Gracie 05-268

Profile

9/1/05: Puppy kisses!! We received a phone call this morning that 9 puppies lost their mother. They are two-weeks old and not yet old enough to eat on their own, so will be bottle-fed for at least the next week, and after that they hopefully will be able to start eating some very thin puppy gruel mixed with formula. No, they aren?t Golden Retrievers - they're a Lab mix. But they are seriously in need and we couldn?t say no. Kelli, an absolutely fantastic volunteer, has offered to short-term foster them for us. She owns and breeds Golden Retrievers and is extremely experienced in caring for young puppies, so these little ones are in very good paws :) Golden thanks to Kelli, and also to Michele and Konnie for taking over for Kelli!

Please welcome "Honorary Goldens" Kylee, Nikki, Gracie, Molly, Tatka & Jube (females) and Newton, Badger & Ole (males). All have been named after RAGOM foster or resident dogs that have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Gracie

At a Glance #05-268

Breed not specified Born: December 2006
Female Weight not specified

Status: Adopted

Profile

9/1/05: Puppy kisses!! We received a phone call this morning that 9 puppies lost their mother. They are two-weeks old and not yet old enough to eat on their own, so will be bottle-fed for at least the next week, and after that they hopefully will be able to start eating some very thin puppy gruel mixed with formula. No, they aren?t Golden Retrievers - they're a Lab mix. But they are seriously in need and we couldn?t say no. Kelli, an absolutely fantastic volunteer, has offered to short-term foster them for us. She owns and breeds Golden Retrievers and is extremely experienced in caring for young puppies, so these little ones are in very good paws :) Golden thanks to Kelli, and also to Michele and Konnie for taking over for Kelli!

Please welcome "Honorary Goldens" Kylee, Nikki, Gracie, Molly, Tatka & Jube (females) and Newton, Badger & Ole (males). All have been named after RAGOM foster or resident dogs that have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Gracie

Updates

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Gracie’s not sure what to make of this new phenomenon we have going on right now. I told her it was just snow, and she should test it out, but as soon as she saw it, she turned right around and wouldn’t go outside. I helped her put her feet into it, and she said, “no, thanks” and tried to go back into the house again. So I picked her up, and carried her out to the middle of the yard, and she went potty! I gave her tons of praise and a treat!

Since both girls were shivering outside, I decided to try their sweaters on again – they didn’t fit as well. As you can see from the pictures, Gracie has grown quite a bit since the last time she wore it! You can also tell that she is not exactly loving being outside in the snow… I’m sure she will get used to it soon.

Gracie is the more laid back puppy. She is content to watch the big girls wrestle with Kylee, until Kylee comes and pounces on her! Then she is ready to play, too. She is such a cute puppy!

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Gracie continues to be one of the best puppies ever! As long as we mostly pay attention, she is fully potty-trained. She will wait at the door making noises for a few minutes before choosing to have an accident in the house instead. She would much rather go outside, given the option.

I haven’t been great about getting the puppies out and about, so on Monday, the 5 yr old I nanny for and I took Gracie to a pet store! She was kind of scared of the shelves and all the stuff, but thought all the people were great!! She would run up to everyone who talked to her, and roll on the floor for a belly rub!

Gracie is a talker. When I say talker, I don’t mean barker. She sort of mumbles and whimpers when she wants something. When I get up to let them out in the morning, the whole way down the stairs and to the door she is chattering away! It’s very cute!

Normally when I have to leave for a little while, I put puppies I foster for in a kennel. With these girls, they have always been able to keep a small area of a room clean, instead of just a kennel. I put two kennels, a bowl of water, and some toys in a gated off area of a room, and they always keep it clean.

Gracie knows she need to sit in order to get out of the gated area, to get a treat, and even while I am eating dinner next to her. She will just look at my plate and not try to take any food from it. Occasionally I need to say uh-uh to remind her not to get to close to the plate, but for a puppy she is really doing great!

Gracie is a world class puppy, with a Golden heart, just looking for a family. Are you the one?

Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Gracie and her sister Kylee (05-266) have been with me for a little over 3 weeks now. They are the best puppies EVER! The first weekend they were with us, we took them rock climbing (no, they did not climb any rocks) and I hiked them in inside my backpack. Gracie is on the left in the picture. They had so much fun saying hi to everyone and showing off their new sweaters. It was a bit cold that day. Gracie is in the pink sweater and pink collar.

I nanny for a family with a 5 year old boy, and 7 year old girl, and I took the puppies to work with me everyday for the first three weeks. The first week there were absolutely no accidents and the second week there was only one. The third week was accident free again. They loved all the attention from the kids and the huge fenced in backyard to play.

The puppies love to play with my big dogs, even if the love isn’t exactly returned. They will get right in there and play tug-of-war, and will even lick Izabelle’s (my 2 yr old golden mix) teeth as she raises her lips to tell the puppies to cut it out.

I took the puppies on their first walk with the 7 year old I nanny, and it was very comical – as is puppies first walks normally. We were all over the streets, both of us with treats in our hands trying to guide the puppies in a forward direction. They were pretty tired from just walking down the street and back.

These really are the very best puppies, and if you are interested in Gracie, please let RAGOM know!

Saturday, October 8, 2005

These are pictures of Tippy, the puppies' mother. The first picture was taken the day the puppies were born. Tippy was fond of digging holes in my flower beds and brought the puppies there to snuggle with her. The picture by the boat gives you an idea of how big she was.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Our little Labor Day puppies are now 4-1/2 weeks old and adorable little furballs. They are starting to play with each other, but their favorite thing to do is to climb all over you. There’s nothing quite like sitting on the floor and having 9 puppies crawl all over you! You have to smile and giggle and love every minute of it.

My job for the next four weeks is to have as many people as possible meet the puppies so that they become socialized to people of all ages, shapes and sizes. A dog that is socialized as a puppy, becomes a self-confident, well-adjusted adult dog. Your job, should you adopt one of the puppies, is to take your new puppy to puppy kindergarten and at least one level of obedience training. Just like you wouldn’t expect your human children to develop into knowledgeable adults without going to school, the same is true of furkids. They need the playtime and education just like human kids. They also benefit from meeting tons of people and going lots of places so that they become comfortable and build confidence. My female dog, who we adopted as a puppy, believes that humans were put on earth to pet her. They don’t hurt, they aren’t scary, but the giver of treats, pets, praise and all good things. My job and my goal is for all of these puppies to have that same relationship with people as they grow into adult dogs.

These little ones will turn 8 weeks old October 12. That’s the date that you can take your new little family member home with you. If you are interested in making one of these little kids a member of your family, you can meet them now, pick out your little friend and have him/her waiting for you on October 12. If you are not yet an approved applicant, what you can do to get ready is to complete your on-line application now, send in your $25 app fee, schedule your home visit and you won’t have to miss one day with your new puppy.

Friday, September 2, 2005

We have 6 girls and 3 boys. The black and tan is a boy. One female has white tips on her back feet. Another female has a few white hairs on the pads of her back feet. The others are all black. They appear to be in good condition. They were born on August 17, 2005. The mother dog was a strawberry blonde color all over except for the very tips of her ears, which were black and said to look like a GSD's ears except they flopped over. She was a medium sized dog (sounds like she was on the small rather than large size). Her tail did curl up over her back. The dad was a Black Lab.