Born on Mother’s Day 2025, this beautiful, nay, stunning, Golden Retriever girl has been just a delight to have rescued, rehabilitated and now rehome.
Her name is “PECORINO” but truthfully, she only responds to “Rhino”.
Rhino is technically a pedigree bred Golden, but here in rescue, pedigrees matter not. What matters is who she is and why she is in rescue. Born with a full hard and soft cleft palate, it was touch and go for the first few weeks. Her cleft wasn’t discovered until 24 hours after birth and so we suspect Rhino came into care with aspiration pneumonia already developing. But with great care in our ICU neonate nursery, this little pup pushed through and has been thriving ever since.
If you know anything about Golden Retrievers, think of all the best bits about the breed and then when you pull them altogether, that’s our baby Rhino for ya!
We don’t usually part ways with cleft palate pups this early, we tend to hold them back a little to make sure they are 100% stable before adoption. However, Rhino has been just as healthy and just as strong as any other “normal” pup.
In the right home, a first time cleft palate adoptive family can expect to research and learn fast what the “normal” things are for a cleftie. They eat a little differently, drink a little differently, sneeze a bit more and sometimes they are prone to “cleft breath”. But soon all these differences just become second nature and you’ll wonder to yourself why dogs without cleft are so basic.
Ideally we are looking for a family that won’t shove this beauty outside in the yard, she is going to need to be your world. This isn’t “just a dog” this is a little being who is pure joy, happiness and soft plush endless cuddles.
Since adopting a rescued pedigree purebred puppy Golden Retriever is quite a rarity, we will be seeking and looking out for no ordinary home, we only do extraordinary when it comes to our Life of Pikelet babies.
BEFORE you read Pecorino’s adoption criteria it is extremely important that potential adopters give great thought and communicate in their adoption application as to what their home set up and routine plan is for the first few weeks/months if they are the successful adopter of this most precious doggo. Rhino cannot be settled in over just a weekend and then left on a Monday home alone while you return to work… There needs to be a plan outlined so that her foster family can feel assured that she is going to be set up for success in her new home.
ADOPTION CRITERIA
Deal breakers:
– Pecorino needs to go to a home with the understanding that she cannot be left unsupervised out doors for the first 3 months of adoption. This is a deal breaker if you plan to leave her outdoors while you are not home, even in good weather. Why? because we are allowing early puppy adoption, this means that her little bones are not set yet, running and playing outdoors this young needs supervision to prevent any breaks. But also, Rhino has a full cleft palate, and as a young pup with a cleft, she cannot be unsupervised around sticks, leaves, grass and rocks as these are all hazards to cleft babies.
– A daily routine and some socialising, Pecorino has spent her whole young life indoors in a dog house with supervised outdoor time on a farm environment. She has been to the vets once (and due again next week) and so traveling in cars, going on walks, loud noises (that aren’t dogs barking) are all new to her.
– This is a half deal breaker and half not, but Rhino has been raised on a purely balanced raw diet, she is incredibly healthy and a huge part of that is the premium balanced raw meals she has had since starting on solids, kibble just isn’t in her life. And while we can’t control what adopters decide to feed their pups, so we feel very strongly that for Pecorino to have the best quality lifestyle in her forever life, it would be to stay on a balanced raw diet.
– It is not negotiable that Pecorino’s new forever family stay in contact with LoP Rescue and her foster family, this little pup is a very special baby and we hope to stay in her life to support her and her family ongoing.
Non deal breakers:
– A family or human who is home more than not, especially for the first few weeks of adoption so that Pecorino can settle in.
– We would absolutely love it if Rhino were to take up some sort of sport like noncompetitive agility or dock diving! She is one clever cookie and having a fun sport/skill to learn would level up her life.
HEALTH
Pecorino has a full cleft palate, this is a midline birth anomaly which is visual when you open her mouth. While both her hard and soft palate do have clefts, this has never once effected her overall health. Having been held back in rescue until the age of 12 weeks, we can confidently say that it is extremely unlikely Rhino will ever need corrective surgery for her cleft. Regardless, as mentioned above, it is our process that all adoptive cleft parents be connected with our T-Zone surgical specialist Vet Dr Arthur House. Dr House will assess Rhino’s cleft and advise after some time of observations.
ADOPTION DETAILS
**We do our best to review and reply to all applications within 14 days, please be patient.
Please click here for an adoption application.
– Microchipping
– Desexing TBC (adoption under desexing contract clause and desex age dependant on individual health needs of each animal)
– Up to date vaccinations, flea, tick & worming treatments.
– Ongoing support of her foster family, need a pup sitter? Pecorino will always be welcome back at LoP HQ.
MICROCHIP NUMBER 953010007917681
SOURCE NUMBER RE128924
**Located in foster care in Victoria, Pecorino is available for interstate adoption however this comes with the firm understanding that if an interstate candidate is successful, Rhino’s new family will need to come to HQ to complete adoption paperwork and travel home with her. Interstate candidates please see above in deal breakers/non-deal breakers. Video footage of yard & home will also need to be provided along with the agreement to a possible home check by a local Life of Pikelet rescue volunteer.
