Golden Bond Rescue of Oregon

Permanent foster 2010

Halo (#2074) aka Hailee-O came into Golden Bond at the end of September 2010. For an 11 month old she was in pretty bad shape, which was clearly the result of bad breeding, accentuated by bad nutrition. Halo had never seen a vet; her skin was in terrible shape and she had no muscle tone in her rear legs.

Golden Bond took her to a vet where it was discovered that she had one bad hock, bad hips, knees, and shoulders.

From Halo’s foster family:
Halo arrived at our house the middle of July ‘11 as a happy, well-behaved 1-1/2 year old thanks to Golden Bond Rescue and her first foster family. I understand she had quite a rocky start in life undergoing several surgeries before becoming a permanent foster dog and moving to our house.

We have to admit there was some apprehension about Halo’s “fragile” condition and how much she could do but Halo proved us wrong. She is a very quirky and loving dog—so typical of Goldens. However, unlike most Goldens, she does not walk around with a couple of tennis balls in her mouth trying for more or carry a Frisbee ready to play. She does, however, require your full attention and body contact at all times. She is definitely the neediest Golden we’ve ever had.

She is excellent with other dogs and cats, which was of high importance as she had to be able to live with two indoor cats and get along with our friends dogs. Actually it was quite comical watching her meet our two cats; Valentine (12 years old) and Fiki (7 years old). At the first meeting, Valentine had taken up his command post in the rocking chair. Halo stuck her nose in his face and pulled back a bit not knowing what to expect. Valentine leaned forward and touched his nose to hers. This really surprised Halo as they had never met. Now they share the dog bed with Valentine often getting more time than Halo. Fiki was another story—she tolerates other critters but even Halo has won her over—most of the time. Halo has a tendency to herd Fiki along which makes Fiki squeal like a little pig.

Halo is the master at getting your attention often pulling all her toys out of the basket, shaking the stuffed toys and bouncing her Kong around the cat that’s trying to sleep on her pillow. She also has her sweet moments when she rests her head on your lap looking up at you with her beautiful brown eyes.

Halo is doing very well health-wise. Our goal is to keep her that way so she can have a very long life! When she went for her 2 year old check-up in October she weighed 57 pounds and the vet was totally amazed and impressed at how muscular she was and how strong her heart was. I’m sure that relates to the excellent care she received while with her first family which included swim therapy that helped her heal from the various surgeries. If she didn’t have to be careful about her hips she could have been an “Olympic” Dock Diver!!! We try to be very mindful of her joints and at this point she hasn't demonstrated anything to show us that she is in pain.

During the summer time she spent more time in the back yard eating tomatoes, blueberries and strawberries, but doesn’t like zucchini though. She shares an apple a day (without the seeds) and eats dried cranberries. I’m sure this attributed to her being the healthiest dog ever.

Exercise is a big deal for Halo even though she is not able to run marathons or race alongside a bicycle. Besides getting out for weekend adventures to the beach and to local parks she has a daily walking routine—most often through our neighborhood which can be from 2-4 hilly miles depending on the rain. She is the most determined dog for routine and knows the routes by heart. There are only certain places you stop for treats and you must walk on the sidewalk whenever possible and of course you can only cross the street at approved locations. (She lets me know when I take her for a short walk that it is so against what Larry does every day.)

She’s developed quite a few new friends--human and critter-wise. She starts doing her crab-walk when she gets close to where the cats like to snooze on top of the cars and she knows exactly where all the birds hang out at the largest neighborhood “smorgasbord” birdfeeder. Squirrels are a bit of a challenge!

When she gets excited she prances. I had to chuckle one day when we were passing a couple that asked if she was a show dog because she was trotting along so elegantly.

It’s hard to believe that Halo has been with us 6 months. She continues to bring us much laughter and joy. Her spirit bubbles over with mischief! But what do you expect from a two year old???