At only a year-and-a-half, Malachi needed to have two knee surgeries after being born with patellar luxation (dislocated kneecaps). Fortunately, Malachi left Healing Hearts and became part of Jerry and Darlyn’s loving family. Malachi had one of his knee operations just before he went to his new home, so while Jerry would like to say that Malachi “bounded out of the volunteer transporter’s car and into our hearts,” that was just not possible. Additionally, Malachi was set for his second knee surgery soon afterwards, so he had to be kept sedentary for some time. Keeping any dog from getting too excited is a tall task, but young Goldens are a particular challenge. Jerry had to make sure that Malachi did not jump up when he and Darlyn came home, as well as curb Malachi’s zoomies and prevent more jumping up on the furniture. By putting Malachi on a leash as soon as they entered the house, they were successfully able to control Malachi’s excited Golden tendencies. Jerry and Darlyn even slept next to Malachi on the floor so that he would be comforted and become fully acclimated to his new home.
Malachi’s Golden sister, Sheba, was a little bit confused about not being able to run and play with her new brother, but she waited patiently for Malachi to heal. Now, Jerry reports that Malachi and Sheba “regularly walk, run, nap and play tug-of-war together with their Rocky Raccoon and Wally Gator toys.” Besides antics with his sister, Malachi also enjoys stealing socks on laundry day and grabbing a few other clothes that he takes to his dog bed (surely to fold and put away). Malachi also has two cat siblings, so he has learned to appreciate their “nuzzles and kneads.” After playtime with the family, Malachi likes to lay on the dock and watch the dolphins swim and the boats pass by.
Not surprisingly, Malachi knows when feeding time rolls around. Jerry says that he has “an internal clock that appears finely tuned to one thing: Feeding time. When 5:30 p.m. approaches, we start getting the stink-eye. He also gets a splash of food to start the day, and on weekend sleep-in days, he is HAVING NONE OF IT and wakes us up at 7:30 a.m. for his breakfast.” Rather than bark, Malachi prefers to make his wishes known by grunting, snorting, and performing “noisy yawns.” If none of those tactics work, Malachi will finally speak up with a short, but loud, sharp bark.
After his two knee surgeries and his recuperation time, Malachi is doing great. Jerry says that Malachi does have a few mobility issues but is not any pain. Jerry notes, “He hoists himself onto the couch to join us for some TV, or places his front legs on our taller king bed and patiently waits for a ‘boost’ to join us there. He has brought much joy to our household.”
