We continue to adjust our fundraising events to adhere to state and local restrictions due to COVID-19. Given the uncertainty in the ability to hold large gatherings, and the amount of time and resources needed to successfully plan large events, we have reluctantly decided to cancel the 19th Annual Golden on the Green Golf Tournament and the Golden Gala. We feel these events are most successful when we can celebrate our achievements together as a group and don't want to risk anyone’s health by gathering too soon. We are planning some interactive fundraising events to replace the gala and golf tournament. More information will be coming soon.
We are excited to announce that we are planning on resuming our Meet and Greets on July 18th. We will be in a new location,
Zoomy Dogs
off NC-55 in Durham. Our Operations team is working closely with them to make sure we adhere to necessary protocols and will have more information at the beginning of next month.
We appreciate your patience and continued support as we navigate this uncertain time together. While we are pausing our fundraising and community events, we are not “pawsing” our commitment to rescue, rehab, and adopt dogs in need. Please consider making a donation during this difficult time to help us continue our mission. For the latest on the practices and precautions we are following, please visit our
COVID-19 Response page
.
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2020 Statistics
through May
63 Dogs Rescued
38 Dogs in Rehab
71 Dogs Adopted
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Congratulations to these dogs finding their furever home in May
- John Prine 20
- Winslow 20
- Quicksilver 20
- Emily 20
- Martie 20
- Bruno Mars 20
- Bodacious Beau 20
- Hunter 17
- Bono 20
- Sir Elton 20
- Madonna 20
- Pekoe 20
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Last year NRGRR expanded our rescue efforts internationally and we were able to save 33 dogs from both Turkey and China. Our goal this year was to save 50 dogs, but the pandemic had other plans. Thus far in 2o20, very few dogs have left China or Turkey, which has placed an enormous emotional and financial strain on rescuers overseas. There has been an increase in dogs needing rescue and a decrease in flights overseas. No US rescues, including NRGRR, have been successful in getting dogs out of China since early February.
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Thankfully there are two very determined women who refused to sit back and do nothing, Jill Stewart with China Rescue Dogs and Patty Larson with Retrieve a Golden of the Midwest (RAGOM). They, along with their team, have worked tirelessly for months to come up with a plan to get dogs out of China. Recently, they have secured a charter plane to fly 99 dogs from China to the US! All that is needed now is to pay for the cost of the fuel which is over $250,000.
NRGRR is one of nine golden retriever rescues in the United States that are joining forces to assist in rescuing these dogs from overseas. Our International Rescue Team has been in close contact with Jill and Patty throughout this journey. We are excited to share that we will be helping to save 9 dogs as part of this unprecedented rescue mission. Please visit our
International Rescue page
to learn more about this mission.
The flight will not occur if the funds to pay for the fuel are not raised. Please, watch the short video above to learn more about this important mission and consider making a donation to
Paws Across the Ocean
.
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Due to the cancellation of NRGRR’s biggest fundraising events of the year, the Golden Gala and Golden on the Green, we are asking for your support, now more than ever. Back in January we prepared an article on ways our volunteers and supporters can help NRGRR raise money for the rescue. We are including those ideas once again as a reminder of activities that you can do to help out so we can RESCUE.REHAB.ADOPT more goldens and golden-hearted dogs. Thanks for all you do to support our mission!
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- Start a birthday fundraiser on Facebook.
- When you purchase online from Amazon, direct a portion of your purchase price to NRGRR using AmazonSmile.
- Get your children or grandchildren involved; ask them to come up with ideas to raise money to rescue dogs.
- Submit a photo for the 2021 NRGRR Calendar contest and ask your friends and family to vote for your dog.
- When you make a donation to NRGRR, ask your company to match your donation. See the Employee Match section of our Support NRGRR page.
- Forward emails to your family, friends, and neighbors from NRGRR that support our fundraising efforts. Invite them to participate.
- If you are not looking to accumulate more “stuff” in your house, ask your family and friends to make a donation to NRGRR in lieu of a gift for your birthday or for any special occasion. The donation can be given in your honor.
- Name a dog in honor or memory of someone through our Golden Guardian program.
We would love to hear from you. What ideas do you have to help us raise money to support our rescue efforts? You can share your ideas by reaching out to
Kerry Ahrend
. And of course we would love for you to take action and help us implement some of these ideas!
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2021 NRGRR Calendar Contest
Photo submissions deadline June 28th!
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A quick reminder that the
2021 NRGRR Calendar Contest
is currently underway. We will be accepting photos for next year’s calendar until June 28th. Please review the calendar
contest rules and photo submission guidelines
carefully before submitting your photo. At least one dog in the photo must be a NRGRR alum, no humans, and all photos must be in a horizontal orientation and of high resolution.
Last year’s winners were Elijah and foster Millie, submitted by Kerry Ahrend who raised $1105. As winner of the 2020 calendar contest, Kerry selected June as her month to honor her father, Charles Ahrend (aka Chuck), who passed away on June 24, 2019. Her dad was a big fan and supporter of NRGRR and played twice in our annual golf tournament, Golden on the Green. Her dad was 89 the last time he participated in the golf tournament. The winner of the 2021 calendar contest; the person who brings in the most money during the voting phase; will also choose their month and receive 2 tickets to next year's Golden Gala or Golden on the Green (value $200+).
We encourage you to submit at least one photo of your dog for the calendar contest to help us raise much needed funds. Each submitted photo is $10 and you can submit as many as you like. Only one photo per family will be selected for the voting phase of the calendar contest. Additional photos will be used as “thumbnails” throughout the calendar as space permits.
With the cancellation of both the Golden Gala and Golden on the Green this year, the calendar contest could potentially be our largest fundraiser of the year. With YOUR HELP, we can make this the BEST calendar contest to date! If you have any questions about photo submission or the calendar contest reach out to Kerry or Scott at
nrgrrcalendarcontest@gmail.com
.
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Pet First Aid and Emergency Transport
Accidents and illnesses always seem to occur at the most inopportune times. Do you know what to do in an emergency?
In this month's
medical blog post
, our Medical Coordinator Katie McKay provides tips on creating a pet first aid kit,
highlights a great app from the American Red Cross that will assist you with pet emergencies and first aid, and offers great advice for transporting ailing or injured dogs.
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NRGRR Behavior Team
Why Sit Matters
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To help our fosters, volunteers, and adopters be more successful as they rehab, recondition, and rehome NRGRR dogs, we are starting a column of dog training tips. This month, Julie Rigby, coordinator of our dog behavior team, shares a very basic and foundational training tip. This month she starts with the command “Sit,” a great thing for your dog to know!
Sit can help with excitement (think jumping up on people or spinning like a whirling dervish when it’s time to clip on the leash). Sit can help with dog reactivity (sit and give your mom a little eye contact to be rewarded for focus on me rather than the dog you want to bark at!) Sit helps dogs give us their attention, calm down, and even defer to what we want.
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Need help with this most basic and useful of training commands? Try these videos to help brush up on your skills for asking for a sit.
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Sit can feel like a very basic command, but actually it’s practicing the basics until they are reliable that help the most in training. So, before you move on to some flashier moves . . . make sure your basics are solid and joyful.
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To access behavior help for your foster dog, reach out to your dog coordinator. For adopted dogs and others, reach out to
Julie Rigby
.
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FOSTERS NEEDED
...the “life-blood” of most rescues are their fosters. You simply CANNOT save lives without fosters. After being pulled from a shelter, or an owner surrenders their family pet, the dog needs a place to land for medical care (if needed), training perhaps, and a safe environment where they can build confidence and prepare to meet their forever family. Fostering saves lives, and you can be part of our rewarding mission to Rescue.Rehab.Adopt.
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Foster Spotlight: Dawn Clement
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This month’s featured foster is
Dawn Clement
. Dawn does not JUST foster for NRGRR, she also trains dogs for NRGRR. Dawn has played a vital role preparing dogs with behavioral issues for their forever home for the past three and a half years!
Dawn’s journey with NRGRR began when another Neuse River foster and trainer, Jay Brittingham, moved to the mountains of North Carolina and asked Dawn to take over for him as foster/trainer. Dawn came with much experience already having fostered for the German Shepherd Rescue (12 years) and Wake County Animal Shelter (5 years). Having her on our team as foster/trainer is a true blessing. Dawn estimates that she has fostered and trained over 100 dogs between the two rescues and the SPCA.
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Dawn with Trevor
and DaVinci
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Excluding dogs she has adopted from local shelters, Dawn has only “foster-failed” once. She now uses that dog, Trevor, to train and socialize other dogs and teach them how to play appropriately. As Dawn says, “You can’t just be cute to stay at my house. You need skills to help other dogs and me!” Trevor is the “face/mascot” for her dog training company,
Real Results Dog Training of Raleigh
.
Dawn has seen SO many dogs turned into the shelters and that is what motivates her to foster and help dogs on their journey. She helps the various rescues by fostering, training, rehabilitating, mentoring other fosters, transporting, doing home visits, and attending adoption events. As Dawn says, “ALL this gets more dogs out of shelters or poor homes and into great forever homes.”
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In Dawn’s words, her top three benefits from fostering include:
1. “I love watching a devastated, scared dog bloom into a happy, confident dog! There's no greater feeling for me! I tear up with happiness just thinking about all the dogs I've helped for Neuse River!”
2. “I'm not much of a people-person, but the friends I've made through Neuse River are the best. They are thoughtful and give so much of themselves for these dogs! They are the most selfless, giving, funny people I've ever met. Sisters and brothers in arms!”
3. “It ALWAYS feels good when you see your foster in just the right home for them. Makes you feel all gooey and warm inside.”
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Her advice for anyone considering fostering is: “DO IT! You will get loads of help, instruction, hand-holding, and the soft brown eyes of your foster who just needs a stable place to get their head together after whatever trauma landed them in rescue. There are no perfect dogs in rescue, they all need help in one way or another. YOU could hold their head, scratch their ears, and promise them that it'll be okay. WHAT could be better? NRGRR is a wonderful, knowledgeable, caring rescue that offers multiple classes to help their fosters become better fosters. Nobody starts out knowing everything. NRGRR sends trainers to help the dogs and fosters work better together. They'll say, ‘It's all for the dogs,’ when actually they probably help as many people as they do dogs!”
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What keeps Dawn from keeping all the dogs she’s fostered; besides the fact that keeping over 100 dogs might be a bit challenging and borderline hoarding…“You don't want them ALL! There are so many with different needs that you can't possibly keep them all. They may have needs that you can't totally fulfill. They may need to be the only dog in the home (not possible here), they may need a playmate for energy expenditures, females may need a boyfriend and curl their lip up with the girl dogs (and vice versa). If you already have a dog, does this foster FIT with your dog, your lifestyle? I usually have more than enough of my own dogs, I don't need more! I LOVE all my fosters but don't WANT all of them.”
THANK YOU Dawn Clement for all you do to support Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue, our dogs, and our fosters. We appreciate you!!!
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If you or your family are interested in fostering please see our
foster page
to read the steps to foster and complete the application. If you have any questions about fostering, please reach out to our foster coordinator,
Mimi Suddath
.
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We are super excited to announce our brand new 2020 t-shirt!! We hope you love the design as much as we do. This is guaranteed to be a favorite summer t-shirt for mom, dad, and the entire family.
Order your shirt today, inventory is getting low. This will be the only opportunity for you to get this design.
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We are always
looking for new ideas
for store items. If there are any items you would like us to carry, email our store manager,
Nikki D'Ambrose
,
and we will see if it's feasible for us to provide it to you.
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We hope you enjoy this new platform for the Rescue Ranger! You may receive this edition more than once as we strive to not leave anyone out. You can always email questions or concerns to us at:
nrgrr.rescueranger@gmail.com
.
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NRGRR is a 501(c)(3) organization in North Carolina that is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and adoption of golden retrievers in need. The organization advocates responsible pet ownership, community education and protection of all dogs.
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