Major, a 5 year old purebred male golden, was a special needs dog who was very special himself. Major has severe separation anxiety. He was a perfect dog for the first 4 years of his life…then his boy went to college and he was broken-hearted. He just couldn’t stay alone anymore. He destroyed his home doing thousands of dollars of damage. He managed to jump out of a window and was found and brought to the vet. The family didn’t want him back. The vet found someone who had just lost his golden so Major was given to him. It was fine for a few weeks but the owner went on a trip and arranged a petsitter. You guess it. Damage — and it was never the same again. He wanted to escape when left alone and he did. He jumped out of a screen-in porch 8 feet off the ground. He was found in the next subdivision playing with some kids. His owner begged us to help. He was leaving again on a trip. We brought Major into the program. His first foster family was gung-ho. They loved Major (remember, he is perfect in everyway until he is left alone). He hated being crated. He broke the crate and ate some of the back door. Then, because Major loved riding in cars, Dad took him to the tennis courts and left him in the car. I am sure you can predict what happened next. The Lexus got a bit eaten. So, we placed Major into a short-term foster who started working with him while we were looking for some other solution. Then the application arrived! It seemed too perfect. A man had two senior goldens, a 16 year old and a 14 year old. He had lost one late last year. Then his wife died. And, that same week, the other golden died. He had lost his world and was still very sad. His mother had been living with them for a few years so she was home all day. His son didn’t live too far away. He was in real estate and could take a dog to work. He was retiring next March and moving to his property in North Carolina where he had 35 acres with hiking trails and streams. We talked to him about Major. He wanted to meet him. They met and there was an instant bond. He said they needed each other. He knew he could help Major and Major could help him. Mom liked Major. We told him to think about it since it was a major committment. Major needed consistency in his life and we needed to be sure. He came to adoption day. He wanted Major and Major wanted him. As Major jumped into the back of his SUV, he had tears in his eyes…. and I swear we saw some in Major’s eyes too (or was it a ‘sparkle’?) They are now inseparable – literally! Thank you Bill.