Gatsby

Male, 4-5 years
Blonde ~ 59 lbs

Gatsby came in as a stray to an upstate SC shelter. He was, to say the least a pitiful specimen of a Golden. Because of his physical condition (significantly underweight, severely matted  and covered with fleas and ticks) and the fact they thought he was a senior dog, he was deemed unadoptable to the public,  and declared ‘available to  rescue only’. What that means is unless an approved rescue agrees to pull him, within normally only 1-2 days, he would be euthanized. One look at his wonderful smile and we knew we had to help this sweet boy.

When we went to pick him up, he was frankly, in worse condition than we thought from his picture…and his picture didn’t make him look any too good! He only weighed 47 lbs when we got him (25 lbs underweight), was covered in urine soaked mats and dreadlocks (and obviously smelled to high heaven) and his coat had a texture somewhere between a Brillo pad and a wire grill brush. A quick trip to the vet was next, where he almost cleared the waiting room with his ‘aroma’ and where the GRRCC volunteer that was transporting him was quick to loudly utter the  disclaimer known to all rescuers:  “I didn’t let my dog get into this condition…I am with a rescue group…I just pulled him from a shelter and you won’t recognize him in a month” . We were pleased to find out that Gatsby was nowhere near the age we thought he was based on his white face. His eyes were crystal clear, showing none of the cloudiness that occurs naturally as dogs age, and his teeth, although a bit dirty, had virtually no wear on them. Out vets said he was somewhere between 4-5 years old, although acknowledging that they had most likely not been an easy 4-5 years! Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, he was HW+ and his treatment will begin in the middle of September (allowing him some more time to put some more padding on those protruding bones). The next stop was to give him a desperately needed bath and buff. It took three thorough scrubbings before the water ran even close to clean. That sweet boy just stood happily in the tub throughout the whole process, leaning against the GRRCC ‘washer woman’ and almost purring in happiness. It had to have felt SO good to get those mats and ‘vermin’ off him at long last.  What emerged from the tub was not yet a thing of beauty but we could easily now see the dog he will soon become…and he will be splendid. He now weighs 59 lbs (his pictures were taken when he weighed barely 50 lbs) and is happily cooperating with his weight gain regimen involving 5 Cups of food a day and all the treats he can finagle out of his foster mom without making his foster sisters too jealous.

Next he went to his foster home where he settled in like he had been there forever. He is perfect with his two (occasionally bossy) golden foster sisters and was equally wonderful when two other Golden joined them for a weekend pet-sitting assignment.  Five Goldens in the house, none of whom he had known for more than 1 week, and he was the perfect Southern Gentleman! He is unknown with cats (has not been exposed to them) and he has not yet been around young kids (except at the vet where he was lovely with them). Although he will occasionally jump on people lightly when excited, I strongly imagine he would be very good with kids. He only occasionally gets n the furniture and can be convinced that he should be a floor-dweller if you’d like. He is very calm in the house (indicative of his perfect age) and  is content sitting beside your feet, watching the TV and hoping for an occasional belly-rub pet on the head. He is also an accomplished nose ‘flipper’ when he thinks you might have forgotten that his cute head is within reaching distance of your hand.

Although you couldn’t tell it from how he looked when we got him, it is apparent that, at some point, Gatsby had a good life and people that loved him. He actually knows some tricks…his ‘favorite’ is to sit up on his haunches and put both front up in the air for a treat. He was clearly a inside dog at some point since he is completely accustomed to house activities and noises and is entirely unfazed by them…he doesn’t even give that scary vacuum cleaner a second glance. He has also never had an accident in his foster home. He is pretty good on a leash (pulls a little but corrects quickly) and rides like an angel in the car, happily hopping right up into the back of an SUV when asked). Hard to imagine what happened to this poor guy to have him get in such deplorable condition but that’s old news now…better days ahead for this wonderful dog!

Gatsby’s Forever Family will need to have a fenced yard (he SO loves to ‘snuffle’ around in the yard at his foster mom’s…protecting her from terrorist squirrels and bunnies!). He would ideally like a home where someone is home at least part of the day so he can get all the attention he has been denied in the past.

Gatsby will be ready to go to his Forever Home in mid-October but can begin ‘interviewing’ his prospective family immediately. He will be well worth the wait! He is one of those dogs that everyone ‘falls’ for. Hard to say why…is it his sad, rags to (soon be) riches story? Is it the fact that he is grateful beyond measure and spends every minute of every day saying thank you to everyone he can, is all the ways he can? Is it his perpetually wagging tail and contagious smile? Hard to say….what we do know is this splendid boy will have a future as bright as his past was dark.

By the way, it was that 1,000 watt smile of his that that earned him his name…like the original, our Gatsby,

“… smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced–or seemed to face–the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.”

- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby