Golden Bond Rescue of Oregon

Adopted February 3, 2011

Wheaton #2094 Adoption Story

Rescuing a dog is one of the noblest things you can do. Golden Bond Rescue is only one of several organizations, and all have success stories. This is Wheaton's. As I begin to write this, I feel a gentle shove under my right arm. The shove is connected to a reddish nose, which is the front of a curious, beautiful, and intelligent Golden Retriever named Wheaton.

We were looking for a companion for our older Shetland Sheepdog; he and his brother were inseparable and when his brother passed last year, Pepper drew inward and became a very much different, very quiet dog. It was obvious that he missed his buddy, and that we had to find him another one. When we met Wheaton, we saw interested, intelligent eyes, an easygoing manner, and the willingness to be a friend to anyone… all very Golden traits.

We put Pepper and Wheaton together in a number of different situations, and they got along really well through all of them. After spending a couple hours or so with Wheaton, we knew he was the one for us.
And we continue to be impressed by Wheaton’s intelligence about Pepper – he is so gentle-natured that he’s not pushing the older dog anywhere that Pepper doesn’t want to go. There is an apparent wisdom on Wheaton’s part here that we cannot claim to understand. He’s being a good-buddy without getting into the older dog's space, or on his nerves.

So Wheaton’s learned our routines. It didn't take him but a few days to figure out already that we get up, we go out and potty, and then we come in for breakfast. One morning I heard my wife saying, “Bleah-bleah-bleah…YUCK!!! Patooey!!” and I asked what happened. Wheaton hadn't figured out yet that my wife doesn’t get up as early as I do. He was thinking she was ready to get up as soon as I was finished dressing. So he went up to her and gave her a big wet doggy kiss for a good-morning greeting.

Morning potty time has been good for both Wheaton and me. I added a new routine that helps keep us both in shape: a walk down to the end of our road to where the newspaper boxes are. It's about a mile and a half, round trip. One morning, it was snowing hard. I grabbed the leash and clipped it to an eager dog; we went down the step, and the outer garage door opened to reveal a flurry of a storm outside. We entered the swirling whiteness, Wheaton pulling at the lead, and me marveling at the change in the landscape. Gentle snowflakes brushed my cheeks as we proceeded down toward the paper boxes and Wheaton found a good “number one” spot. We walked down and back while he scouted around for a good “number two” spot. After Wheaton took care of his needs, he was more than ready for his breakfast, and so he attempted to drag me back to the house.

I've since noticed that he’s intuitive, because he only pulls hard if it's bad weather (like the snow) and I need a hand getting back up the hill. Back inside the garage, I shook off a big bunch of snow from my coat and hat in preparation for going in. I also saw that Wheaton was completely white along his whole top side. It was a new thing then to have a smart, intuitive dog, and so I tried to remember the command they taught him for bath time to get him to shake himself dry… “Wheaton, shake!” Down goes the butt, and up comes the paw, with a quizzical look…”Why’d you ask me to do THAT?” I found somewhere on him that wasn't all white and gave him a ‘good boy,’ appropriate praise, and pets. (I did get him to shake off the snow before we went in.)

Some mornings he will come sit next to me on the top step, while I put on my shoes. I always take a minute to thank God for the day as I get ready to leave. On those mornings, I am reminded of something else for which to thank God; with a beautiful Golden-buddy sitting regally next to me, the grateful recipient of loving ‘pets.’ We've have other great moments, also. One day I had to run a number of errands in town (go to the Post Office, get stove pellets, that kind of thing) so I put Wheaton in the back seat of the little car to see how he’d do. He got attention as I entered and exited, but he seemed to be comfortable with riding in the back in the small car. So as my last errand, I go into the store … and come out to find him sitting comfortably, not in the back, but on the right front seat, all ready for co-pilot duty.

Wheaton brings to us an important milestone in healing from the loss of another dog. Our other dog, Pepper, lost his brother in July. He's a Shetland Sheepdog, a breed that forms deep bonds. He has been sad and quiet all these months, and we have particularly noticed the absence of the two brothers' favorite game which we used to call "bark-bark." They would run together toward the upper corner of the fence in our back meadow. Then they would do Sheepdog-spins, barking at the deer on the other side of the fence. That corner of the meadow has been sadly quiet ... until just a couple days ago! My wife watched Wheaton and Pepper up at the corner of the meadow, playing, running, and ... barking!

Wheaton is indeed fitting in well. One morning as I got ready to go to work, I noticed him snoozing on the couch… but he had something underneath his head. Wondering what this was, I quietly approached to look. It was his favorite new toy. His expression said it all: "I love my new home ... and my new toy..."

He’s home. At his forever-home. Our forever-dog, Wheaton.