Toby

It’s been almost a year since we adopted Toby and he is doing great. He doesn't know a stranger. He loves to ride in the car and has fits if we leave him at home. He has one toy that he carries around everywhere. Toby chews and destroys other toys, but not his favorite toy. He is very careful so he doesn't misplace the toy. If he goes outside, he drops the toy at my feet and will leave the toy in the house. He takes it upstairs with him when we go to bed, and brings it downstairs every morning. As I am trying to type this, Toby keeps nudging my hands. He thinks we are going somewhere with him. He actually runs now; barks at us if we don't feed him quickly enough. Hubby says Toby is the perfect dog for us.

Julie & Art Q

Rufus

I’m Rufus and I was adopted in November 2009 by my new forever home. I am an older golden but I still had a lot of love to give. My mommy gave me a great new bed to sleep on, which at my age (I just had my 16th birthday) I sleep a lot, 22 hours out of 24. When I am a wake I enjoy playing with a towel or my rope with mommy. Mommy always says I play like an eight year old. I can’t help it, I got good genes. After play time Mommy gives me the best massages. We go on 4-6 short walks a day. I enjoy getting out and exercising (mainly it is to relieve myself). I love to go for car rides. It is always exciting to visit new places (really new smells). I have two cat brothers, Kitty and Harry. Kitty (13) was not too happy at first when I arrived but now we make great sleeping buddies. I’m glad I found a home that will allow an old golden to finish his golden years with respect and fun. Thanks GRRACE

A note from my Mommy; I choose Rufus because I thought I could give him a good home, one that he deserved. I did not realize what he would give to me. He is the sweetest and funniest dog. He is a big teddy bear. Thanks GRRACE for your great work and believing in these old dogs and giving them another chance.

Max

Max (the red dog on the left) came to live with me in March, 2009. He joined Monty, the yellow Golden Retriever/Chow Chow mix also pictured, who I adopted from GRRACE in 2000, and two cats. Max started his puppyhood in foster care with GRRACE and was placed with a family who had him until he was 10 months old. Unfortunately, he was a bit overwhelming for his new family and their other dog and spent a lot of his time in a crate. He returned to GRRACE a bit overweight, with weak (possibly pre-dysplastic) hips, an obsession with chasing lights and working himself into frenzied barking over sunbeams and reflections off of his collar, as well as a LOT of misplaced puppy energy!

His foster mom took great care of him and he spent 3 months growing, strengthening his hips and running off energy at dog daycare. He came to live with me and we went to work right away on obedience training, intervening to stop the light obsession and learning some manners. His new vet said his hips looked less pre-dysplastic and were likely weak because his muscles didn’t properly develop while he was overly-crated during his puppyhood. This was great news, and with a year of LONG walks, going up and down two flights of stairs several times a day, and taking a joint care supplement, he can now move without pain and shows a full range of motion, movement, and usage of his hips. Initially, Max had to have four-mile-per-day walks just to bring him to a “reasonable” level of attentiveness and focus. Six months after adoption, my partner and two cats moved in and Max had some mild regression with his still-forming good manners (jumping, mouthing, etc.), but he has quickly adjusted to our new family structure. Max also seems to like having someone home with him frequently, as his new mom works mostly from the home.

Max is healthy, mischievous, a bit sneaky and pretty clever. Over the course of his first year in my family, he has become a lean, healthy, fairly well-mannered adult. He doesn’t chase lights and can remain in a “down-stay” for an entire grooming session WITHOUT mouthing or trying to play! Those are big accomplishments for Max and his attention span! Max is loving and loyal and loves to play and cuddle with his human, canine and feline family members. He likes a good game of rope tug and seems happiest at the dog park or on long walks to the neighborhood pond to startle ducks and geese. Max has been a wonderful, though often trying, addition to my family and we’re grateful to have him. We are thankful to GRRACE for taking good care of Max and choosing our family for his forever home. We’re also thankful to Max’s previous family for having the strength and wisdom to have him placed in a new home.

Sophie

Hi, I am Sophie. I adopted my new family in January of 2009 and have never looked back. They have a boy in college that adores me, a girl at home who is my special pal, another Golden rescue dog named Chance (dad says he is retired, whatever that means!) and of course my new Mom and Dad. We live in Dayton Ohio and spend alot of time in the summer on Lake Cumberland-but I get ahead of myself. My new family drove to Indianapolis on the evening before a big winter storm to meet me. It was love at first sight, for them and for me so I went home with them the same evening. The next two days, my girl and I played in the snow and we all got to know each other better. I really like snowstorms!

It took some getting used to my new home. For instance, it had an upstairs that I was actually allowed to go up to and what a treasure I found there – great big beds that I was allowed to sleep on!! I knew pretty quickly that I had hit the big time. Chance and I get along great. He puts up with me as much as he wants and then tells me to get lost. I don’t think we have ever had so much as an angry bark at each other the past year.

I travel with my people all over. We have gone to Indianapolis where Chance and I visited Izzie, a crazy pup that belongs to Jenny. I also learned to swim off our houseboat on Lake Cumberland and I really like to watch the ducks and birds there. I love playing frisbee, chewing sticks, taking the stuffing out of toys and generally running around like a wild girl. All in all, for only being two and a half years old, I am having a great life at my new home. Thank you GRRACE for helping me find a place where I know that I can live happily ever after.

Click here to see "Sophie's Story" with more pictures!

Auggie

After the loss of our old Golden in February 2009, our family adopted Auggie (aka Sir Augustus - his new "proper" name because he's so regal) in May, 2 weeks before his first birthday. With no guidance or training for his first year, he had some habits that needed to be reworked – potty training, drinking out of the toilets, running off, jumping up on us, walking on leash, riding in a car, counter surfing, learning that the bathtub isn’t a swimming pool, etc, but he’s a fast learner and has mastered most! He’s settled in nicely and is one of the family. He sleeps on our bed each night and found his favorite sleeping spot in a chair by our front window. We are so lucky to find a young, beautiful boy who needed a forever home – he brings joy every day and always makes us smile.

Thanks for all you do. We love GRRACE!
Blaine and Jennifer Eads

Annie

We were so very happy to welcome Annie into our home last spring. She was heading back to GRRACE and they were kind enough to let us know so we could meet her, as we were considering adopting another older Golden lady. Annie – who soon became Annie Belle– fit in immediately. She is so funny with her whining/talking and stealing of our socks and mittens. Not at all what we expected from a now 11 year old lady! She is the biggest snuggler and will happily spend the night on our bed and the day on the couch, as long as one of us is there to share it with her. She has taken over the “big man chair” as can be seen in the above photo. (It is now the “big dog chair.”)Thank you GRRACE for helping us find this wonderful lady to love.