09/24/2026
🐾 Dear Future Adopters of Aspen & Goldie… 🐾
Since our friends at Kershaw County Humane Society and Friends of Kershaw County Humane Society are helping these two girls find their next chapter, we thought their future family might appreciate a little Aspen & Goldie Owner’s Manual. 😂❤️
After all, we had the privilege of living with them for a while, and these girls definitely came with some… features.
First, the numbers.
When they came to us, Goldie weighed just 20 pounds and Aspen weighed 22 pounds. They were painfully thin, and our first priority was simply getting them healthy.
At their most recent vet visit and spay appointment?
🐾 Goldie: a little over 45 pounds
🐾 Aspen: almost 40 pounds
Goldie more than doubled her weight, and Aspen came pretty darn close!
❤️
So, future adopters, here are a few things we think you should know.
🐶 ASPEN: Professional Snuggler, Amateur Sandwich Thief
Aspen is not your stereotypical aloof hound.
This girl is FRIENDLY.
She loves her people. She loves laps. She loves kisses. She loves snacks. She hasn't met another animal yet that she doesn't think could potentially become her new best friend.
Basically, Aspen wakes up every morning and chooses friendship. 😂
She is also incredibly sensitive. If Aspen is preparing to help herself to the sandwich you foolishly left within hound range and you scold her, congratulations—you have now hurt her feelings.
She will pout.
You will feel terrible.
Aspen will eventually forgive you.
Probably.
The good news is that she's extremely eager to learn and genuinely wants to please her people.
🐾 Leash walking: She pulls. We've been working on it. We use “easy” when she's starting to pull and “heel” when we need her back beside us. We use the same commands with both girls.
🐾 Harnesses: HIGHLY recommended. We use step-in/walk-in harnesses with both girls. If you walk them from collars, they will happily pull hard enough to convince you they're training for the Iditarod. Save everyone's tracheas. Use the harnesses. 😂
🐾 House training: Aspen has done extremely well. She can make it through almost the entire day without an accident, and she will pretty reliably potty whenever she's taken outside.
🐾 Toys: Meh.
🐾 Dog beds: YES.
🐾 Snacks: ALSO YES.
🐾 Food: We fed both girls Orijen Large Breed Puppy Food, and their regular treats were Old Mother Hubbard P'Nut Butter Biscuits in the medium size.
🐾 Stomach: Aspen appears to have been manufactured with the optional cast-iron digestive system. Very little seems to bother her.
Which brings us to...
🐕 GOLDIE: The Plot Twist
When Goldie first came to us, we thought she was an adult dog.
Then we started feeding her.
And she didn't just gain weight.
She started growing.
After watching her develop—and talking with our veterinary team and shelter staff—we've come to the conclusion that Goldie is still a puppy.
A growing puppy.
A very sweet puppy.
And sometimes a puppy whose brain and body appear to be operating on two completely different software versions. 😂
Goldie is very much a people-pleaser. She listens, she wants to do the right thing, and she's already learned quite a bit. With time, consistency and patience, this girl has the potential to learn SO much more.
🐾 House training: Still a work in progress. She's getting there, but her future family should expect to continue working with her.
🐾 Toys: Goldie LOVES toys.
Unfortunately, Goldie's preferred method of loving a toy is apparently destroying it and examining its internal construction.
We HIGHLY recommend Tuffy/Toughie-type durable toys, Nylabones and KONG-style toys. Keeping appropriate things around for Goldie to chew, destroy, investigate and generally occupy that puppy brain is going to make everybody happier.
🐾 The stomach: Remember Aspen's optional cast-iron digestive system?
Goldie did not purchase that upgrade.
Goldie has a SUPER sensitive stomach. We had great success with Orijen Large Breed Puppy Food, kefir and pumpkin. We also found that the medium Old Mother Hubbard P'Nut Butter Biscuits agreed with her.
If you decide to suddenly switch up Goldie's food and treats...
Godspeed.
Goldie may choose to bless your household with what we affectionately refer to as cannon ass.
This is not an official veterinary diagnosis.
It has, however, been clinically observed by the staff at DoRe Ranch and Rescue on more than one occasion. 💩😂
And now for the one thing we're going to be completely serious about:
🚫 GOLDIE CANNOT LIVE WITH CATS. 🚫
No cats. Absolutely no indoor cats.
Not “my cat is used to dogs.”
Not “my cat grew up with dogs.”
Not “my cat will put a dog in its place.”
Not “we'll introduce them slowly.”
No cats.
Goldie went after our cats on several occasions while she was with us. We were able to intervene each time, and thankfully neither Goldie nor any of our cats were injured.
That doesn't make Goldie a bad dog. It does mean that Goldie's future home needs to be a cat-free home. This isn't something we'd recommend testing, training around or hoping she'll outgrow. We know what we've observed, and we want Goldie, her future family and their animals to be safe.
And that brings us to perhaps the most important part of this whole ridiculously long owner's manual...
❤️ ASPEN & GOLDIE ARE A PACKAGE DEAL ❤️
These girls are bonded.
They've been through a lot together. They sleep together. They play together. They look for one another. They take comfort in one another.
Aspen is Aspen's dog.
Goldie is Goldie's dog.
But more importantly, Aspen is Goldie's dog, and Goldie is Aspen's dog.
We truly believe separating them after everything they've been through would be unfair to both of them.
So yes, future adopter, you're getting two.
Two harnesses.
Two food bowls.
Two dog beds—although they'll probably decide they only need one.
Twice the snacks.
Twice the vet bills.
Approximately 47 times the hound drama.
And one very important rule:
NO CATS. Seriously. We mean it. 😂
These aren't perfect dogs. There really isn't such a thing.
They're two dogs who came to us weighing 20 and 22 pounds, unsure of what their futures held. During their time with us, they learned about full food bowls, soft beds, treats, toys, walks, safety and what it means to be loved.
And somewhere along the way, those 20- and 22-pound dogs became two healthy, goofy, opinionated girls weighing roughly twice what they did when they arrived.
We were fortunate enough to help them through this part of their story.
Now we're hoping that somewhere out there is the person—or family—who reads all of this, laughs at the cannon ass warning, accepts the ABSOLUTELY NO CATS rule, has room for two dog beds (or apparently one), and realizes:
“Yep. Those are our girls.” ❤️🐾
Because Aspen and Goldie are ready for the next part of their story.
They just need someone to write it with them. ❤️
