Sadly, Nick’s story is more common place than you might imagine. Late in December, Nick’s owner, unwilling to provide the medical care Nick needed, chose to report him as a stray to the local animal services. Suddenly Nick, through no fault of his own, found himself hauled off, sick and abandoned.

When Nick’s foster family arrived to take him home, they were appalled by his condition. Not only was he infested with fleas, he was diagnosed with both hook worm and heart worm. Nick also had a serious bite on his hip and was severely underweight.

When he arrived at his foster home, he meekly submitted to a bath. Aside from short walks and meals, Nick succumbed to exhaustion and slept for the next two days. Because of his run down condition, poor Nick then developed kennel cough and needed to spend a week at the vets.

It appears that Nick is finally regaining his strength. Today he is flea free, hookworm free and neutered. He is more than halfway through his heartworm treatment and his foster family is hoping that the next checkup will reward him with a clean bill of health.

Thankfully, Nick’s spirit is also healing. At first, he couldn’t even bring himself look anyone in the eyes and actually cowered while being petted. It seemed as if his tail was tucked permanently between his legs. He even tried not to be in the same room as his foster family and their dogs.

Nick is gradually becoming more social and relaxed around his foster family. He’s often willing to make eye contact and sometimes he even wags his tail. He has shown no food aggression with people, but is not willing to allow other dogs near his food bowl. This is not uncommon for a dog with Nick’s background. It’s more than likely that he has had to fight for food in the past.

Nick is not interested in playing with his foster dog family. He retreats to the closest human to receive petting and encouragement whenever the other dogs begin to ramp up their play time. Nick will be happiest as the only dog in his forever family.

His mischievous side is also slowly being revealed. Nick can be left uncrated and alone for several hours and nothing is disturbed. However, sometimes he can’t resist the temptation to quietly empty the trash even though his foster family is just a room away. He’s s not a furniture climber, preferring instead to simply curl at your feet.

Each day Nick is slowly letting go of his painful memories. He is learning that people can be kind and that petting can actually be something special to enjoy. He would be a wonderful addition to a low key family with no young children. Please come meet Nick, this gentle hearted golden.