Bernie is one fetching machine! He cuts like a quarter horse, chasing the sticks in the yard or a ball or his squeaky hamburger down the long hall in the house. He brings it back and drops it at your feet and looks at you with a look that could only say AGAIN! His Southern Beau mentality about the snow has worn off, and now he is happy to explore the woods (or should I say brush) on the hill behind our house. Other than the turkey calls which made both dogs set a 100 yard dash record, he's been great on the flexi-leash. It allows me to reel him in when he finds fish on the shore or rabbit fur in the woods. He takes the redirection well. He and Mike take turns being first on the deer path. There is no requirement that he be first in line. Every morning and every night he goes to the car door to see if we're going for a ride before we go on our walk. He seems to be telling me he wants to go to his forever home (or maybe the pet store?).

Today he went to the vet to have two growths removed. The one by his tail was driving him crazy and he chewed on it every chance he got, so off it came. And so did a pretty big patch of his lovely, newly grown soft blonde hair! They shaved him. I was devastated! It took him so long to look so good, but it will grow out now, we know that. The vet commented how wonderful he looks from when she first saw him back in October. His ears no longer have an infection, but are still red, so we will continue to treat them. The allergy shots are increasing in strength until he has a full dose, and we're looking forward to no more sneezes in the morning.

I've attached a couple of pictures of this handsome, really sweet lover. He's stealing our hearts with his laid back personality. He doesn't get into anything while we're gone (now that the dog food is locked up). No shoes, no papers, no shredding. It's great having an older, well behaved companion, happy to see you when you come home. We have been spoiling him with the occasional feta cheese, liverwurst or pot roast- they all hide the antihistamines so well!!

We really like our Bernie but he's ready to settle into his forever home. Please contact Placementragom [dot] org if you think he was sent from Louisiana just for you!!

What a great day today for a long walk to the park to meet dogs, watch ducks and smell all the great smells the world has to offer! Bernie and Mike and I walked up to the park and met a few dogs there. He was an absolute gentleman. I learned that he walks well on the flexi-leash, which I use in the woods on our daily morning and evening walk, but he pulls on the shorter leather leash. I guess it's time to get out the Gentle Leader and start practicing how to walk alongside his people. We went to the pet store today as well, and he loved the mice, rabbits and the kids that were there with their folks. He shopped all the treats at nose level and only picked out one he wanted to eat on the spot. We bought pizzles and one of the two is gone already tonight between Bernie and Mike working on it.

Bernie pulled a fast one on me this week that scared the heck out of me, but we can laugh about now, -- sort of. On Tuesday, when I went upstairs to shower before work, Mike followed and waited on the bed as usual. Bernie didn't come upstairs and was laying on the dog bed in the kitchen/great room, so I didn't make him come up. When I came back downstairs about 20 minutes later, I noticed Bernie's tummy was kind of full. It even looked a little bloated. I'd only had him 3 full days, so my frame of comparison wasn't perfect, but we needed to go on our morning walk, so I put on the leash and had to convince him to come outside, and we did a 20 minutes of our half hour in the woods, going down the street, up a hill, through the woods and back down the hills. He wanted to cut the walk short at the 10 minute path, but I made him keep going. At the second path, he insisted we head home instead of going another 10 minutes. When we got home, he slid to the floor, rolled over on his side, and oh my, his gut was now really big, so I called the vet, fearing a twisted bowel, maybe a bowel obstruction from something he swallowed. They had time for him and I brought him in and they did an xray. It was all food. Dog food. Seems the laundry room door (just off the kitchen) wasn't closed tight when I went up to shower and he put on the feed bag in Mike's Nutro Max, eating until he was full when we weren't looking. The clue- he weighed in at 78.1 lbs. A month earlier he had been around 62. He stayed with them for the day and they walked him and controlled the amount of water he could drink, and let him move it through his system. I picked him up on my way home from work Tuesday night, to return for a weigh in and post xray on Wednesday morning. Bernie weighed 68 lbs on Wednesday morning. He lost 10 lbs in 24 hours. They figure he ate 5-8 lbs of dog food and pretty much it bloated up when he drank as much water as he could before I came downstairs to go for our walk. The dog food is now in a tall plastic container with a lid that requires opposable thumbs to open. This will not happen again (at least in my house). I learned from his former foster that he did in a pan of lasagna and a loaf of bread at her house, so I guess his food obsession is probably something his forever home will have to be aware of. The vet said some dogs (not just those locked up without food for weeks on end) will eat until they're ready to pop. If you leave good smelling food out or dog food unprotected, Bernie will find it and take care of it to remind you not to do that again.

Other than lots of walks to get rid of the excess food, Bernie has shown a few interesting attributes this week. He rang the bell on the back door to go outside one day. It's been there since Mike was a puppy, and we use Zen most of the time to know that Mike needs to go out, but if we're reading the paper and not channelling correctly, Mike will nose it to go outside. I'm not sure Mike has rung it since Bernie has been here, but he rang it himself to go out, so he's a pretty smart guy. Since I don't have a fence, he has an outside collar attached to a long rope and he'll scratch the door to come back in. If I take him off leash or take his collar off on the step, he doesn't try to run- he'd rather be inside, but on our walks I don't trust him to come back if he was off leash to come to me instead of heading off in search of where the smells came from. A family with a fenced yard would be perfect for this guy. If not, he'll need the long rope or pulley to go outside if people aren't with him, at least until he knows this is the best thing in life, and why would he ever want to leave? He's not shown any interest in chewing the rope, so I don't think there's any risk there of his trying to escape.

Bernie and Mike hang all day and loaf while we're at work. They have free run of the house, but pretty much stick to the kitchen/great room where all the bones and dog beds are laid out. Bernie hasn't chewed anything inappropriate, and hasn't had any accidents. He doesn't get on the couch. He's alone with Mike about 7 hours until my neighbor girl comes to take them for a walk after school. If she isn't able to come, they'd be alone about 9 hours.

Bernie and Mike have wrestled and played together a few times this week as well. They're both middle aged guys, (6-ish) but they like a little tumble with others, now and again, and Bernie is now feeling comfortable enough with this house and his housemate to initiate play. That was a great sign that Bernie is a happy camper and not stressed out. He also wanted to play today with the neighbor's Springer Spaniel.

He's been happy to take his pills and I've occasionally had to apply the Fidoderm spray to itchy areas so he won't lick them, but it is few and far between that I need to do this.

Bernie has also been reactive to Mike's barks. If Mike is outside and barks at whatever (the wind, a raccoon, fox or deer), Bernie will tell me inside the house that Mike is barking outside and we should be aware, or that Mike wants to come in. Thank you Bernie.

I admit, even though Bernie was perfectly happy on the floor next to the bed on a quilt, I've invited him to join us on the foot of the bed at night. In the morning, Mike is usually on the floor and Bernie is still in bed. That Mike deserves a foster-brother award of giving up his place to company during the year. Bernie doesn't demand that when the alarm goes off, you get out of bed and do your job, either. He's perfectly content to listen to the radio, let you go downstairs and make coffee, and join you later when he's had a chance to pull his thoughts together. (Take a lesson, Mike.)

Bernie knows the following commands and words: sit, wait, come, his name, rides, treats, nummies (where he does his dance), walks, leave-it, Mike, lay down (most of the time), bones, and where's Tom? He likes my husband and isn't partial to where he's going to park and watch or nap. Men and women are equally acceptable to him. He's an easy guy to have around and loves people. He likes to have his ears, his butt, his throat, or his tummy scratched, and smiles and moans with delight that someone would be willing to spend a minute or two telling him he's pretty and we think he's special.

If you want a special guy whose hair is still growing out (although he starting to get something like feathers on his haunches), with a few rough spots on his elbows and a few patches here and there that still itch once in a while, but has the biggest heart and sweetest disposition, please contact Placement and tell them you'd like meet our Bernie. He's ready for his forever home.

Bernie came back into RAGOM after a very loving family had him for two weeks. Unfortunately, their 15 lb. Terrier wasn't willing to accept a new member of the family, and through no fault of his own, Bernie is back with a new foster in Hudson. He gets along well with the resident dog, Mike, and Bernie thinks he's gone to bone heaven. He has removed and tasted every knuckle, pizzle, rawhide and knot. He carried one upstairs to sleep last night and laid on the comforter next to the bed, gnawing for about 45 minutes until he dozed off. He remained next to the bed all night and didn't bug us, even after the radio went off in the morning.

Bernie has come so far since he was found in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I've attached one photo from the night he arrived from Louisiana and one of him last night with his stash (see picture at top of page). He has short hair that has come back very nicely after being trapped behind a door in a flooded house for three weeks after the hurricane in toxic waste water. There are a few patches where the hair hasn't grown back yet, but even if his body isn't perfect, he has a perfect disposition. He has some allergies but has been vetted well since coming into RAGOM and is progressing very nicely. He is a happy guy, very friendly, and carries his squeeky hamburger around when he isn't thinking about a bone.

Bernie is NOT a typical Golden Retriever. In fact, with his broad head and jowls, and some excess skin on the top of his head, he looks like he might have some hound dog in him. We don't discriminate against happy yellow dogs, and Bernie is an excellent companion. He lays by the computer when I type, he's house trained, happy and he trots right along on our walks. I have a feeling Bernie is going to help with one of those New Year's Resolutions - I'm going to lose some weight with this dog! For a 6 and a half year old dog, this guy has great energy and loves to go for walks! He'd be a great jogging companion. He sticks to the path and doesn't veer off to investigate. (We like that when we walk with a flexi-leash in the woods.)

Bernie would be an excellent running partner and would do well in a home with no dogs or another dog, if it's not pushy. He has some medications that he needs to take for his allergies, but he loves to take them with liverwurst or cheese, so that's not real hard!

If you're interested in a sweet boy to lay at your feet, go for long walks or a jogging partner, contact Placement and let them know that you'd like to make Bernie a member of your household. Bernie will be at the RAGOM booth at River Centre on Sunday morning (Jan. 8th) if you'd like to meet him in person!

October 1, 2005 arrival from New Orleans

Hi folks, Bernie here for one of my last updates! I have some very special news. I, Bernie, am going to have my very own forever family for Christmas. They loved me so much, that they waited for Dec. 1 so they could come and visit me. They love me so much they don't care about my bald spots, and they don't care about my itchies. I'm going to have my own mom & dad, my own human sister, and even another doggie to play with. He and I already got ourselves into a bit of trouble when I went to visit (hey, no one told me you're supposed to mark OUTSIDE the house, and obviously no one told him either). Just think of all the mischief we will come up with together! I can even teach him my tie-the-human-up-with-the-leashes trick. I will miss having my very own cat to chase, but for some reason I'm thinking the feeling isn't mutual...

My mom got all excited this week, looked at me one day and started kissing me like crazy - apparently I've gained so much weight that I'm getting what she calls "marshmallow rolls." I have no idea what she is talking about, but she keeps grabbing these folds in my skin and kissing me. You know, females are just a little weird sometimes, don'tya think? This week I have an appointment with someone who specializes in allergies, and mom says I have to get something called an "eck-stract'shun." I have no idea what that is, but everytime she tells someone they wince and pat me sympathetically - that is NOT good. But, it's the last thing I have to do before I can go to my new home so I guess it will be worth it.

Anyway, I have to run and plan what I'm going to do first when I get to my new house! I wonder if they'll have any food out on the counters....

My new marshmallow rolls

Bernie continues to improve, little by little. His fur is really filling in, his body has dark/longer Golden Retriever hair but his head makes me think he has a little Yellow Lab in him. His intestines are still a little messed up (most likely from the floodwater he drank for 3 weeks that had oil in it) - he has soft stools and, well, let's just say he can clear a room out pretty darn fast. We are thinking the food we have had him on may be a little too rich and we're noticing improvement on the new food we have slowly switched him to - I'm happy to report no one has run from a room screaming "Berrrrrrrnieeeeeee" with their nose plugged in days. This week he completely won over my other Golden, and now he sometimes will seek out Red and curl up next to him for a nap. Soon he will be getting neutered, more updates to come!

Don't I look beauuuuutiful??Me and my new friend Red

We've learned some new things about Bernie this week. The person who actually rescued him from his New Orleans home called Bernie's RAGOM Angel (who transported him up here), and relayed details from when he was found. He was not under a door, but behind a flood soaked swollen bedroom door they needed to break down. When they burst in he was just laying there and wagged his tail! The water he was in was horrible, filled with a lot of oil from a ruptured oil line down the street.

I discussed the oil issue with Bernie's vet, along with the fact that he had some redness getting worse on his skin in some areas, and she wondered if it might be the toxins from the oil (which he both soaked in and drank for three weeks) coming out of his pores and irritating his skin. We decided to try a bath (he hadn't been bathed in 10 days) to see if it made things better or worse, and WOW. The next morning (after his bath) most of his red spots had disappeared and his scratching decreased dramatically. Even his eyes went from bloodshot to almost white. So, Mr. Bernie is now starting bath therapy, and will get a bath every 48 hours for a little while with a very gentle shampoo.

Now a little more about his personality: this dog is one of the most gentle, well mannered (OK not including that loaf of bread he ate) dogs I have ever seen. Tonight, when I went to give him a bath, he climbed into the tub while I was getting out the shampoo and WAITED.... yes, WAITED for me to turn on the water. Dog baths in my house normally mean dragging the dog, four paws planted, into the bathroom and then sumo wrestling them until I somehow manage to lift their 60 pound bodies into the tub. Not Bernie. On top of that - after 5 days of kitty therapy, he now hears "no-no Bernie" and 4 times out of 5 he turns away from the cat and walks over to me. (we're still working on the 5th time) He sleeps in our bedroom and never makes a peep, doesn't get up for the day until one of us does, no accidents in the house, walks like a pro on the gentle leader, loves to ride in the car, doesn't bark much...I could go on and on. If this boy goes up for adoption, he is going to be one heck of a catch for someone out there.