Sweetwater

NRGRR accepts golden retrievers into their program regardless of age, medical condition, or cost to treat them. We also pledge to help families who can no longer care for their goldens by offering an opportunity to surrender their dogs, knowing that they will be well cared for and placed in loving forever homes. Please consider making a donation so we can continue to help dogs with special needs.

Literally on the day we were saying goodbye to Daisy, this little girl was sadly being surrendered to NRGRR by her owners. Lucy (club name Sweetwater) was diagnosed with the same ailment, a portosystemic liver shunt, and her family was unable to give her surgery she needed to survive.

So, our special fosters were back at it helping these special dogs in need. Lucy came into the program in mid-August and will have to wait until the end of September before she will be old enough for the procedure to determine a possible course of action moving forward. 

In late September, Lucy had a CT scan to get a better look at her liver and we finally got some answers. Lucy does indeed have a liver shunt, which was caused by a malformation at birth, possibly due to poor breeding practices. Unfortunately, due to the position of the shunt, we can not surgically correct it. This means that we will have to manage her condition with special diet, supplements, and medications. It also means that she will have a significantly shortened lifespan. We are working on a plan for her but luckily we have lots of experience with this type of condition.

Lucy (Sweetwater) becomes a permanent foster!  When very sick dogs come into the program that require life long attention and medication, NRGRR often makes them permanent fosters, which means that we will take care of their medical expenses for the rest of their lives. Thankfully, we have very special fosters who have excitedly volunteered to help her through her journey. These fosters share a wealth of experience with Lucy's condition and could not be happier to be a part of her life.

Stay tuned, we will continue share Lucy's story through the coming months and hopefully years.

The average cost of bringing local dogs into the program is around $1200, but can easily exceed 5-10 times this amount to care for dogs with serious illnesses, such as Sweetwater’s liver shunt. Please consider making a donation so we can continue to help these precious dogs in need.