Hi, my name is Chess and thanks to Golden Rescue In Naples (G.R.I.N. Inc.) I've found my forever home and I'm healthy again! 

	My BEFORE picture	AFTER - Aren't I HOT?

Here's my story!

Hi!  My name is Chess fka Princess (the new Mom HATES the name Princess)

I was given up for adoption...they put me in this kennel where I caught Kennel Cough but I've been on meds and I'm not coughing anymore and feel better.  I'm here at my new foster home with my new foster brothers Dreyfus and Baxter tonight.  I need to drop about 50 lbs but I have a GREAT personality!  I look really sad in these pictures...it's not my best side.  I'm a bit depressed because I miss my family and I'm lonesome.  My guardian angels are going to take care of me though, I'm a pretty lucky dog because I have 5 of them!  Jeri, Mary Ellen, Janet, Aunt Kat, Aunt Judy, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Jim and my new Foster Mom Sali.  I can't call Tom an angel...but he's helping too...he put me in the truck a couple times today on our way to the vet.

Stay tuned for more stories and HAPPY dog pictures!!!  These pictures aren't that bad...you have to see her in person to get the full effect.  Tom met her last night and was absolutely floored at how bad it was.  It's all I can do to be civil about this abuse.  I'm happy she's out and on her way to good health though.

           

I'm in shape....round is a shape!  My ears are really frizzy...I look like I have a clown ruffle on...the new Mom promised to help me get rid of it...she said I'll feel like a new dog soon!  I can't wait to be pretty again!  I have a grooming appt at 6 pm tonight so more pictures tomorrow when I look more like a golden instead of Fozzy Bear...not sure who this guy is but Tom keeps calling me Fozzy.

Spoke too soon, they shaved me down completely... Mom cried when she saw me... but now that I'm used to it... I feel MUCH better now!  I'm really not as pitiful as I look, my tail wags all the time!

   

We started out walking to the next door neighbors mailbox and back and then moved up to the stop sign and back, this poor little girl couldn't make it 7 houses without 3 or 4 rest stops along the way and then she'd collapse in exhaustion when we got back into the house.  We did this 4 times a day!!  Now she's walking with the big dogs and does 2+ miles most nights!  The transformation in personality and body is so amazing in this little girl, she's just such a great dog.  I don't know how anyone could have given her up nor have let her get into this position of being so overweight that she could hardly support herself and can't stand for very long. 

Well the veterinary dermatologist finally figured out what was wrong, it's a very resistant strain of bacteria (Staph burn too so that caused huge green blisters on her skin...oh so painful looking) so Chess is on super duper antibiotics for the next month 6 per day at $153.00...ugh, this little girl is the most expensive foster I've ever taken in, we've broken the $1,000 mark.  We're hoping that GRIN Inc's Angels will open their hearts for this little girl.  Already I can see a difference, her skin looks much better and the hair is growing in a lot faster too.  She's such a good natured little girl, calm and so loving that she makes the boys look standoffish!

    See how much thinner I am already???

My hair is all grown in and now just needs to get longer!  Very few flakes at all, but I'm still really thirsty and getting Mom n Dad up just about every hour or two all night long so I can pee or drink.  The good thing is that my blood tests have come back good, thanks to the folks on ALOVE4GOLDENS Mom had me on Milk Thistle and my liver enzymes are now in the NORMAL range, so is my cholesterol, so life is good right now...if we could just get this thirsty thing under control, I'd be feeling perfect!  For those of you who will ask, no I'm not diabetic...just really thirsty because of the medicine.

       

Look, I'm getting a waistline now!!  I already have this sexy little line going down my flank but I'm a typical girl, I lose weight first where I don't need to so my head is a little bony and my ankles are very delicate while my middle...well let's just say I'm still a little challenged in the middle but I'm working out every day and eating right and getting lots of tender loving care while I wait for my forever home!   I'd really like to stay here but Mom already has 3 dogs and I'm a little pushy and have started a couple fights with Baxter because I don't like the way they rush Mom when she gets home from work. 

 

Hi, it's July 15th and I wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing...you'll have to take my word for it 'cause lazy Mom hasn't taken any pictures lately.  But I'm totally awesome and I wanted to thank all of you for all the good thoughts and prayers, not to mention donations for my extensive medical bills.  I'm 100% ready to go to my new home and am completely healthy.  I'm also down to 80.6 lbs and feeling more like a puppy than a 6 year old.  I'm even trying to play with the boys but they don't want to play with a GIRL...boys are DUMB!

Chess has gone to her forever home with Virginia & Gregory and is doing fabulous!  She has a sister Goldie who is also a rescued Golden and life is good as you can see from the pictures.  In the last 5 months she has transformed herself into the embodiment of a Golden Retriever with just a little help (she hasn't worked out how to use credit cards yet so that's where we come in...plus the can opener skills we have) from her angels.  The work that Golden Rescue does is so important, without the G.R.I.N. Inc. benefactors and the folks that constantly scan for Goldens in shelters...this story might not have had the happy ending that it did.  Most folks taking on a dog that sick would have ended up putting her to sleep, she ended up costing Rescue about $1500 in medications and office visits and we won't even count sleep deprivation when the meds made her have to go outside every hour or less.  I'm so proud to be a member of Golden Rescue, poor Mary Ellen, I know she dreaded every time she looked at her phone and saw that it was me calling!  But we made it through and we have a healthy girl who is just love personified and enjoying her new home and new leash on life.  Thanks Virginia and Gregory for loving my little girl!  Thanks Mary Ellen and G.R.I.N. Inc for helping me out with the vet bills and thanks to Dreyf and Baxter for showing her all sorts of things that she could get into as big brothers should!

Virginia and Greg moved to GA!  They live about 2 hours North of me and I was invited up for a visit today.  WOW, all I can say is THIS IS WHY WE RESCUE!  To see that little girl looking so happy, healthy and in love with her family makes it all worthwhile.   She's 9 years old now and has just the faintest hint of gray on her muzzle...certainly doesn't look 9 and based on the sparkle in her eyes...doesn't feel it either.  She's mellowed and is now content to hang out with her Golden sister Goldie and just have fun.  Her coat is a beautiful red and it's so soft.   In short, she's everything I told her that she would be.  I used to call her Pretty Girl...she was so pathetic looking and was really anything but pretty when she came to me, however I knew that some day she would be.  Throughout her entire ordeal, she never once lost that Golden attitude, her tail always wagged and she was a happy girl.  She knew she was on the right track and was grateful.   Here she is with her forever family!  She still won't pose for the camera so Virginia had to assist.   No, Baxter didn't teach her that...she never has posed for me!

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