In  early March, AGR was contacted by a Goldendoodle breeder who had a litter of
7-week-old puppies she wanted to surrender. One of the puppies obviously had megaesophagus, so she suspected that his four siblings, who were asymptomatic, had this condition, too, and knew she could not sell the puppies. A previous litter of
9 puppies by the same Golden and Poodle parents all had megaesophagus and 8 of them had to be sent to the Bridge. The breeder had had X-rays done on the current four that showed no symptoms but the results were inconclusive. So, we took the entire litter knowing we would have some significant vet expenses (we might have to have all of them go through extensive testing to have megaesophagus confirmed)
– but that’s what Rescue does a lot of the time. The five puppies all needed deworming (twice), a full set of DHPP vaccines (every three weeks for three doses), leptospirosis (two doses), bordetella and rabies vaccines and will eventually be spayed or neutered. An exam was done on four of them and a full diagnostic work-up was done on Guinness, the one who obviously has megaesophagus (he would regurgitate food or water if he did not ingest it in a fully upright position).  AGR transporters drove to Camp Verde to  pick up the puppies. There were two black ones (one male and one  female) and three gold ones (one male and two females).  For names, they were given an Irish theme for St Paddy’s Day:

Keely - “Beautiful” red and green collar
Kiera - “Black-haired girl” red collar
Aiden - “Fiery One” dark blue collar
Charm - “Lucky Charm” black collar
Guinness - I just like the name and it’s Irish; light blue collar
All the puppies met their prospective families at our foster's house before they were moved to their forever homes.

Aiden, the blond male of the litter, went to [an adoptive couple]. Our AGR transporter reported: Aiden was the second puppy of the St. Paddy’s day litter to go to his new home. Just like his sister, Keely, he was not happy about riding in a crate, alone, in the back of my van – he let me know it by crying loudly off and on and also managing to poop and throw up several times. But once we arrived and took him out of the crate, he was happy as could be to meet his new big brother, Sunny. Karen was so happy to see him she cried with joy. The meeting with Sunny, who is 12 years old, was heartwarming. They immediately commenced to playing and Sunny really enjoyed having a younger sibling. Aiden couldn’t make up his mind whether to play with Sunny or his new family, so he did it all. He also explored and tasted everything. Placement spoke to the adopter a couple days later and was told: Oh my goodness..he is doing really well. ..2 nights he has slept all the way through to 5 AM. He is definitely a smart boy. Sits for chow time and treats. Plays hard and sleeps hard. It’s fun to watch when he gets the zoomies all over the yard and Sunny is at the lead. Working on “no bite” and “drop it.” He retrieves balls too. I am really amazed how smart he is. He also loves the elevated bed.

In response to my request for information from the adopter, she wrote: We call him A.J. Aiden loves to play catching the water out of a garden hose in our grassy yard. He chases, gets wet, then chases it some more. It is cooling while playing, which is great at this time of year. His eyes can melt your heart in a New York second! He also has a side eye while running past you and out the doggy door with something in his mouth he probably shouldn’t have. The first daytime flood irrigation on the yard was a paradise for Aiden and Sunny. It was his first time to experience water just floating in the grass. He ran, he sloshed, and at the end of it he was a very happy mud ball who washed off very quickly with a hose. He loved it all! Aiden’s favorite activity is to chase and retrieve a tennis ball. One other habit he is now forming, is when I am out doing morning chores feeding the chickens and horses he sits patiently in his yard watching everything. I am always greeted back with a ton of happy Golden joy. Aiden is also naturally on alert at night even in his crate. If he hears something unusual he quickly lets us know. This pup is an exceptional dog. We are lucky to have him. He truly has been an added blessing to our lives and all who come to visit our ranch. We cannot thank you enough – Connie for home visit and recommendations and transportation and help with my crazy questions; Liz for excellent pre-adoption care, helping with all my post-adoption questions, and loving this special one; Patty for her Placement call; forever grateful for the rest of your amazing AGR team for this new addition, Aiden. Can’t imagine our life without him in it.