AFiles – Golden Retriever Rescue
for a golden retriever few things are
more fun than a game of fetch and here
in West Arvada Golden’s fetch alot
smiles – it’s the home of a nonprofit
called golden retriever rescue of the
Rockies affectionately known as ger and
it’s always filled with lots of furry
friends currently I believe we have
about 17 it’s typical ranges between 16
and sometimes up 20 to 23 but when it
gets that high typically we put some of
the dogs in foster care
incredibly ger has placed more than 3500
Golden’s in new homes since 1996 the
group even got its own home in 2011 we
had a donor step forward and find this
piece of property out here it’s about
five acres it’s zoned agricultural so
it’s it’s nice it’s quiet it’s
surrounded by larger properties as well
and so we moved in here in 2011 these
days more than 150 volunteers lend a
hand with everything from fundraising to
dog walking a lot of dog walking you
have 50 volunteers on what we call our
VIP dog walking team and this is a
close-knit group of people volunteers
not only spend time exercising the dogs
they take time to get to know them but
as they all say what’s not to love about
a golden drop the ball look I got
another one go get they are so goofy and
they are so loving and they want to
please you and they are so intelligent
and they are just deer it takes an
average of two weeks to place a dog in a
new home but they don’t just go anywhere
adopters are screened Darla Henderson is
the adoption coordinator or doggy
matchmaker as she calls it we look at
applications that come in
evaluate them send them on to our phone
interview team for a phone interview and
if they pass that we go to the reference
checking stage and check references
sometimes we do a home visit full-time
caretaker Mary Kenton is the glue of the
operation I call her the dog whisperer
right but she’s very very good I’m
really understanding the dog side
they’re very gentle they’re very devoted
they always want to please you they’re
just great companions
they really are always good most the
time she’s been with Gerson Snite and
has seen a lot of dogs come and go some
have had tougher journeys and others
like Bentley I took him the fostering
and we did some medical tests on him
found out he was heartworm positive and
he was from Colorado so farm is here
Bentley’s recovery took a while but he
is heartworm free now I just fell in
love with this guy Bentley is 16 years
old he’s been awesome we spoiled him
rotten now because of girls great
reputation and strong base of support
Golden’s come from as far away as
Wyoming New Mexico and other neighboring
states if they come from a shelter as a
stray we have to start from scratch we
don’t know much about them at all and
then if they’re an owner surrender the
information they give us that’s all we
have and sometimes they can if I’d done
that a little bit and we learn a little
more about the dog just getting to know
them in foster care
some are surrendered by their owners due
to hardships such as polo she had a
horrible skin infection he’s nine years
old and the family couldn’t afford the
fees or obviously to take care of him
anymore and so we took him in it’s been
a long road Shipley says veterinary
checks and medical care make up a hefty
part of girls budget at 100,000 year
contrary to what I think a lot of people
assume is it’s not all senior dogs the
majority of our medical expenses ending
up coming
dogs that are 5 years old and younger so
they’ve got a long time to give a family
a lot of love some stay with girl longer
than others like Stella who came with a
group from a puppy mill they were
something they were afraid of everything
we placed her twice she went over the
fence she wanted back here so the second
time when it happened she stayed while
dogs spend their nights in the house
with Mary daytime finds them in the day
kennel being spoiled and cared for by
the dedicated volunteers of course
romping and chasing through the fields
is always a favorite it just fills my
heart with so much joy to be able to
help these dogs it’s a labor of love
definitely feel privileged to be able to
do it in return
volunteers are thanked daily with a kiss
a wag for a smile all wonderful
reminders that dogs just want to be part
of the family dogs can really support a
family when they’re going through tough
times good girl
they lift you up they just want to be
loved and they want to love you feed me
walk me and I’m there
for more information about the golden
retriever rescue of the rockies go
online to golden rescue comm or call the
rescue at 3:03 279 2400
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