Ori (GBR Clement) came to our family Thanksgiving 2020, a perfect time to welcome a new family member. It had always been our dream to have a golden, and when the time came, we reached out to Evergreen Golden Retriever Rescue (now closed), and was then referred to Golden Bond Rescue. We felt so lucky to meet these great people, who brought Ori to us.

It wasn’t long till we got to see a photo of a golden planning to come to America soon, and decided that this was the one we’ve been dreaming of. He is handsome with shiny fur and big fluffy paws, perfect in every way we could think of. Just when we thought he would be coming to us in March, COVID hit, and all the flights had been canceled. We waited and waited, eight months later, he finally arrived with his other 20 friends.
One might imagine that a rescue dog would tear down the house, chase the cat, and eat random things, whilst Ori is on the complete flip side. He is extremely friendly to people and got used to hanging around with us right away, he also quickly learned that the cat is the boss and needs to be treated gentle and softly, and he never destroys a thing. He had his own toys for the first time and was so nervous, he constantly checked with us- is this really for me? He’d only bite and chew on it after he gets confirmation. He loves to go on walks and always empties his bowl, oh well, he licks his plate clean twice every meal and happily takes any crunchy veggies. He knows when to go potty and when to go sleep, he is basically a happy dog who knows almost everything.

Just when we thought we had a perfect dog that had been settling in so well, life decided to make a sharp turn with the initial medical exam. X-Ray result showed that he has a huge splenic tumor in his stomach, and the chances of taking it out through surgery are quite low. We couldn’t believe it, he looked all handsome with his tail still wagging! But we were told we needed to prepare for the worst, we wiped our tears, put on the nicest Christmas dress, and took a lot of photos. We sobbed all night, the morning we woke up, we called Nancy our adoption manager again, and took him to the surgery. It was the longest 5 hours we ever waited, it felt like 5 years.

5 hours later, we got the call, the amazing veterinarian at Issaquah Veterinary Hospital was able to take out that 6 pounds mass along with his spleen clean. We cried over the phone call, and felt we were the luckiest pawrents on the earth. We felt so blessed to have Golden Bond’s golden pack to support us, we received hundreds of messages from all around the world, countless prayers and advice. It was surely a dreadful day, but also the best day.
The brave boy came home strong. He started eating and drinking like normal, almost didn’t look like he just lost an organ, but he was also quite weak from the surgery, he could barely walk and couldn’t climb stairs at all, plus we didn’t want him to sleep in the ER, so we dragged our mattress to the family room, and stayed with him for the night and the following three weeks as well.
Ori is a strong dog and he thrived to recover from the surgery, he ate and slept a lot every day and he also enjoyed short walks right in front of our house. We can see him getting better and better, which we could not be happier about.

Then it comes to Christmas, where Ori has fully recovered and enjoys his life every single day, and starts to smile every second. He has incredibly good sense for camera, we are able to take so many cute family photos for Christmas! He always gets super excited to go on car rides, we went to drive-through Christmas light shows together and he couldn’t be happier. He likes all kinds of treats we give him, and he loves to play with his new doggo friends. We hope that he can be like this and enjoy his life for many years to come. We want to thank Golden Bond Rescue and the generous donors again, for bringing the most wonderful dog to us, and making the medical process possible, so that Ori can now enjoy his brand-new second life.

Posted in Success Stories