Hi Everyone,

    My mom said I should send another update before the school year starts and she is really busy.  I am continuing to do really well.  My mom says that I am a little more independent.  I now explore the yard on my own, as long as mom or another human is with me.  I also don't particularly like it when she goes outside without me.  My sister Gypsy and I are still getting a long great. Mom says I continue to become more and more playful.  We are babysitting Tigger for a couple weeks, as you can tell by some of the pictures we are having a blast!  We had baths today, so Tigger and I decided to chase each other for about 5 minutes around in the dirt patch in mom's yard.  Mom had to rinse us off again.  I like to run the fence with the neighbor bulldogs too.  That's about it for now.  Thanks again RAGOM.  

Finn (Leon 13-402)

Hi folks, Leon here.

Since my last update, I have been to another Meet & Greet. It was at Chuck and Don's pet food store in Edina. I started out greeting everyone I met with a wagging tail and a "hello" growl. Eventually, I gave up on the growl. All the people were much happier to pet me without the growl. My former foster parents were there and very happy to meet me again. A few other RAGOM volunteers that I met before said hi to me and some gave me treats. It really was a good time and I was pretty tired on the way home.

FD has been telling me that I have someone interested in meeting me and possibly adopting me. Well, today was the day. Leah brought her dog with to see if we would get along. I had no problems with her. I can't say the same for my foster sister Belle. They started growling and next thing they had a spat that had to be broken up. FD felt pretty bad about the fight. Me and my possible new sister hung out for a while and mostly ignored each other. That is much better than fighting. Well, the charm I turned on and the getting along worked. I am now adopted.

Thank You RAGOM for taking a chance on me. Thank You FD for hanging in there with me.

Hi, RAGOM fans, Leon here.

FD was slacking on my updates, so I took over this time. FD says I am getting better with my people meeting skills most times now. I've met a few men without as much as a growl! FD thinks that my growl is my way of talking. When FD plays with me, I will growl because I like it.

FD is making me sit at the weirdest times. He says it is a very good thing to give a "sit" any time I am asked to. We have been working on my recall when we are on walks and outside. FD says I'm doing very well at that also. FD said my recall in the house could be better. I am doing great at leaping straight up on command. I now leap and then sit for my breakfast and supper without FD having to ask me!

I'm still very attached to my crate, but FD closes the door sometimes to make me stay out of the crate. I will pace some and lay by the crate and then go lay by FD. He says I'm pretty Velcro, whatever that is.

I have very good hearing. I let FD know I hear something by quietly barking. FD says that is good, but it starts the other dogs barking.

Speaking of other dogs, I had 4 roommates since last update. Bailey 14-025 was here for a week or so, then just when things started to settle down, Jake 14-055 and Belle 14-056 came. I was hardly used to them when a Chocolate Lab puppy followed us home from a walk. The puppy tried to get me to play with him, but I don't go for that stuff. Luckily, Jake liked to play and kept the puppy from bugging me. The puppy and Jake left a few days later. Belle stayed. I like Belle and resident foster sister Ziggy.

Last week, FD took Ziggy to the vet because she wasn't eating and just wasn't feeling good. FD came home without her and was very sad. Ziggy is very sick and might have cancer. I cuddled with FD to try to help him feel better. FD went and picked up Ziggy that night and then took her back the next day and left her at the vet's office again, then picked her up that night. Ziggy is feeling better, but not out of the woods by any means. FD cooks her special meals and she does eat them. I make sure her bowl is clean after she gets done. It's the least I could do.

Just to highlight what I need in my furever home, here's a list:

• A crate or kennel. I spend lots of time in one and think of it as my security blanket.
• A quiet home without a lot of coming and going of new people. I remember people pretty well after meeting once.
• Daily walks. I love walks and can go long distances. I could be a possible running partner.
• Another dog would be good, but I may be OK as an "only" pet. I didn't do well as an only dog with cats.
• I'm good with cats here with FD. I even let them cuddle with me as long as I'm not in my crate.
• I don't jump up on furniture unless I'm asked to. I do like to sleep in bed at night with FD, but will sleep quietly on the floor or in my crate.
• I shed very little for a dog with Lab type hair.
• I like to learn new things and am food motivated.

Could I fit in your heart and home? Contact you placement adviser to meet me and find out.

Thanks for checking in on me,

Leon 13-402

Unfortunately, things didn't work out in Leon's adopted home and he was returned to RAGOM a week later. For some unknown reason, Leon couldn't handle being an only dog and having cats live with him. His adopters loved him and were devastated to have to return him, but their cat's safety came first.

Leon's previous foster had committed to foster another dog already. Fortunately, I had adopted out one of my foster dogs and had room to take Leon again. I had done the surrender of Leon from Tri-County Humane Society and temporarily fostered Leon until a foster was found, so I was very familiar with Leon, and Leon was familiar with me and my pack.

When I went to pick up Leon, he remembered me after only a couple of minutes and sniffs. Leon is a little nervous with rides in the car, but not bad by any means. Leon met my pack (2 dogs and 3 cats) with no problems at all.

Leon was a bit nervous. My other foster dog, Polly, was in the big wire crate that Leon liked when he was here previously, so I went and got a plastic crate and put a blanket in it. Leon went in right away on his own and just hung out in there for a few hours. Being in the crate seemed to calm Leon. He stayed in the crate most of the time, with the door open, the first few days back here. Eventually, Leon started coming out more to get pets, and even came and laid in bed with me for a couple of naps. Leon would still sleep in the crate at night until he had been here a week. Then he slept on the bed or on a dog bed at night.

Leon has since gotten back to how he was when he was here previously. Leon loves his walks. Unfortunately , Mother Nature has not been kind with the temps and wind, so most days have been "short" walks for Leon. On nice days, we will go 3 miles or more. We met a couple of Black Lab puppies on our walk the other day. Leon was fine with them. Leon isn't quite that good with the neighbor's Husky mix. He is getting better, though. Leon has not had a single problem with my 3 cats. He gives a very quiet warning growl when he is in his crate, and they heed it and leave him alone. Anywhere else, they can rub on him and will even sleep next to him with no problems. The only things I can think of that were different in his adoptive home are that he was the only dog (may have thought he had to be the leader of the pack) and that he didn't have a crate to go in to feel secure.

Leon does still have problems meeting many new people, mostly men from what I've seen and been told. I'm working on commands so that I can redirect Leon when meeting new people. Leon does "sit" pretty well, but it needs more work. I'll be working on "stay" and "lay down" also. The idea is to have him think of the commands and praise, rather than showing aggression. More reading for me also to lean more techniques.

At his time, I think Leon needs another dog in his forever home. I believe another dog will help Leon with his aggression quirks. Leon's adopters should be willing to work with him and possibly a trainer. A fence is always a good idea, but I don't see Leon as a flight risk, so a fence isn't required. Kids: I have not witnessed Leon around kids. He did come from a family with kids. With Leon's quirk when meeting new people, I would suggest caution. Leon loves walks and would need to be walked a mile or more every day (weather permitting).

Leon is an affectionate dog and really loves his people. Is Leon 13-402 the dog for you? Contact your placement adviser to meet him and find out.

Hi, Leon here. I don’t think FM will EVER get an update out on me. She missed last week – too busy having fun with all the holiday activities. Now she is back to work and says she is SO busy. Boring. So I decided to take matters into my own paws and send an update myself.

I have been a very good boy. I know I’m a sweet boy, too, because FM and FD just love me to pieces. They tell me all the time. I have started to open up a little. I never used to give any kisses, but I see resident dog Lucy kissing them all the time – so I tried it. Nice! FM was surprised and said, “Oh, Leon, I love you, too!” Now I kiss her and FD quite often.

Also, I think I would like to play with Lucy, but I don’t really know how. I started a couple of times, but I kind of backed off. It was a little scary. We did play tug-of-war with a new toy my two-legged foster sister made. FM was happy to see me having a little fun. I think I’ll try that again someday.

Some nice people came to see me this week. We were hoping they would maybe want to adopt me, but I blew it by being too growly. I just couldn’t help it. I was pushing into them getting lots of pats and head rubs. I got some treats, too. But then I would start growling at the man. I don’t know why I am so afraid of new men I meet. I love the ones I know.

FD is going to take me out to a meet-and-greet next weekend, so maybe I will meet one or two of you. I will probably be scared, so please don’t take it personally if I growl a little – or even a lot. That’s all for now. Happy New Year to all of you.

Ok – FM here – Leon got the computer warmed up, so I’ll add my little note. Yes, Leon IS a wonderfully sweet boy here at home with us, but he does have an issue meeting men. Probably some man was cruel to him at some time. His forever family will have to be patient with him about that, and will have to be careful introducing him to strangers. Even when out on a walk, his family will have to make sure he is under control before passing someone. We have the same problem with our resident Shih Tzu, who has what is commonly called “little dog syndrome.” I call it crabby. Most of the time, I pick him up before passing someone, because I know he will snarl and growl and be a menace. Nevertheless, it is a lot easier and less worrisome when the dog is 16 pounds and easy to pick up.

Leon loves to ride in the car and does four-footed jumps straight up in the air – not jumping ON us, just jumping straight up – anytime a leash comes out. He is pretty happy to be invited to do anything. :)

We will be at the Coon Rapids Meet-and-Greet on Saturday, January 11th. If you have any interest in meeting Leon, please come on in and meet us.

One very surprising and optimistic note: Yesterday, I had our “computer guy,” who is also a family friend, come over to fix something. I was working and did not have time to work on dog introductions and monitor the situation while he worked, so I had closed Leon into our bedroom. We were standing in my office when my husband came home, and Leon must have gotten excited enough to jump on the bedroom door and got himself out; the door apparently doesn’t have a very good latch. He came directly into the office where all three of us humans were standing around. I had told our friend a little about Leon and why he was not out to meet him, so I suspect he was a little apprehensive when Leon came scrambling into the room. I give him credit for just continuing to talk and work on what he was doing. Leon surprised me by not growling AT ALL! He came up, sniffed the man’s hand, greeted us all, and kept going back and forth between all the people. The man petted him at some point and all was well. I wish that happy note was the end of the story. Later, Leon had settled into his open-door crate which we have left up in the living room. The man passed by the crate – Leon gave a nasty growl. So everything is not rosy in Leon-land, but I was very happy with his initial response to the unexpected meeting.

Also, I just returned from walking him around the block. We passed someone snow blowing with a big, loud blower and Leon didn’t react at all. And I bumped into a neighbor and spent some time chatting with him. As we talked, Leon went over and sniffed his hand and accepted a few pats on the head. No growling. He might have some issues, but he is certainly not a hopeless case.

We took Leon to a meet-and-greet last weekend and learned something about this oversized lap dog. He does not greet strangers appropriately – especially men. He seemed to be very afraid, and was somewhat unapproachable. You never know what you are going to get with rescue dogs and we will never know what happened in his past to make him that nervous. We put a Gentle Leader on him to give us more control of his head, and then worked through meeting a couple of men – one a RAGOM volunteer and the other a store employee. Once he was carefully introduced to those men, Leon calmed down for petting and to take treats.

When I wrote my first update a week ago today, I was just coming off the first week of having him in our house – and he was so easy and friendly to have around. I had forgotten that when we first picked Leon up from his temporary foster’s house, he was fine welcoming my daughter and me into the temp foster’s house, but he growled at my husband – who was about to be Leon’s new FD (foster dad). My husband held out his hand for Leon to sniff and then started petting the other dogs around him. It took Leon a minute or two to quiet down, but then he accepted my husband and he has been very affectionate to him. This was the same pattern when our son-in-law stopped by our house the first time after we had brought Leon home. Leon wasn’t sure at all if he should be accepting of this stranger, but my son-in-law held out his hand and petted the dogs around Leon, and Leon decided he was alright. Now when my son-in-law stops over, Leon sniffs him quickly and remembers and is totally fine with him coming in the house. His tail wags and he noses in for the attention he loves.

Going forward, we will need to be certain to do slow and controlled introductions. This will hopefully give Leon the confidence to meet new people with less fear.

At home, he continues to be a very sweet and gentle dog, and very, very affectionate. He is one of those ‘Velcro’ dogs; when you leave one room for another, he is bound to have followed you there a minute or two later. He loves to be in a lap, and is very gentle and slow climbing up. I have decided I am not very comfortable underneath him, so he isn’t on my lap very often; FD is more accommodating. Leon sleeps curled up on the foot of the bed every night, and is very still and calm. You almost don’t know he is there.

He is spending a little more time outside now that we have had a few days out of the deep freeze. He is still not playing with our dogs, but seems companionable with them. He has had free roam of our house ever since he came here. He has never gotten into anything that he should not have. He is a total pleasure to have around!