When our Golden, Max, had to be put to sleep last summer after a long bout with cancer, Cyndy and I were devastated, but knew we wanted another Golden to fill our hearts and lives. We had heard about MAGRR through a friend and made the decision to rescue our next Golden. Little did we know at that time that one rescued Golden would turn into two!

Cyndy and I are just delighted with our two extraordinary MAGRR Goldens, Higgins (20 mos) and Jackson (6 mos). Neither one of us expected such healthy, handsome, well-behaved, fun-loving and appreciative new family members.

Although we have had the joy of picking out three Golden puppies from breeders over the years, nothing quite prepared us for the loving and affectionate nature of these two boys. Karen Ferguson, Higgins foster parent, was absolutely right when she described him as one of the sweetest Goldens she had known. And despite the trauma of having his muzzle wired shut, Jackson arrived as "Mr. Wiggles" with the wagging tail, fulfilling Teresa Butterfield's description of him as an absolutely adorable puppy - he just couldn't give us enough licks!

One of the nicest benefits of adopting an MAGRR Golden is the honest and thorough doggy profile provided by the wonderful foster volunteers. In both cases, the information provided by foster parents left us with no doubt whatsoever that these were the right dogs for us. This benefit avoided the uncertainty associated with buying a new pup whose personality has not developed or going to a local shelter to adopt a dog that has not lived full-time in someone's home.

Higgins and Jackson are both great sportsmen who love to retrieve tennis balls and chase the frisbee. Most recently, we had them over to Lise's house, the MAGRR New England adoption coordinator, where they raced us on ice skates on a frozen pond and learned to do power slides. They were a couple of "pooped puppies" after that experience. Perhaps we can cut off some hockey sticks and organize a Golden hockey team with Lise's dogs. Watch out, Boston Bruins! It's almost redundant to mention that both dogs arrived in excellent health with documented evidence of same from your vet as well as preventive treatment for heartworm, fleas and ticks. The excellent grooming of these two ambassadors bore mute testimony to the care and love lavished on these super dogs by MAGRR's wonderful people. Our sincere thanks to Karen Ferguson, Teresa Butterfield and your entire organization for providing us with such fine examples of man and woman's best friend!

--Ted and Cyndy Bush Harpswell, Maine

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