Sponsored by: Melissa H
Please welcome Hopscotch into the RAGOM family! Hopscotch (Hoppy) is an 8 year old, retired puppymill mom. She retired from a mill in Iowa last week. One of the RAGOM Iowa Angels picked her up (along with a whole bunch of hitch-hiking fleas). That Iowa Angel gave Hoppy and her fleas a special flea bath – the fleas enjoyed it so much they all learned to do back floats! Then she gave Hoppy two more baths in an attempt to lessen the special “mill perfume” Hoppy was wearing. After all these wet procedures, Hoppy was spayed. I am guessing those were the first baths of Hoppy’s life.
Hoppy has been busy learning all kinds of new things. She learned that she can go up stairs – that only took about an hour and a half. She hasn’t yet mastered the going down, but I like to walk dogs around the outside of the house in the rain. Down will come. How long will she be able to resist following the RedGold Herd as they thunder up and down the stairs? Especially with me sitting on the stairs with treats
As a mill dog, Hoppy is learning where it is acceptable to go potty and where it is not. She has only found two inappropriate potty spots so far. Those two were my fault not hers. One I was on a phone call I could not cut short, the other I missed reading her body language correctly. I have the very strong impression that in the mill where Hoppy lived, the potty spot was cement, because Hoppy keeps heading for the back corner inside the garage. I am glad she takes redirection well. Hoppy has had absolutely no accidents over night. That tells me she is used to not going potty where she sleeps. She is currently spending her nights in my guest bathroom. She has her choice of sleeping on the tile floor, on a cushy rug, or on a dog bed inside an open crate. I have seen her using all three. Before she headed into her guest room the first night, she found Red’s favorite toy and commandeered it to keep her company over night. Red, being the gentleman that he is, has graciously consented to allow Hoppy to share his favorite toy while she is looking for her new forever home. (Red already found all 8 squeaky’s that were originally in it and removed them from the toy.) I will be getting Hoppy a toy or two of her own.
More information about this lovely lady in a day or two.
| Golden Retriever | Born: August 1999 |
| Female | Weight not specified |
Status: Adopted
Sponsored by: Melissa H
Please welcome Hopscotch into the RAGOM family! Hopscotch (Hoppy) is an 8 year old, retired puppymill mom. She retired from a mill in Iowa last week. One of the RAGOM Iowa Angels picked her up (along with a whole bunch of hitch-hiking fleas). That Iowa Angel gave Hoppy and her fleas a special flea bath – the fleas enjoyed it so much they all learned to do back floats! Then she gave Hoppy two more baths in an attempt to lessen the special “mill perfume” Hoppy was wearing. After all these wet procedures, Hoppy was spayed. I am guessing those were the first baths of Hoppy’s life.
Hoppy has been busy learning all kinds of new things. She learned that she can go up stairs – that only took about an hour and a half. She hasn’t yet mastered the going down, but I like to walk dogs around the outside of the house in the rain. Down will come. How long will she be able to resist following the RedGold Herd as they thunder up and down the stairs? Especially with me sitting on the stairs with treats
As a mill dog, Hoppy is learning where it is acceptable to go potty and where it is not. She has only found two inappropriate potty spots so far. Those two were my fault not hers. One I was on a phone call I could not cut short, the other I missed reading her body language correctly. I have the very strong impression that in the mill where Hoppy lived, the potty spot was cement, because Hoppy keeps heading for the back corner inside the garage. I am glad she takes redirection well. Hoppy has had absolutely no accidents over night. That tells me she is used to not going potty where she sleeps. She is currently spending her nights in my guest bathroom. She has her choice of sleeping on the tile floor, on a cushy rug, or on a dog bed inside an open crate. I have seen her using all three. Before she headed into her guest room the first night, she found Red’s favorite toy and commandeered it to keep her company over night. Red, being the gentleman that he is, has graciously consented to allow Hoppy to share his favorite toy while she is looking for her new forever home. (Red already found all 8 squeaky’s that were originally in it and removed them from the toy.) I will be getting Hoppy a toy or two of her own.
More information about this lovely lady in a day or two.
Hopscotch attended the RAGOM picnic on September 22nd and charmed everyone she met - as you can see in this photo that was taken by another volunteer.
The following weekend, Hopscotch moved on to her forever home with Ken and Cleo. What a wonderful life she will have living on a lake in beautiful northern Minnesota with her retired mom and dad. I know that while she was living in a cage for her first 8 years, she never imagined that she would ever find her heaven on earth.
In honor of Hoppy's new sponsor, Melissa H, Hoppy finally agreed to pose for a few pictures! I am hoping that our wonderful team that does our dog updates, won't realize I included a couple of extra pictures and will allow those extras to make up for the previous lack of pictures.
Hoppy has discovered that while tennis balls don't grow on trees, apples do! She considers apples to be the perfect fruit - a toy and then a snack. Watching Hoppy eating an apple is hilarious. First she rolls it around with her nose and pounces and rolls it some more. After she has the apple convinced that she is the boss, then she settles down and very carefully nibbles on it. After each nibble, she licks the exposed fruit. She really seemed to listen when I explained to her that apple seeds contain arsenic, and since she is not a rat and she does not have a heart condition, I won't let her eat the seeds.
After everything that Hoppy and I went through to protect her spay incision, a couple of days after the staples were removed, I didn't like the way the incision looked. So, Hoppy and I went back to the vet. (I love my vet office! They always fit the RAGOM dogs in right away.) As I suspected, Hoppy had developed a pocket of infection at the site of the incision. I am happy to say that is now clearing up nicely! Hoppy is always willing to receive a belly rub, so applying the antibiotic ointment and then the "don't even think about licking anywhere near here" drops is not a problem at all.
Hoppy is having a bad time with allergies right now. The vet and I think it is probably seasonal, so temporarily Hoppy is taking antihistamines three times a day. It doesn't bother her a bit to get extra peanut butter treats! She also seems to suffer fairly continuously with yeast in her ears. So, while her ears are no longer infected and painful, she still really dislikes having me mess with her ears. I can pet her ears and rub them as much as I want, but when I lift the ear flap, I know I had better already have a firm grip on her collar. Twice a day she and I have been having a wrestling match so I can clean her ears with a really mild vinegar solution (with a couple of drops of lavender and tea tree essential oils added) to discourage yeast growth. When she finds her forever family, I suggest that your life will be easiest if you are able to double-team her for the ear cleaning! Two sets of hands would be a big help. Or, one set that is as stubborn as Hoppy's foster mom is! I keep telling these foster dogs, I have had a lot more years to learn stubborn than they have - and I am not afraid to apply my acquired knowledge!
I won't eat the seeds - I promise!
First you roll the apple with your nose...
I have to be careful because if I get too close to the seeds, foster mom takes the apple away.
Girl dogs can play with boy dogs and NOT have puppies! (Hoppy is in the middle)
Hopscotch enjoying a nice day.