Welcome to the RAGOM family, Ellie 12-081!! This sweet girl was called Gracie for the first 4 years of her life. During that time, she frequently escaped and was picked up several times by animal control. This past fall, her family chose not to claim her, and she was adopted out in October 2011 from a humane society to a new family. She was renamed Ellie by that family. Her new home did not have a fenced in yard, and she would run off. She always returned, but her family was worried that something would happen to her, so they called RAGOM to help find a new family for her. After a long car ride from central Minnesota to east central Iowa, she was safe in her foster home. We tried calling her Ellie, but she did not respond to it. When we called her Gracie, her ears perked up and she got very excited. So while her RAGOM name is Ellie 12-081, she is known to us as Gracie. She is 4.5 years old, spayed, and weighs 60 pounds. She needs to lose around 5-7 pounds to reach her ideal body weight.
Gracie has settled in very quickly to our home. She has free roam of the house and we haven’t had any issues. She is 100% housebroken and is fine being left alone during the day while I’m at work. Gracie has minimal training, so we will definitely have to work on that! She is great with kids, completely ignores my two cats, and is great with other dogs. She can sometimes be VERY vocal when playing, (growls, snarls, etc.) but she is not aggressive at all with them. Some dogs just like to talk when they are playing. Her friend, Sadie the Bernese Mt. Dog, also is vocal when playing. They have a great time wrestling in the backyard! So far Gracie has shown no interest in toys, but does love chewing on rawhides. She does not like to share her rawhides with other dogs. She gives great signals (an “I mean it” growl, curled lip) and if the dog won’t back off she will simply grab the bone and move to a different spot. She lets me take the rawhide without any issue. Gracie would be fine living as an only dog or with another dog. She is currently an only dog and is doing great. She does, however, get to play with Sadie at least 5 days out of the week.
Gracie will require a 6 foot fence. We have a 6 foot wood privacy fence for most of our backyard, but there is a small section that is chain link and approx. 4.5 feet tall. Since I knew that Gracie had the potential to be a flight risk, I have been using the tie out for her. She definitely shows interest in the shorter part of the fence, and I think she would try to jump it if given the chance. I have, however, noticed that she shows much less interest in the fence if she is out with another dog.
She is very excited to ride in the car, so I have been taking her on several car rides each week to get her used to it a little more. I use a seatbelt harness for her, and it helps to contain her. She tries to pace and pants, but has gotten a lot better. We took a 35 minute car ride to our RAGOM vet and Gracie was brought up to date on vaccines, had her heartworm test, fecal, and an exam from the doctor. She already is microchipped. All of the tests were negative and, other than an infection in both ears, she was given a clean bill of health. Drops in her ears for 10 days should take care of the infection. Our awesome RAGOM vet also removed the small amount of tarter on her teeth while we were there free of charge! Now she has a beautiful white smile!
We have experienced a few things that Grace has anxiety about. We have had a few small thunderstorms, and I think it’s safe to say that Gracie has some storm anxiety. Both storms have moved through pretty quickly (lasting only about 15 minutes) so we aren’t sure exactly how bad her anxiety can get during a storm. I’m sure we’ll be having some spring thunderstorms soon, so I’ll update more after I see how she does with a longer, more intense storm. Gracie is very nervous and stressed when she’s not at home. I don’t think that she was taken many places during the first 4 years of her life, so she doesn’t have a lot of experience with things. I love being able to bring my foster dog with me to different places, and I have been showing Gracie how great it can be to tag along when we leave. It’s certainly helped with how comfortable she is riding in the car! Gracie also gets very anxious when she’s in a kennel at the vet clinic where I work at on days I bring her to work. She pants, drools, and tries to dig out of the kennel. I’m not sure if this was because she remembers being at the humane society or because she’s not at home where she feels safe. I have crated her twice at home just to see how she did, and she was perfectly content to be in the crate. This is something to consider if you would ever need to board her while you were on vacation or out of town. I think that she would be very stressed and anxious if she had to be in a kennel at a strange place for more than a few hours.
Check back soon for more updates as we get to know Gracie better!
| Golden Retriever | Born: September 2007 |
| Female | 60 lbs |
Status: Deceased
Welcome to the RAGOM family, Ellie 12-081!! This sweet girl was called Gracie for the first 4 years of her life. During that time, she frequently escaped and was picked up several times by animal control. This past fall, her family chose not to claim her, and she was adopted out in October 2011 from a humane society to a new family. She was renamed Ellie by that family. Her new home did not have a fenced in yard, and she would run off. She always returned, but her family was worried that something would happen to her, so they called RAGOM to help find a new family for her. After a long car ride from central Minnesota to east central Iowa, she was safe in her foster home. We tried calling her Ellie, but she did not respond to it. When we called her Gracie, her ears perked up and she got very excited. So while her RAGOM name is Ellie 12-081, she is known to us as Gracie. She is 4.5 years old, spayed, and weighs 60 pounds. She needs to lose around 5-7 pounds to reach her ideal body weight.
Gracie has settled in very quickly to our home. She has free roam of the house and we haven’t had any issues. She is 100% housebroken and is fine being left alone during the day while I’m at work. Gracie has minimal training, so we will definitely have to work on that! She is great with kids, completely ignores my two cats, and is great with other dogs. She can sometimes be VERY vocal when playing, (growls, snarls, etc.) but she is not aggressive at all with them. Some dogs just like to talk when they are playing. Her friend, Sadie the Bernese Mt. Dog, also is vocal when playing. They have a great time wrestling in the backyard! So far Gracie has shown no interest in toys, but does love chewing on rawhides. She does not like to share her rawhides with other dogs. She gives great signals (an “I mean it” growl, curled lip) and if the dog won’t back off she will simply grab the bone and move to a different spot. She lets me take the rawhide without any issue. Gracie would be fine living as an only dog or with another dog. She is currently an only dog and is doing great. She does, however, get to play with Sadie at least 5 days out of the week.
Gracie will require a 6 foot fence. We have a 6 foot wood privacy fence for most of our backyard, but there is a small section that is chain link and approx. 4.5 feet tall. Since I knew that Gracie had the potential to be a flight risk, I have been using the tie out for her. She definitely shows interest in the shorter part of the fence, and I think she would try to jump it if given the chance. I have, however, noticed that she shows much less interest in the fence if she is out with another dog.
She is very excited to ride in the car, so I have been taking her on several car rides each week to get her used to it a little more. I use a seatbelt harness for her, and it helps to contain her. She tries to pace and pants, but has gotten a lot better. We took a 35 minute car ride to our RAGOM vet and Gracie was brought up to date on vaccines, had her heartworm test, fecal, and an exam from the doctor. She already is microchipped. All of the tests were negative and, other than an infection in both ears, she was given a clean bill of health. Drops in her ears for 10 days should take care of the infection. Our awesome RAGOM vet also removed the small amount of tarter on her teeth while we were there free of charge! Now she has a beautiful white smile!
We have experienced a few things that Grace has anxiety about. We have had a few small thunderstorms, and I think it’s safe to say that Gracie has some storm anxiety. Both storms have moved through pretty quickly (lasting only about 15 minutes) so we aren’t sure exactly how bad her anxiety can get during a storm. I’m sure we’ll be having some spring thunderstorms soon, so I’ll update more after I see how she does with a longer, more intense storm. Gracie is very nervous and stressed when she’s not at home. I don’t think that she was taken many places during the first 4 years of her life, so she doesn’t have a lot of experience with things. I love being able to bring my foster dog with me to different places, and I have been showing Gracie how great it can be to tag along when we leave. It’s certainly helped with how comfortable she is riding in the car! Gracie also gets very anxious when she’s in a kennel at the vet clinic where I work at on days I bring her to work. She pants, drools, and tries to dig out of the kennel. I’m not sure if this was because she remembers being at the humane society or because she’s not at home where she feels safe. I have crated her twice at home just to see how she did, and she was perfectly content to be in the crate. This is something to consider if you would ever need to board her while you were on vacation or out of town. I think that she would be very stressed and anxious if she had to be in a kennel at a strange place for more than a few hours.
Check back soon for more updates as we get to know Gracie better!
Gracie is all smiles! She met Dan and Ruth and they decided to adopt her! We couldn’t have imagined a better match! Gracie enjoyed one last wrestle with her friend, Sadie, and headed home to Minnesota this afternoon. We will miss that sweet little girl!
Gracie made this past week a very interesting one!
Gracie was asleep on the couch, dead to the world. My daughter and I were in the kitchen, a room away. I was giving my daughter a practice spelling test for school. One of the words was “cookie.” As I said “cookie,” Gracie sprang up, jumped off the couch, and zoomed over to me. Her body wiggled and she was so excited! She wanted a cookie! We don’t say that her treats are cookies, so we had no idea that she knew the word cookie.
Gracie still shows no interest in any of the dog toys. We’ve gotten them all out to show her, but she doesn’t care. She does like rawhides, and will sometimes chew on a nylabone. She plays very well with Sadie. Tonight, Gracie was sitting in the yard, with Sadie lying down in front of her. Sadie was biting Gracie’s chest and tugging her fur. She was also mouthing and biting her front legs. Gracie just sat there and let Sadie do it. She’s very patient with young, crazy dogs!
We’ve had 3 storms in the last 4 days and Gracie did very well. The thunder startles her, but she was not anxious, destructive, or clingy. I even opened a few windows during one storm so the noise of the storm was louder, and Gracie did fine.
We had a very scary event happen with Gracie this week. I let her outside, and she zoomed over to the gate, flipped up the latch with her nose, and took off! I saw the whole thing happen, so I grabbed my shoes and a leash and took off after her. Luckily, she stayed pretty close to my house, but she would not come to me. I never lost sight of her, but I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to catch her. She spotted a dog tied up in a backyard and went to say hi, and I was able to grab her collar while she was distracted with the other dog. You can imagine my relief that I had finally caught her! We now keep a lock on the gate, and Gracie is either on the tie out or has a 20 foot training leash attached to her collar.
Gracie and I have been working really hard on her training, though I do recommend that her adoptive family take her to obedience training to continue her training and to help with the bond between her and her new family. Gracie is very smart and learns things very quickly. I continue to take her to new places and to expose her to new things. She is getting a lot better, but still can be anxious and excited in new situations. She is a very mellow dog, except when she wants to go for a run! Her favorite thing to do is curl up on the couch next to me and sleep. She especially loves sleeping with her head on one of the couch pillows.
Gracie is in the process of blowing her coat, but with lots of brushing it’s certainly manageable. I would say she sheds about average for a Golden, maybe slightly less. Her dark red coat is gorgeous! She does great for baths, brushing, paw pad trimming, and nail trims. She’s also very tolerant of getting her ears cleaned. She had her feathers trimmed when she came into RAGOM, and they are starting to grow back. I’m anxious to see how beautiful they will be once they have grown back all the way!
Gracie and I would like to thank RAGOM and all of the wonderful volunteers who were/are involved with the 29 puppy mill Goldens. It makes me proud to be a RAGOM volunteer!
Gracie has been with us for 3 weeks and has been doing very well! We spent a lot of time outside this past weekend and Gracie enjoyed being with us. She is still getting used to all the sights and sounds that come with living in town vs living in the country, but she is getting more comfortable with it every day. I have been walking Gracie in different parts of our small town so she can be exposed to more things. We also take walks at my parent’s acreage with a 20 foot leash so Gracie has a little more freedom.
Training has been going great! Gracie is catching on quickly. Her recall is doing much better in our yard, but I think she would still have difficulty if she was outside the fence and had more distractions. She has also showed less interest in the fence. We are no longer putting her on the tie out when she goes out. I watch her to make sure she doesn’t try to escape, but she hasn’t tried at all. Gracie knows sit, down (for lay down), off, stay, come, and shake. She will also give a short little howl, not when we say “speak,” but when we say “go get your girl.” She’s too funny!
We have not had any thunderstorms, so there is no news to report yet on how she handles them. She does get very anxious with loud noises such as loud trucks driving by on the street. Gracie is a very sweet dog and enjoys curling up on the couch next to me. She certainly has the “golden nudge” and loves to be petted. She has just started rolling over for us for belly rubs. When I get home from work, her whole body wiggles with excitement!
If you are interested in Gracie, please contact your placement advisor!
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