Gracie (Tracy 19-060A)
Profile
At a Glance #19-060A
| Golden Retriever | Born: May 2012 |
| Female | 58 lbs |
Status: Adopted
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Updates
Friday, October 18, 2019
Miss Tracy has certainly waited patiently for just the right family to come along and love her. We think she has found her perfect family. Tracy will now be known as Gracie, which is what her foster mom would call her too. Gracie will have a dad who works from home and a mom who loves to go for walks with her furkids. And Gracie will get to be a big sister to another RAGOM boy!
We are so happy for our little girl and will miss her silliness. Be a good girl Gracie!
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
It has been too long since I've sent in an update and frankly, Miss Tracy deserves so much credit. Recently, we were babysitting our two young Golden grand-dogs and Tracy simply had a ball. They are both younger and kept Tracy on the go for the five days they stayed with us.
Here is a picture of four of the five dogs we had in our house; they are watching a squirrel as it's daring to approach the back patio. I have mentioned Tracy is rather on the short side, but this picture truly demonstrates just how short she is (Tracy is on the far right).
Everyone who meets our special girl cannot believe she has only been a family dog since March. She has acclimated so well to being a part of our family and truly loves it. Tracy has even taken a liking to watching TV. Here she is watching bull riding.
We have learned Tracy loves fruits and vegetables. We found out just how much she loves vegetables when she would walk through the garden picking tomatoes off the plants. We now have a chicken-wire fence around the garden, not only to keep bunnies out but to keep Tracy out, too.
She loves lettuce, carrots, green and yellow beans, beets, swiss chard, zucchini, cucumbers, and squash. I guess it's a good thing we have a garden.
Miss Tracy will be at Goldzilla on Sunday, September 8. So please stop in to give her some pets—she will love you for it.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Miss Tracy has had many adventures since her last update. At the end of May, we had our two grand-dogs staying with us and Tracy loved the extra company. Because our resident dogs are older, they don’t really enjoy a lot of rough housing. Tracy was able to entice one of our grand-dogs into playing with her and she loved it.
When they finally came into the house they were exhausted but happy. Tracy and Riley spent a lot of time together, even snuggling during nap time.
Probably the biggest event this past month was that Tracy was adopted by a wonderful family. Unfortunately, a member of the family was allergic and she was returned to us. Even though we were all heartbroken this did not work out, we did learn more about her interaction with children and cats.
She met children from ages 19 months to 7 years and was very good with them, but children in her adoptive home will need to be at least 10 years old. Tracy was also introduced to the cat in the home and barked but nothing else happened. I’d say that’s a good cat test and Tracy could certainly live with a dog-savvy cat.
Tracy is very much a people pleaser. She would be happy to spend her days sitting right next to you with your hand resting on her head. We do not allow free roam while we’re at work, but I would definitely consider her housetrained. She will even wake me up during the night, usually around 3:00 AM, because she needs to go potty.
We have developed this routine: she wakes me up, I let her outside, she comes right back in and sits by the refrigerator to wait for a slice of cheese before we go back to bed. Tracy is very quick to learn our routines. She knows exactly where she is supposed to be for meal time and hops backwards until she gets to her spot.
Tracy has also learned that before the humans start their supper the dogs get a small treat. As soon as our plates are ready she is headed to the laundry room to get her treat. She really is very smart and quick to learn.
Tracy has become the mighty hunter. A nest of baby birds fell out of a tree and she decided to pick one of the babies up and bring it inside to show us. Foster Mom was not very happy but Tracy was sure proud of herself.
She has also decided it’s more fun chasing bunnies than staring at them through the sliding glass door. You can find her with her nose to the ground searching for those pesky bunnies. Foster Dad is glad for any help he can get to keep the bunnies out of the garden.
I do not believe Tracy requires a fence, but through trial and error we have figured out she cannot and will not potty while on a leash. When I took Tracy in for a recheck of her recent UTI I talked with our vet about my suspicions. We both agreed Tracy is the type of dog that requires a certain amount of privacy when she goes potty and cannot be held on a leash.
While she was with them for the day they put this theory to a test. Every half hour they took Tracy out by leash to potty. Even though her bladder was full, she would not go potty. As soon as they let her out into a fenced area she immediately went.
All of Tracy’s testing came back wonderful, except her alkaline level was .5 higher than normal. She is not in a danger zone, but we don’t want it to go any higher or she could run the risk of developing crystals.
Our vet recommended putting Tracy on a prescription U/D diet but we didn’t want the extra calories so decided on W/D prescription food, which has the same urinary benefits without all the calories. You may even notice Tracy is sporting a slimmer figure. The staff loved having Tracy with them for the day and didn’t want to see her leave.
When we are working in the yard we like to have a pail of cold water with ice cubes available for the dogs. Tracy wasn’t too sure about the ice floating in her water bucket but quickly overcame this new obstacle and dove in head first.
Tracy has been such a joy to have in our home but she needs to find her forever home so she can really begin her new life. Tracy is a very happy, easy-going girl who would love to spend her days making you smile.
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Miss Tracy had an exciting time this last weekend at her first RAGOM event and would like to share some of her pictures. This was the first time we exposed Tracy to so many dogs and people at one time. She did better than we expected. She was delighted to say hello to everyone and especially loved all the attention.
Tracy has not officially been cat tested but I took the opportunity to walk past the cat cage during the event. As soon as the cat made a sound Tracy was quick to back away. I don’t believe a dog-savvy cat would have any problems with Miss Tracy.
Tracy continues to learn from our resident dogs and from her recent overnight stay. One thing in particular we now experience is that Tracy gets the zoomies when we come home.
She will come meet me at the door and then proceed to race into the bedroom, back out to me, then around the dining room table, and back into the bedroom. She has a smile on her face and runs around like she has no care in the world. It makes me laugh every day. She has really become quite the character.
Our resident boy has to sit by mom every night after supper with his paw resting on my arm. Tracy has decided to take up this habit as well. If she doesn’t get as many pets, she will put both paws on the arm of my chair and stand up so she can look right at me.
As soon as I start to pet her again she will sit back down. She is learning the word “enough” when I put my hand away so I can get something else done.
To help with Tracy’s weight, she is now getting less dog food and more green beans mixed with pumpkin. It looks bad but she loves it. Her ears are looking great and her UTI recheck was good.
We have noticed a drastic decrease in scratching but continue to give her the prescription medication. The vet really feels with regular baths, good food, fish oil, and regular brushing Tracy will no longer require prescription-level medication.
Miss Tracy has certainly come a long way since first arriving at our home. While I was folding clothes I had Tracy stay right next to me. When I shook out the towels she didn’t even flinch. We can sneeze now without scaring her.
The smoke alarms went off and she had no reaction to the loud noise. Fire trucks went by with sirens going and she just stood at the glass door watching them go by. We had a very loud thunderstorm roll through and she didn’t even wake up to notice. Tracy will go outside even while it’s raining. She is amazing!
We have not met a single person who doesn’t tell us we should make her part of our family. If only we could keep them all. Although we would love to have her stay it’s just not possible. We feel blessed to be able to share this time with her but are excited to help her find a very special forever home.
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Tracy got to spend a long weekend with another foster mom and dad and their three RAGOM Goldens. We want to say a very special “Thank You!” for letting Tracy hang out with them. While Tracy was at her sleepover she developed a UTI. Her temp foster mom and dad took her to their RAGOM vet and she is now on antibiotics and feeling much better.
I was thrilled to learn she did so well, even going for several walks with their whole pack. We have also learned that Tracy is definitely not a flight risk. Because we have a fenced yard we were curious to see how she would do going outside on leash.
It sounds like she did OK but would probably do better on a tie-out vs. a leash. Tracy likes her privacy while she’s taking care of business. Tracy would not be a good candidate for underground fencing, but I do believe she would tolerate a tie-out just fine.
We all think Tracy would make a wonderful hospital or nursing home dog. She has the perfect temperment for a therapy dog. She will sit quietly next to you for as long as you’re willing to pet her.
We have just started working on some commands. Tracy can now “sit” on command. It’s actually comical since her backside isn’t very far from the ground.
Tracy will be at the Mother’s Day Bake, Craft, and Plant Sale event at Rochester Pet & Country in Rochester, Minnesota on Saturday, May 11, so please come out to say hello to her.
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Tracy would like to say hello to everyone reading her page. Miss Tracy has had several good weeks since coming to us. We have only experienced a couple accidents recently, and these can be attributed to her foster parents not realizing the scare factor of a sneeze.
As with all new sounds it just takes a little practice and then the sound is no longer scary. We have been trying to expose her to as many sounds or movements we can so she continues to learn nothing bad will ever happen to her. Tracy is learning to be more confident every day.
We have discovered Miss Tracy likes to explore during the night. Even though our bedroom is baby-gated, she has discovered the master bathroom and especially likes to chew on shampoo bottles. I just can’t imagine it tastes that good but she doesn’t seem to mind.
Foster mom has found her standing in the shower with a bottle in her mouth. If it hadn’t been 2:30 in the morning it would have been a picture moment. We now have to keep the bathroom door closed.
Tracy has become attached to a stuffed monkey, that we call her baby. If I need her to follow me, I just grab her “baby” and she will trot along without issue. I don’t let her have it in her kennel because she did pull the eyes off and I don’t want her to swallow anything foreign. Other than her “baby” she has started to enjoy chewing on bones.
Tracy got to meet my children’s two dogs and she loved the extra company. It was cute to watch her interact and see her almost smile when she greeted the new members.
Tracy made it through her spay procedure without issue. The vet did discover she has a heart murmur but her x-rays didn’t show any complications. Miss Tracy really charmed the staff at the clinic; everyone let me know how much they loved her. A few even thought she should just stay with them.
We now have prescription medication to help with her itching and it seems to be working already. Once her surgical site is healed we will start giving her regular baths. Hopefully, with regular brushing, good baths, and over-the-counter allergy medication the itching will no longer be an issue.
We have also started Tracy on fish oil pills. We were super excited to see her weight has come down. When Tracy first arrived in RAGOM she weighed in at 65.7 lbs. At her vet appointment she now weighs 57.9 lbs. Our vet didn’t give a specific weight but felt Tracy should probably be in the 45 – 50 lbs. range.
Tracy will be spending a few nights with another foster so it will be exciting to see how she does. Tracy is not a high energy girl and probably never will be, but she does love to be outside. If you’re looking for the sweetest little girl then Tracy might be a good fit.
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Tracy arrived in Minnesota by way of the Missouri “taxi,” thanks to a wonderful RAGOM transport volunteer. Miss Tracy was a breeder girl who will now get to be a much-loved family pet. We are grateful to her temp foster mom Marsha for opening her heart and home to Tracy until we were able to welcome her.
Since she has been with us she has learned all kinds of new life lessons. Tracy was a little skittish about going out the door to get to the backyard, but she has conquered her fear and will even nudge the door with her nose if it’s not open far enough.
In her first few days we had several accidents, but now she will walk toward the door or start to pace to let us know she needs to go outside. I wouldn’t say she’s housetrained but she is definitely getting the idea.
We’ve had a few instances when we have moved too fast or tossed something and scared her, but she is getting much better. We routinely try new sounds just to continue her exposure. Tracy was very brave the other day when I turned on the garbage disposal. Instead of running away she just took a few steps back and watched me until the sound stopped.
Tracy likes to be outside and is now running around in the yard acting like a typical Golden. Our older resident girl acts as her mentor and will occasionally walk over and give her a little bump like she’s trying to direct Tracy. We’ve even watched Tracy give our resident girl a little kiss on the nose.
Tracy is a beautiful 6-year-old light Golden with a heavy coat and very short legs and tail. Tracy is up to date on her vaccinations, but is struggling with some ear issues and is constantly itchy.
We have changed her food to salmon with sweet potato to see if that helps. She will be visiting our RAGOM vet soon for her spay procedure, so we’re hoping to get some answers to her scratching and possibly get her some relief.
Miss Tracy is on the heavy side at 67.5 pounds and should probably be more like 45 – 50 pounds. We just started her on walks and she did great with just her martingale collar with a slip lead for extra protection.
She was certainly excited when we first walked out the garage door but it didn’t take long for her to slow down. When we got back home, after only one block, she went right into the living room and took a long nap. Once she sheds some of the extra weight I’m sure we’ll be able to go a little farther.
We were originally kenneling Tracy during the night, but now she sleeps in our bedroom with the resident dogs and we just use a baby gate to stop any wandering. Tracy is kenneled during the day while we’re at work with no issues; however, Tracy and Foster Mom had to come to an understanding.
Miss Tracy did not like the idea of going into her kennel when it was time for me to leave. I am so happy we came to this understanding because she is just too heavy for Foster Mom to carry. When I’m ready to leave I’ll just call her and tell her it’s time to go to work. She will trot right into her kennel now and then she gets a little treat.
We think she enjoys her kennel by the sliding glass door so she can watch everything going on outside. She seems particularly interested in squirrels and bunnies. I don’t think she has a high prey drive; she just seems curious.
Because Tracy is so short she will never be a counter surfer, but she does like to check out the garbage cans in the bathrooms. Tracy loves to carry things around, like slippers or shoes that don’t get put away, but she never chews them.
Tracy seems interested in the children who go past our house but because she can startle easily it would be best if she lives in a home with children 10 years and older. Tracy is great with other dogs and will need another confident dog in the house to continue to learn the ins and outs of being a loved house dog.
We have a fenced yard, so Tracy is used to being able to walk around freely. Because of her background, it would be best for Tracy to have a fenced yard so she will always be safe. Because she does not have a high prey drive she could probably live with a cat in the house, but we’ll have to test that theory.
Tracy loves to be near her people, even more than the resident dogs, and will sit by you forever if you keep petting her. You can’t walk far without her right in front of your feet and since she’s on the shorter side you really need to keep an eye on where she is.
Miss Tracy is just about the easiest foster we’ve ever had. If you’re looking for a quiet, super loving girl you might want to consider Tracy. Her birthday is coming soon, May 16, so we think finding her forever home would be the best birthday present.