#1839 Cosmo
Gender: male
We are forever reading these wonderful tales of Goldens finding their forever families and we cheer how lucky the dog is to be rescued and loved by his new ‘fur’ever family. Cosmo’s story is just a little bit different because in his case,Coszy rescued me! I’d just lost my beloved Golden to cancer and was suffering terribly. Until her passing, I had not understood how debilitating depression could be. The simple act of getting out of bed was an ordeal and I just seemed to be on remote control at work and was becoming sloppy at my job. I knew that I couldn’t go on like this and needed another dog in my life but was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to give another dog the love and patience that is required to help that dog flourish. On one particularly bad day, I needed to touch some soft fur and get a wet kiss from a dog or I was going to lose it. I went to the nearest pound and asked if I could play with a dog and, of course, they were happy to oblige that request because pound puppies need as much social interaction as possible for the chance to be adopted. An afternoon of playing fetch with a cute little yellow lab convinced me that ready or not, I was going to invite another dog to share my life and home,so back inside to the shelter I went to fill out adoption paperwork. That done, I had a brief interview where the question of what will I do with the dog while I was at work came up. Cheerfully I said, “He would be with me at work.” The response was, “Oh! How nice and what do you do for a living?” That is where the interview ended because after informing them that I was a truck driver who travelled coast-to-coast, they were horrified at the prospect of one of their dogs spending 10 out of every 14 days living in the cab of a tractor-trailer. I could understand their apprehension and moved on to try a number of rescue groups. After being turned down flatly by three rescue groups, I became discouraged and was going to go the breeder route to find my new best friend. Fortunately, while surfing a dog bereavement webpage, I came upon the Dog’s Last Will & Testament and knew in my heart that I had to give it another shot. I placed an ad in Kijiji looking to adopt a Golden Retriever and through that ad, I came in contact with the wonderful people from Golden Rescue and, in a funny twist of fate, they just happened to have an interesting case of a headstrong, rambunctious, stubborn but goofy and loving bundle of fur named Cosmo.Now we get to meet the wonderful Coszy and this story really begins. Cosmo is a big, I mean REALLY big, powerful, and strong take-no-guff/give-no-guff kind of dog who required constant attention and the presence of someone who could be with him almost all of the time…to show him how to be part of a pack because he is definitely a free thinker and, at times, way too smart to be left to his own devices. It also has to be said that Cosmo is the most handsome dog there ever was with a goofy grin that can light up a room and warm your soul. Our first meeting was somewhat rocky in that Cosmo trusts himself, he knows how smart he is, so hewasn’t about to relinquish the alpha role to some stranger…but he took some hesitant steps in that direction. It was rough at first. He was afraid to enter our house, shied away when I tried to pet him, and literally ran for his life if I tried to hand him a treat. He wasn’t very trusting but the funny thing was when it was time to head out on our first trip and I opened the door of our big truck, I expected him to be terrified but that wasn’t the case at all. He leapt in without any assistance, made himself comfortable on the bed where he had a bird’s eye view of the world, and began what has been the world’s record for maintaining a goofy grin. My previous dog loved being in ‘her’ truck and travelling to see new sights and smells but it took a few weeks for her to become truly comfortable with the whole experience but not our Cosmo. From that first moment, it was like it was the life he was made for and he makes the most of every second…whether it’s climbing bighorn sheep trails in the Rockies of Montana, racing through tall prairie grass in Kansas or something as sedate as chomping on fahitas on the patio of a cafe in Mexico. Coszy has even met an alligator in Florida(fortunately for the gator, there was a fence between them) and reacted with a lot more dignity than me when we encountered a rattlesnake in Texas. We have just begun our adventures and look forward to a fulfilling life together. I may have opened my home to Cosmo but he gave me back my life. Thank you Coszy and thank you Golden Rescue!
~ Andrew