This is as close as I can get, for a nice holiday tale (tail… pun intended). Let me set the scene by telling you that I never met a dog I didn’t like. One of my former neighbors claims that when he dies, he hopes he can come back as one of my dogs. We live in a very rural community that has one town in the county. The total population in the county is around 10,000. On about the 26th of NOV, I received a group contact email from a local community events coordinator, that a female Golden Retriever had run away from its new adoptive owner, in town, and everyone was asked to please help find the dog. The dog had been placed by the Atlanta Golden Retriever Club, and I gather that to adopt such a dog from this group, is very demanding. I also sensed that this group, took a dim view of the new owner’s lack of concern, and lack of action… that the dog, a five year old, named Josie, was missing. An older lady had just recently, adopted the dog, and while out walking the dog on a retractable leash, the leash got caught up in a trash can wheel, the trash can turned over, the dog spooked and took off. Broken glass from the garbage can had apparently cut the dog somewhere, maybe on the pads of her paw. The older lady couldn’t hold on, and off the newly placed dog went, with the retractable leash housing mechanism “chasing her”, making lots of noise. A contract to adopt the dog had been entered into, and the new owner was not doing what the “Save A Golden” group, in the metro ATL area, thought they should be aggressively pursuing. So the club felt like the contract had been voided, and stepped in and brought in search parties to look for the missing dog. They brought in search dogs. They put up flyers, put ads in the local newspaper, etc. The group had volunteers from the metro ATL area down several different times. Being very suburban and urban in their thinking, they were not at all prepared to learn, that in this rural setting, there are black bears, coyotes, feral hogs, people that trap furbearing animals, deer hunters, and any other number of lethal threats for a big loveable “inside” dog. The group is to be admired for their dedication to the Golden Retriever breed, and to the missing dog, Josie. They offered a $1000 reward for the dog, and said she needed medication. Josie had been missing for almost three weeks, and everyone had given up hope. We have had very cold temperatures at night. Sightings were reported, and some people claimed they had tried to catch the dog, but couldn’t. On THURS DEC 9th, what appeared at first glance, to be a small brown bear, walked up on our back deck/back porch area. The “small bear” was a dog, upon second glance. My husband and son dashed outside to try and get the dog, and sure enough it was a very dirty and bedraggled Golden Retriever, that turned out to be Josie. She was so afraid, she tried to run… but my son and husband managed to coax her to them and get her by the collar and put her in our outside kennel (we have a Labrador Retriever). She was so stressed, she bit my son on the hand, as he was putting her in the kennel (but not badly). So we called the Golden Retriever Club in ATL and they were overjoyed. We made arrangements for them to come and pick up Josie on DEC 10th. We fed and cared for her, and she had a warm, secure, soft bed in our kennel. We unclipped the still attached snap swivel from the retractable leash, with its ragged end hanging down. We will never know how she may have gotten tangled up, and perhaps had to chew thru the lead. The remnants of what had been a colorful neck kerchief, were still tied around her neck. Other than being very dirty, covered in cockleburs and ticks, she seemed to have come thru the ordeal pretty well. We offered to take the dog to the local vet, and to take her to get her groomed. The Rescue People asked us not to do that, as they feared that Josie could once again get away, or, that someone at the grooming parlor or vet’s office, would give the dog back to the local adoptive owner. So we complied with their wishes and I just did my best to cut off cockleburs and pull off ticks. The dog ran away in town, and we live a minimum of at least five miles from the closest side of town (to us). On NOV 10th, two ladies from the Adopt a Golden group arrived with tears of joy, and a $1000 check in hand, and insisted we accept it, so it is going into Forrest’s (who is 14) college fund. On NOV 13th we called to check up on Josie, and she is back with her previous foster family in the ATL area, and the Save A Golden vet felt like she had surprised everyone with her ability to survive and adapt. She was not in bad shape at all. She was back on her medication. It took two baths and a lot of grooming to return her to her former self. So the Ager family was fortunate that Josie just happened to come to us. And Josie was lucky, too. She was a very sweet dog. She was very afraid at first, but warmed up quickly when she realized we had dog food, treats, clean water, a warm bed, a secure kennel, and we offered kind words, petting, and reassurance. So there it is, a nice holiday story of hope, and a happy ending. Apologies to those that don’t care for off topic postings.
Happy Holidays,
Jaydee Atkins Ager
Executive Director
American Daffodil Society, Inc.
www.daffodilusa.org www.daffodilusastore.org www.daffseek.org