golden guardians - fhgrr

Letter from the President

Hello Golden Lovers, I thought we'd recap the Goldens of 2015 that have needed our help this past year. In 2015, FHGRR took 45 dogs into our program. Twelve of those dogs were treated for heartworm disease, two needed surgery for hip disorders, three required removal of sus-picious masses, two were diabetic, and one needed surgery to remove a foreign object. On top of that, four Goldens were treated for chronic skin conditions. The breakdown of ages for the dogs we took in last year was: 13 dogs between 0-2 years, 8 dogs between 3-5 years, 13 between 6-8 years, 8 between 9-11 years, and 3 that were 12 years and older. People turn their dogs in to rescue for many reasons. We are still seeing the majority of dogs released to us for financial reasons (owners can no longer afford to care for their pets). Second to that, people give up their dogs because they have no time for their pets. Others report that their dog is too much for them. The last reason is illness or the death of the owner. At year’s end we had three senior Goldens in permanent foster homes, as no one wanted to adopt them given their advanced age. Now that you see the breakdown of the ages, medical issues, and reasons for release to rescue, I'd like to talk about the typical dog that gets released to our rescue organization. Approximately 55 percent of our dogs are six years old and up, meaning we get lots of wonderful seniors that, through no fault of their own, are in need of re-homing. The typical applicant is looking for a younger golden that has moderate energy, but this is not normally the combination we see. The younger ones tend to have high energy and need a lot of exercise. They are often pups that ended up in the backyard because no one had the time to train or exercise them. I'd like for those who apply to adopt a dog from FHGRR to understand these are rescue pups/dogs who come to us because their owners could not give them what they needed. Please know that as an adoptive family you will need to give of your patience and time with these deserving rescued Goldens in order to help them become the won-derful family members we know they can be. If you wish to adopt a rescue Golden, we ask for your understanding and support. Jeannie Herrmann FHGRR President and Foster Coordinator

Golden Guardians

SPRING 2016

Mission Statement: FHGRR is a full-service rescue dedicated to providing rescue and necessary veterinary care for unwanted, neglected, abused, homeless and displaced Golden Retrievers.

Contact Info

P.O. Box 9077 Greenville, SC 29604

Voice mail:

864-234-9739

Fax:

800-660-8554

Inside This Issue:

Recent Donations ……. 2

Adoption Updates & Success Stories …... 3-6

Rainbow Bridge ...… 7-9

Upcoming Events ….. 10

FHGRR Board Members and Staff …….…... 10

Donation Form ...… 11

Recent Donations

Golden Guardians

Recent Donations

A big paws-up to the following donors for their generosity!! FHGRR truly appreciates your unflagging support!

Carol Ann Andrews, in memory of Bill

Andrews and his best buddy Rowdy

Jason and Rebecca Arledge

Audrey Love Charitable Foundation

Benjamin Baker

Heather Baker and family

Karen Bjelland Linda Beesley

Lynda Black

Jan and Roberta Blasenak, in honor of Jenna Arlene and Jerome Blumenthal,

in memory of Wolfie Blumenthal

Robert and Michelle Blumenthal,

in memory of Wolfie

Mona Brandon

Kurt and Mary Brendstrup

Grant and Tiffany Brittain, in honor of

Dusty, Kirby and Georgia

David and Linda Brown Leslie and Ronald Brown

Lee Bruce

Mindy and Jeff Buckalew

Ashley Byrd

Marc and Lynn Caenepeel, in honor of Samantha Salvatore and Teresa Campanaro,

in honor of Luna

Tudda Carpenter, Mary Alice Ingram Charitable Lead Unitrust Tari Carter Martha Chapman, in memory of Hannah

Jeffrey Allison Collier

Cynthia Connolly

Patricia Cook

Sharon and Nathan Crosby, for the

White Face Fund

Linda and William Curran, in honor

of Autumn

Linda Dobson

Joseph and Darlene Drake, in honor

of Nell

Patricia Dunham, in honor of my Dad,

“Skip" Dunham and Angel

Kathryn Edwards

Steve Eggleston and Jeff Stoecker William and Christine Ehlies

Robert and Linda Eishelsderfer

Diane Eldridge, for the White Face Fund

in memory of Abby Eldridge

Karen Fluharty

Laura Fraser

Carol Fultz, for Sammy

Mr. and Mrs. H. F. Gallivan III

Harriet Gibbes

Linda and Jim Gilkinson, in memory of Mellow Golden Retriever Foundation, Issaquah,

WA, for Rocco and Cooper

Michael and Margaret Goode

Anne Greer

Lee and Kathryn Hagglund

Hale Pet Door, courtesy of Michelle York

Mr and Mrs. Wesley Hammon, in memory

of Sandy Brown Warlick

Jerry and Paulette Handegan William and Joanne Heider

Linda and Ronald Helm

Connie Hennis, in honor of Marjorie

Cleveland

Patricia Hodur

Bob and Melinda Hoover Kathleen Huey

Richard and Nancy Hughes, for the White

Face Fund

David and Bonnie Hutchison

Michael Johnstone

Reverend Michael Jones

Kitty and John Keith

Wendy Kimbel, for the White Face Fund

Monica Koronkowski

Sandra and Dennis Lamb

Peter and Lisa Larocque

Joseph and Jill Lawrence

Robert Ling

Jamie Linn, in memory of Dan Randall

Mrs. Edgar Lyngholm

Susan MacDonald

Sarah and Christopher Markwell

John and Nancy Mathewson

David and Theresa Maurer, in honor

of Snickers and Lucy

Therese McGlone

David and Margaret McGrath

Susan McNamara

Lynn Million

Lawrence and Iris Minette, in honor

of Marjorie Cleveland

Mt. Nittany Dog Training Club, in honor of

Tony Hinson, who judged their AKC

tracking test near State College, PA

Dennis and Pamela Murdock, in memory

of Piper and with gratitude for Molly

Kevin and Valerie Murphy

Christopher and Barbara Niedzwiedz

Philip and Elizabeth Newman, in honor

of Bentley

Jim Nunziato

Fran and Bill Oken, in memory of

Wolfie Blumenthal

Carol and Don Palmer, in memory of Dan Randall Curtis and Betty Parsons, in honor of Lacie

Duane and Catharine Penson

Petco Foundation, San Diego, CA

Barbara Pharr, in memory of

Kylie Workman

Michele and Mark Pilon

Joe and Mary Poole, in memory of

Dan Randall

Robert and Heather Provost

Roy and Sandra Rockman

Eugene and Rita Rogers, in honor of Zach

Joe and Kathy Satterfield

Jim Saxon, for the White Face Fund

Raymond and Danielle Schneider

Kinly Sturkie

John Sturman

Lori Suit, in honor of Riggs

Chris Sparrow, in memory of

Marley Sparrow

Russell and Suzanne Sweeton

Marcia and Bill Szerlip

Laura Thomason

Paige Thornton, in honor of Chloe

Nancy and Larry Turner

United Way of Central & Northeastern Connecticut Gordon and Sheila Urquhart

Kelly and Jack Valetti, in honor of Gracie

Victoria's Closet

Valyrie Walter, in honor of Casey Thomas and Leslie Washburn

Barry and Heather Washik

Barb Watkins and Peter Rodgers

Bert and Susan Webb, in honor of Jim and Cherry Johnson Jane and Jeffrey Weisner Patrick Wilkie, for the White Face Fund

Susan Wolf, in honor of Dudley

Spring 2016

GG

This is our golden girl, GG, who we adopted in Septem-ber from FHGRR. We originally wanted to name her GG because we said it stood for Golden Girl. Now we alternately say it stands for good girl, goofy girl, glam-orous girl, and gobbling girl (when she scarfed down a whole pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving!).

GG is our sweetheart! She is definitely a dog for our golden years. She never barks, she walks well on a leash, loves to shake paw, and has a very sweet disposi-tion. She is very good with our toddler grand-children as well. She wouldn't even get on the furniture, until the ice storm when we finally coaxed her into bed with us to keep us warm since our power was out for almost two days. Now there is no going back—she snuggles in-between us every night, which is fine with us.

Thanks to FHGRR, we got a gem! Marjorie Cleveland has been wonderful during our adoption process. Like many rescued dogs, GG had heartworms and had to be treated. Marjorie checked in with us frequently during the process and has helped us understand our new addi-tion to our family. We absolutely love GG!

A big thanks for finding us the best girl around!

– Jan and Bobbie Blasenak

Reggie

Who knew you could be so crazy about a dog after only four weeks?! We immediately fell in love with our Reggie when we picked him up a week before Christmas. Reggie walked into our home and made himself comfortable, as if he had lived with us for years. Even our cat, Tillman, welcomed Reggie as his new brother.

I got my first Golden, Honey, for my 8th birthday. After Honey passed a few years ago, I knew I wanted another Golden, but the timing never seemed right. After I married my husband in 2014, we decided we would wait and figure out our work and travel sched-ules before we brought a new fur-baby into our home.

Last fall we began talking about getting a dog because we felt something was missing in our lives. We finally decided that when the opportunity came along to adopt a dog, we would be ready.

One day I was checking the available Goldens on the FHGRR website, and Reggie’s face captured my heart. We now have our Golden boy!

With the exception of getting really excited when he sees friends on our walks, he is perfect! All is right in his world as long as he has frequent walks and one of us is nearby.

Thanks to FHGRR for all that they do!

– Jordan and Helen Truesdale

Adoption Updates & Success Stories

Star Almost five years ago, Foothills Golden Retriever Res-cue found us the love of our life, Star McAninch. I just want to tell you what a fine dog Star is!

Her foster mom, Elaine, said she had not been in a car except to go the vet (how sad is that?), so she didn't know if she liked riding in cars. Here is one of our first pictures of her. I'll let you judge whether she likes it or not! This is my background picture on my cellphone, and my husband's too.

When we got Star, we immediately took her to Ashe-ville obedience school, where was in fact a star, whizz-ing through her lessons and passing her Canine Good Citizen test with flying colors. She then aced her Therapy Dog test as well. Less than a year after we got her, she became a therapy dog for Mission/St. Joe's, where she regularly visits the cardiology, renal, trauma and general surgery wards; and also the Asheville Spe-cialty Hospital for acute long-term patients. The staff loves her too, and Star loves her work.

Star and my husband, Bill, have also been regulars at Hall Fletcher Elementary School, where the Golden’s gentle presence has helped lots of struggling first-graders learn to read.

Thank you so much for bringing Star into our lives. She has made so many people happy—most of all, us!

– Jerry and Bill McAninch

Adoptions and Success Stories

Golden Guardians

Madison

We adopted Madison six years ago, after her owners turned her in to rescue as they did not want her any more. When she came to us as a foster, she was sick from the stress of being bounced around to different foster homes and very distrustful of us.

Our younger Golden, Jasmine, taught Maddie the ropes, and eventually (it took a good year), she came to trust us. She did try to escape several times, but thankfully, never found her way out of the neighborhood.

Today, she is a loving member of our family, who is as excitable at age 10 as she was at age 3 when we adopted her. In fact, no one believes how old she is when we tell them her age. She still runs like a puppy, despite the fact that she has had surgery to repair torn ACLs in both her back legs.

Our white-faced Maddie is wed to her routine, and loves her daily walk and being with Joe all day, now that he is retired. She and her sister, Jasmine, play tug every morning. They are best buddies who have never had any squabbles over food, toys or bones.

We love to see how Madison has blossomed. She can’t get enough love and now even rolls over for us to give her tummy rubs—something she else she learned from Jasmine and never would have done years ago!

We are grateful to FHGRR for trusting us with this beautiful Golden Girl!

– Linda Lee and Joe Augello

Big Ben We decided to become fosters through FHGRR and fostered Big Ben in June 2015.

When we brought him home, he seemed so sad, which broke our hearts. Within two weeks, however, he had firmly planted himself within our family and our other three dogs. He became perkier, happier, and got in the habit of following my husband every-where and anywhere!

My husband and I knew then that there was no way we could let Ben go. After a few months of fostering, it became clear to us that Ben was a permanent addi-tion to our household.

Ben now spends his days lounging on his comfy bed, digging holes in the backyard, and playing with his little brother Beaux, our other Golden Retriever.

We are proud to be foster failures, because this is the first time we failed at something that gave us so much love in return!

– Hollie Escobar


Dogs Welcome!

A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he planned to visit on his vacation. He wrote: “I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well-behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?"

An immediate reply came back from the hotel owner, who wrote: “Sir: I've been operating this hotel for many years. In all that time, I've never had a dog steal towels, bed clothes, silverware or steal pictures off the walls, or use the walls as a coloring book.

I've never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly, and I've never had a dog run out on a hotel bill.

Yes, indeed, your dog is welcome at my hotel! And, if your dog will vouch for you, you're welcome to stay here, too.”

Golden Guardians

Spring 2016

Fin

In September 2015, I began my search for a new com-panion on the Foothills website, where Jim Bear caught my eye. By September 18th, Fin (formerly Jim Bear) was delivered to my home in Sanford, NC, by his fos-ter mom. From his picture on the website, he looked like a small golden mix, so was I surprised when he arrived a tall, long and skinny 63 pounder! I had agreed to foster Fin until he made it through his heartworm treatment. I am so thankful to FHGRR for allowing me

to foster Fin through his recovery! On December 5th, Fin’s bloodwork came back heartworm-negative, and I was able to make it official and adopt him. A big THANKS to Jeannie Herrmann for all her work in making this adoption possible.

Fin loves the outdoors, going on long walks on the

Greenway, and enjoys riding on his boat at the lake or

beach. During the week, he plays with my mom’s two-

year-old lab mix while I am at work. In the evenings,

he enjoys couch time with his mommy. He runs and

hides at the sound of the icemaker and will make grunt-

ing noises if he feels he is being ignored and wants

attention. I am grateful to have Fin in my life and to

call him my new best friend.

– Tonya Wicker

Charlie

I wanted to let you know what a wonderful family member we adopted from FHGRR about two years ago. At the time we adopted Charlie, he was 18 months old, underweight, didn’t know how to walk on a leash, and had a lot of energy.

Charlie is very sweet boy, loves everybody and every-thing. Since we adopted him, Charlie has worked hard and has become a Certified Therapy Dog. He now goes to Middle School on a regular basis and spends lots of time with his “classmates.”

Thank you very much for Charlie!

……………………………………. – John Wagner


Memorial for Mellow

Mellow crossed over the rainbow bridge on February 8, 2016.

First, I have to say she was most appropriately named by FHGRR. She was the most laid-back dog I have ever met. Jeannie selected my husband and I to be her forever family.

A good friend once said to me, “If you don’t like Mellow, there is something very wrong with you.” Absolutely everyone loved our Mellow. We were so fortunate to have rescued her 8 years ago from FHGRR.

She was simply the best! She was beautiful, loving, compassionate and she loved our family. She gave more to us in 8 years than anyone could ask for. Every hurdle concerning her health she conquered, never complaining (if she could talk). Mellow went along with everything, did what she had to do. She trusted us and knew she could count on us no matter what. And we could always count on her. We never

heard her growl and she didn’t have a mean bone in her body.

The best vets took care of her. We had total and complete trust in them and she did too. She knew everyone that took care of her loved her so much. Whatever she needed, we made sure she had the best care available.

We miss her more than we can say, but always knew we would make a good decision when it came to her health and well-being.

Mellow deserved respect, and in the end, we respect-ed her for the dog she was. She deserved dignity in the end, and with the help of her doctors, she had it. When she crossed to the Rainbow Bridge, she was surrounded by her family and others that loved her.

I know you are not supposed to have favorites when it comes to children or dogs, but we make a huge exception in this case. Mellow was probably the most loving dog we could have ever wished for. She was definitely one in a million.

We want to end by acknowledging the work FHGRR does for the rescue dogs. This is a fine group of indi-viduals, devoted to the animals, working long hours and placing dogs in forever homes. You are the best!

Also, to the doctors and staff at Upstate Veterinary Specialists and Foothills Vet Hospital, who were always there for us, we salute you.

And to Pam, our groomer at Foothills Vet Hospital, who treated Mellow so well. She was always so careful with our girl, and we never had to worry.

– Linda & Jim Gilkinson

Rainbow Bridge

Golden Guardians

Spring 2016

Memorial for Teddy

It is with great sadness that I tell you that Teddy crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He had heart problems and a brain tumor. He was a wonderful boy, and he is missed greatly.

Thank you for giving me one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.

– Cate Egan

Rainbow Bridge

Memorial for Wilbur

In spring 2013, Foothills Golden Retriever Rescue was contacted about an 8-year-old golden with chronic skin issues who needed to be rescued, as his family felt they could no longer care for him. He came into our program a thin boy with very little fur, his skin was red with inflam-mation and full of fleas. Immediately he was seen by our vet, given special baths, antibiotics and a good-quality food. Wilbur needed week-ly baths, which he learned to tolerate, plus medicine peri-odically. That and exercise revitalized this boy. Wilbur was with us for close to three years. Although his skin needed regular managing, he enjoyed those years knowing he was loved, well cared for, and a true family member. His favorite activities were long hikes in the forest and fetching sticks in the water.

Wilbur was also a wonderful foster brother and father-figure to the many dogs we fostered after adopting him. He never let us get too far ahead on our walks, as he'd stop to wait for the new girl or boy lagging behind. He'd share his beds, toys, bones and sometimes even allow a rowdy youngster to nibble playfully on his ears. We may not have had Wilbur in our lives for a long time, but he made quite an impression on us all. We will sadly miss Wilbur. – Jeannie and Norman Herrmann

Rainbow Bridge

Golden Guardians

Memorial for Hershey

Hershey was always happy and everyone loved her. She went everywhere with me. I could never keep her out of the water. I love you forever, Hershey.

– Rich Antinozzi

Memorial for Honey We lost Honey on September 12, 2015 to cancer. She brought us so much love and happiness for four years. – Robin Fogler

Memorial for Max

Our beloved Max went to the rainbow bridge on Mon-day, August 31, 2015.

Words cannot express the emptiness in our home now. We will always be grateful to FHGRR for matching us with Max, as he was our first rescue. We love him so.

We adopted Max on December 17, 2008, when he was approximate-ly four years old.

– Julie & Joel Addis

Education Day at PetCo first Saturday of every month from 10am to noon. Bring your Goldens and fosters to highlight our rescue at the PetCo at Cherrydale, for their monthly adoption day. 3270 N. Pleasantburg Drive, Greenville.

Check the FHGRR website for more res-cue events, including news about the FHGRR Golden Reunion in October.

Spring 2016

Upcoming FHGRR Events

FHGRR Board of Directors

and Staff

Rescue Director/Adoption Coordinator –

Andrea Beeler

President/Foster Coordinator – Jeannie Herrmann

Vice-President/Intake Coordinator – Cheryl Parker

Treasurer – Kim Burdette

Communications Coordinator – Barb Watkins

Intake Team – Logan Bagley; David & Linda

Brown; Marjorie Cleveland; Carol Fultz; Cathy

Lagerman; Sandy Teevan; Barb Watkins

Web Master – Jim Nunziato

Newsletter Editor – Linda Lee

FHGRR WOULD LIKE TO THANK

ALL OUR FABULOUS

VOLUNTEERS:

Those who donate their time to bring

in, socialize, transport and work at

events for our Goldens.

A special debt of appreciation goes out

to our loving foster families!

Without the efforts of all our

wonderful volunteers, FHGRR could

not have saved more than 1,250 dogs

to date!

Post Office Box 9077

Greenville, SC 29604

Phone: 864-234-9739

www.fhgrr.com

FOOTHILLS GOLDEN RETRIEVER RESCUE DONATION FORM

An acknowledgement will be sent for tax purposes

NAME: _______________________________________________________________________________

STREET ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________________

CITY, STATE, ZIP: ______________________________________________________________________

AMOUNT DONATED: __________________________________________________________________

IN MEMORY/HONOR OF: _______________________________________________________________

Please return this form with your check or money order to::

FHGRR, P.O. BOX 9077, GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA 29604

golden guardians - fhgrr

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