Amber  was one of the five young Golden puppies that were found together on a dirt road in Queen Creek. Although they were all small, they were judged to be 5-7 months old. Trying to locate the owner, the finder advertised the puppies on local sites. The puppies were checked for a microchip and none was found. No one responded to the ads. Due to the pack mentality they were exhibiting, with the four females following after the one male and he pushing the smallest female away from the food bowl, we decided it would be best to separate the puppies and place them in different homes. Since they were strays, we had to assume they had never had any vetting, so we had our standard work-up done on each puppy. All will be sterilized when they are around a year old. Our AGR transporters took them to Academy West Animal Hospital and named them all Fall names starting with “A”. Connie exclaimed that the finders were wonderful people, and she is sure that had they not taken in the whole group, the dogs would have either been hit by cars or become coyote food.

Amber was another dual transport between Connie and Robin, since the adopters live in Ahwatukee. Robin reported: Amber rode well in the car to the FWITA’s house with just a little bit of whining for the first 5 minutes and then dozed off. The family met us in the front yard and all were very excited to meet Amber who warmed up to them quickly. Their 10-year-old daughter Maddy was very excited. We went to the backyard where Amber investigated the pool by sniffing the water but didn’t seem interested. We then washed Amber’s paws off – she had a little bit of poop on them after pooping in her crate on the drive to Tempe from AW. She didn’t like the water on her paws very much.

The family loves her very much. They told us: When she first came to us, Amber, now Hazie, was severely underweight, timid and tense. Any unexpected noise would lead to her fleeing in panic, skinny limbs flailing, a tiny trail of pee in her wake. With a few weeks of patience and much-needed meals, the timidity has mostly receded to reveal a sweet, attentive pup who rarely allows her humans to leave a room without her. She responds to belly rubs with muted wookie-like groans, and returns the favor with soft ear nibbles. There are a minimum of two walks per day at her gentle insistence, during which she demands to carry the human end of the leash in her mouth, and makes a comical game of darting between the legs of any member of the pack walking within reach of the leash. Her limbs still flail with puppy clumsiness on occasion, but it’s with more joy than terror, and a whole lot less pee. An explanation of her new name: Husband Jim likes Hazy IPA beer and the daughter spelled the name H-a-z-i-e. Unique and wonderful!

Happy new life, Hazie!