Meet Mocha & Red! Their owner has run into some financial hardship & is having to rehome her pets, despite the fact that doing so breaks her heart. Here is a little information from their owner's first e-mail to a Dream 4 Pets member:
"There are a few difficulties with placing them, as I mentioned in the ad. First is the golden’s high prey drive. I know this isn’t unknown in the breed, but still a liability should a neighbor’s cat wander into his yard. Second is that the dogs are so strongly pair-bonded. At least the lab to the golden. He could be placed separately, but she cannot. Third is their age – at seven years old, they’re not as desirable as young dogs or puppies (although the best dog I ever had was a golden I rescued at age 9). Lastly, when the lab came back from the last home I tried to place her in, she came back with fleas. I didn’t think to check her before bringing her home, so now all the animals have them. I’ve tried bombing the house, but it didn’t kill them. I’ve moved the animals outside so they aren’t confined in such small quarters during the day (crate), and treating them with a spray. The fleas really got out of hand quickly, and as I’ve not had fleas to deal with in years, I didn’t anticipate them to treat in time. The dogs are also due for annual vaccinations. And of course the lab needs to be spayed. If I were a responsible pet owner, all of these things would have been taken care of. But since separating from my husband, I have received no financial support from him at all, so am supporting myself and our son on just my very modest income. I don’t have any room in the budget for more than food for the animals right now, which was part of the motivation to place them. I know the condition they’re in is a form of neglect, but I can’t do anything about it right now, and feel terrible. I would very much love for someone to take them and give them what they need. These are super sweet, friendly dogs (aside from the small animal issue), who deserve to be family pets. I can be available to help with transitioning, or providing as much information about their behavior as I can, but unfortunately cannot offer any monetary assistance.
In addition to these dogs, I’ve had to place our cat, my horses, and now have to even give up my son’s cocker spaniel. This is heartbreaking for us to lose all of our four-legged family were such an important part of our lives. The fact that I cannot provide what they need is tearing at me because I always prioritized proper animal care second only to the care of my child. Owning animals that need rescuing is a horrible thing for me, but I’m hoping someone can be compassionate enough and generous enough to understand without judging and be able to offer them a better life."
In another e-mail, she gave even more details about these sweethearts!
"The golden retriever’s name is Red short for “That big red dog”, since when I found him we did not plan on keeping him, and really believed he would be claimed. That’s how my stepsons referred to him (although having grown up with an Irish Setter, he’s orange to me, not red). J By the time we realized he wasn’t going to be claimed, he was already answering to Red. He is content to be laid back and snuggled, and is very settled down at his age. He does like to play ball & tag sometimes but less than he used to. He prefers just to sit with you and be petted, or walk with you.
The lab’s name is Mocha, her registered name is Gard’s Rebel Mocha Magic. Again, not very original, but there were children involved in the naming process. Although she is 7, her behavior is very puppy-like. She’s always been very happy, energetic, and excitable. She doesn’t retrieve well, but does love to run with you, play tag, or go running through fields when you walk her. Even with her high energy level, once she knows/respects you, she does have a very good verbal return off leash.
We kept Red in a regular chain-link fence backyard (whatever height a normal backyard fence is) up until we moved last year. Our current backyard has a combination of chain-link, older woven wire fence, and wooden fence. As long as I keep the gate tied shut (it’s very old & only has a hook & eye latch), he’s fine in there too. He doesn’t try to escape, and I can keep him from running off verbally if I take him hiking with me or walking through fields. Although I probably could not stop him from chasing/attacking an animal that wandered into his line of sight off leash. However I did verbally keep him from killing our cat a few weeks ago – she had pushed out a screen & jumped out of the house. I didn’t know where she was when she decided to come into the backyard while the dogs were out. It was a bit tense, but I managed to keep Red on a stay until I got the cat back in the house. It may even be possible to work with him on accepting an indoor cat that was part of his family, as he was sometimes indoors without incident at the farm when we did have a housecat. It was the barn cat & stray cats that he went after. He killed a duckling at my sister’s farm when he was staying there after our move, and was just too interested in the chickens to allow him to get near.
Both dogs know basic obedience commands: sit, down, stay, come, no, off, out, leave-it, wait, drop-it (Red sometimes has trouble with this when playing ball, but will drop pretty much anything else, including treats), OK (release from stay or wait), go-to-bed or kennel-up to go to their crates, and in-your-yard to go back inside the fence after playtime outside it. They’re both kind of bad about taking treats from your hand as my son always threw the treats to them, and whoever snapped it up first got it, so they’ve gotten too overzealous taking them. They take them much better when you tell them “easy”. They don’t heel on a leash, but don’t drag you around either. Although trying to take both at the same time to a new place (particularly the vet) can be a challenge.
I am on a very tight, paycheck to paycheck budget, and the less expensive flea treatments I purchased last check were not at all effective. I’m planning on purchasing Capstar and something like Frontline with this Friday’s check to help them out. Unfortunately, I need to treat the yard and house again too, and don’t know if I can do it in the same pay period (every two weeks). Hopefully the Capstar and spot on treatment will suffice to keep the fleas at least at bay on their bodies.
I am in Richmond, IN, and would be happy to meet you somewhere with them. My truck is not very reliable, and doesn’t have any long distance trips left in it, but I could probably meet you near I-70 somewhere between Richmond and the Eaton exit.
Thank you for trying to help with these dogs. After giving up so many of my animals, I would at least feel better knowing they had a good home & future."
If you are interested in adopting these amazing dogs, please contact their owner at JLGard@landolakes.com !
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