The biggest dog is the most gentle

Gus is our biggest dog. He is a golden retriever/german shepherd mix. He is 5 going on 6 years old. This past January we adopted him from Benji's Buddies, a rescue group here in the valley. The story on Gus is very sad and I hug him twice every time I think of it.

Gus was given up - er, dumped - by his original family on Christmas Eve day. The family decided they really wanted a puppy for Christmas, and Gus was in the way. What easier way than to discard him at the county pound on Christmas Eve? Gus was big and 'older' than most of the doggies up for adoption, hence there was not much chance of his being adopted in a timely fashion.




That is where Benji's Buddies stepped in. They got him from the pound and fostered him until he could be adopted. And we were the LUCKY ones to adopted him.

Gus arrived to us overweight and depressed. He missed his family, he missed little kids. We hug him all the time! He would be a lap dog if he could. He loves going to the dog park, trotting around with other dogs and visiting the people. He has been on a diet and really slimmed down.

Then a few weeks ago it looked as if the pounds were packing back on. We dropped in at the vets just to weigh him - he had gained weight to be 99 lbs! The vet was available to see him right then (no appointment necessary!)... and he did some lab work. Results indicate that Gus is hypothyroid, a common age related condition in big dogs.


So now Gus is on one tiny pill of medication. And we hug him 10,000 times a day more than ever!