Burney visits Homeward Bound

Categories: Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue · Rescue DogsTags: · · · · · · · · · 6 Comments

Burney was one of my special foster dogs. If you met him you would understand why he is special. He is a happy boy and carries himself with an understated confidence that is quite appealing. He’s cute and has personality. He’s also got a great story that you can read here at the Homeward Bound Blog. He’s too humble to tell you himself what a hero he is so go on over and check out his story. Hint: Burney was named Father of the Year in 2014 for his devotion to his kids’ welfare. I’ll wait … I was privileged…

The garden is ready to explode

Categories: Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue · Homeward Bound Memorial Garden · Rescue DogsTags: · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 10 Comments

Spring arrived early in Sacramento this year. That means the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden is ahead of schedule. It seems as if every day something new bursts forth to pay tribute to the many canine companions helped by Homeward Bound. This photo was taken almost a week ago and it’s already obsolete. Dogs are frequent visitors, of course. This is Shelby. We have something new this year. I was told that these metal traps are meant to capture some critter that has been damaging the garden. The gardeners called them snapes or snoops … something like that. I couldn’t get…

Daisy

Categories: Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue · Rescue DogsTags: · · · · · · · · · · · 9 Comments

I’m grateful to people who recognize that they simply can’t provide a proper home for their dog, and make the difficult decision to give up their friend. Most people do not realize how much time and effort it takes to do right by a canine companion. Many of them, unfortunately, do not discover the truth until after they already have a dog. Ideally, people realize their limitations early on and work to find a new home for their pet. Or let a rescue like Homeward Bound take care of it for them if they cannot. Daisy came to us from such…

Bear

Categories: Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue · Rescue DogsTags: · · · · · · · · 12 Comments

Bear is one of the dogs we had a few months back that was highly reactive to some dogs. Scrappy even spent some time hanging out together in a yard just to show Bear that he didn’t need to be afraid of other dogs. Bear was used for back yard breeding so he missed out on so much of what makes a dog a dog. He was a very affectionate boy with us but certainly not overly needy. Strangely, one of the things his previous owner didn’t like about him is that he wanted too much attention. Yeah. I’ll only…

Max goes home

Categories: Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue · Rescue DogsTags: · · · · · · · · · · · · 4 Comments

You might remember Max. He’s the impossibly handsome Lab with the shiny eyes who’s made several appearances in my posts. He went home on Sunday, Valentine’s Day. Yes, he sure has my heart. Max is a joyful boy with an intense curiosity about everything in his world. He is big and strong and sometimes a lot to handle. On the outside. On the inside he is still just a little boy. But that little boy could put up a ferocious front when faced with a situation that scared him — like another barking at him. Max worked through his issues…

Leroy

Categories: Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue · Rescue DogsTags: · · · · · · · · 7 Comments

At Homeward Bound we get new dogs in every week. When I came up to the front of the rescue to see our new residents, Leroy definitely stood out. Having escaped from his own crate shortly before arrival, he was was standing on another dog’s crate eager to make his exit. He had to wait, though, because we had to move some crates so he could get down safely. I was drawn to him immediately. “I want to take him home,” I said. I’m not sure exactly why I felt that way. Sure, he’s handsome but that certainly wasn’t all…

Scrappy’s Story – Part 3: The Healer

Categories: Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue · Rescue DogsTags: · · · · · · · · 21 Comments

This is the 3rd installment of Scrappy’s Story. In Part 1: Descent I explained what brought Scrappy to my house for work on some issues. Part 2: Recovery described how we helped Scrappy interact better with people and other dogs. Although he became a much more confident and relaxed dog, he would still occasionally revert back to his old behavior. I reluctantly decided that we could not never put him up for adoption. So I agreed that he could stay with me. After a while BoBo and Shaggy moved on and Scrap and I shared the house. Scrappy continued to improve, letting go of…