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Happy Endings – Success Stories From Adopters
Here are some recent testimonials from adoptive families who were so thrilled with Golden Gate Labrador Retriever Rescue (GGLRR) that they took the time to tell us in writing. Feel free to express your appreciation to the many volunteers at GGLRR helping with your Lab adoption. If you want to share your story with other prospective owners, just send it to our webmaster or your GGLRR Rescue Representative. Enjoy reading these happy ending stories for these lucky Labs and their forever families!
December 2009
(Background on Brandon: This dog had never been allowed in the house for 10 years -- he only had a concrete backyard before he was rescued. Now look at him!)
Liz, it is wonderful to have Brandon in my life. He is a terrific dog and enjoying the good life: a wonderful home inside the house with three walks a day and lots of affection and love. He loves children and his ears perk up whenever we are on a walk and he hears a child. Yesterday, on Mt. Wanda, three children stopped to pet him and today his friendliness made a homeless man in downtown Martinez happier. He is gentle with everyone. Thank you so much for what you have done for both of us.
Sincerely,
Jeannine
December 2009
Dear Judy,Just a brief note to tell you and Sylvana and GGLRR how much Ilene and I appreciate Montie, the Lab you found for us in 2009. After the loss of Saemus in 2007, we were devastated. Montie has eased our loss and in fact has been the most wonderful Lab you can imagine. Gentle, handsome, smart and unbelievably good with all children. I wish I knew his past history, I suspect it was a good one by the way he has turned out.
Michael
P.S. Happy New Year and continue with your great work.
December 2009
Hi Sylvana,
Wishing you the very best this Christmas and New Year. Here is what we sent for our Christmas greeting (featuring Tilly the black Lab). Can't wait for warmer weather, so we can take Tilly to the beach! :-)
Blessings,
Sue
December 2009
What a blessing he is. We couldn't possibly ask for a better buddy. Thank you so much for all that you do for the dogs and their people!
Much love,
Pam, Gary, and the amazing Commander Cody
December 2009
Judy,
Macy & Cali want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. Julie and I want to thank you for finding Cali for us, and Cali wants to thank you for her new home. She has been a wonderful dog and has fit right into the family. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and we will see you on the beach next time we are there.
Happy Holidays!
Kip & Julie
December 2009
Some first pictures of Roxie and big sister, Kayla. Enjoy. Roxie is such a sweet girl. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.Elizabeth
December 2009
Hi Judy, My wife and I want to thank you for your help in adopting Luke. He is a blessing to us. Attached are a few pictures of Luke while on an outing to Carmel Beach. Thanks again, and Merry Christmas to you.Cary and Lee
December 2009
Hi Cyndi and TroyHope you have a beautiful Christmas! Gracie is doing so well, the Adequan injections have made her soooo much more comfortable. She has a real cheeky character; always wanting to play, or be snuggled. We love having her in our life and hope for many more happy years with her.
XX
Gary and Sarah
December 2009
Hi this is Jezebel formerly known as Rosie! We are very fortunate to have her in our life and she has found a happy permanent home! She so eager to learn and please and it only took her two months to get along with the cats! Thank you very much GGLRR and especially Renee! Happy holdidays!!The Petersens
December 2009
Gunner adopted us on 1 Nov 2008. We are so very lucky to have him in our lives! He was a rescue from Bakersfield, on death row when he was saved by GGLRR. At the time he was 8 months old and had already been de-barked. Ok, he is just a tad bit spoiled I must admit. He owns every tough toy that Pet Food Express sells with his fav being a dinosaur that he lays on his back and wrestles with. His "My Mutt" picture hangs in three Pet Food Express stores. We were happy to donate the extra $50 on top of his adoption fee so we could see his picture at our favorite store. He is learning to get along with a kitten that recently joined our family too. Along with Gunner and the kitten, Marley, we have two other labs, Tonka and Rookie. We are blessed beyond words to have our Gunner. He has brought such joy and love to us. I think it is true that they know you rescued them and they are so grateful. If there were any problems I would have to admit to over spoiling him to make up for his first 8 months of life. I was asking our vet why Guns does not eat. Our other two labs eat very fast and are food motivated. I told her he would not eat unless we put grated lamb and cheese on his food and occasionally a teaspoon of bacon grease. She told me he was just spoiled! She also said the food we were giving him was very good and bacon grease once in awhile would not hurt him. So I over indulge my fur baby but no fear, he does not throw tantrums and is never ever sent to his room and not allowed to watch TV! Bottom line here, we love this guy so much and we are so grateful to all those who spend their lives to help rescue them. I look forward to retirement and joining the foster program so my life will always be dedicated to helping others find the Gunner for their lives. When Guns needs a new brother or sister we know exactly where we will go.Thank you much more than words can say!
Jacque
December 2009 (From LabRescue on Facebook)
I love our gift from GGLRR. Thank you for all you do. We have a wonderful 9 year old back lab named Friday, thanks to you. He is wonderful and it's hard now to imagine life before him. He brings such joy to us. Beautiful, loving, fun. Pure joy.Dani
December 2009 (From LabRescue on Facebook)
So happy and in love with our new pup Charlie. Thank you so much Lab Rescue GGLRR & Ryan for our Christmas present ♥Crystal
December 2009 (From LabRescue on Facebook)
We love our Lab Shady that we adopted last February from GGLRR!Crystal
November 2009
Hi Holly, Indo is doing so well! He is very calm and getting more mellow around other dogs - he's still rambunctious but we can tell he's starting to learn that he doesn't need to go all out all the time. We took him to Point Isabel over the weekend and met some friends who have two labs - overall he did well. Most of the time we kept him on a long leash and he played nicely. He went swimming a bit as well - we're not sure if he'd ever gone before. He sleeps through the night and we've had no accidents.Attached are a few photos from about a week ago (hopefully they look okay - when saving from Flickr they seem to shrink.). He's a wonderful dog and we are so happy to have him. Everyone at Citizen Canine (his doggy daycare where he goes three times a week) love him. It is really helping him learn how to socialize with other dogs.
Thanks again!
Jill
November 2009
We are so happy to have found our amazing Abby (the most beautiful Chocolate Lab) through GGLRR. She has been with us for a week and a half and feels like she has been ours forever. She and our Pom get along wonderfully (even sharing dog beds--she squeezes into his--he spreads out on hers).Thank You So Much,
David, Colleen and Betsy
October 2009
Judy, We are so blessed to have Jack as a part of our family. I want to share this picture with you that represent the true essence of a boy and his dog. Jack continues to be an intricate part of our family.Thank you!Tera
October 2009 (From LabRescue on Facebook)
We are the lucky family that just adopted Goldie. I can't say enough good things about Golden Gate Lab Rescue. Rep Liz has been wonderful in helping us to adopt our once in a lifetime dog! Goldie is still undergoing vet care for some skin issues and is to be spayed soon, and Liz has been great in coordinating this.Cindy
October 2009
Hi Sylvana,Hope all is well. We just wanted to give you an update on Tilly. It's been about two and a half weeks since Kalea and I picked her up from Dave and Wendy's. You've heard about Tilly ingesting a whole cube of butter four days after arriving at our house in Castro Valley. All is well now and Tilly is doing great!
Tilly is about 96% housebroken. 80% of the times, she is able to ring the bell (that hangs from our sliding door handle) when she wants to relieve herself...Otherwise, she sits quietly by the sliding door to be let out. When she's playing with us outside, she'll run to her designated area to do her business.
So far, she's met and played with many dogs, big and small, during her morning walks--There's Zipper, Otis, Chloe, JT, Murphy, Lily, Sasha, and a few others whose names we've forgotten.
She has learned quite a few commands, considering how young she is (Can you tell I'm a proud mom?). On command (and bribing with treats helps), Tilly will "sit", "down", "stay", "leave it", "off", "heel", "let's go", "crosswalk (she will sit at a crosswalk and wait for "let's go" at an intersection), "watch", "side", "roll over", "shake", "other paw"...and hopefully, the list will keep growing.
Thanks so much for finding us such a wonderful pup.
Blessings,
Sue & Family (Rich, Kurt, & Kalea)
October 2009
ONYX of Lakeport. Onyx is fine and loving her home here on the lake. She is the best friend and companion and everyone loves her almost as much as I do. Thank you again for this wonderful match.Roger
October 2009
I just had to write and tell everyone what a wonderful Lab we found thru Lab Rescue.His name is Rusty Charlie (from the character in Guys and Dolls) and he has been with us since June. Pretty much from the first day, Rusty Charlie has fit into our family. We are empty-nesters and wanted a quiet, gentle dog to spend quiet evenings with us and Rusty Charlie has fit the bill completely. Since the day I drove to Sacramento and picked him from his loving foster home, not a day has gone by that I don't thank Lab Rescue and your committed volunteers for taking such good care of Rusty Charlie until we met him.
Rusty Charlie is a beautiful 8 year male black Lab and is absolutely a perfect gentleman with our 2 young grandchildren and our cat, Kiki. He has slept in his crate voluntarily every night since we got him and has been a dream to walk and enjoy. The vet has checked him out and he is in perfect health. He joins me on two fairly long walks daily and literally leaps 2 feet in the air when he sees me getting his leash and putting on my jacket and headphones. He has had no accidents in the house and is very eager to please, completely bonding with me and never leaving my side, whether I am reading in the backyard or writing on my computer.
I teach high school and have brought him to several Saturday workdays. The kids love him and he happily greets each one, never jumping up or barking. What a wonderful dog he is and to think I never would have met him if it hadn't been for the wonderful volunteers (especially Jeanne in San Jose) at Lab Rescue.
Keep up the loving work with these amazing creatures!
Steve
October 2009
(Background from LabRescue: this is a Lab that was rescued from San Jose Animal Services. The shelter would have put him down because they said he was “over stimulated” in the shelter. He exhibited no bad behavior the three days he was at the vet’s office and was quickly adopted.)Fred actually became Chief the day I brought him home. My kids named him after a ski run they love at Squaw Valley called "Granite Chief". It has been two weeks and I cannot tell you how much we all love him. He is sweet, smart, gentle and really wants to please, so he learns quickly. I am self employed which allows me to manage my own schedule. Selfishly, I wanted a shadow as my dog companion. Chief is just that. He follows me everywhere and actually goes with me on most outings. Thank you for the time, money and heart you put into Golden Gate Labrador Retriever Rescue. Because of you, our family (especially me) and Chief have found their "forever home".
Robin
September 2009
As a life member of California Waterfowl I loved duck hunting. When my yellow male lab of 15 years went to the happy hunting ground I figured old Hondo would be my last dog as he was pretty much irrreplaceable in my mind. Years of hunting together creates a very special bond that only hunters can understand. Lab Rescure entered my life 9 months later and I decided to become a foster parent. Well the first dog was Chelsea Mae--pure bred all the papers etc -but a chocolate and a female. Long story short. I have a new best friend. Constantly at my side. She even sits in the river when I fly fish. As we all know Labs are the greatest. As my lovely wife said "I knew you would select the first dog that came along",but really this dog is the reincarnation of Hondo.Thanks to lab rescue and Liz for all the work they do.Steve in Walnut Creek
September 2009
I have felt very supported by GGLRR from the get-go, starting, in fact, with our phone interview which seemed to me quite complete and thoughtful, and directed at making a good placement for both the family and the pet! GGLRR Lab rescue was absolutely up front about any potential issues with Prince which made it quite easy for us to know where to focus and helped us make our decision to adopt Prince! In addition, I saw that the GGLRR personnel were very engaged with the dogs on their list in the transition time between acceptance by the organization and adoption by a family, which makes the GGLRR volunteers personally familiar with the issues and personality of the dog in question.Since I have adopted two dogs through GGLRR previously (both 10 years or longer ago), I can appreciate the changes and the far more thorough evaluation of both the dog and the family. I did not feel that there was anything relevant about us that you didn't know, nor about Prince that we didn't know. Additionally, I also appreciated the absolute willingness of GGLRR representatives to help me with identified issues with Prince both prior to my adopting him, and after.
But the most important fact of all is how fabulous Prince is!! We were told that he pulled on the leash and needed some training. I have done loose-leash training with him and in about 3 days he stopped pulling altogether with me. I am still working with him with the kids, but I am stunned at how responsive he is and what a quick learner. We were also told that he was not house-trained. Of course, we were concerned about how much work that might entail with an 8 year old dog. We did some reading and talked to some people and developed a plan to try to help him be successful, but in truth he did not seem to need it! We were quite vigilant with him in the first two weeks, but to this day he has not had a single accident in the house! And the walking and dribbling that was previously observed with him by his previous owner has never happened. He does extremely well on leash and in the yard. Even better, the three kids adore him! He has proved himself to be incredibly tolerant and loving no matter what they do with him! I have, of course, been quite careful and observant, but he seems to love the attention he gets from them and appreciates the affection, even if they are too close or grab his tail. Even with all the enthusiasm and energy he has as an 8 year old Lab, he has never once jumped up on a person, most importantly the kids! (He's quite athletic! When we are preparing his dinner and he is out on the deck waiting, he will jump 2-3 feet off the ground!! With walking 2 or 3 times per day, he is SO fit!!)
So, I really could not be happier with Prince! In addition, our kids really love him. He's a lovely dog and I feel really lucky that we have him!
Janesta
September 2009 (From LabRescue on Facebook)
I can't thank you enough for all you do, we are so happy with our new adoption of Friday. He is a great loving dog, who loves spending his retirement years with us. :)Dani
May 2009
We are having a great time with Scotch. He has adapted so well to our family and is going everywhere with us. I have been taking him to the boys soccer games and he is such a good boy. He just sits there calmly and lets everyone pet him. People often comment on how he is such a calm, good dog. He is still completely ball crazy and when people come over he runs around crazy looking for a ball to get them to play with him. He is doing great in the house. He follows me and my boys around everywhere. He is really the perfect dog and we are so happy with him.I recently went to get my hair cut and realized that my hairdresser, Julie, had worked with you last month to help her find a home for her lab. I could only say great things about you and the rescue. You were so patient with me and really helped me through the process.
Thanks so much for everything,
Kim
February 2009
We adopted Onix in December 2008, after having put down our 5 year old female (and only having her for 2.5 years) in May, 2008 due to kidney failure.
We had just moved into a new house a month prior and felt it was time for a new addition to our family. We saw Onix on the site and since he was close by in Menlo Park, we called Holly, the representative and agreed for a visit. When we greeted him for the first time at the vet, he immediately enamored himself to us. He took a long walk around the neighborhood and was very obedient and inquisitive (as labs should be) but not a tractor dog. Holly walked along with us and by the end of the walk, two great things occurred. 1st, we were able to save Holly a drive up to Benicia because 2nd, we decided to adopt him right there on the spot.
He loaded up into the back without any fuss and settled down nicely. When we picked our kids up from school, they were so excited and he showed their love back with kisses and nuzzling. From the first day, he always goes with us in the car to drop off and pick up from school.
He has become so much a part of our family and loves to have his belly scratched and rubbed. He has an upstairs pillow and a downstairs one. He is obedient, calm (thank god, compared to our previous lab) and sooo loving. It is such a bright spot in everyone’s day whenever he sees us and happily comes to say hi. When our son sits down next to him on his pillow, he immediately puts his head in his lap and gently takes pets and rubs.
Onix's story of coming to Lab Rescue was not one of neglect or abuse, but rather an overwhelming situation from the previous owner and we are grateful to have been given the chance to have such a wonderful dog come into our lives.
Thank you GGLRR.
Matt, Anne, Andrew, Natalie, and Ken
January 2009
Thanksgiving 2008 we lost our beloved lab-mix Roxy. She was our first furry child, with us since college (15 years!). Her little sister Cali was left without her playmate and was so lonely.
Early January we contacted GGLRR to initiate the process of adopting another lab. I was so impressed with how the group worked, rescuing not only local dogs but labs from rural areas as well. Holly sent me photos and I was very interested in 5-month-old "Lily" coming to California from a rural shelter in Idaho. We went to meet her at her foster Jeff's house and it was love at first sight.
We had to change her name (Cali and Lily sound too much alike!) so now she is Daisy. She is just over a year old now, and we can't imagine life without her. She is your typical ball-crazy, water-crazy, food-crazy, lovey-dovey lab girl. She and Cali play together all day and cuddle together at night.
Photos of our trip to Lake Tahoe last month.Diane and Eric
