Boomer came into GSRNE in March 2019 at age 5.  He did so well during his evaluation that we were surprised his owners had been keeping him in their garage, but they said they no longer trusted him.  He had been sleeping on their couch when their teen-age son tried to take a “selfie” in front of Boomer, who was sound asleep, poked an elbow into his leg and startled him awake.   As he startled awake, Boomer either nipped or grazed the boy’s ear with his teeth.

During the evaluation, our volunteer noticed that Boomer seemed uncomfortable when getting up from lying down and limped a bit until he had walked around for a few minutes.  The owners said he was OK; he could run just fine and would race their car as it came up their long driveway.  He was usually loose on the property and had even chased away a bear one time.  The husband was going to have Boomer euthanized because of the “bite,” and our volunteer felt he didn’t deserve that and offered to foster him herself.

At the time, Boomer weighed 107 pounds and needed to lose weight, which we knew would help his discomfort when he would get up from lying down.  Once he was in foster care, we had an Orthopedic Veterinarian examine his back legs and learned that he had a torn ACL; no wonder it hurt so much when the boy had pushed his elbow into that leg.  We had the least invasive surgery done ($4,000), but it failed a short time after his recovery period was over.  The “thread” had to be removed, and he developed an infection in his bone after that procedure….more trips back and forth to the vet.  Once that finally cleared up, the surgeon said not to have any more surgeries done on that leg.  Through all this, Boomer has shown us that he has a mellow and kind personality.  He goes up and down stairs, plays in the house and yard and is getting up more easily since losing the excess weight.

During all this time, his foster Mom has bonded closely with Boomer, and he is devoted to her.  She has applied to become his forever home, and we’re delighted to see this happen.  As soon as the adoption contract is signed, Boomer will have his official GSRNE # and will continue to enjoy being a valued and much-loved family member.