Gold Ribbon Rescue

Help Save the Rock Band Golden Retriever Litter from Parvo!

August 2nd: Gold Ribbon Rescue received a call from a woman in Temple who had seven, 9-week-old Golden puppies that she needed to be rehomed. She has multiple family health issues and cannot properly care for the puppies.

August 4th: GRR sprang into action! A volunteer jumped into her car and drove to Temple to pick them up, arriving at foster Hara’s home Sunday afternoon. Hara immediately noticed that puppy, Journey (24-082), was very sick and rushed him to Central Texas Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Hospital (CTVSEH), where they determined he had Parvo.

Canine parvovirus is one of the most serious viruses that dogs can get. The virus is hard to kill, can live for a long time in the environment, is shed in large quantities by infected dogs, is highly contagious, and is often fatal without appropriate treatment.

Journey was admitted to CTVSEH and began receiving supportive care. He only weighed 3 ½ lbs. at 9 weeks - severely underweight. He was dehydrated, vomiting, had diarrhea, a low temp and a low white-blood count. The ER staff inserted a feeding tube and IV fluids. The next 5-7 days are critical for this sweet puppy and will likely determine whether he will make it or not. Journey is getting the best veterinary care and will be given everything that he needs to hopefully survive and thrive.

August 5th: We learned that the six other puppies tested positive for Parvo and all are vomiting and have diarrhea. Unfortunately, STYX (24-083) become quite ill, was hospitalized at CTVSEH today and will likely spend 5-7 days receiving supportive care as well. The remaining five puppies are receiving a special, new injection that fights Parvo, along with an antiemetic for vomiting. The next 5-7 days are critical for these dogs as well.

August 5th: the owner called again and said the puppy she kept had become very ill and she could not afford medical care. Could we come and get the puppy? A GRR volunteer jumped in her car and headed to Temple for Springsteen (24-088).

This GoFundMe is for $12,500 to cover Parvo expenses for the Rock Band Litter of eight puppies. Estimated expenses for 5-7 days of supportive care at the emergency vet is $5000+ per puppy. Estimated expenses for the Parvo injection is $500 per puppy.

Every donation helps and your donation will go directly towards care for these eight puppies. We appreciate your support. Check back for updates on how the Rock Band litter is doing. Thank you.

Meet the puppies:

24-081 Genesis – (female)

24-082 Journey – (male) (hospitalized)

24-083 Styx – (male) (hospitalized

24-084 Santana - (male)

24-085 Boston – (male)

24-086 Chicago – (male)

24-087 Van Halen – (male)

24-088 Springsteen – (male)

Help Puppy Melody to a Healthy Life

Update June 9th @ 1:30 pm: Thank you to everyone who is following Melody's journey. You can watch Melody leaving the emergency vet and cuddling with her foster mom. Melody still has a ways to go but this is positive progress. This sweet puppy is a fighter. Stay tuned for more updates. Thank you for helping meet Melody's goal. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sEQyz2egqWPKOlNsd-cJ-Bf1I-RXAjBq/preview

Update June 9th @ 10:00am: Melody is coming home today!!! Look at this cutie! It’s still a step at a time but this is a huge hurdle for this dear puppy. Thanks to everyone for positive thoughts and donations to Melody’s GoFundMe. We’ll keep you posted on how she is doing. Check back today for her coming home video.

Update June7th @ 10:00am: Thank you to eveyone for your generous donations. Puppy Melody is hanging in there. Vets have increased Dextrose so her diarrhea is improving. Foster Hara plans to visit Melody this afternoon and hold her paw. Stay tuned for additional updates.

Update: June 5th @ 8:00pm: The vet feels that Melody is making some progress so she’ll receive a blood transfusion and we’re hopeful the plasma will help her diarrhea subside and the red blood cells will make her stronger. Hopefully this might tip her over the edge to where she can leave the emergency vet and return to her foster home. Paws crossed.

On June 4th, Gold Ribbon Rescue received a call from a woman in East Texas who had two adult dogs (one was the mom) and three puppies and she needed the dogs gone by end-of-day. The owner said originally there were 12 puppies but all had died except these three.

Gold Ribbon Rescue sprang into action! A volunteer jumped into her car and drove four hours to pick up the five dogs and four hours back to Austin, arriving at Foster Hara’s home yesterday evening.

Hara immediately noticed that puppy GRR 24-056 Melody was very sick: she was quite small, lethargic and dehydrated. Hara rushed her to an emergency hospital where they determined Melody has coccidia and as a result, her glucose level was 44 and it should have been over 100.

Melody was admitted to the emergency hospital where she is being given a dextrose drip and subcutaneous fluids. The next 24 to 48 hours are critical for this sweet puppy and will likely determine whether she will make it. Melody is getting the best veterinary care and will be given everything that she needs to hopefully survive and thrive. We are also treating the other two puppies for coccidia as a preventative measure.

Melody’s initial vet expenses total $3100 for her 24 hours at the emergency vet. She is showing progress so she has received additional blood transfusions, antibiotics, fluids and additional days in care at the emergency vet so her current expense total is $4100.

Every donation helps and your donation will go directly towards Melody’s care. We appreciate your support. Check back for updates on how Melody is doing.

Want to join in making a difference?

Meet Charlie, our 9 month young, 54 pound bundle of love and floof!

Charlie came to us through an owner surrender. Happy and calm with kids, crate-trained, house-broken, unbothered by thunderstorms, gentle taking treats, and loves cuddles. Perfect pup!

Well, maybe not so perfect after all. You see, Charlie was born with a disorder that has progressively gotten worse. As much as he wants to run, play fetch, and just be a silly puppy, he cannot. He is very unsteady on his legs, needs to be kept quiet and spends most of his time laying about. Imagine being a puppy and NOT being able to do all of the things a healthy puppy enjoys! Anyone who has had a puppy knows about puppy zoomies. But this poor guy can't enjoy ears flapping in the wind, then wiping out in a hot mess of happiness, and spent energy.

His foster home has watched him deteriorate since he came into foster care last September. While we waited for doctor's appointments and recommendations from the specialists, on New Year's Eve Charlie became very unstable.

So what do you do? Give up on a puppy? No! Our rescue is dedicated to helping dogs like Charlie, whether in the prime of their life or their senior years. And we all want Charlie to see his senior years.

Charlie will undergo THR (Total Hip Replacement) surgery in early February. The hip joint is a ball and socket joint. The ball is at the top of the thigh bone (femur), and the socket (acetabulum) is in the pelvis. Total hip replacement surgery removes and replaces both the ball and socket with prostheses. Most canine hip replacement prostheses have a metal ball at the top of the femur that fits into a dense plastic socket.

The recovery will take months, but we are all rooting for him to come through it and .... well ... finally be able to kick up those puppy paws with wild abandon. And find his forever home that will treasure him as well as those who believed enough in GRR's mission to help defray his medical costs.

His surgery will cost $6,000 through our specialist, but we are asking for $5,000 - we all too well know how hard January can be on us and our wallets, with all the bills from the holidays. But ever little bit helps!

Won't you help us to make a difference in this young boy's life?

We gratefully appreciate any donations you can make towards Charlie's surgery.

More information about Gold Ribbon Rescue: Gold Ribbon Rescue, Inc. (GRR) was founded in 1998 to meet three objectives. We are a non-profit 501-c-3 organization as recognized by the IRS. GRR's main function is to provide a network for sheltering, rehabilitation and placing Golden Retrievers in permanent homes in Central Texas. GRR's second function is to provide public education about responsible dog ownership and, in particular, about the Golden Retriever breed. Third, GRR provides a forum for Golden Retriever fanciers to meet.

In the wee hours of Monday morning, we were alerted to a Facebook post where the owners were looking to rehome their 1.4 year old golden retriever as he was in a state of emergency. They didn’t have the finances or the proper home environment to give him the care he needed. River suffered a traumatic fall down the stairs, resulting in a broken humerus bone.

His loving family, facing the financial hardship of his needed care, made the heartbreaking decision to surrender River so he could receive the care he desperately needed.

Our dedicated volunteers immediately sprang into action. River (GRR 25-101) was transported to a veterinary clinic, stabilized with pain medication, and prepped for surgery. The next day, he underwent a successful operation to repair his leg.

Now River’s 8-week journey begins to recovery — and we need your help.

We’ve launched this GoFundMe to raise $6,000 to cover the cost of River’s surgery and follow-up care. Every donation, no matter the size, goes directly toward his medical expenses and helps give River the second chance he deserves.

Please consider donating and sharing River’s story. Your support means the world to us — and to River.

Thank you for being part of his healing journey.