Morgan’s Story

Morgan

Before and After

My 15-year old Golden had died—and I was without a dog for the first time in years. It was awful—and I knew I needed a new companion. Given my experience with Golden Retrievers, I applied to GRRoM to see what they had. After a few weeks I was invited to meet Morgan. I waked in expecting a lively, friendly pup and met this rather large, but sweet blonde girl. But, there was something appealing about her and she must have liked me because I was told I could adopt her. Little, by little I learned about her background—at time of surrender she had weighed 136 pounds, could barely walk, had hypothyroidism, and some eye problems. In other words, a work in progress. WOW! Her foster family got the work started before I entered the picture—she was down to 97 pounds when I adopted her and she had had surgery on her eyes. Still, there was so much more to be done. I have been lucky; I have had good advice from my vet, and from a trainer who never actually got to work with Morgan. The vet put her on a diet food and continued her thyroid meds. She recommended an ophtomologist to monitor her eyes which have improved immensely. I started walking her short distances three-four times a day—extending the walks a little further as her legs began to improve. The trainer didn’t have enough to work with—her basic skills were there, but not much else. So instead of working with her, she recommended a chiropractor to help develop her leg muscles using exercise and hydrotherapy—a really perfect solution. Today, Morgan is 68 pounds and has completed 6 weeks with the chiropractor. Her legs are getting stronger and she is able to move around with no problems. She is learning to play like a “real” dog and has a really sweet, somewhat quirky personality. I will be seeing the vet about a changed of diet to a “maintenance” food. We have more work to do but I now have a funny, loving companion to help fill my days with joy and friendship.

-Nancy