Max (Spencer 11-186)

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Sponsored by:

Sharron T.
"In memory of Bentley"

    -Anonymous

 

Where to start when you have an absolute bear of a love bug such as Spencer?  I could say that he is a typical loving GR... I could say that after being found as a stray and spending 3 weeks at an impound he's stinky... I could say that he's HUGE... I could say that he's met the crazy resident pack with nary a twitch... I could say that he's covered in matts and ticks and dirt... I could say that he won't let me out of his sight...

But the only words that I can really say to convey Spencer is... I am in LOVE with this pupper!

Spencer was found as a stray in SD and a fantastic volunteer (you're a rockstar Kathy!) drove him all the way to my house!  Intros went swimmingly and then he got to come inside alone to see what the house was like without the crazy crazy of the three resident dogs.  He went straight to the toy box and started chewing on a Nylabone!  Once he found out where the water was stashed and had his fill, the resident dogs got to come in one by one.  He (and they) were perfectly behaved.  Moxie got nose to nose with him to initiate play and Spencer let out a WOOOF to let Moxie know he was in his space and that was it.  No growling, raised lips or any signs of being uncomfortable.

It took him about a whole 30 minutes to find a nice spot to lay down and get comfy.  Then he decided he'd much rather lay closer to FM so I got on the floor with him and started brushing... and picking off ticks... and brushing... and picking off ticks... and brushing... We have a long way to go and he desperately needs a bath but you can tell the difference from the brushed and non-brushed hair already.  He is one handsome dude.

Did I mention he's HUGE?  Yeah, he is.  But not in an obnoxious way, just in a big-ole-teddy-bear kind of way.  I can't even begin to guess his weight, maybe around 90 pounds but he's not overweight. 

He had some minor troubles on the stairs coming up to bed last night but with some coaxing he made it up and mean old FM wouldn't let him on the bed (did I mention stinky?) but he quickly got comfy on the dog bed I set up next to my bed and he ensured that my hand was within his site the whole night :-)

I had to walk him down the stairs this morning, he seemed perfectly content to just lay upstairs but I knew nature would be calling so I helped him down the stairs so he wouldn't fall.

Did you pick up on the fact that he had free roam on the first night??  He sure did, I trust him completely.  Plus I couldn't bear to put him in a kennel when there was no need to... there was no nervousness on his part or the resident packs so all was well.  He is gated in my kitchen during the day just to give everyone their own space while I'm gone. 

I would also like to report the wonderful news that he has zip, zero, nada fears of storms!  We had some nice boomers last night and he didn't even flinch!  How much more perfect can he be???

I have a cat and he's shown mild interest in Gizmo but not at a prey kind of way, just a "what is that thing, let me smell him" kind of thing.

Spencer is very clearly not 10-years-old that the shelter told RAGOM, I would guess him to be between 6-8.  His teeth are very pearly white and while a white clown face does not necessarily indicate age, he barely has a white whisker to speak of.  We are going to the vet on Tuesday for the usual work-up and we will have a better idea of age, weight and overall general health after that visit. 

Spencer is a precious pupper who is so very deserving of a good home.  I can't tell you exactly what he needs at this time as we're still getting to know each other, but if he has piqued your interest, stay tuned or contact your placement advisor to get your very own sneak peak at meeting him!

 

 

 

At a Glance #11-186

Golden Retriever Born: June 2001
Male Weight not specified

Status: Adopted

Profile

Sponsored by:

Sharron T.
"In memory of Bentley"

    -Anonymous

 

Where to start when you have an absolute bear of a love bug such as Spencer?  I could say that he is a typical loving GR... I could say that after being found as a stray and spending 3 weeks at an impound he's stinky... I could say that he's HUGE... I could say that he's met the crazy resident pack with nary a twitch... I could say that he's covered in matts and ticks and dirt... I could say that he won't let me out of his sight...

But the only words that I can really say to convey Spencer is... I am in LOVE with this pupper!

Spencer was found as a stray in SD and a fantastic volunteer (you're a rockstar Kathy!) drove him all the way to my house!  Intros went swimmingly and then he got to come inside alone to see what the house was like without the crazy crazy of the three resident dogs.  He went straight to the toy box and started chewing on a Nylabone!  Once he found out where the water was stashed and had his fill, the resident dogs got to come in one by one.  He (and they) were perfectly behaved.  Moxie got nose to nose with him to initiate play and Spencer let out a WOOOF to let Moxie know he was in his space and that was it.  No growling, raised lips or any signs of being uncomfortable.

It took him about a whole 30 minutes to find a nice spot to lay down and get comfy.  Then he decided he'd much rather lay closer to FM so I got on the floor with him and started brushing... and picking off ticks... and brushing... and picking off ticks... and brushing... We have a long way to go and he desperately needs a bath but you can tell the difference from the brushed and non-brushed hair already.  He is one handsome dude.

Did I mention he's HUGE?  Yeah, he is.  But not in an obnoxious way, just in a big-ole-teddy-bear kind of way.  I can't even begin to guess his weight, maybe around 90 pounds but he's not overweight. 

He had some minor troubles on the stairs coming up to bed last night but with some coaxing he made it up and mean old FM wouldn't let him on the bed (did I mention stinky?) but he quickly got comfy on the dog bed I set up next to my bed and he ensured that my hand was within his site the whole night :-)

I had to walk him down the stairs this morning, he seemed perfectly content to just lay upstairs but I knew nature would be calling so I helped him down the stairs so he wouldn't fall.

Did you pick up on the fact that he had free roam on the first night??  He sure did, I trust him completely.  Plus I couldn't bear to put him in a kennel when there was no need to... there was no nervousness on his part or the resident packs so all was well.  He is gated in my kitchen during the day just to give everyone their own space while I'm gone. 

I would also like to report the wonderful news that he has zip, zero, nada fears of storms!  We had some nice boomers last night and he didn't even flinch!  How much more perfect can he be???

I have a cat and he's shown mild interest in Gizmo but not at a prey kind of way, just a "what is that thing, let me smell him" kind of thing.

Spencer is very clearly not 10-years-old that the shelter told RAGOM, I would guess him to be between 6-8.  His teeth are very pearly white and while a white clown face does not necessarily indicate age, he barely has a white whisker to speak of.  We are going to the vet on Tuesday for the usual work-up and we will have a better idea of age, weight and overall general health after that visit. 

Spencer is a precious pupper who is so very deserving of a good home.  I can't tell you exactly what he needs at this time as we're still getting to know each other, but if he has piqued your interest, stay tuned or contact your placement advisor to get your very own sneak peak at meeting him!

 

 

 

Updates

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Spencer has been getting use to his new home and enjoying Indian summer on the deck. He slept for two days when he first came here and then decided he might stay awhile and began to explore. He's friends with all our neighbors and looks forward to meeting his new dog friends when we go for walks along the bluff. He loves to chase a couple rabbits that live in our flower garden and begs to spend time on the deck to watch for boats and listen to the duck hunters shooting. Our Vet pronounced him to be in very good health and the groomer wants to take him home with her.

A major development took place the second day Spencer was here. Spencer became Max. He was ignoring us one afternoon in the living room until we tried a couple different names. When he heard us call Max, his ears perked up and he scrambled up to see who was calling. So our "Max" has become the sweetheart of the neighborhood and fits into our life like he's been here for years. Thanks so much for letting us become his family.

Michelle & Darus S.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sharron, Spencer and I would like to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts for you sponsoring him.  Bentley must have been one very special pupper for you to have picked Spencer to sponsor and we are both honored and humbled.  It's because of the generosity of people like you that RAGOM stays in business. 

Saturday, July 2, 2011

RAGOM gets our dogs from many different sources... sometimes we get a call directly from a surrendering owner, sometimes from other family members, humane societies will contact us, people look at craigslist ads and sometimes we get emails from loving people who saw a golden at a shelter and they notify us to see if we can help out... This is how Spencer came into RAGOM.

We got an email from the H family with the following picture:

Well let's just say that my heart jumped in my throat and 3 days later he was at my house and well, you've read the rest about him.

I contacted the "H" family so they would know that Spencer was safe and sound with RAGOM.  He now had a roof over his head, good food, water and love, love, love (did I mention love???). 

Today Spencer got a present in the mail from this family, here's a picture of his box-o-goodies:

Spencer got a special letter from Sarah, the 10-year-old maker of the blanket in the picture so he asked me to write her a letter here, so everyone can read what a wonderful and caring young lady she is...

Dear Sarah (aka my #1 fan),

I am doing AWESOME, thanks for asking!  I love living inside and everyone who has met me has fallen in love, and well, I have loved them too!  I have so many new friends that I can barely remember all their names (I am getting old you know).  I love to sleep on my foster mom's bed but I have a hard time jumping up so sometimes she helps me get started then I cuddle with her all night.  I bet me and your golden Stella would hit it off!  I am a bit of a ladies man ;-)  I don't really bark at all, which my foster mom says is a great attribute to have.  Your mom emailed my foster mom a picture of your Stella and I can tell that she is very much loved.  Thank you for taking such good care of her.  I LOVE my gift basket and I can't believe how beautiful my new blanket is, thank you for making it for me!  I can tell that you put lots of love into making it for me!  I haven't tried out the sheep yet, foster mom says that the other dogs like to destroy stuffed animals so it will be kept in a safe place until I get adopted.  There is a cat in my foster home and I think he smells interesting, but I haven't chased him yet, but thanks for the good advice.  I read your FUN rules and I'll tell ya what, I've got them all down pat (except the part about stealing the T-bone, this foster mom is pretty dog saavy).

Love,
Spencer (who thinks Sarah is his special hero)

ps thank your parents for helping you get this to me! 

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Spence just continues to amaze me... He now goes up and down the stairs without hesitation.  He has tried to run up them a couple times only to realize his back end doesn't funtion quite that well yet ;-)

He's on medications for his tooth being pulled and he's the easiest dog I've ever had to give horse pills too!  I just plop them in the back of his mouth and he swallows them.  He doesn't try to fight at all, just goes with it.

I tried an experiment today and gave rawhides in my house today.  Spencer did awesome.  He didn't have any issues with the other dogs coming around him at all.  When he got too close to my dogs and they snapped at him, he just hi-tailed it out of their space (my dogs are jerks sometimes).  I decided to see what he would do having me get in his face with a rawhide, which he did fabulously of course.  He let me put my hand on it and play with it without issue.  I didn't actually take it from him because I don't want him to think that we take things away and get him to START guarding items.

We've also been having the kids in the neighborhood setting off fireworks and while he'll look up, he isn't afraid of them.

Spence truly is the all around perfect gentleman.  I'm so excited that I got to foster him... I'm sure you'd like a guy like him in your house too... just let your placement advisor know!

 

Monday, June 20, 2011

As a foster mom I give pieces, and sometimes chunks, of my heart to every foster that comes through my door.  It's my job to let them know that they are now loved, adored and most of all safe.  Sometimes a foster comes in who steals every bit of your heart and Spencer is my most recent one of those.  Spencer has an "old soul" about him, he has a calming presence and his only request is love, love, love. 

Spencer spends 99% of the time I'm home at my feet, with his head in my lap...

 

I've tried to get a picture of him to convey his size but haven't been able to yet as he looks perfect in every picture I've taken so far :-)  This is one of him right after his bathing and grooming session this weekend... Thanks to Christy who spent several hours washing, scrubbing, brushing and picking off many ticks...

 

Spence always has a goofy grin on his face and when we go out to go potty he gets a little swagger in his step and trots beside me, looking up with that grin... Of course I tell him what a pretty boy he is, over and over again :-)  Everyone who has met him has fallen in love.

Spencer isn't housetrained but he hasn't had an accident yet.  Being housetrained means going to the door when you have to potty but so far I've pre-empted his potty needs because my dogs want to go out often so he gets to go out too.  He must have a massive bladder because my dogs out pee him about twice as much :-)  He still likes to hang out with us outside though.  He won't experience a full work day at my house as my dogs are let out during the day so the longest he will have to hold it will be 6-7 hours.

Spencer hasn't interacted with my pack yet but has lives with them peacefully.  I don't think he needs another dog in his furever home to make him happy but if you have a dog that doesn't need to play with another pupper, then Spence would be fine living with another animal or 3...  He met the neighborhood small dog (9 pounds) and did fine.  Again, didn't really interact but didn't have a problem with her getting in his face.

Spence is getting better with stairs and came upstairs last night with no coaxing!  He is still quite hesitant to go down the stairs and will do some slip sliding with his weak back end so I walk next to him and that seems to make him less hesitant.  However, he will do better in a home that doesn't have multiple levels that he would need to go up and down, especially to go potty!

I would prefer him to have a fenced yard because he so loves being outside with you exploring but if you are committed to helping him build muscles, taking him out often and helping him learn his name, then I'm open to discussion.  He was a stray once before and we don't know why, but I can see him ambling along without a care in the world getting lost.

Spencer was so obviously loved in his pre-RAGOM life.  He is a pleaser and a people-lover.