Zena, now called Charlotte, is a gorgeous purebred red Golden who was about 9 months old when she came to AGR. She turned out to be too much to handle for her senior-age owners. They loved her, said she is smart and lots of fun, but they realized that love just isn’t enough and wanted to give her the active life she deserves. The owners had taken wonderful care of her. She was up to date on all the regular vaccines (we gave her the one for leptospirosis) and was already spayed. She tested negative for valley fever and heartworm. Active is what we found for her in the person of her adopter, an energetic, athletic young man who loves to hike and wanted a dog to go with him. He has a cabin in northern Arizona and likes to go there often to hike. When asked for some comments about Charlotte, he wrote:

Having Charlotte has been a fantastic addition to my life. When I work from home, go hiking in the mountains, or go to a restaurant patio, she makes me and everyone around me happier. Charlotte instantly makes people’s day, so I feel obligated to share her around as much as possible. She is really well behaved, especially for a 1-year-old and a rescue, so I feel very fortunate to get a “good one.” She is a very silly dog – more silly than my prior Golden when I was a child. When she play-fights, she exposes her teeth like an aggressive wolf, but she doesn’t know that it looks intimidating – she is a gentle fighter. When she is playing with a toy or ball, she opens her hips up lying down, and cocks her head up in the air as she throws the ball up in the air to herself. One of my first big hikes with her was in Flagstaff after the first snow of the year. She loved rolling in the snow so much that I let her off of the leash for a minute so she could fully enjoy herself. At that time, a bear walked across the trail 50 feet ahead, and Charlotte is so friendly that she started walking over to the bear, giving me a heart attack. Fortunately the bear wanted nothing to do with us, and kept trotting along – crisis averted.

We wish the adopter and Charlotte a happy life together with no other close calls!