Chara, the “southern dog.”

While most animals with any sense at all go south for the winter, this is not true for the lucky golden retrievers placed by the Memphis Area Golden Retriever Rescue New England program.  With temperatures in Maine in the teens and low twenties for the past month, one wonders how a dog from Arkansas or Tennessee will adjust to life in the frozen north.  I am finding out that the answer is “great.” 

At 3 o’clock on a cold, but at least not windy, Saturday in February, “Chara” (aka Aiden) leaped off of Petersen’s Transport at a rest stop in Windham, New Hampshire.  He had traveled all the way from Memphis, Tennessee, but did not seem any the worse for wear.  He bounded into my arms and immediately started licking my face, then dropped to the ground, rolled over, and asked me to scratch his belly.  Was he a happy boy?  I think so.  Was I a happy new dog owner?  I know so. 

For Chara it was the end of a long journey that started in Hot Springs, Arkansas where he had been found as a stray and ended up in a shelter.  He was adopted but left outside all day in a fenced yard, and he became a digger.  When his owner moved, he was sent back to the shelter.  That’s when MAGRR stepped in and rescued him.  He went to the foster home of Doug and Linda Thompson in Memphis, who provided him all the TLC he needed. 

For me, it was the end of what seemed like a long search (but really wasn’t) for the perfect golden.  A dog that would have the energy to cross-country ski and hike, but also one that I could trust to come home with me.   I already have one golden, but she, like me, has seen younger days.  As she approaches twelve, and our long hikes and skis get even harder for her than they do for me and my husband Steve, I knew it was time for a second dog.  And, I wanted Molly around to teach a new dog her great habit of sticking with us when we venture into the woods. 

 So, I filled out my MAGRR adoption application and Leslie performed the home visit.  I especially liked her question about whether all people in the home wanted the dog equally.  I found that so funny, since my husband would just as soon have no pets, and I told her the truth!  But what a great guy Steve is, to put up not just with me but my two dogs and a horse to boot. 

Then the fun began.  With all those wonderful looking goldens on the web page, it was hard to choose the perfect dog.  That’s where Lise Kirk comes in.  From what I can tell, she is the matchmaker from heaven that all of our mothers tried for years to be (and that I now have to admit I try to be for my two step-sons).   We had to reject one after another.  “Sorry, Beth, but he is not well-adjusted enough to travel,” or “sorry, Beth, but we cannot trust her not to bolt.”  Several weeks went by before I got a call from Lise that she had “the PERFECT dog” for me.  Aiden was his name.  So I called the Thompsons and learned all about him.  And everything they said was true.  Lots of energy, but calm.  Sweet.  Attached to people.  “Would he run off?” I asked.  “Don’t think so,” they said. 

On our first few walks, I kept Chara on a leash.  Molly came with us and stuck real close, setting the perfect example for Chara.  With lots of treats in my pockets, I started taking him off the leash for short times in the woods.  He would run ahead or leap through the woods for short distances, but always came back for a treat.  I gradually increased the amount of time off leash until I trusted him to always come back.  Then, 4 days after he arrived, we had a major blizzard that dumped over a foot of snow.  Now we not only could walk on the snowmobile trails, we can ski them too!  And, it’s a lot harder to bound through the woods when the snow is up to your chest.