A Message From Our President | |
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Hello friends,
Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season celebrating with family, friends and your pups.
The year of 2024 ended with our intake of dogs just as strong as it started - we brought in 131 new dogs, had 5 previously adopted dogs returned and have several dogs waiting to come in. We had 24 Extraordinary Golden Fund dogs which is the most - ever! Last month shifted a bit with several 6-8 year-old incoming dogs versus the surge of dogs under 2 years that we have been experiencing this year. We ended the year with 608 new applications processed and 108 dogs adopted (as of 12/30/24).
A HUGE thank you to all who donated to the Tree of Hope, which raised $12,285 for our Extraordinary Golden Fund. We are so grateful for your support! We had a fantastic time at the annual Holiday Party and appreciate all who helped with the party, as well as those who donated auction items and brought delicious desserts. It was so fun to see everyone.
As we begin a new year, we anticipate the intake numbers to remain steady. The most common reasons we see owners needing to re-home their Goldens are that they do not have enough time for their Golden or that they are experiencing an economic or health change that makes it difficult to provide the care the dog needs.
We are working hard to educate our potential adopters on the Golden breed and responsible dog ownership so that when we adopt a dog to a family, we are doing our best to ensure a lifelong placement. Education is part of our mission and we hope to bring more educational programs to our community this year.
In 2025, we look forward to working together to help as many Golden Retrievers in- need as possible.
Happy New Year!
Warm Regards,
Michelle
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If you know of a Golden in need or one to be rehomed, please always remember to contact our intake team or call our hotline at 512-659-4653 as our social media pages aren’t monitored for posts of dogs in need. | |
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Do you have questions or comments for the Board?
We value your input. Please send a note to the GRR Board and include Questions For The Board in the subject line. We hope to hear from you! The next GRR board meeting is January 20, 2025.
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We Thank You!
We want to thank everyone who donated to these Extraordinary Goldens, who need very special care. Surpassing our goal of $10,000 dollars, we received donations totaling $12,285 dollars! Because of you!
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Happening in 2025!
February: Fabulous beach house raffle in Port Aransas
March: Amplify Austin, March 5-6 which is the Austin community’s day of giving
April: Third Annual Largest Golden Retriever Meetup in Texas
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Help Wanted:
Want to help GRR bring our foster dogs to life with realtime videos?
Using our YouTube channel, we can give potential adopters a look into our dogs' personality in a more personal way.
We hope you might either want to spend time teaching one of our volunteers using YouTube and/or helping us directly with a few videos to spotlight our special Goldens.
For more information, please contact Paula Ellis.
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The More You Know - Volunteer Orientation | |
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Please join us for a high-level overview of Gold Ribbon Rescue. All are welcome to attend to learn more about GRR and volunteer opportunities available.
Please RSVP to Susan if you are planning to attend.
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When: Wednesday January 15, 2025
Time: 6:30 - 7:15pm
Where: Microsoft Teams Meeting
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Join on your computer, mobile app or room device.
Download Teams | Join on the web
Join the Meeting Now
Meeting ID: 239 124 864 290
Passcode: qX9nt3DX
Dial in by Phone:
+1 689-206-0321,,304641063# United States, Orlando
Find a local number
Or copy and paste this link into your browser.
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Last Call for the GRR 2025 Calendar
Order Yours Today!
This 9x12 calendar features beautiful photos of Golden Retrievers. All proceeds support the Golden of Gold Ribbon Rescue.
We have exactly 10 calendars left!
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It's All About the Dogs! Here's Our Roundup! | |
Our Golden Spotlight for January | |
Handsome Centurion is a fantastic 8-month puppy who loves to play, play, play and then snuggle, snuggle, snuggle.
Beautiful Merci is a curious, energetic, girl that loves people and dogs - Merci is 100% sweet.
Chai and Toya are a bonded pair who will likely do best staying together.
Adopt a Golden and Change a Life!
Note: If you think that you might be the perfect family for any of these dogs, please please review our criteria for adoption and complete the application. If you are currently working with a matchmaker, contact them for further information.
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Look Who's Here! Welcome to GRR! | |
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What a month December has been!
In the last two weeks of December, we welcomed four adult Goldens (the Wicked group) and two six-week-old puppies from Brownsville, along with two former breeder dogs from Waco. All of these dogs are under-socialized, not well cared for, and need lots of time to learn to be house dogs. We also took in two dogs abandoned on an exotic game ranch and a sweet girl who was re-homed due to the owner's health issues. The lucky Brownsville puppies, who arrived on December 30th and were the last GRR Goldens to arrive in 2024, will grow up as well-socialized house dogs from the start! Lastly, we had the return of a former GRR dog who, happily, has already found her FHTA home.
None of this would have been possible without our hotline, intake, transport, and foster family volunteers, as well as our excellent partner, Dog Gone Tired Kennels Texas. We also want to thank all of our partner vets who made room for our incoming dogs, often on very short notice. We can't thank you all enough!
| Daisy 24-118 is a 1.5-year-old sweetheart who came to GRR from Georgetown. She was rehomed because her owner has health issues and wasn't able to care for Daisy properly. She had to spend up to 18 hours a day crated and, understandably, she is quite timid and fearful. The world is a scary place with the loud and unknown noises, but Daisy finds comfort in giving and receiving affection from her humans. Daisy is with her foster family where she loves to sleep right next to her foster mom. Welcome, sweet one. | |
Glinda 24-122 is a 2-year-old who came to GRR from Brownsville. Her previous owner had sixteen dogs on her property so Glinda is well socialized with other dogs. She is settling in with her foster family and we'll share additional details as they become available. We're so happy that she is now a GRR dog. | | |
Boq 24-123 is a 5-year-old from Brownsville who was rehomed with three other Goldens. Unfortunately he is heartworm positive, but GRR is prepared to address that and any other issues that he may have. Boq is with his foster family, who are new to fostering, and we are so grateful to have them on our team. How wonderful that Boq celebrated the holidays with a loving family. | |
Fiyero 24-124 is a 3-year-old who was rehomed from Brownsville. We don't know much about him at this point other than he is gentle and friendly. Welcome to your new life Fiyero! | | |
Dillamond 24-125, AKA Dilly, came to us from Brownsville. He was one of sixteen dogs on the owner's property, along with pal Glinda 24-122. He is a very calm and sweet gentleman who is a little unsure of new things, but learning that great things come from good people. Unfortunately he is heartworm positive. Dilly is with his foster family and is accepting all of the love that they have to offer. | |
Please welcome Sunny 24-126, an 8.5-year-old boy who has been retired as a breeding dog. We are so happy that we can ensure that he will now live the life he so truly deserves. Sunny is with his foster family so that we can learn more about him and he likely has to learn what it’s like to live inside a home as a family dog. We are so grateful that Sunny’s previous owner chose GRR to find his best forever family. | | |
We're pleased to welcome the beautiful Starr 24-127 to GRR who was rehomed to GRR as she has now been retired as a breeding dog. She is 7 years old and we can’t wait to see her shine so brightly. We know that retired breeding dogs typically have a lot of adjusting to do as they need to learn how to be a family dog. We are grateful that GRR was chosen for Starr by her former owners and are excited to watch her flourish with her foster family. | |
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Tova 24-128 is an 7-year-old stray who was abandoned with her pal, 6-year-old Chai 24-129, on a 500-acre exotic game ranch. Both she and Chai were covered in fleas and cactus spines, hungry, thirsty, and absolutely exhausted. In spite of this, they are and loving and gentle and both are house and leash-trained. By a wonderful stroke of luck, they made their way to a visiting college girl who got them to safety. Both Tova and Chai became GRR dogs right before Christmas, spent Christmas with their Good Samaritan, who spent hours pulling cactus spines from them and got them started on their medications. They are boarding at Dog Gone Tired pending a foster family. They appear to be a bonded pair and will stay together, but we will learn more as they decompress.
In Hebrew, "Tova" means good and "Chai" means life. We wish both of them a very "good life."
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Last but not least, two tiny puppies from Brownsville came in on December 30th. Please welcome our last two dogs of the year, Mayo 24-130 (means brave and strong) and Fresco 24-131 (means fresh and new). These puppies come to us from Brownsville where we got our Wicked dogs from. They are both males and estimated to be 6 weeks old. We would not normally want to take 6 week old puppies from their mom, but we know that the conditions they were in were not good and we needed to get them started on a better life. They will be going to a foster home for at least three weeks so we can assess their needs. Stay tuned for more details. | |
Butter 22-034 (formerly Drama) has returned to GRR. She was originally adopted in 2022 and her previous owner had significant life changes, causing her to realize that she was not able to provide the care Butter needs. Butter is a 3-year-old true Golden princess. She is already with her FHTA (foster hope to adopt) family so she’s not available and we know she will be spoiled beyond belief. Welcome back to GRR Butter and you're onto your next chapter, which we know will be fantastic! Once a GRR dog, always a GRR dog. | | |
My Dream Really Did Come True! I Got Adopted! | |
We are so happy to announce the adoption of Tucker 24-113 (now known as Henley) by Emma and Colson. They loved 2-year-old Tucker from the start, just as his previous owner thought would happen. Sadly, she had to surrender him due to extensive travel on her part, but said over and over that he was just the best dog ever! Tucker is a tri-pawd who does really well getting around and a plus is that he loves cats! This couple is so thankful that handsome Tucker came their way! Congratulations to the new family. | | |
Shabu 24-111 (now Charlie) was adopted on December 6th by Marcy and Bob. They say he “captured our hearts almost immediately.” Feline sister Siggy is still teaching him boundaries and they say that Shabu "is the most lovable goofball ever." Charlie knows he has found his forever family; in fact, he started celebrating a day early! Bob says his favorite part of GRR’s contract is that each dog is “being adopted as a companion and will live as a family member.” We're so happy that Shabu has found his perfect family! | |
Betty Boop 24-108 was adopted by Rebecca and Russell and their two sons on December 14th. Betty Boop was rehomed to GRR because the owner was unfortunately spending more time on work trips than with her. Well, no longer. They were immediately hooked on Betty Boop after a slow warm-up on Betty’s end with Murphy, their 4-legged family member. We are so excited for Ms. Betty on her next adventure with her new family! | | |
We're thrilled to share some wonderful news! Riddle 24-117 found his forever family on December 15th. Riddle, along with his sister Rhyme 24-116, joined GRR after a kindhearted ranch owner took them in. The two 6-month-old pups had been spotted all alone by the side of the road on a 100-acre ranch. With no owner in sight, their finder quickly stepped in, scooping them up to safety. From the very start, these sweet pups won everyone over with their gentle nature, endless cuddles and wagging tails. They were, understandably, quite hungry and thirsty, but even in that moment, their joyful spirits shone through. Riddle's new family is over the moon! They're already looking forward to this exciting new chapter filled with love, adventures, and plenty of puppy snuggles. Congratulations to Riddle and his amazing forever family. We can't wait to see all of the happiness he brings to his new home! | |
Ruda 24-121, now known as Charlie, was adopted on December 21st by his forever partner in crime, Kevin. It was definitely a Christmas gift from above for these two gentlemen. Kevin was looking for a bud to just hang around with on the back porch, lazy Sunday walks and football game watching on the couch. Ruda’s previous family was considering a move out of the country and is currently living in a small apartment with no room for a pup Ruda’s size. Now Ruda has all of the room he will ever need and a best friend to share it with. Congratulations to both Ruda and Kevin! We couldn't be happier for them! | | |
We are so happy to announce that sweet Rhyme 24-116, who will now be known as Goatmaster General or Goat for short, has been adopted by her FHTA family on December 27th. What a lovely start to 2025. | |
Thoughts, Prayers and Remembrance... | |
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Kali (Kiska) 14-142
Mingus 14-116
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Mingus 14-116
Ken Freudigman
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Mingus 14-116 crossed the rainbow bridge today. My heart is aching at the loss but will always remember this sweet sweet boy. He started his life hard with parvo and GRR nursed him back to health. He came to us at around 12-14 weeks old and spent the rest of his life being the goofiest good boy only a golden can be! Rest well and hopefully you’ll be chasing squirrels for eternity. | |
You Really Need to Know This! | |
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Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs: What to Know
The American Kennel Club (AKC)
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What Is Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs?
Hemangiosarcoma (HSA) is a highly invasive canine cancer. This cancer causes blood vessels to branch, fragment, become leaky, and ultimately rupture. It’s the cause of about two-thirds of heart and splenic tumors, with metastasis (secondary malignant growths) affecting the liver, lungs, lymph nodes, and bones. A less common form of Hemangiosarcoma affects the skin.
Hemangiosarcoma is known as a “silent killer” because dogs often show no symptoms until the tumor has grown so large that it ruptures and spreads—too late to save the dog’s life. Hemangiosarcoma is the cause of approximately 300,000 dog deaths in the U.S. annually, representing between 5% and 7% of the approximately 6 million canine cancers newly diagnosed each year.
These episodes of weakness are often so brief that they’re easy to miss. In an HSA report for the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation (CHF), Dr. Michelle Ritt notes that even large hemangiosarcoma tumors may show no signs of the life-threatening disease. The clinical signs are recurrent, but they also are subtle enough to go unnoticed for some time.
“Dogs with the most common splenic form of HSA will usually arrive at an emergency clinic having suddenly collapsed and with pale gums due to internal bleeding from a previously undetected and now ruptured tumor,” says Kelly Sams, lab manager at the Coonrod Lab at Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine’s Baker Institute for Animal Health. Internal bleeding sometimes results in sudden death.
Read the entire article here.
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Newsletter Editor: Dori Olsen
Send comments or suggestions to: newsletter@grr-tx.com
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The Gold Ribbon Rescue newsletter is published monthly. Articles reflect the opinion of the authors and do not necessarily reflect GRR policy. Gold Ribbon Rescue and its Editor(s) seek to publish accurate material, but neither assumes responsibility in the event of a claim of loss or damage resulting from publication. | |
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Gold Ribbon Rescue | 512-659-4653 | 1101 W 34th St #336, Austin TX 78705
www.grr-tx.com
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