Rainbow Bridge

Our Rainbow Bridge pages have many tributes to the incredible animals we have loved and lost.

The loving tributes on these pages are stories of loyalty and compassion and of the rescued goldens who conquered their past lives, and came out the other side. Those dogs who have a heart icon are NRGRR dogs who crossed the Rainbow Bridge while they were still in our program.

We would be honored to post your tribute and photo of your NRGRR alumni here. Email your picture and story to: nrgrr@hotmail.com.

Please consider a donation in memory of your loved one or one of our NRGRR dogs who never had the chance to find their forever homes. We will add the name of the person or pet to our memorials web page. If you would prefer that your donation not listed, please choose the appropriate button during the check-out process in our store. NRGRR will also send a gift card to the family or a friend of the individual/pet you have honored with your donation.

As always, your gift will be used to directly support our rescue efforts. Thank you.

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View Rainbow Bridge memorials from previous years

Click to expand and select the desired year.

Gracie (Cookie 18)

In August of last year, a breeder gave away an 8 week old puppy because she had a heart murmur and couldn't be sold. Luckily it was to someone who was part of one of our rescue partners and when they heard the murmur, they knew just who to call.....NRGRR. We named her Cookie 18. Marilee brought her to one of our vets where we heard just how serious this murmur was. Kathleen helped us get her to vet school where we found out her had not heart developed properly and she was on borrowed time. Kim answered the call to foster and care for her. Kim named her Gracie, and with her pack of boys they took her in and quickly fell in love with her. Gracie began to struggle last week and we had to say goodbye to her. Kim bought her a happy meal and took one last trip to the park before holding her as she crossed the rainbow bridge. Gracie only touched our lives for a few short months and we will never forget her strength, happiness and the love she shared with us.

From Kim -
I’m very heart broken today as I had to let Gracie cross the rainbow bridge. She has been my foster since she was 3 1/2 months old. Today she turned 11 months. She was a fighter, that’s for sure. Always by my side, wherever I was. She loved her brothers and especially loved teasing Brody and then Ace. She was certainly the princess of the house. She and Duke would play all of the time. She was good for the old man.

She was my angel and I’m so thankful that NRGRR brought her into the program. There were many involved with Gracie and she was lucky to have every one of you on her side. She had a great 11 months and was a happy, sassy, sweet girl.

Gracie

We had Gracie (Priscilla 18) for only 3.5 months and she was truly one of the sweetest dogs we have ever had - the veterinarians and vet techs agree. My husband and I and her favorite vet tech were with her giving her love until her heart stopped beating. Her end-stage kidney disease finally won the battle within her dear body. She had won our hearts so easily in such a short time.

The few weeks that she felt good brought us and our George 2008 so much happiness. We want to thank Gracie's foster for being so patient with all my emails and phone calls. I know she loved this sweet girl as much as we did (and do). It is remarkable how these gentle beings can fill our hearts and leave them so empty when they are gone.

She offered every person we passed on our walks her head for petting; at our retirement community there are a lot of folks who feel they cannot have a dog any more but who remember their canine friends with longing. Gracie gave them a little nudge down memory lane. They were always willing to stop and pet her. These gentle creatures really leave an loving mark in our world. I know that all of you at NRGRR experience the great pleasure and joy of matching people with your dogs but that you also know so well the grief that follows their too short lives.

Boomer

I wanted to send a quick note to thank you for facilitating what were the absolute best 15 years of my life. Pictured here is my sweet Golden Boy, Boomer (Big Guy, Boom Boom, Handsome-he had many terms of endearment). This picture was taken January 10, 2019, about 5 days before he crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

We adopted Boomer in January 2004, he was Jake when he came to us. I believe he was an owner surrender from a military family if memory serves me correctly.

Boomer was my first baby and loved our family unconditionally through several moves to new homes and states and welcomes my two human babies with open paws.

Boomer never met a stranger and was a celebrity of sorts at the vet, grooming salons and just about anywhere he went!

In April 2017 Boomer was diagnosed with cancer, a tumor on his right adrenal glad. For almost two years he did really quite well on an oral chemo pill and home cooked meals from his mommy. Around October 2018 he started to loose weight and shortly after the new year really declined in health quickly.

In the end, we spent days loving on him, holding him and just tried to soak in as much love as possible before we had to say goodbye. Our hearts are broken and our lives will never be the same.

However, without NRGRR, we would not have had the most amazing 15 years with our boy. We used to boat on Jordan Lake and swim for hours, he and I would just float with our life jackets, such memories. We walked countless miles around Pittsboro and all the places we have lived since.

Boomer would have turned 16 in July, truly remarkable for a Golden. I am confident our love for him and the love he gave us created a bond that stood the test of time.

Thank you for helping Boomer find his forever family and giving us such a perfect gift.

Phillip

I wanted to let you all know that our sweet boy has crossed the Rainbow Bridge this morning (February 11th).

Phillip was adopted by us in 2008, then the Sannipoli family. He spent 11 awesome years with me and my kids and survive a move, a divorce and a new Dad! But he has been with me and my kids always by our side following me from room to room as my faithful, big clumsy boy.

We think he would have turned 15 this year so he was an old man and ultimately his back legs just gave completely out. We carried him around for a while hoping to get a little more time with him but ultimately decided it was best for him to just let him go.

I wanted to sincerely thank all of you for nursing him back to health 11 years ago which allowed us 11 wonderful years with him. He will be so missed. This photo was taken this morning.