Tripper’s Story

  Almost Heaven asked us to foster Tripper after Stacey was adopted last week. Tripper has been at the rescue longer than the other dogs there and they wanted to give him a chance at being adopted. Tripper has been at the rescue for over 4 years. He was rescued from a shelter 4 years ago when he was 3 years old and had heart worms. He was treated but had a terrible reaction to the treatment, which they have never had before or since. It took Tripper about a year or more to recover. He has some muscle weakness in his hind legs which he has pretty much recovered from.

Tripper is not pure bread Golden retriever, which may be why people have never inquired about him. I don’t understand this about mixes, that people don’t want a mix breed usually when they look into rescues. People aren’t pedigrees, so why pass over a wonderful dog when they are not. Thanks goodness that Almost Heaven Golden retriever rescue tries to save as many dogs as possible regardless if they are a pure bred Golden or not.

When we picked up Tripper last Saturday and brought him home, he wasn’t sure about how to relate to living in a house. He is completely housebroken so that was not an issue. He was just un-use to living in an un-confined area. He would find a corner and just back himself into it and watch everyone. He was not interacting with the other dogs or us. They only time he got excited was when he saw one of our cats walk by. Then he would run and whine at them until he got close enough for him to be able to sniff them. He loves cats…in a good way.

Tripper has really improved over the past week. We thought at first he was “kennelized”, kind of like “Brooksie” in the movie Shaw Shank Redemption. He couldn’t function in the real world since he spent so most of his life behind bars. However, that has changed. Tripper now loves to be petted. He is lying at my feet while I type his story. He loves playing with the other dogs now and has a toy in his mouth all the time. He loves dog beds. If his dog bed is in a spot and he wants to lie somewhere else, then he grabs his bed and drags it to where he wants to lay and then lays in it.

Tripper does seem to have a problem with his hearing. He can hear but not low noises. This has caused us an issue with our electric dog fence. He can’t hear the soft beeping noise when he gets too close to where the boundary of the fence it. So I am taking him for many walks during the day around the perimeter of our property so he learns where he can and cannot go. He walks very easily on a lease. He will actually pick up his lease and drag it over to me when he wants to go out.

Tripper had a lot of hair when we got him last week. Most of it was matted so we took him to the groomer and they shaved him. The only part of him that was not shaved was his head and tail. He is a deep red color, but since he was shaved he is a light buff color except for his head and paws are still a deep red. He is a little over weight from lack of exercise, but that is pretty easy to fix since he is so much more active now.

I will post weekly updates on Tripper, which we have nick named Yogi Bear, since he just seems likeable like Yogi was and has a big bear like head.

 If you are interested in giving Tripper a forever home, please contact Almost heaven rescue.

 www.almostheaven-golden-retriever-rescue.org