Claire was not a second
chance dog but a fourth chance dog through no
fault of her own. Her first family had her from
puppyhood to age 4 when they gave her away to
another family. She lived with that family for a
year when they decided they had two dogs already
and they did not have enough time for Claire.
She weighed 129lbs and needed more attention and
exercise then they could give her. That is when
she came to Arizona Golden Retriever Connection
at the age of five. Claire was a sweet loving
dog but she had one big passion: she loved kids.
She was adopted to a terrific family with two
year old triplets. She was amazing with the
children: she was patient and she was
protective. No one messed with “her kids”. Fast
forward 5 years, Claire is now 10 years old and
living in Oregon. With a heavy heart, her family
made the decision to return Claire to AZGRC.
They were moving to Hawaii and did not feel like
Claire would do well with the quarantine plus
the family had grown to 5 children and to find a
place to rent was going to be difficult. Claire
was coming back to Arizona. On the drive back,
there was much talk about what would be a good
family for Claire. Maybe at 10 years old it was
time to retire from being a nanny and live her
life in a quiet home without children. Our
foster coordinator, Julie, who has 4 young
children, was going to be the temporary foster
until Claire’s “retirement” home could be
found. After Claire’s long drive back to
Arizona, she walked into Julie’s house; saw the
kids and Claire knew she was home. She picked up
her “nanny duties” with a sense of purpose that
amazed all of us. Claire did not want to retire,
she loved children and she was ready to offer
her services to another family.
Today Claire is still on
duty making sure her “kids” are safe and
protected.
