Cora 19-015
Profile
At a Glance #19-015
| Golden Retriever | Born: April 2016 |
| Female | 54 lbs |
Status: Adopted
Profile
Updates
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Cora was the most challenging foster dog because she was afraid of humans when she came in from a commercial breeding facility. She was in foster care for just over a year and she has come a long way, but is still leery of people.
A very patient, retired lady wants Cora to be a companion to her and her 6-year-old Golden. Cora you are loved and will continue to blossom!
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
It has been too long since I last sent in an update and I apologize for that! I’ve been working on other areas of RAGOM and the update was always pushed to the back of the line because I knew Cora still needed to gain more confidence before she could be adopted.
Cora came into RAGOM’s care as such a damaged dog. She still doesn’t trust people most of the time (even me) after being in foster care for a year. She always has to know where I am at and is very aware of her surroundings so no one can jump out and grab her. Just look at the fear in her eyes!
One thing that Cora has improved upon is being in the house when someone new comes in. As long as she can be on her dog bed, she knows that she is safe there. She doesn’t like anyone to walk toward her, so we have to approach from the side and sit down first. Then she will allow someone to touch her, but she doesn’t enjoy it.
Cora goes outside any chance she can get and wants to be the first one out the door. Getting her back into the house is more of a problem. She is always the last one to come in.
She comes into the garage and stands in front of the kitchen door looking in and looking behind her in the garage. I have to stand by the kitchen sink so she knows where I am and say “Cora come!” before she will even think about coming in. Then after 2 – 3 minutes, she finally comes in when I tell her “It’s OK” or “Good girl!” This girl takes a lot of patience, which I have, but it is difficult when I am trying to leave for an appointment.
One major problem with Cora is she loves to eat fabric, foam, and leather. One of my resident dogs has always loved destuffing toys to get the squeaker out, so I would only have them out when I was home so I could take them back if anyone started chewing on the fabric.
I always had a rug under the water bowl and it was never chewed on until Cora got braver. One day I found the edge of it unraveled, but didn’t know which dog had done it and didn’t worry about it because everyone seemed fine.
A month later Cora started acting sick. She didn’t want to eat or run around the yard. Then she got diarrhea and started throwing her food up. The next day she was throwing up bile, so I brought her to the Vet and we ended up at Blue Pearl Emergency Hospital. Cora had a blockage from the strings that she ate from that rug a month earlier! The surgeon said it can roll around in the stomach for a long time before it starts moving through the digestive tract and gets stuck. Poor Cora needed immediate surgery to remove the blockage.
I had to remove all area rugs, kitchen mats, pillows, and blankets. When I leave the house, I have to put all dog beds away except for one with a canvas type cover on it that she can’t chew. Cora freaks out when I put her in a crate and tries to chew her way out. I’m afraid she will break her teeth or hurt herself, so I don’t use it.
When I left the dogs here for a few hours one day about 3 weeks ago, I came home to a 10 x 12-inch hole in the leather cushion of my couch. My heart sank as I watched the video from the baby camera that I have on while I am gone. Cora laid on the couch for 25 minutes ripping pieces and chewing them. I am still watching her for any signs of another blockage. Now I block all dogs in the kitchen when I leave.
When I took Cora in for her annual checkup, the vet suggested that I bring her to a behaviorist. She also gave me a prescription to relax her for when I am going to be gone for hours. This is in addition to the Fluoxetine that she gets every day. I am anxious to see what the behaviorist says about Cora. She continues to trust me a little more every day, but still hasn’t taken a treat from my hand yet. That is the day that I am waiting for!!
Thursday, August 22, 2019
My beautiful Cora continues to get braver! She is so ready to find her forever home so she can learn your routines and explore your yard!
She loves and needs routines so she knows she didn’t get hurt the last time she did something. For example, she now knows that she is safe waiting in the kitchen where she now eats, right by me, after she finishes eating, while I wash out the bowls. Then she knows she will go outside to go potty.
If someone new is in the house, she might not wait in the kitchen because she thinks that person might grab her. She waits in her safe spot, her bed, but as soon as she hears the door open and I call her name, she will come outside immediately. I am trying to have different people come over to get her used to new people.
Another thing that I am working on is getting Cora used to being petted or just having her ears rubbed. I sit by her dog bed and talk to her while petting her every day. Now I am also putting a leash on her and bringing her by the couch when I am sitting on it so she doesn’t think she has to always be in the bed.
When I get up in the morning, she is sleeping on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. As soon as she sees me, she goes back to her bed even though I tell her she can stay there.
Her anti-anxiety meds are doing wonders for her. She doesn’t run away from me as I walk within a foot of her outside now. I have to pick up any dog poop right away or Cora will beat me to it and eat it. When we are going back into the house, she will walk right next to me. Hopefully some day we can wean her off of the medication.
Cora still loves her car rides. Today when we went to the bank, I saw her in my rear-view mirror. I knew a dog was standing with front feet on the console next to me, but thought it was my resident dog. It was Cora! As soon as I started talking to her, she got back onto the back seat, but when I put my hand back there, she licked my hand! Baby steps!
Cora is going to make some family very happy some day! It has to be someone with a lot of patience and can wait for Cora to do things on her terms. She really needs a confident dog to follow. If you would like to meet Cora, please fill out the inquiry form.
Monday, July 15, 2019
Cora has come a long way in the last few months, but still has a way to go overcoming her fear of people.
I took her to the Vet to discuss her anxieties. When I first got Cora, she was afraid to let me take her out of the car. Now she loves to go for a ride and is the first one to jump into the car and comes out willingly!
The first few times on a leash, Cora became a bucking bronco! The Vet asked me to try some calming care powder on her food for a week before putting her on any medication. I did that for a week and didn’t see any change, so he started her on Fluoxetine. He said it would take about 3 weeks to see any change.
Finally, I started seeing small improvements where Cora wasn’t trembling when I touched her. Now I can pet her when she is laying in her bed without her entire body twitching and shaking! She still has fear in her eyes and is always looking for her escape route, so I continue to talk to her as I approach and while I am by her.
I had to bring Cora back to the Vet for a booster shot last week. This time she walked in without pulling on the leash. She wanted to say Hi to the other dogs, but we just walked to the end seat.
If Cora knows there is an extra person or new people in the house, she won’t come in. After they leave, I have to spend some time outside with the dogs to get her to forget about other people in the house. She follows me within 5 to 10 feet as I am cleaning up the yard, but still won’t get close enough so I can touch her outside.
If I ever can’t get her relaxed enough to come in, I have to bring my resident dog close to her for a minute, then tell him to go back in so she will run in with him. When I know people will be coming over, I have to use the 30-foot lead on Cora so I can pick up the end and walk her in.
I quit bringing the food dish to Cora in her bed and set it on the floor a few feet from the bed. Every day I move it closer to the kitchen where my dogs eat. Now she comes to the dish as soon as I set It down and it is just a foot from being in the kitchen.
She comes into the kitchen when she is done eating and stands behind me. Cora still won’t take a treat from my hand, but will quickly eat it as soon as I turn to walk away from her.
Cora’s coat has come in beautifully. Her tail has flowing feathers now and she holds it high when she prances around the yard. She has started play-bowing to my male resident dog and tries to join in when he is playing with my female resident.
She looks like a ‘normal’ dog from a distance, but these former commercial breeding mamas take time to trust humans. They have to learn everything from another confident dog and she is trying so hard. If you have a fenced in yard to keep her safe, have another confident dog to help build her confidence, and have a lot of patience, you might be a good fit for her.
Cora is ready to find her forever home because she will have to learn a new family’s routine all over. If you are interested in meeting Cora, please send in an Inquiry form.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
I would like to introduce Cora, a 3-year-old purebred Golden Retriever. She is a retired commercial breeder mama who has her breeding days behind her because she only had small litters.
Cora has been in foster care for 7 weeks now and is still very scared of people. She is the most skittish foster I have had here. She loves other dogs and follows mine in and out of the house and tries to join in with my dogs when they wrestle. This is why we have the requirement of another confident dog in the forever home.
When Cora came into RAGOM, she had ear infections. We got those cleared up, brought her up to date on her shots, tests, preventatives, and got her spayed. She weighed 49 pounds and now weighs 54 pounds. Her ideal weight is 60 pounds, so we have a little way to go. She had very thin fur. Eating quality food now, she is starting to get feathers on her tail and back legs and thicker fur.
With her fear of people, she will need to go to a home without children. Loud noises and sudden movements make her tremble. Even when I bring her dish of food to her, she cowers and shakes so I don’t make eye contact with her then.
Every day I take time to talk with her and pet her so she gets used to having people touch her, but she doesn’t enjoy it yet. She will eat treats now, but not take them from me. I have to put the treat in front of her and walk away.
After her first week in the kennel, I left the door open hoping she would come out on her own. She spent all of her time in the kennel and only came out to go outside. She stayed in her kennel for the first month.
I tried closing the door on the kennel for an hour so she couldn’t go in, hoping she would lay on a dog bed. She just paced around the rooms. Finally she laid on a dog bed in the corner.
She has only had one accident in the house and that was after her spay surgery. She came down with a high fever and got the diarrhea.
I use a baby camera on the dogs when I am gone and noticed that if I wasn’t home, she would spend her time in a dog bed in the living room. That proved that she wasn’t afraid of the room, just me, so I took the kennel down to encourage her to join us. She will sleep in a dog bed in the living room, but watches what I am doing.
So, once Cora is more trusting of people, she can go to her forever home.