The community that my husband and I live in with our rescue Lab and therapy dog Kumba is home to many young families and their dogs. This is the story of one of these neighbors.
It was love at first sight for the five Goldsteins—two parents, three kids—when they met golden retriever Nabi in early 2024. Little did they know that the chance Facebook encounter with this rescue dog would give them all a second chance at puppyhood.
China Rescue Mission
“We’d always had two goldens but had recently lost our older dog, Lincoln, and had only Lexi, so I’d been following Golden Rescue of South Florida (GRSF) on Facebook,” says mom Allison. “And when I saw Nabi’s face and read her story, I knew she was our dog.”
Nabi’s sweet smile gave little indication of the traumatic life she had left behind when she was rescued from a Chinese meat market through GRFS’s China Rescue Mission. Although Chinese legislation shifted the definition of dogs from “livestock” to “companions” in 2020, Nabi was found in a tiny cage in a street meat market, destined for slaughter.
“The cages are so small that the dogs can only lie down,” says Allison’s husband Brad.
When Allison spotted Nabi’s picture on Facebook, she’d been in the United States for less than a week and was staying with a foster about an hour from the Goldsteins’ South Florida home.
Meeting Nabi
“I emailed the foster family right away but didn’t hear back. When I followed up a couple days later, she called me right away.” Allison took the call in the bedroom. “She wanted to set up a meeting with our whole family, including Lexi.”
The family had been pre-approved for adopting through the rescue group, but they hadn’t all been actively looking…except for Allison.
Her husband Brad didn’t know anything about Nabi until Allison came back out to the living room. “So,” she began, “I might have done a thing.” The smile on her face gave it away.
“Did you get us another dog?” Brad guessed.
“So, we got everyone in the car,” Allison says, “But we didn’t know what to expect. We couldn’t possibly be coming back home with a new dog.”
Yes, they could. Everyone fell in love with the sweet dog from China, whose wonderful foster family vouched for her remarkable adjustment, already walking well on a leash and getting along with the foster family and their other dogs. “You take her, she’s yours!”
“We were like, ‘What? Okay!’ They gave us all of her stuff—including her Chinese passport, and all her Chinese papers—and a blanket made by Golden Rescue volunteers. It was really sweet. And we brought her home, and that was it.”
And just like that, the Goldstein family was back in balance: Two parents, three kids, and two golden retrievers. The Golden Goldsteins.
A Dog Who didn’t Play
But something was off. “We tried playing with toys with her—we always have a lot of dog toys around—but she didn’t know what to do with toys or balls, and she didn’t have any interest in chewing on bones. None of it,” Allison says.
Golden Rescue estimated that she was about 18 months old when she arrived in the States, but none of that time had given her any experience in playing. Could it be that she’d been in a cage all her life? Maybe. As sweet as she was, Nabi had never experienced puppy play.
“But she and Lexi, who was a calm older dog, got along very well. It was a good adjustment since Nabi didn’t know how to play.”
Losing Lexi, Getting a Puppy
A year passed, and then sorrow struck. Lexi passed away.
“We knew Lexi was sick but the turn came very suddenly. And the kids did not handle it well. At all,” Allison recalls of the very sad time.
Soon, however, hope was in the air. “The kids latched onto the idea of having a puppy. ‘We want a puppy. We want a puppy. We want a puppy.’”
Brad and Allison had raised one puppy among their many goldens, and always said they would never do it again. “It’s just too much work,” Allison says. “But the kids had never raised a puppy before, so we gave in, as we tend to do, and we got a puppy.”
Brad says, “To be fair, we wanted another Nabi, I think was our ultimate goal. We thought of going back and doing it again.”
Instead, they found an 8-week old golden retriever puppy at a breeder not far from home. Each member of the family thought up a name, and they put it to a vote. “We weren’t allowed to vote for our own submission. And Willow was the name that won.” It was the idea of their eldest daughter.
Willow brings out the puppy in Nabi
As soon as Willow joined the Goldstein family, Nabi was given a second opportunity to be a puppy.
“From the second we got her home, Willow just was all over her,” Allison says. “Nabi didn’t have a choice but to play back. She kind of figured it out. Now she’s the one who instigates the playing.”
And Willow even taught Nabi a new skill. “She likes to chew on Willow’s favorite bone,” Allison says. “And Willow stands there and barks at Nabi until she gives it back.”
Find Your Dog through Golden Rescue of South Florida
What would the Goldsteins tell someone that is interested in adopting a dog through Golden Rescue of South Florida?
“Go for it,” Allison says. “They are so wonderful to work with. The people they have as their fosters are amazing.”
The rescues from China are just one of Golden Rescue of South Florida’s programs. They also work with puppy mill rescues, goldens that need to be rehomed, and goldens from animal shelters.
“I actually reached out to them before we got Willow because they do sometimes get puppy litters,” Allison says. “They did not have any puppies coming in at the time. But four days after we got Willow, the woman emailed me back and said we’re getting a puppy litter this weekend.”
But then there would not have been Willow to teach Nabi how to play, completing the circle of life with the Golden Goldsteins.
