Hi Everyone! My name is Emmy and I want to introduce myself. I’m a beautiful (if I do say so myself), slim, dark red Golden Retriever. Most of my life up until now has been spent raising puppies. Now that I’m retired, my owners sent me to RAGOM so that I could find a family that I could spend my golden years with.

It was pretty scary for me when I arrived at my foster home. I had new dogs, new cats, and new people to meet. I had to figure out what living in a house was like. It was overwhelming at first, but Foster Mom and Foster Dad told me to just relax and figure things out at my own speed.

I found a safe place to lie down (between their chairs in the living room) and started trying to figure out how things worked here.

It took me a while to feel comfortable enough to eat, but now I’m getting with the program. Foster Dad fed me by hand for the first couple of days, but now I eat all by myself (as long as he stays in the room with me).

I love this smelly stuff they pour over my kibble—they call it salmon oil. It really stinks—it’s just the best! They say it will make my beautiful red coat even softer.

My two dog brothers, Beau and Tank, have been great. They don’t pester me, but I can watch them to get a better idea of what I’m supposed to do. Tank came with me to see the vet the other day. He showed me how to get in and out of the van on my own, so I didn’t need to ride in a kennel. He showed me that we could lay down on the floor and actually snooze a bit during the trip.

When we got there, he took me to the exam room and let me know that, if I stayed calm, the vet and the vet techs would give me treats. When we were done there, I followed my big brother back to the van and we went back home. I like my brothers! 

This foster stuff is hard work sometimes, trying to figure out what’s going on and how I can fit in. I like it though. At the end of a hard day of foster training I love going into the bedroom with the whole pack and lying down on my very own dog bed for a long night’s sleep.

When it starts to get light, I join my dog brother Beau and help him to wake up Foster Dad to tell him it’s time for our first walk and then breakfast. That’s all for now everyone, I’ll let Foster Dad get on here. Thanks for reading about me!

Foster Dad here. Emmy is a joy to have as part of our pack. She is a unique combination of scared, affectionate, and curious. Her fears are of the unknown—and almost everything about her life in our home is new to her.

Based on our previous experience with retired breeder girls, we will give her the time and space to work her way through all of these new experiences. It always takes time but, two steps forward and one back, she will figure all of this out.

Emmy is one observant girl. By day three she had figured out on her own that she was supposed to sit to get treats. She also caught on quickly that Foster Mom was a good bread baker and Foster Dad was sometimes careless about not putting the fresh loaves in the center of the table.

Two bread loaves and one peanut butter sandwich have quickly and quietly disappeared from the table in the past two weeks.

We took Emmy for her first vet checkup this past week. Her ears and eyes looked great. She is negative for heartworm and parasites. She has a strong heart and has good movement in her joints.

The only reason for concern is a mammary tumor that Dr. Jen found during the exam, as well as a couple of cracked teeth. Her spay surgery is scheduled for the first week in December and Dr. Jen will take care of the teeth and remove the tumor for analysis at the same time.

Emmy has met three of our grandkids, ages 13 -15, with no problem. She was wary at first but soon warmed up to them. We think that she will need a relatively quiet environment, so we’ll be looking for a home with adults or perhaps with dog-savvy children ages 10+.

She was initially afraid of our neighbors when she saw them outside. After slow introductions she will now (slowly) come up to them for pets and attention. She will need another large, confident dog to continue showing her the ropes of how to be an inside dog.

Hers will be a journey to get to the point where she can be the confident dog she deserves to be. If you think that you’d like to be part of that, we would love to talk to you about her. Please stay tuned for more to come about this beautiful girl.