking Goldie into our care that day..please check back for updates.
UPDATE 8/7: Goldie is settling in with her temporary foster family. We will be spending this week getting to know her now that she's away from her fur kids before moving her to the right Phoenix foster where she will be vetted, vaccinated chipped, etc. We also need to get an idea of her estimated age. Here's her first 24 hour foster update..she is sharing her foster home with three other dogs: "Everything is going well with Goldie! She slept the whole night in the crate without issues. It rained here from about 4:00pm until about 2:30am and she wasn't trying to get out...of course if we would have left, it might have been a different story...still playing that one out. I plan to start testing leaving her for a short period this afternoon. Right now she is laying in our closet (we have a dog bed in there and our guys like to lay in there). She has let me move around the house back and forth and hasn't followed me...so she is starting to relax. She is also showing signs of being "happy"...waggy tail, kisses and a little interest in saying hi to my guys. Before she didn't even engage them. We took her and Takoda (my female and head K-9) out yesterday afternoon for a short walk together when there was a slight break in the rain and they did just fine...followed by another short walk with everyone (all four dogs). After that, she has been mostly off leash in the house...sometimes tethered to one of us, but is doing just peachy. She is eating and pooping well too. I went to flyball practice this morning so Jim had her and Bubba. She did really well with him and he was even able to gently clip a small amount off 6 of her nails....she seems to respond wonderfully with anyone who actually pays attention to her.
My impression so far is that she is really submissive...only needs very slight corrections, but we'll see how she progresses as she slowly comes out of her shell. I still think she will be an easy keeper."
UPDATE 8/23: Our gal is really starting to show some personality. We're of the impression that she was an outdoor brood bitch and on the bottom rung of the ladder within her previous pack. When everyone got together or at feeding time she would slip out the dog door to her outside yard and politely ostracize herself. We've instructed her foster Mom as to how to extend an "invitation" to join the group and now she's right in there with everyone else. She's actively playing the other dogs, stays in the kitchen or living area at feeding time and solicits attention.
Goldie does have thunder phobia..very common in dogs that have been relegated to living in the yard. She is fine when her humans are nearby...just stays close or at their feet, but gets a little panicky when she's alone during a thunder storm. We're working on that but she's in an area of far more frequent and intense storms than we have in Maricopa County. Therefore it's about time to move her further north and close enough to us to get started on her medical work up.
We would prefer someone who is not gone for extended periods..she will be fine with another dog and kids over 6 years of age. While we haven't had an opportunity to test her, Goldie will likely be OK with a cat.
This sweet spirit deserves to get rolling towards forever..before she bonds too strongly with her foster family. It would be best for her next stop to be her last stop..seeking a foster-to-adopt family in the Phoenix vicinity...anyone, anyone??
Adoption fee to be determined.
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