Aster 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.

Aster, now called Oakley, was the smallest of the litter. She was placed with an adoptive family in Peoria. Since this couple volunteers on AGR’s transport team, she picked up the puppy and took her the two blocks to her house. She said: Aster was very happy to be out of the kennels. She weighed in at a big 14 lbs. Poor thing is so thin. I got her meds (being treated for anemia and possible intestinal parasites) and signed her out. She rode very well to our house. Once home, Michael met us at my car where he carried her to the back yard. We brought our pack out one at a time to meet Oakley. Every dog didn’t seem to mind her and just greeted me like a normal day. We went inside and just watched her and everyone else to see what they were doing – they just ignored her. We fed all of them at the same time; she ate as fast as she could and tried to get everyone else’s food. The evening went well. We gave her a bath and she didn’t seem to mind that too much. She slept well last night and has been very good all day. Nobody seems to mind her and she follows us around wherever we go.

Just recently, the adopter wrote: Oakley is doing great! She is such a sweetheart and wants to please us. She loves to play with all of our pack but mostly with Zoey. She didn’t start out in the best of circumstances being on her own with her siblings. She is thriving with us and is growing and having the best time. She will wake me up in the morning with a big hug and kiss. She is definitely a momma’s girl, which makes me happy since most of the dogs gravitate to Michael. She loves to go with Momma to get coffee since she will get a pup cup. For such a small dog she has a very deep bark. If we are looking for her we only have to find Zoey – she will be right there with Zoey. She is a very loving and snuggling dog. We can’t wait to see what she does with the pool, on the boat, and our summer camping trips.

Oakley joined AGR for the Glendale Hometown Christmas Parade. We gave her the smallest donation vest we had and it still swallowed her whole! But, she will grow into it and we will welcome her presence again whenever the adopters can bring her.