Golden Retriever Rescue of New Mexico | Blog

Placing Fisher

Kathleen — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:13:37 +0000

Well I thought you would love to hear this story. Fisher was kinda unique. When he first came, I thought, WHEW! this dog is so high energy, I will never be able to find him a home. I have a wonderful volunteer who agreed to do clicker training with him. That helped a LOT.

I knew he would not do well in a family with children because he tended to launch himself on people for the first 10 minutes. I wanted to find someone who loved to run and hike and who would have the patience to work with him. I had one application from a guy that sounded perfect. But as it turned out, he lived half the year in Florida. He was coming to ABQ the end of February, so I thought, ok, we can keep him and train him. When I checked in again, the date was moved up and he was arriving the first week in March but couldn’t come see the dog until March 17th. Sooo, LOL, that didn’t sound so good.

We kept working with the dog. Then on Friday, I got an email from a guy who was interested in Fisher. Here is his first email

I am emailing in regard to Fisher. Is he still available for adoption? I have had many golden retrievers throughout my life and love the breed very much. I live in Farmington and have a very big backyard and plenty of love to give my dog. I am an avid runner, hiker, and backpacker and always love and enjoy the company of an energetic friend. And, of course, he would always be indoors with me when we’re not out adventuring. I have attached a photo of me and my old friend Spruce, who as you can see lived the good life and was an incredible backpacking companion. I hope to hear back.

Here is the photo:

Sounded good . So I wrote him, had him fill out an application. He called the next day and said he could come down on Saturday night. It was a 3 hour drive. He arrived and loved the dog. Fisher loved him. So that crazy, sweet dog got a new home.

I got this note from Dave:

Thank you for the opportunity to have Fisher in my life. He is wonderful and very sweet. I am excited about having him as a companion. I introduced him to Carrie’s golden and they became instant best friends. It is wonderful to see him interact so well. He is a good dog. He is very appreciative of his new place in life and certainly does not want to leave my side. I will keep you up to date and send pictures soon.

Thank you so much.

I think this story represents the best of what we do….being willing to find a perfect match. I know sometimes this is hard for those of you who are waiting. And yet I know that it means our placements work. I am thrilled.

Monday 9/6/2010

Kathleen — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:13:27 +0000

Just one dog here now. Buddy was pretty wild when he arrived. What was most interesting was that he just got more and more amped up with any kind of correction. I have been rereading Karen Pryor’s book, Reaching the Animal Mind, so I KNEW that Mr. Buddy needed some clicker work.
Day one, he was leaping in my face, running around, jumping on my back. I just sat with the click on the bench whenever he was quiet, click, treat. He still leapt, hopped over the back, tried to get on my lap. My son’s 120 pound rott was concerned and decided to intervene so he came over and body blocked him. We went through about 30 treats. At the end he was sitting and waiting. This morning I went out for lesson #2. He looked at the treats,looked at me and sat down. I walked around the yard and every time I moved he ran around in front of me, sat down and waited for a click and a treat. Progress. It is mind boggling to me. Clicker training touches the brain in a way that nothing else will. I will keep you posted.

Getting Started

Kathleen — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:35:50 +0000

Hi everyone!
I thought it would be a good idea to set up a blog to let you all know what is happening with GRRNM in real time. As I am sure you have figured out, our dogs arrive in waves. When I left for vacation, we had no dogs. One came in while I was in Maine, and then in the last two days, we have 3 more and 2 on the way This is pretty typical. Feast or famine. So I will need help…
First level is exercising…I am going to go and mark the dogs for their exercise needs so those of you who can help with that will know the right dog for you. About scheduling when to come…I work at home, so am pretty flexible. If you just tell me the time that works for you and the dog you want to take, I will have him or her ready for you.
Some of the dogs need socialization…that is code for the fact that they were put out in the back yard and have no training, so they are scared or wild. So if you want to help with that, it is great. the best thing is to get the clicker training book by Peggy Tillman (from Long Leash on Life), get a clicker and some treats and tell me when you can come. Really if you just sit out in the back and spend time with them, that helps. The more we socialize them, the more easily placed they are. And of course I can coach you on the clicker process.
We also get dogs who just need to be loved.
Let me go put that info into their profiles. If you have questions, best to email rather than call. I figure we will learn how to best do this.
kathleen