22-075 Gus , a 4-year-old male Golden and  22-076 Bert , a 4-year-old male Goldendoodle were surrendered together by a woman whose husband had passed away – he was the one who was home with the dogs all the time. She worked full time and found she just couldn’t manage the two dogs alone. She told us  Gus  has some separation anxiety. He is not on any medicine. If he is left alone, he will shred anything loose such as pillows, towels, dish towels, shoes. He has never chewed or shredded furniture. He likes attention when he wants it, but he does not crave attention; he just doesn't like being alone.  Bert  has allergies for which he was being treated with Apoquel. Our vet found that both dogs were overweight but otherwise healthy. The pair was very bonded, so we wanted to keep them together. They were taken by an adoptive couple who had had numerous dogs over the years but currently were without any. They were so happy that the boys came along as a pair as they had 2 dogs recently pass away and they didn't want to have to get one and then another and hope they would bond. The adopter recounted: 

After losing both of our dogs to cancer within 4 months of each other we suddenly became "empty nesters". We put in a new application with  AGR . We had previously adopted our  Ladybug  from them in 2012. We thought we would take a few months and not get a dog till early 2023 so we  could do some traveling, but as you know, dogs have a way of find - ing us. When we got the call from  AGR  in November asking if we would consider taking 2 dogs, we were in Hawaii! Within minutes we said yes, and the "big boys" arrived 3 days after we returned from vacation. We gave them Hawaiian names...  Maui  (formerly  Gus ) and   Kona   (formerly  Bert ). They are a bonded pair and love to run and play rough in the backyard, but what they love the most is just hanging out with us. Neither was leash-trained, but after 2 months one person can  walk both of them together  [the benefit of the Side-kick leashes, which  AGR  sells] . Between their walks, running in the yard and the green bean diet they have lost weight and are almost at their  ideal weights. Our home is no longer empty but instead is filled  with love, affection and sloppy kisses.