Stella - Angel

I’m a beautiful four-year-old Golden girl with some lovable Lab in my genes. As you can imagine, I love everybody and always want to be in the middle of things having a good time.

My family didn’t seem to understand how much I wanted to be with them. I was never allowed in the house, and I didn’t even have freedom to run and play in the yard. I lived my entire life (all four years) in a pen out back. It was pretty lonely except for one thing. If you’ve ever had a best friend to share everything with, you’ll understand how much Kitty meant to me. She would come to visit me almost every day, jumping into my pen and making me wag with excitement. Kitty was quite adventurous, and I could always tell where she had been just by the wonderful smells that would be on her. I could tell if she had been in the garden or had wandered off to the neighbor’s yard or even what she had for dinner. I especially loved checking her cute little paws for clues as to where she had traveled. She lived outside, too, and we liked to snuggle up together to keep warm. We played together in the pen, and then when it was nap time she would purr with contentment. Kitty was really my only friend in the world, but with a friend that wonderful I was able to accept my confinement and live my life through her adventures. How I loved Kitty.

But one day Kitty didn’t come by. And then another day passed and still no Kitty. And then a week went by without her. Then I learned my wonderful little friend had run out in front of a car and wouldn’t be coming back. I could barely stand losing my one and only dear friend. I became very lonely and very depressed. My life had lost all meaning.

Someone in the family realized I wasn’t doing well and that I needed a better life. That’s when I was surrendered to GRRR. Now I have many wonderful new friends I am so grateful for! I’ve had more love and attention in the past few weeks than I had in my entire life. As soon as I arrived, I was told I would find a brand new forever home where I would get to stay inside and become a real member of a family. When I heard that, I almost wiggled my butt off with joy!

I moved in with a great foster family. My foster mom says I’m a joy to have around. I follow her everywhere and always want to be touching. I’m very mellow when I ride in the car, I’m great on leash and when someone gives me a scratch on my chest, I sort of fall over like I’m paralyzed and start snoring. I’m especially good with cats (sigh). Dogs love me, and I have a great time playing with them and sharing toys. Life in my foster home is more wonderful than I could have ever imagined.

I was soon off to the vet for my routine exam. Like all Goldens who join GRRR, I was tested for heartworm………….and the test came back positive. My family had neglected to give me the simple heartworm treatment I should have had. Just when the world had opened up to me with a wonderful foster home, walks in the park, rides in the car and all kinds of new sights and smells, everything came crashing down around me. I was told that after my treatment, I would have to be confined to keep me as quiet as possible. That’s right – CONFINED AGAIN! The only exercise I’m allowed is a short walk on a leash to go potty. The rest of the time I need to be crated. That way the heartworms won’t dislodge and get into my bloodstream or lungs and kill me before the treatment kills them.

The treatments were painful. I was given two injections deep in my lower back muscles. The injections are basically a strong poison to kill the heartworms, but they cause an inflammatory response which causes severe pain. My loving foster family has been incredible, and all of your love and support have given me the strength to get through this. If I hadn’t been surrendered to GRRR, I’m sure the heartworm would have taken my life. Now, because of you, I’ll live a wonderful life full of love, adventure and happiness. I am so grateful to all of you! Your donations save Golden lives each and every day.

I’ll be available for adoption as soon as I’m fully recovered. If you are looking for a very affectionate, sweet girl to add to your family, let’s schedule a sleepover at your house. I bet I’ll soon have my own soft new bed right next to yours. I would love to discover this big new world by your side. We’ll be best friends forever.

Love,

Stella

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Stella has a wonderful new family who loves her very much. Deborah Balon-Feeney shared this update:

Stella is so happy in our home. She never lets me out of her sight and she is so loving and affectionate. Stella's favorite activities are running, running and running. She loves to run while we are hiking, biking or snowshoeing. One of Stella's favorite spots is the doggie park in our neighborhood where she can run with all of her doggie friends, jump into the pond, chase birds and roll in the grass. She just lights up in that environment and smiles the entire time that we are there. Stella especially liked our recent trip to Moab where we hiked through canyons and climbed the canyon walls. She thought it was such a cool place to play. She loved jumping into the pools of water along the canyon trails to cool off.

Stella was treated for heartworms before we adopted her and is fine now. She does have a skin problem, however, and the vet thinks that she has chronic allergies, so we put her on a hypoallergenic diet, treated her with Omega 3 oils and give her medicated baths. She still scratches relentlessly, but I'm hoping that it will get better. I think that's why she likes to roll on her back in the snow…it must be relieving.

Stella loves other doggies and most people. She is still a little timid when meeting new people, especially men. However, once she feels comfortable with someone, she is their best buddy. My kids just love
Stella and she loves playing with them. We feel incredibly blessed to have found this very special pup. Stella has enriched our lives in so many ways.

Thank you all for your donations to the Golden Angel Fund to help dogs like Stella!