I got a call from a local vet saying that a guy had brought in a golden who had been shot and wanted him euthanized. Apparently the dog was running lose and came home with his leg dangling. The guy thought it was amusing that it was just limp so waited a few days before taking him to the vet. Just putting him down did not seem like the answer.

I went to get the dog. He is the sweetest boy. There he was with his leg shattered, with gunshot splattered inside and he was wagging his tail when he saw me. He was matted, stinky and very, very grateful. I made some phone calls and took him to the teaching hospital we have here in Albuquerque and the orthopedic surgeon could operate that evening.

Now, you know with all that crime show stuff we see on TV, it never has hit me like this. That one little gunshot wound, and that shattered bone. Whew. We decided to try to save his leg rather than just amputate it right away. So they implanted a pin and screwed it back together. That is him in intensive care.

I will keep here here with me. He will be crated for 8 weeks and we will pray for the best.

And I am unabashedly asking for money. The surgery will run $4000 or so. I made an act of faith in the generosity of those of you who love Goldens as much as I do. You can donate through the paypal button or can send a check. Call at 505-345-3737 for the address. It is all tax deductible. And no matter what, send light, prayers, and good thoughts.

We are going to change his name…so stay posted.

4/14/13

new Name is Dustin. He likes it.
We came home from the hospital with antibiotics, pain killers and some sort of Rimadyl NASAID. I had looked up the death rate for Rimadyl at the FDA so declined that. I figured I was going to give Arnica a try. Gave it to him every hour the first say and by the next evening, the swelling was down by 50%. We kept it up, and started great food, fish oil, and some organ meat stuff from Iceland that they gave me samples of at Long Leash on life. He is very happy with the routine.

he is contained, goes for walks with a sling. His scar has healed up so he no longer has to wear the cone. He finally pooped and pees regularly. Now we just wait to see how the bone heals. I added another homeopathic called *bone knit*. Sure sounded good. Off course can’t see inside the leg, but he lifts it to pee and his muscles are all working.

I keep the sliding glass door open so he can watch birds and clouds. He is ready to go out running, LOL. but we bless the wonders of modern medicine.

I have heard from a number of you about volunteering to help out and I apologize for my delay in getting back to you. Here is what we are needing:

1) We need people who are willing to come and work with an individual dog. We want to clicker train the dogs to sit, walk on a leash and not leap around, LOL. What your job would be is to learn something about clicker training…I recommend getting Peggy Tillman’s book called Clicking With your Dog. Long Leash on LIfe has it. While you are there, look at the stuff. Maybe even get a DVD. Go online and watch youtube so you can get the idea. I will help too.

My thinking is that if you learn this, you can come and work with one dog – your buddy. This is what will make the dogs most adoptable.

2) We also need people to take specific dogs walking or running. And…part of the dilemma is that the dogs who need it most are the dogs who don’t know how. Sometimes people come thinking that these are dogs that just need a walk. Sometimes that is true LOL, and sometimes they need to learn how. And the dogs are muddy and hairy so wear jeans.

3) Some of the dogs would love to go on an outing, maybe for a trip to Flying Star or a walk on the ditch. You can see if there is a dog that you think would suit your chemistry, email me and let’s chat.

Here is a little update for everyone. For some reason, we are getting fewer dogs this summer. Not exactly sure why.

If you are waiting and wondering how the process works…remember, we place dogs based on temperament match to families. And there may be some variables that are not in the description…or you may call and think it doesn’t matter if it says the dog doesn’t like cats and you have a cat …Doesn’t like cats may mean the dog will eat your cat, so we won’t give you a *does not like cats* dog. Or if the dog is particularly rambunctious and you have young children, that will not be a good match.

Check El Paso, and Check Oklahoma. We work with both and if you like one of their dogs we can put in a word for you.

Hi everyone,

We give the dogs fish oil, and joint response if they are older and stiff. And we get great food for them. Basically, we treat the rescues the way we treat our own dogs.

I so appreciate your continuing financial generosity. Every dog gets vet care, testing for heart worm, tick disease and parasite if appropriate. All the dogs are spayed and neutered at our expense. All the dogs get vaccinated as well. And if a dog has other medical needs we pay for that.

We have set up a paypal service to make it really easy for you. Anything you give us is tax deductible and we will send you a formal receipt. THANKS!!!

Several people have asked me why we don’t have more dogs like some of the other state rescues do. I have thought about this a lot. I think it is because we work really hard to get to know our people. So when a dog comes in, we are able to make a placement quickly. If you look at the dogs under adopted, you will see that we have placed many, many dogs. Actually, we have placed more than 600 dogs.

The people who stay in touch, who watch the web site and who call regularly are the people who get dogs. If a dog comes up that you like, email right away. Remember, we must have your application on file in order to consider you for adoption. We will arrange a meeting if the dog sounds like a good match.