Graham 11-011

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Sponsored by:

From former RAGOM dog Andy #07-406

"To a golden life from Sam 11-010"



February 8, 2011

 

Hello RAGOM supporters, friends and potential adoptive families. Allow me to introduce you to Graham.

Graham is a beautiful and regal eleven year old senior boy who doesn't act a day over 5. He still loves to play and rough house with his two foster brothers, and most of all like most Golden Retrievers he likes to cuddle and love.

Graham was found as a stray nearly a year ago and was adopted out to a loving home by another agency not affiliated with RAGOM. His adoptive Mom loved and cared for him, but had to surrender him to the loving hands of RAGOM due to a terminal illness in her family.

Graham loves to go for walks and meet new dogs. He has shown curiosity with our resident cats so we have to monitor them and introduce him to cats slowly. He can at times guard food and toys, but this is all for show and he is easily corrected just by calling his name.

As with all Seniors and those whom adopt these seasoned beauties, we know how special they are and that their time with us is an unknown. Graham is no different, but he has been diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. There is no cure for this ailment and he will have to be on a special diet with regular veterinary monitoring for the remainder of his time. He is a bundle of golden love looking for the right place to call home. Even though he is ill please remember he has no expiration date.

 

 

At a Glance #11-011

Golden Retriever Born: January 2000
Male 65 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

Sponsored by:

From former RAGOM dog Andy #07-406

"To a golden life from Sam 11-010"



February 8, 2011

 

Hello RAGOM supporters, friends and potential adoptive families. Allow me to introduce you to Graham.

Graham is a beautiful and regal eleven year old senior boy who doesn't act a day over 5. He still loves to play and rough house with his two foster brothers, and most of all like most Golden Retrievers he likes to cuddle and love.

Graham was found as a stray nearly a year ago and was adopted out to a loving home by another agency not affiliated with RAGOM. His adoptive Mom loved and cared for him, but had to surrender him to the loving hands of RAGOM due to a terminal illness in her family.

Graham loves to go for walks and meet new dogs. He has shown curiosity with our resident cats so we have to monitor them and introduce him to cats slowly. He can at times guard food and toys, but this is all for show and he is easily corrected just by calling his name.

As with all Seniors and those whom adopt these seasoned beauties, we know how special they are and that their time with us is an unknown. Graham is no different, but he has been diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. There is no cure for this ailment and he will have to be on a special diet with regular veterinary monitoring for the remainder of his time. He is a bundle of golden love looking for the right place to call home. Even though he is ill please remember he has no expiration date.

 

 

Updates

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

 

Today we said our goodbyes to Graham. He was with us and in the RAGOM family for 15 months. In that time he was loved and received the best care possible. Such wonderful care in fact, that the initial prognosis of six months passed nine months ago. He surprised us all and in his final moments, as in life, he was the happiest and sweetest old man you could ever meet.

Graham's life before coming into RAGOM is full of unknowns. He was rescued by a good samaritan over two years ago after being found as a stray. She, in turn, had to make the difficult decision to surrender him as a result of family illness. What we do know is since he was well adjusted and comfortable with humans of all sizes, that he had to know love in his early days as a puppy. How he came to be found as a stray will always be a mystery.

We, his foster family and friends, are going to miss his 100 mph tail wags, how he would play fetch with himself and his rolling. Graham came in with a terminal diagnosis, and although he had some bad moments, I can say with confidence he never had a bad day. A consistent cuddler and pleaser, he represented everything we know a Golden Retriever can be.

We are ever thankful to his sponsors and RAGOM donors for their generosity that allowed us to care for Graham. A special thanks to the community of friends who helped us in giving him a loving home and who bid their farewells to him in his final days: Joan T, Carla M., Derek W., Todd D., Greg B., Annie B and Vickie S. An extra special thank you to Kim B and Kim W, for your love, support, and for allowing us to be able to bring Graham home. We also want to thank Dayle S. (as always) for your counseling and support. And last, but not least, thank you to Dr. S and his staff for their wonderful care.

Although we were unable to find Graham an adoptive home, make no mistake our home was his home. He was loved and cared for along side our residents, no more, no less. He may have officially belonged to RAGOM, but he was every bit our boy.

We will miss you sweet Graham Cracker.

 

Monday, February 13, 2012

Thank you Sam for sponsoring Graham.

Graham continues to be the ever happy pup, looking for every chance he can to love and snuggle his foster brothers and parents. He continues to try and not show his age or illness, but did have an episode last weekend that scared foster dad for a bit. However he quickly recovered and was himself in no time and up to hi-jinx. Did you know a Graham can fit in a kitten basket?

Graham showed me how this could be done. Now that is one basket of overflowing GOLDEN love.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Hi RAGOM Fans,

Graham here and let me tell you what a busy few weeks I have had. First thought I want to thank the anonymous donor for the special bough of Holly on my page. Your contributions go a long ways to help special dogs like me.

I got to go all the way to southern Iowa for Christmas with foster mom and dad and my foster brothers. It was so much fun, so much food and do many people to love that a great boy like me didn't know where to start.

Foster Grandma and Grandpa are doing some home improvement, and had to replace some doors, being a wise senior I had to supervise foster Grandpa.

I know he appreciated my assistance and when it was time for a nap later I had to give him some cuddles as well. Everyone talked about what a good boy I am, but of course I already knew that. Foster Grandma and Grandpa even got me a new bone for Christmas which I spent the rest of the day chewing, but then it was time for bed and I had to cuddle with my foster brother Squirrel.

The next morning we got up to go home The trip was a lot of fun, and I had a blast, but it was also exhausting. I had to be watchdog of the backseat with my foster brothers the whole way there and back. The next weekend my foster family had obligations in South Dakota, but I insisted on staying home. I was still tired from the last trip and someone needed to protect the house. That and honestly the idea of having a little quiet time after the big family gathering and the couch to myself sounded too appealing. So New Years weekend I spent at home with two of my favorite humans, Vickie and Greg. Thank you so much for hanging out with me, and feeding me.

Well it is 2012, and I am happy and loving my foster home, you know I have almost been here one year and it is almost the best place I could be. However I am still looking for my forever home, so if you are interested contact your placement adviser.

Love,
Graham

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

From Andy 07-406 From Andy 07-406

Happy Holidays from anonymous Happy Holidays from anonymous

 

-Anonymous

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Graham continues to do well. His recent blood values and attitude show no change in his kidneys. He is such a loving boy and we are just amazed no one has tried to scoop him up yet. His tail wagging and dancing when you come home, his sweet face, his need for attention makes him the quintessential golden retriever. Don't let his age fool you. This last weekend he was keeping up with his younger counterparts running around and entertaining his extended foster family. At the end of the day he was happy to nap with his foster cousin, and dream about the next day. Wouldn't you like this sweet boy in your home, if so please contact your placement adviser.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Graham continues to do well, he really is a sweet old man still looking for the permanent home to call his own. Great with kids, other dogs, decent on the leash and loves his walk. Even getting better every day about the cats. He also has the fastest moving tail in the house, and loves to cuddle.

Graham also loves to play even all by himself and will chase a ball or toy around, throw it up in the air. Everyday he also has his ritual roll time which we caught part of on the this video.

Last weekend he even spent some time babysitting two RAGOM pups newly rescued who needed a place to stay for the night. He was the perfect Grandpa even letting the little ones play on him.

Graham is a wonderful boy. If you would like to meet him please contact your placement adviser.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

What a wonderful gentleman Graham is to have in our home, he will bring such love and wonderful time to a forever home. When I think about Graham my first thought always goes to his tail. He has a shorter tail and wags vigorously at the mention of his name or even the slightest glance. He has so much joy in being a companion, are you lucky enough to have him come be your companion?

A few weeks ago Graham also had a minor incident with vomiting. We were concerned to the severity and sudden onset so we took him it. Everything checked out fine and he has not had another incident since. The best thing about this check-in was that we ran a blood sample due to his chronic illness and it was not a factor in the upset tummy. More importantly his blood values have not changed since his last analysis. This old boy has a lot of miles left and would love to walk them with you.

Please come see Graham at the Roseville PetSmart on Saturday May 7th!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Happy Spring to the Golden Seniors from Anonymous Happy Spring to the Golden Seniors from Anonymous

"In memory of my Abby" "In Memory of my Abby"

Monday, March 21, 2011

Graham is doing great and settling well into his foster home. He is so excited as now does he not only have a wonderful sponsor, but he has pretty sparklies on his page.

Graham continues to surprise us, he is such an energetic older man. His favorite activities include zooming around the living room playing with his foster brothers and going for walks. He is constantly looking for affection whether it is from foster mom and dad, his foster brothers or a stranger. After a long bout of play or a walk he loves nothing more to cuddle as seen in his photo with foster brothers and foster mom. That is a lot of Golden to keep the cool wet weather. He would love nothing more than being your golden blanket, let your placement advisor know if you are interested in meeting Graham.

Some reminder notes on Graham:

  • Graham can be a runner so a fenced yard would be best.
  • Graham loves other dogs, all people including the little ones.
  • Graham has an interest in cats, the foster home is working on this, but he could be stressful to your pet cat.
  • Even though Graham doesn't act like it he is a Senior, and he has been diagnosed with chronic kidney failure, he does not have an expiration date so the number of days, weeks, months, or years blessed by Graham is unknown.
  • He will need to be on a prescription diet for the remainder of his life, the cost of which is not much higher than a premium dog food.
  • When the day comes and Graham's kidneys continue to fail he will drink more water and be able to go less time between bathroom visits and might embarass himself by having an accident.
  • Graham needs a loving and supportive home who will stand by him for the rest of his life, now who wants to have a Golden blanket to help them through the wet Spring?