Ryder

Shelter

Ryder at the shelter

Ryder came into the Braxton County Shelter in WV after his family lost their home. The house they were renting was sold, so his family ended up homeless and searching for a place to go. The shelter graciously agreed to board Ryder until the family got back on their feet. However, after a month of boarding Ryder, the family decided they didn't want him back even after finding a new home. He had been abandoned at the shelter weighing 150 lbs, his fur was matted, and he had burrs tangled throughout. The Shelter staff had to shave him down in order to remove the burrs. After Ryder got his new haircut and was ready to start a new chapter in his life, the shelter also gave him a new nickname, baby hippo! The shelter reached out to our rescue for help and we promptly agreed to take Ryder into foster.

Video of Ryder at the shelter

Foster

Ryder in his foster home

From Ryder's foster:

"Ryder arrived at our rescue in rough shape with some bad hot spots from laying on the concrete and desperately needing a good bath for really bad blackheads and skin irritation caused by the matted fur. We tried to bathe him, but due to his size, he needed a professional groomer. Unfortunately, Ryder wasn't able to get into our Jeep, so we had to rent a minivan to get him to his grooming appointment LOL. The groomer said he so enjoyed his spa treatment and was such a good boy! Ryder was a great foster and despite his size, he just blended in with the pack! We thought getting Ryder adopted would be a long process because not many people are equipped to handle a dog of his size. We all joked that Ryder's application should include a question on whether the applicant has a minivan! After about 3-4 weeks in foster, we received an application for a family in Brockport which is slightly outside our standard adoption radius, but after talking with the family, we decided to make the drive to meet them. Lucky for us, they met the one pre-requisite we had... they had a MINIVAN! The family was retired and had no other pets, they decided to do a Foster-to-Adopt with Ryder and after 1 week, they knew he was home forever."

Adoption

Ryder (now Bear) in his furever home

From Ryder's Adopters:

"We adopted Bear (formerly Ryder) in early May from NCCR along with Molly (from another rescue). Bear is around 4 years old and Molly is around 2. We absolutely love them both! Bear has really come out of his shell - he loves to play with Molly, loves to go on walks and to the dog park, he loves going to our cottage and wading in the water (he's decided he's not a swimmer!). He has become very playful and has the sweetest personality. He still loves his tummy rubs and taking naps for sure. He's lost a couple of pounds (which is good!) and his coat is growing in really nicely (he was shaved because his fur was so matted when he arrived to NCCR). We did a DNA test on him and it said he is 87% Alaskan Malamute and 13% Samoyed. Although we're not fully convinced this is completely correct because he is sooooo big (155 pounds.)

He continues to do really well and his personality continues to emerge.  Recently in the past few weeks he has found his voice and has become fairly vocal - which is awesome!  He loves to talk to other dogs at the dog park when they are playing.  He continues to get in better shape and we think he's lost a few more pounds.  He continues to be very gentle with people and play well with other dogs.  We've also learned that he likes to hunt chipmunks and frogs.  We just love him!

Thanks to NCCR for bringing Bear into our lives!! ❤️❤️❤️ "

Thank you for reading Bear's story and congrats to Bear and his new family!