Expo is Coming!

Saturday, March 27th is the big day!  To get you into the mood, here are a few pictures from last year.  To view the rest, click on pictures.

We are still looking for volunteers to help assemble baskets.  We will be meeting to do this on Saturday, March 20th, at 11 am  at Jane’s house.  For directions, and to RSVP, contact Jane at egrr@bellsouth.net.   We will work until we are done, but will stop for a pizza lunch.  We are also looking for people to take pictures of the event.  And most of all, we are looking for you to be there with your Golden(s). 

We have lots of exciting things planned  this year.  In addition to our Parade of Rescue, Rainbow Bridge Ceremony, and fabulous raffle table, we will be having a special tennis ball raffle, for a chance to win a 3 day, 2 night stay at the Doubletree Hotel in Key West, with passes to the major attractions.  Write your name on a tennis ball, and throw it into the xpen.  A dog will select the winning tennis ball. We will also have a new demo this year — tracking.  if you find it interesting, you will be given the opportunity to try it with your dog.  Of course we will also have our ever popular agility and field demos. 

Our friends from EGRC will be there grooming dogs for donations.  In order to have your dog groomed, the dog must be freshly bathed and free of mats.  Owners will be required to sign a release.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, March 27th at Tradewinds Park, Appaloosa Shelter.  Remember, the event runs from 11 am to 4 pm. and the Rescue Parade will begin promptly at 1 pm.

Rally Class 

Due to the extreme cold, the Rally Class did not begin until Thurs., Jan. 14th with an orientation. It is not too late to sign up and come to a class.  The second class will be on Tues, Jan. 26th, and classes will meet regularly on Tues. night, after that.
Does your dog know basic obedience commands or has he/she earned a CGC?  If so, Rally is the next logical step.  EGRC, our sister organization, will be holding Rally Classes, starting with the basics, beginning on Tuesday, January 5th. The classes will be held at Loggers Run Park, in Boca Raton, where we held our CGC Class.  The class will be limited to 12 students, and 8 people have already registered, so if you are interested, you need to move quickly.  The cost will be $55 for 6 classes, which will be held either 2 per week, for a 3 week period, or 1 class per week, for 6 weeks.  The participants will vote on this during the first night of class. Rally is a lot of fun!  To learn more about this fun sport, click on Rally Info.  To register for the class, contact Michele Panetta at croscrk@gmail.com

Obedience Classes

Looking for a Basic Obedience Class?  Look no further.  EGRC, our sister organization, is running a basic obedience class on Tuesday nights at 8 pm in Loggers Run Park, in Boca Raton.  Orientation (no dogs) will be held on January 19th.  The instructor is Barbie Keough, a very experienced instructor, who has put many obedience titles on her dogs, including her rescue Golden, Jake.  To register, you can contact Michele Panetta at croscrk@gmail.com or just show up.  Before you know it, you dog will be doing what you see in this picture, although not while you are taking this class!

With more and more people being hard hit by the economy, the family dog often becomes the last one to receive necessary medical care, or in some cases, any care at all.  These dogs are ultimately surrendered to rescue.  In the past year, EGRR has accepted dogs requiring expensive medical care, including surgeries and heartworm treatment.  We never say no to a dog for any reason other than aggression, so we take the sick and elderly, treat them and prepare them for their new homes.  Often, this requires a long stay at the vet’s office, in addition to the medical care.  Unfortunately, this costs money, so we are finding it necessary to impose an adoption application fee of $10, and to increase all our adoption fees, as of January 1st, to help us meet our expenses.   Please click on FAQ to view our new adoption fee schedule, and remember that the adoption fee is the very least you will ever spend on your dog.

We all had a great time on Sunday, October 25th when the Great Pumpkin paid a visit to the grounds of Clint Moore Animal Hospital.  To view more pictures of this fun event, click here.

Our puppies are now 5 months old.  Four of the six, and their Mom, had their first reunion since they all went to their “forever” homes.  This picture of the pups, their “parents’ and their fur siblings, does not show all the fun they had romping and playing in yard of their “foster” home, but it was the only way we could get to see them all, instead of a blur of activity. 

6/18/09: Sky, the last of the EGRR puppies, was adopted today, by a former EGRR adopter, and went home with her “forever” family.  Our foster family is feeling a little lonely because Lady went to a foster-to-adopt home on Monday, and they are now left with just 2 puppies, their own and the one whose “forever” family is on their honeymoon.  She will be gone by next week at this time. They won’t be sad for long because caring for 2 puppies is a lot easier than caring for 6.  We have pictures of some of the puppies with their new families in our Happy Endings section.

6/11/09:  At 8 weeks, all our puppies were supposed to go to their “forever” homes, but 2 days before the BIG DAY, we received a tearful phone call from Sky’s new family. An immediate family member had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, necessitating that they make frequent trips out of the county in the next few months.  They knew that their lives would be chaotic and that this was no way to begin life with a new puppy, so now Sky is looking for her “forever” home. 

Since she had only met this family once, she has no relationship with them, and does not know that she has suffered a loss.  She is just a happy-go-lucky puppy, who is very sweet, and is in the process of learning about the world.  She has just learned that her world contains tennis balls!  She is still living with 2 of her sisters; the one being adopted by her foster family, and the one waiting for her “forever” family to return from their honeymoon.  We would love to place her as soon as possible, so that she doesn’t continue to bond with her foster family. Since she is the favorite of one of the little boys who live with her, it will be best for him if  she doesn’t stay much longer.  Of course, we will not sacrifice finding the perfect home for the speed in getting her adopted. 

6/6/09: The puppies are now 7 wks old and don’t look very different than they looked a week ago — only bigger.  They have received their first series of vaccines and were microchipped (see picture).  They were visited by their new families, and selections have been made.  This was not easy since they are all so cute and sweet.  Next week they will move out of their foster home into their “forever” homes and begin their new lives.  Lady will be glad to see them go, so that her milk can finish drying up and we can find out what needs to be done for her hips.   

 5/29/09:  The puppies will be 6 weeks old tomorrow.  They are no longer nursing, and have just begun to eat real kibble.  They love to play with each other; biting, rolling, and chewing is their idea of fun.  They also like splashing in their water bowl.  All the pups have outgrown their string indentifiers and are wearing real collars.  They have even been outside in the yard, but the rain has been keeping them inside most of the day. They appear to be very affectionate and are as sweet as their mom, Lady.  According to their foster family, they are all beginning to display unique personalities.  They will get their first vaccines on Monday, and they can then be visited by their prospective adopters. 

5/18/09: the puppies are now 4 weeks old. They are being weaned and are allowed outside in their foster mom’s yard. They are very active, playing with each other, eating well and in good health. The vet says all their hearts, eyes, and ears are good, and their hips appear to be tight (which is good). They weigh between 6 and 7 pounds, which is a great size .
They are chewing on each other — mom is starting to growl at them when she doesn’t want them to bother her. That’s ok, and perfectly normal. Lady is just showing limits and boundaries to her babies like all moms should!

5/9/09: At 21 days old, the puppies now have teeth and are starting to walk. By the middle of the next week, we will be moving them out of the whelping box into an X-pen, because they will be able to scale the top of the whelping box by then. Today they tasted real food for the first time — Green Girl (a.k.a. Limey) really took to it, and would still be eating if we had let her. Some of the others weren’t quite sure, and even fell asleep with their heads on the rim of the bowl. Not to worry, they are Goldens and will all be eating very soon.

 
5/1/09: At 2 weeks old, the smallest smallest puppy is already 3 lbs. Their eyes and ears are opening, and they are more vocal than they were before. They are beginning to push up on their front feet and will be walking before we know it. They now look like dogs instead of guinea pigs. 

4/25/09: At a week old, Lady’s puppies each weighed about 2 lbs, which means they doubled their weight in a week. Their faces are no longer pink and are covered with fur, and their pads have changed from pink to black.

4/18/09: THE PUPPIES ARRIVED!
EGRR and Lady proudly announced the arrival of 6 little girls. They were all beautiful and perfect. Lady and her family are living together in a wonderful foster home, and she is a doting Mom.

It is hard to believe that Expo 2009 is now history!  A wonderful time was had by all.  We would like to thank everyone who contributed to making our day successful — those who donated goods and services and  those who donated their time.  All of you will be recognized in our Spring newsletter. And of course, all those wonderful Goldens who participated in the Parade of Rescues.  Pictures are now available here.  If you recognize your dog, or someone else’s, you can log on and identify the dog by making a comment.

Gender: Male
Age: 2
Status: At the Rainbow Bridge

Sometimes Love Is Not Enough…..

On February 5^th, EGRR posted a story about Chase, a happy-go-lucky 2 year old boy, who had just come in to rescue.  Poor Chase, had lived his entire live outdoors, and was neither obedience trained or housebroken.  Since he was friendly, smart and loving, we felt he would quickly learn good manners and make someone an awesome buddy.  Sadly, this was not to be the case, because Chase tested positive for heartworm, an easily preventable disease. All that is required is monthly heartworm prevention medication, gotten from the vet, however, although Chase’s family loved him, they never took him to the vet.

 EGRR began the course of heartworm treatment.  This treatment is not benign, but without it the heartworms will infiltrate the heart and lungs, and eventually kill the dog, so there really is no choice.  We have treated many dogs, and before Chase, lost only one elderly dog to the treatment.  Chase was young, and so we were not too concerned, but it seems his luck had run out.  A week after receiving the second part of the treatment, Chase began having bloody diarrhea and vomiting blood.  As the worms were breaking up and dying, they were killing Chase too.  We are sad to report that Chase will not be anybody’s buddy.  Instead he is now playing at the Rainbow Bridge where heartworm is never an issue.  

 We at EGRR hope that Chase has not died in vain.  People must understand that along with loving a dog, comes the responsibility of properly caring for him. This means regular visits to the vet, maintenance on monthly heartworm prevention medication, flea and tick control, feeding quality food and obedience training. Golden Retrievers are not meant to be outside dogs, especially in the hostile environment of South Florida with its myriad of potential hazards to the health of the dog.

 One might ask how this could happen.  Who would give or sell a dog to a family that is so uninformed and ignorant about proper care of a dog? The answer to that question is either a pet store or a backyard breeder, where oftentimes the only qualification for a buyer is the color of his money. They don’t care about long-term health or temperament or well-being issues, just the how quickly they can make some money.  If you or anyone you know is considering acquiring a dog, please go to a responsible breeder or to a rescue organization (hopefully EGRR!).