Rest in Peace, Riley

Riley (Rita's Schnappi) had a splenic tumor and was very sick. He was put to sleep on February 11, 2016. He has a place in our hearts forever. Farewell friend.

Rita's Moomin adopted!

We are delighted to announce that Rita’s Moomin has been officially adopted and has found his forever home with Kathy, Larry and Finn.

Rita’s Moomin came into rescue when he flew, along with Captain and Hunter, into LAX on March 23, 2014. They were met by the Welcome Waggin. We were advised that Moomin’s Taiwanese name was LuLu Mi. For the past year, he’s been hanging out with Tom and his dogs, Babe, Ruth, Kazoo and Maestro, patiently awaiting just the right family.

While Moomin wasn’t the typical active goofy ball retriever, due to some physical limitations, he had the quintessential huge loving heart of a Golden. A few potential adoptive candidates passed on Moomin for one reason or another.  Kathy and Larry had previously adopted Finn who was also from Taiwan and reportedly had been passed up by two families because her nipples were too big.

Moomin’s new name is Guinness and he’s now residing in a loving and caring forever home. It was critical that Moomin got along Finn as well as the two cats who share his new house, and when he met them nose-to-nose he was a perfect gentleman. Guinness and Finn share the same small stature and are both low-key couch potatoes. While filling out the adoption paperwork the dynamic duo was laying on the floor butt-to-butt.

Thank to so many of our volunteers who helped with the welcome wagon at LAX and to Rita and MJ for rescuing Moomin; Sandy, for coordinating the transfer from Taiwan and managing his medical care; Elaine M., for re-checking the adoptive home; and Patty's placement assistance. A BIG thank you to Tom and his pack for all the love, care and attention given to Moomin for over a year.

Moomin (right) pictured below with his new family. Welcome home, Moomin!

Postcard from Sierra (Rita's Fiona)

Wanted to thank you and the rescue group for all you do! Adopted from you 4-1/2 years ago and it was one of the best things ever! Sierra (Rita's Fiona) has brought so much joy into my life and all her aunts and uncles (friends) who just adore her. One uncle calls often to see if Sierra is available to come over for a BBQ (even though she doesn't get to eat any of the food), but there's always tennis balls awaiting her arrival! She's loved by all the neighborhood kids too!

Cuddles and love to all at GRCGLAR from Sierra for helping her find her fur-ever home!

MaryJane & Sierra

Postcard from Nora (formerly Rita's Melissa)

Almost four years ago, we became the parents of a little golden girl from Taiwan, named Rita’s Melissa. Brought to our house by Nestor who had fostered her for months, she was frightened, shy and nervous. After lapping up a bowlful of water, she jumped from one foot to the other to let us know she was ready for a walk so my husband Alan happily obliged by taking her on one of their long daily journeys. And, so life with Nora began.

She was always an easy dog to care for because she asked never for anything, was grateful for anything given. She never barked and slept much of the time. We are both retired so we are around her almost all of the time but in the beginning she seemed indifferent to our presence. The only time she cried was after she had eaten and was in the kitchen. Then she stood at the kitchen door, afraid to move. Apparently she had been confined to a kitchen in her earlier life and was begging us to allow her to come into the rest of the house. When she did come into the living room or dining room she hid herself behind a chair and slept. She was afraid of almost everything—fire hydrants, any large object, to a certain extent, us. We couldn’t go near her face and when we called her, even in the house, she wouldn’t come. I think she thought nothing good was going to come out of contact with any humans.

But gradually, we are so happy to say, she has settled in and we have become a family. When we sit on the patio, Nora is with us and the neighborhood children swarm around her to pet her or bush her hair. Her tail wags constantly with pleasure. If she’s not with us, she cries to come out. If we go in, she cries to come it. She sleeps on her bed at the foot of our bed. And when we watch television, Miss Nora is literally right under our feet, I guess, so we can tickle her every once in a while and watch her brush the floor with her glorious bushy tail. She is a joy in every way, and through her daily walks with Alan she has become a fixture in the neighborhood. Known and loved by all.

Rita's Chance adopted again

I am happy to report that Rita's Chance has found a new home with Linda and Curt of San Diego. Linda and Curt are previous adopters of Cabo (who has now passed on) and doggie parents of Summer, their 16.5 year old golden. Chance was an adoption return because his family was moving and downsizing and could not take him with them. Linda and Curt were looking for a younger dog but were very considerate of Summer and wanted to make sure that she got along and was not too stressed in bringing another dog home. Chance has lived with numerous dogs of different sizes and ages and has gotten along great. He is on easy going guy so we knew that he would be great with Summer. Linda and Curt were very excited to meet Chance and drove from San Diego to Brea to meet up with Bobby and Nestor (Chance's fosters) on a Friday night. It did not take much time and Chance was in their car, riding back to San Diego and his new home.

The adoption going home photo shows Curt and Linda and their son with his fiancee. New mom Linda reported the following:

He is so sweet and loving with Summer Girl and gets along well with my son’s fiancé’s dog who, although small, wants to be the dominant one (Chance could care less). It took him about a week to start feeling comfortable in the house. As I had mentioned to you, he initially just wanted to run to the garage or stay in my son’s room (which is right next to the garage). He now knows that he has the run of the house and so when my son leaves for school he comes upstairs to be with me and follows me around the house. He is really a sweet dog and we are happy to have him. Not the best on walks as you mentioned - suddenly refusing to go any further - but I am working with him on that. Attached are some photos of him with his new friends (sorry I am not a very good photographer). He is so sweet and loving with Summer Girl and gets along well with my son’s fiancé’s dog who, although small, wants to be the dominant one (Chance could care less). Thanks for your help in matching him with our home – he is a good fit.

Otto's latest adventures

Otto (formerly Rita's A-Fu) was recently Best Dog of Honor at our wedding, and just today morphed into an adorable lion.  ~Janey

Rita & All Your Rescue Teammates - “Our Thank You”

You have given Leslie and me two of the most wonderful treasures of our lives...Gary and Daisy (formerly Yellow).

The pictures below tell you the wonder of these two pups:

GARY came to us a little over 2-1/2 years ago, arriving on a Welcome Waggin' night, jumping out of his crate and into my arms and the rest is history.  Gary has always been this big lovable white teddy bear, the most gentle fellow one could ever know.  Everyone who came in contact with with - whether on a walk, seeing him ride in my truck - everyone has always wanted to come up to him and give him a big hug.

At our Rescue events, people would get in line for a chance to give him a hug, shake his paws, take their picture with him.  Children especially love, parents would want to take a picture of him with their children. 

At home, he followed me wherever I went wanting to cuddle by my side.  I watch TV laying my head on his side.  When I want to take a nap I often will lie behind him and rap my arms around him.  He loves you to touch and hold him.  A Big White Love Bug.  What joy he has brought to our lives.

DAISY arrived on a Welcome Waggin' night about three months after Gary and similarly jumping out of her crate and into my arms and the rest is history.  While Gary is super lovable to all, and Daisy too, Daisy has always been "my little girl" absolutely wanting to be by my side at all times, barking when I leave her sight, always leaning up against me, wanting me to shake her paw, loving to sleep on her back paws pointed high and her favorite always to sit beside me in my truck or next to me on a rock with her legs & paws laid across my lap.

THESE TWO PUPS have brought such joy to our lives.  Leslie and I can never thank all of you enough for rescuing them, making them healthy and sending them to our Rescue in the USA so they could have new forever homes with us.

WOOF, WOOF!

Paul & Leslie

 

 

Tai (formerly Rita's Willie) runs ahead

Every dog is special, but there was something extra special about Tai. Even though he had a very rough start before his angels Rita & MJ saved his life, you would never know it when you met him. He was sweet, lovable and had adorable quirks. He was our neighborhood ambassador, stopping to visit with everyone on our nightly walks, sitting nicely to be pet and almost always shaking hands. He loved kids, water, ice and toys. In typical retriever style, he always wanted to carry something, usually whatever he could get his paws on when he was excited - often clean laundry. He had jaws of steel, so it was nearly impossible to get anything out of his grip if he was intent on holding it. Tai was an expert at removing tags from anything, loved to shred things and could get the squeaker out of any toy in 30 seconds flat. He was also a master beggar and could hear a piece of string cheese being opened no matter how quiet or how far it was from him. Tai loved his big brother Buster, who we lost in 2011, and picked his little brother Sam himself. Sam taught Tai how to wrestle and romp, and they had a great time playing together and snuggling when they were done.

Tai wore his emotions on his sleeve, so when he wasn't feeling well on June 5, it was obvious something was terribly wrong. He had an emergency splenectomy, and we discovered he had cancer. He recovered from the surgery remarkably well and had his first round of chemo on June 19, which he tolerated beautifully. But on June 29, Tai let me know he was not feeling well again, and after consulting with our emergency doctors, I made the heart-wrenching decision to release my beloved boy from his ailing body.

As much as I miss this sweet boy, I know Tai's gentle soul had an impact on so many lives - 2 legs and 4 legs alike. I cherished every minute with him, especially the three-and-a-half weeks after his surgery when he was feeling good and back to his old self. I think he knew I needed that precious time. Tai will hold a special place in my heart forever.

Barley (formerly Rita's Michael) runs ahead

We lost our beautiful Barley to cancer this weekend. He touched so many people's (and dog's) lives with his loving personality and his antics! He was truly the perfect dog in every way, and we feel blessed to have had the privilege to show him what life can be like off the streets of Taiwan. We will miss him dearly. Rest in peace, Wugart xoxoxo

Leslie & Chris

Update from Lady (formerly Rita's Ye-Zi)

Lady is such a smart and sweet girl. She pays so much attention on us trying to please us. She let me clean her ears, brush her teeth and bath her without fighting with me. She follows me everywhere even into the bathroom. (I got no privacy!!!) She is smart enough to trick us for a treat. She gets a treat every time she does her business outside. She learned to stand by the door to notify us she needs to go out. When she gets back she goes to the treat jar and sits there. A few times, I caught her that she went outside and turn around come back in to claim her treats. So sneaky! Since she hasn’t had an accident in the house for almost two months, last week I started letting her join Ranger to go to my neighbor’s house every Monday and Wednesday afternoon to have some fun while we are not home. They like her a lot too.

As I expected, her energy compensates Ranger’s calmness. She is always in play mode and never tired. However, sometimes, it’s too much for Ranger. Ranger is the opposite of Lady. He is so independent that he only comes to us when he needs some love. Ranger is also a gentleman. He lets her occupy his bed, play his toys and eat his food. The only thing I discourage them from doing is wrestling. Since their sizes are so different; Ranger is almost 90 pounds and Lady is 40 pounds, I am always nervous when they are wrestling. I don’t want any of them get hurt. Other than wresting, they play fetching, walk and run together.

I have attached a few photos of Lady and Ranger. They are so cute, aren’t they? They are the best dogs we can ever get. Again, Thank you all for bringing Lady to us.

Best regards,
Jessica

Postcard from Lady's (formerly Rita's Ye-Zi) adopter

I'd like to thank you each and everyone in GRCGLA and Rita, MJ and Maggie. Without your efforts, Lady won't be here with us. Because of your dedication, these unfortunate dogs get a second chance to start a new life and be loved. What a wonderful thing you all are doing! My hat off to all of you and I wish one day I will become one of you.

Lady is such a sweet heart that we all love her. She is so full of energy. Ranger, my other Golden, and her have been keeping each other busy. They play, sleep and eat! What a fun life they have!

I will definitely keep you posted about Lady.

Best regards,
Jessica

Rita's Cody adopted!

Congratulations to Rita's Cody, who has converted another foster home to failed status, choosing to stay with Rory and his sister, Corinne.

Cody was found in a shelter in Taiwan several months ago, and Rita and MJ helped to get him healthy and arranged his travel to the US. As a new volunteer, Rory was excited to be a part of our Welcome Waggin' and offered to let Cody hang out with him until we found his forever home. Cody had other plans! He immediately became BFF's with foster sister Sandals and brought out every cute trick he knew. It didn't take much since Rory and Corinne are true Golden people and pretty much all Cody had to do was wag his tail to make them fall in love with him. Cody called and begged to stay (those pups from Taiwan certainly have that art down as so many never leave their foster homes!)

Cody will be forever grateful to Rita and MJ for finding him, getting him healthy and sending him to CA. He thanks Rory for coming out to meet him at the airport, taking him home to foster, and then falling in love with him. He thanks Cecily for getting Rory's home visit done quickly so he could be there for Cody, and he thanks GRCGLAR for bringing him together with his wonderful new family.

Welcome home Cody!

Coming soon...Rita's Connor

Update from Spencer (formerly Rita's Shadow)

Well, it has been approximately 9 months now that we have had our wonderful Spencer/formerly Rita's Shadow in our home and a big part of our family. He is now approaching 8 years old and loving life!

We have a wonderful vet and with his help we have completely cleared up all of his ear problems. Now the only problem is trying to keep his weight down, he just last week tipped the scales at 80 pounds. The vet seems to think that it is OK for him but we will continue to keep an eye on that weight, especially since he is not a very active dog. I think that i just part of his nature, although he has his morning and evening walks which he loves. Everyone in the neighborhood loves him and he has a little girlfriend, a small white terrier named Molly who he just loves to follow around while she ignores him. Oh too funny, he really acts like a lovesick boy.

To anyone who is hesitant about adopting an older dog please know that it is one of the best things we have ever done and he repays us with love in return every single day. We wouldn't have it any other way!

Thanks again to Rita, everyone in Taiwan and everyone here at GRCGLA Rescue who helped to bring him into our lives.

Attached are current pictures of Spencer. Some in the front yard after our walk....he loves rolling in the grass.

Update from Rita's Polly

We would love to share how well our sweet Polly is doing! She has made herself right at home and become a very important part of our family, we adore her. She is so smart entertaining, she absolutely LOVES to ride in the car and all I have to do is tell her we going for a ride and to go get her leash and she bounces off to the leash basket and comes back ready to roll. Sometimes she doesn't even wait for me to decide that a ride is in order, she will take it upon herself to bring me her leash (hint hint), and if that doesn't work she has been known to bring me by keys and sun glasses. I call her my co-pilot and try to take her with me whenever I can.

We took her swimming in Kriss' pool and she loved it! She would swim around in circles and then swim over and give my daughter a hug, she did that over and over until we finally had to tell her that it was time to go home. She is a very adventuresome girl!

While she still has one bad hip, we haven't had the heart to put her through another surgery because she seems so happy and carefree. Her bad hip doesn't keep her from bouncing and dancing when it is feeding time or time to go in the car, she seems to manage pretty well! She has never been found of dog beds and prefers to sleep on the couch or in an easy chair and somehow mangoes to hop up and make herself comfortable. She is fat and happy as the saying goes.

Below are a few pictures of our gorgeous big red girl, always photogenic!

Best wishes!

The Tomimatsu Family

Photos from Cali (formerly Maggie's Jean)

Update from Lincoln (formerly Rita's Jumper)

Lincoln (Rita's Jumper) on the left with his best friend our first rescue Shanie bonded immediately. We adopted Lincoln on January 3 and he is now very healthy and has gained 10lbs. He loves chasing tennis balls as well having a lot of affection which we gladly give. He is very good natured and loving and knows he is in his forever home. We are so grateful to the Taiwan group and Golden Retriever Rescue for giving us our big boy Lincoln.

The Wynnes

Update from Rita's Chi Chi

Chi is doing great. Arthritis was really slowing her down but our doctor has her on meds and she's so much happier. We're still in class to be a therapy dog, and just celebrated year one in June first with a doggy birthday cake. She seems so much happier since her hips don't bother her all the time. We had special arthritis dog beds both up and down stairs for her. Happy much loved girl. Our nickname for her is Speedbump because you have to slow down and go over her.

Rita's Beryl adopted!

Rita's Beryl was adopted on Memorial Day by the Flamer family. The Flamers drove out under the pretense of meeting this wonderful pupster and possibly adopt her. In reality, they had made the decision that she was their dog and that they were simply there to bring her home...no questions or concerns. Beryl seemed to agree as she went right up to all of them as if to say, "Finally, you found me!".

Beryl, who has been renamed "Traveler", came to us from Taiwan three years ago where she was found and cared for Rita and MJ. In Taiwan, a tumor was removed from one of her legs that was found to be cancerous that didn't have good margins upon removal. Her prognosis was "guarded". So the decision was made to place her in our permanent foster program and hope she has a very long life. Soon, a family came along that was willing to provide her with that foster home. Fast forward three years: The foster family had a change of circumstances and was no longer able to care for Beryl. So she came back to us a couple of weeks ago. Still very healthy and happy. After a thorough check at the vets, the decision was made that she was ready for a forever family of her own.

The Flamer family recently lost their golden to cancer and were on the prowl for a new Golden friend. When the placement team presented Beryl to them, they were concerned about her health, especially after having just lost their friend to cancer. So all the vet records were provided to them and they showed them to their own vet who prclaimed "all looks good". So the Flamers couldn't get out to meet Beryl fast enough. As an interesting tidbit, young Mr Flamer studies Chinese in school, so he was anxious to see if she still remembered or responded in that language.

Beryl has many people to thank for her long journey into this home. First, she thanks Rita and MJ for taking her under their wing and giving her the care and medical attention she so needed and then sending her to the U.S. where we could find her a wonderul new life. She of course thanks the Welcome Waggin for being there to greet her when she landed at the airport after the long flight, and Carol S. for offering temporary housing after her arrival. She also thanks Barbara D., and Jennifer for monitoring her care, and representing her, first for the foster home, and then most recently, for her forever home. She thanks Jo for receiving her back into Rescue from the foster family, and then transporting her to the kennel after she had completed her vet check-up and had her bath. And last, but not least, she thanks Eva and her helper, Marley, for doing the HV, and Lisamarie for helping to make the match on the Placement Team. I hope thats everyone (whew!)

Jennifer has checked in with the family and she was told "We love her and she helps make every day great at the Flamer house". I've attached a few pictures. The first one I took at the adoption meeting. The other two they took after they brought her home - one is with their son Lucas, the other with both sons. She is clearly a happy puppy!

Coming Soon - Rita's Cody

From Rita: Our boy Cody is ready and need your help. Cody is a sweet, friendly and active boy. We found him from street two months ago. He was very hungry and skinny. Now he is doing well and very happy. But Cody’s hip is not very good, don’t worry it is not impaired his walk. Here is Cody...