Anjil (Follow 08-543)

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Say Hi to Angel, who briefly was Follow. Angel was a stray found by Good Samaritans T.J. and others as she was following one of the GS's up their driveway, who was returning from walking her own dog....hence her name Follow. The GS's did a great job of advertising that Angel had been found by them and such a nice dog had to have an owner who missed her. It appears that the owner did contact one of the GS's and advised that Angel was likely their dog but did not want her back, nor did they provide the name that they called her by.

RAGOM was very fortunate that the GS's contacted us, and a couple of days later Angel was at her new foster home in northern MN. In this short time Angel continues to improve from kinda scared to allowing us to see the GR in her. Angel weighs about 50 lbs and good use a few lbs. She has a beautiful golden coat and thanks to the GS's for getting the mats out and grooming her. She is getting much better on a leash even though she has a passion for the extremely dangerous squirrels that she may spot. Angel knows how to sit, shake and other basic commands, and is becoming very calm in her new environment as we sense she's thinking we're not so bad people. Currently Angel is sleeping on my feet under my desk, possibly a bit tired from the three outdoor walks we had today. She likes water and would easily go further into the lake if we let her - cold!!
Angel is eating well and has very proper manners while she eats. She has met other dogs already and seems to do well with them, and the same applies for people. She's doing much better on her jumping up sometimes, and may be a bit of a counter surfer even though we haven't seen her do so. The first two nights she slept on the floor with me, giving me the famous golden nose wakeup when she had to do her duties outside. She seems ok with being crated, which she will be for the next couple of nights.
Angel's giving me the quit writing and play with me look....she will take her toy and throw it up in the air to catch it again and spin around a few times. She does roll a bit when outside which is funny as she looks like she's break dancing while spinning. Angel has chased her own tail a couple of times and barks at it if she can't catch it, which she hasn't yet. Angel and I are headed out for a walk in the northern MN moonlight....no worries though, Angel is always on guard for those squirrels and is quite puzzled when she saw her first deer! More stories later after we've had her checked out at our friends at the Garrison Animal Hospital.

 

At a Glance #08-543

Golden Retriever Born: November 2004
Female 75 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

Say Hi to Angel, who briefly was Follow. Angel was a stray found by Good Samaritans T.J. and others as she was following one of the GS's up their driveway, who was returning from walking her own dog....hence her name Follow. The GS's did a great job of advertising that Angel had been found by them and such a nice dog had to have an owner who missed her. It appears that the owner did contact one of the GS's and advised that Angel was likely their dog but did not want her back, nor did they provide the name that they called her by.

RAGOM was very fortunate that the GS's contacted us, and a couple of days later Angel was at her new foster home in northern MN. In this short time Angel continues to improve from kinda scared to allowing us to see the GR in her. Angel weighs about 50 lbs and good use a few lbs. She has a beautiful golden coat and thanks to the GS's for getting the mats out and grooming her. She is getting much better on a leash even though she has a passion for the extremely dangerous squirrels that she may spot. Angel knows how to sit, shake and other basic commands, and is becoming very calm in her new environment as we sense she's thinking we're not so bad people. Currently Angel is sleeping on my feet under my desk, possibly a bit tired from the three outdoor walks we had today. She likes water and would easily go further into the lake if we let her - cold!!
Angel is eating well and has very proper manners while she eats. She has met other dogs already and seems to do well with them, and the same applies for people. She's doing much better on her jumping up sometimes, and may be a bit of a counter surfer even though we haven't seen her do so. The first two nights she slept on the floor with me, giving me the famous golden nose wakeup when she had to do her duties outside. She seems ok with being crated, which she will be for the next couple of nights.
Angel's giving me the quit writing and play with me look....she will take her toy and throw it up in the air to catch it again and spin around a few times. She does roll a bit when outside which is funny as she looks like she's break dancing while spinning. Angel has chased her own tail a couple of times and barks at it if she can't catch it, which she hasn't yet. Angel and I are headed out for a walk in the northern MN moonlight....no worries though, Angel is always on guard for those squirrels and is quite puzzled when she saw her first deer! More stories later after we've had her checked out at our friends at the Garrison Animal Hospital.

 

Updates

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

08-543 Follow who is now named Angel (actually the spelling is AnJill but is pronounced Angel) has been doing just great! She loves her walks and is super on her leash as she has learned how to do so through positive reinforcement and training. Angel has a very keen nose and becomes alert when there is squirrels, deer, birds, etc nearby. This week as we were walking the trails in the woods she stopped, lifted one of her front legs, and stared right at a deer about 100' away who had bedded down in the long grass - I would have never seen it! Angel has learned that she does not need to chase whatever she sees/smells and does a great job of continuing on our walks after she has noted what has interested her. As a lot of the hunting seasons have been open where we live she does become alert when she hears gunshots but she has not been tested in an actual hunting setting. As we have not had a "hunting dog" before it's pretty cool when she points something out...we have no idea if she has received any field training, or obedience training.
Angel did great with our large extended family on Thanksgiving and played great with all ages of kids and adults. She enjoys playing with other dogs, especially one's around her age (4) and younger. Angel rides great in the car and has become a very good "back seat" driver as she loves to see where we're going. She likes to play tug-o'war with her toys and does not appear to guard them as we can comfortably remove anything she's holding. She is fun to retrieve with as she has brought the toy to us, dropped it, then gets ready to go again, and then she may get distracted and wants to play with something else. Angel knows all the basic commands and has improved immensely on the "come" command. We have been working with Angel in the local tennis courts as it's a fenced area that she can run around in safely and learn to respond to commands from a distance. We don't think she'll need a fenced yard but will require some additional boundary training....her improvement in this area has been wonderful!
Angel does have free run of the house and we've had no problems at all! She sleeps wonderfully right next to our bed and will wake you with a nose nudge to get you going. She's very patient when she needs to go outside and will stand by the door and put her paw up to let you know. We've only heard her bark a few times and that's only when she wants to play. She is crate trained (she uses a large open wire crate) and knows the "kennel" command. We've left her alone uncrated for a few hours without any problems at all except that she prefers to sleep on our bed then - she must think we don't know! She's been eating great and waits for her treats. She does not counter surf nor dig through the garbage, etc.

Angel's very comfortable being around anyone while you're doing tasks and lays fairly close by but she is not clinging or must have attention, she's an Angel!

Angel is a beauty who has won over everyone she has met and will be a super dog for any family or person. She has changed so much in the few weeks we've had her and we love her a lot, but she's ready to become a member of her furever family.

If you'd like Angel to be a part of your family, please contact placementatragom [dot] org  for further info.

   

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Follow, whose new name is Angel, has been with us about 3 weeks now and we continue to learn more about her. Angel is a beauty who has a quiet demeanor but loves to play. Angel loves to be close to you but is not a Velcro GR and will give you space as she's comfortable wherever she is. Angel is crate trained but is reluctant to go in without some coaxing, and she likes to bark when she thinks you're gone but has learned that we just might be around the corner, which is something we continue to work on with her. Angel also continues to take her meds for her Lyme's disease and is very proficient at avoiding any food that may contain these meds, whether they are whole or crushed. Angel's appetite does concern us a bit as we'd like to see her eat more so we are trying different brands and hopefully we'll find the correct mix soon.
Angel has an exceptionally keen sense of smell which is pretty cool but also difficult as she then turns all her focus on what has her attention and you have to be very firm and speak to her directly to divert her attention to you, which may take a minute. We usually walk her 2-3 times per day and as we live in the woods and water she loves to walk and explore, and she continues to improve on her leash with less pulling. We have not put a gentle leader on Angel yet as she cringes a bit when you try to do so and since she has no problem with a regular collar leash we'll continue trying it this way....she really has become much better!
Angel is a "runner" which we thought she may be. While adjusting her collar last week when we were walking in a pasture she must have sensed the leash was temporarily unhooked and took off running about 500' east, turned around and came back to us at full speed heading west and blew by us making a large circle then headed south into the woods and we can confirm that she is a very fast runner. We were able to track her down out of the woods and entice her with a treat to come to us, which thankfully she did. We started training Angel today in a very large completely fenced in area and it appears she has not received any prior training to the "Come" command, which we hope she learns soon!
Angel is a sweet GR who's had a pretty tough life so far and it would be great to find her furever home.....more updates to "Follow"

 

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Angel is making great progress from her scary times being a stray and she truly is showing her Golden traits: nose nudges, snuggling in close as possible, interested in everything, her toys, and such. Angel visited our friends at the Garrison Animal Hospital this week....Dr D. said she's about 4 years and had already been spayed, and she weighs about 65 lbs which is just right for her. Angel received all her shots and tests and found that she does have Lyme's disease but shows no symptoms at all and she'll be taking her meds for the next month. Her coat is beautiful and everything seems to be just fine!
Angel surprised us earlier this week - during our morning walk she set, pointed, then flushed a grouse that was just a few feet from us in the woods, She also picked up the scent of a beaver trail which she pointed out to us, then found a rabbit that was hiding nearby. We can't say that she's a huntin' dog but we enjoyed this different side. You'll need a good grip on her leash when this happens as she becomes very excited....we've been working on leash control and she does better every walk. Angel is a very quick learner and will return praise given to her many times over. Angel is housetrained and will stand at the door and then scratch at it if she feels we have not responded quickly enough. She is also crate trained and somehow managed to get out of crate - full wire open one - twice and within minutes of her going in. Turns out she knows how to lift and unlock the crate door so we discussed this with her and with the aid of a quick snap she knows her place. It's fun to watch her play as you never know what move she'll put on you!
Angel is a great dog with a super loving personality who would do well with any family size. She is very comfortable with other dogs and seems to be ok with persons of all ages. Angel will need some more attention to her interest in squirrels and such and will do well knowing her boundaries as it seems she wasn't taught much about them previously. The name "Angel" fits her well and she loves to hear it...she's waiting for a furever family as she surely deserves one!