Molly (Tia 13-065)

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Profile

4/1/13

We feel honored to introduce Tia to the RAGOM family! She is a two year old pure bred golden retriever. Tia was surrendered from a commercial breeder. She lived outside in a kennel run her first two years of life and most likely had many litters of puppies. Tia is petite and weighs approximately 58#. She is the sweetest little girl and ready to be loved. 

Tia came into RAGOM in late February with Zoey (13-064), Izzy (13-066), Maverick (13-070), Rico (13-060) and Missy (13-061) from the same breeder. Thank you to her temporary foster for showing her the love and warmth she deserves. She also took her to the vet. Tia is UTD on all vaccines and is receiving HW preventives. She tested negative for worms and was microchipped. Her ears had a lot of waxy buildup, but showed no signs of infection. We have cleaned her ears multiple times a week and they are doing very well. Tia handled the cleanings well and remained calm. I think she knows we want to help her. She is very tolerant and I believe wants to trust us. It’s just so hard to trust when you’ve never experienced it. Tia came to us in heat so she will be spayed in early June. At that time she will also have some teeth extracted due to broken teeth. Tia has let us clip her nails and give her a long bath. She is a beautiful little girl.  

Tia has had a lot of new experiences in just the 2 ½ weeks she has been with us. She meet our resident goldens with no issue. In fact, she brightened up. They are her security and teachers. She is almost always found next to one of them or in one of her 4 safe places. During the first week our resident golden went in her crate many times to just lay by her. She spent her first week close to her crate. She’d go in her crate throughout the day, but not for long times. If there is an unfamiliar noise she will retreat to her crate, but now spends most of her time outside her crate with the other dogs and near us. The other dogs will take her puppy toy, I think to get her to play, but when she doesn't move they drop it and go about what they were doing. She hasn’t wanted to “play” yet, but does take toys into her crate. The Easter bunny brought some new treats for the Kong, so we will try those out this week.

Tia is very curious and likes to investigate around the house. She used the stairs last week. She did great!  

The first week Tia was with us she didn't want to follow us outside and needed to be carried, but once outside she did really well. She's picked one spot in the yard to do her business and keeps returning to it. She sticks close to us or one of the dogs in the back yard. She loves to run around the garage and play hide and seek. She always comes around the corner to peek and eventually comes out to be with us. On her one week anniversary with us she got up in the morning and ran right to the door and went outside. Now she’ll follow the other dogs or us outside. She still trails a 30 ft. lead when outside for safety. We haven't taken her out of the fenced yard yet. We’re thinking we may try a walk around the block this week.

   

She is eating 2 meals a day with the other dogs now. She used to just eat at night when she thought we were sleeping. She eats all of her meals and treats in her crate. She drinks water out of the same bowl as the other dogs. She will not eat anything out of our hand yet. She's eating dry food with some soft food mixed in. I think her teeth may prefer the soft food. Her coat seems to feel softer already.  

Tia doesn’t seem to know her name. Her tail is usually down by legs. She won’t come to us, but allows us to come to her. She seems to enjoy our hugs. She looks at us right in the eyes. She's never tried to move away.  She’s never growled. She doesn’t shake anymore. She let's herself relax now :) In just the few weeks we have known her she has begun to trust us and in turn we have seen little pieces of her personality...sweet, curious, sweet!  As her confidence grows, we'll get to know her better. I already know she'll make a wonderful member to a RAGOM family :)

Tia won’t be ready for adoption until after she has been spayed.

At a Glance #13-065

Golden Retriever Born: February 2011
Female 60 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

4/1/13

We feel honored to introduce Tia to the RAGOM family! She is a two year old pure bred golden retriever. Tia was surrendered from a commercial breeder. She lived outside in a kennel run her first two years of life and most likely had many litters of puppies. Tia is petite and weighs approximately 58#. She is the sweetest little girl and ready to be loved. 

Tia came into RAGOM in late February with Zoey (13-064), Izzy (13-066), Maverick (13-070), Rico (13-060) and Missy (13-061) from the same breeder. Thank you to her temporary foster for showing her the love and warmth she deserves. She also took her to the vet. Tia is UTD on all vaccines and is receiving HW preventives. She tested negative for worms and was microchipped. Her ears had a lot of waxy buildup, but showed no signs of infection. We have cleaned her ears multiple times a week and they are doing very well. Tia handled the cleanings well and remained calm. I think she knows we want to help her. She is very tolerant and I believe wants to trust us. It’s just so hard to trust when you’ve never experienced it. Tia came to us in heat so she will be spayed in early June. At that time she will also have some teeth extracted due to broken teeth. Tia has let us clip her nails and give her a long bath. She is a beautiful little girl.  

Tia has had a lot of new experiences in just the 2 ½ weeks she has been with us. She meet our resident goldens with no issue. In fact, she brightened up. They are her security and teachers. She is almost always found next to one of them or in one of her 4 safe places. During the first week our resident golden went in her crate many times to just lay by her. She spent her first week close to her crate. She’d go in her crate throughout the day, but not for long times. If there is an unfamiliar noise she will retreat to her crate, but now spends most of her time outside her crate with the other dogs and near us. The other dogs will take her puppy toy, I think to get her to play, but when she doesn't move they drop it and go about what they were doing. She hasn’t wanted to “play” yet, but does take toys into her crate. The Easter bunny brought some new treats for the Kong, so we will try those out this week.

Tia is very curious and likes to investigate around the house. She used the stairs last week. She did great!  

The first week Tia was with us she didn't want to follow us outside and needed to be carried, but once outside she did really well. She's picked one spot in the yard to do her business and keeps returning to it. She sticks close to us or one of the dogs in the back yard. She loves to run around the garage and play hide and seek. She always comes around the corner to peek and eventually comes out to be with us. On her one week anniversary with us she got up in the morning and ran right to the door and went outside. Now she’ll follow the other dogs or us outside. She still trails a 30 ft. lead when outside for safety. We haven't taken her out of the fenced yard yet. We’re thinking we may try a walk around the block this week.

   

She is eating 2 meals a day with the other dogs now. She used to just eat at night when she thought we were sleeping. She eats all of her meals and treats in her crate. She drinks water out of the same bowl as the other dogs. She will not eat anything out of our hand yet. She's eating dry food with some soft food mixed in. I think her teeth may prefer the soft food. Her coat seems to feel softer already.  

Tia doesn’t seem to know her name. Her tail is usually down by legs. She won’t come to us, but allows us to come to her. She seems to enjoy our hugs. She looks at us right in the eyes. She's never tried to move away.  She’s never growled. She doesn’t shake anymore. She let's herself relax now :) In just the few weeks we have known her she has begun to trust us and in turn we have seen little pieces of her personality...sweet, curious, sweet!  As her confidence grows, we'll get to know her better. I already know she'll make a wonderful member to a RAGOM family :)

Tia won’t be ready for adoption until after she has been spayed.

Updates

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

I apologize for so much time between my updates. As you read Molly was scheduled to be adopted on her last post. She was adopted by a wonderful family. Molly had a difficult time transitioning to a new environment and routine, which can happen with any dog, but puppy mill dogs even more so. The family wanted what was best for her and surrendered her back to RAGOM.

We learned more about Molly through this experience. She has been back with us for about a month and as expected we saw quite a bit of regression – change is hard. Molly has developed a very sensitive stomach and is now on prescription diet i/d dog food. We tried to transition her back to her regular Wellness Core, but her diarrhea started again so we’re staying with what works for her.

She fell right back into her routine and found all of her “safe spots”, especially near her foster brothers. She chooses spots where she is high & can see the whole room-smart girl. She loves to cuddle and play at bedtime and is always waiting for us on our bed. I love this time of day because you can just see her relax. She is so beautiful inside and out. Molly has a crate in our room, but the door is open and she goes between her crate and our bed. Sometimes she and Sunny, foster fur-brother, can both be found in the crate…sometimes all three in our bed.

She is having urine accidents in the house a couple times a week still. They usually happen at night so we are increasing our visits outside just before bed. I know with time Molly will be consistently going outside again. Time is our friend!

Molly will come when I call about 75% of the time. I am starting to work with her on commands. I think this will build her confidence and trust in people. She still doesn’t seek attention from humans (except bedtime), but is very willing to accept it.

 

Molly needs a family with a fenced yard, another confident dog who wants a friend, but most of all Molly needs a family who is willing to accept her as she is and has the patience and understanding to help her along her journey to truly understand what it means to live the Golden Life! 

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Molly (Tia 13-065) continues to grow :) She has been greeting us with lots of tail wagging. She’s spent lots of time outside playing and enjoying the sunshine. She doesn’t mind the rain either. We can confidently say Molly is not afraid of storms. She perched herself up in the window seat, looked at it blowing rain outside, turned around and ignored it.  

She asked Sunny to play :) She bowed down and shuffled around trying to engage him. This just made me smile. She has been more playful with Jonathan & I too, especially at bed time. Although she still prefers snuggling. Now she doesn’t wait for us to offer pets, she comes right up to get them!

Molly might be moving up in the pack here too. Sunny (10-285) and Hank (10-240) started playing/barking at each other last night. Very noisy. Molly got up, moved right between them, they stopped barking, and they all layed down. She keeps the boys in lineJ

Last Weekend we had about 15 people over for dinner. She did not shy away. I think she decided they were here to see her and proceded to give everyone a chance to pet her. She even snuggled up to one guest. Really…WOW!

Another first…she has gone to the door, without another dog on her side, to tell me she needs to go outside. Really I think it was to explore, but I don’t care. She told me! She is very curious and uses her nose a lot.

She loves her routines. Every morning starts with cuddle time, then outside. Then outside. Then outside. After she’s been in and out a few times it’s breakfast time. Another routine she shows excitement for is walks. I was sure she couldn’t do long walks and would tire out. Not Molly, she can keep up with the best of them. She prances while on walks, enjoys meeting new people and dogs, and gives the impression she has the world by her tail J

We have not pushed learning commands yet, but Molly does understand “outside” and “come”.

I know I’ve shared all the advances she’s made in the past couple weeks and they are very exciting. To give a fair description, Molly still needs extra time to do new things. She needs to check things out before she puts herself in a new situation. She’s a smart little girl.

Molly had her third bath this past weekend in preparation for her spay surgery this week. Her surgery went very well. The vet was also supposed to extract 3 teeth identified as broken at her original vetting. She removed 8 teeth (1 canine, 5 incisors, & 2 premolars). She had so much bone loss & root exposure due to excessive chewing on metal/rocks. We couldn't see it at her original vet visit because Molly was so scared at that point. She hasn't been a big eater...I'm hoping this dental work will help her chew better :) Sunny and Hank are taking turns comforting her as she healsJ Sunny cuddled with her last night and gently licked her paws. Hankie is taking a nap with her this afternoon.

She is scheduled to be adopted on Sunday

Monday, April 22, 2013

Tia is doing well. She is such a sweet girl. So much has happened since my last update. It has been so rewarding watching her become more comfortable and confident. Tia is answering to Molly and she knows her name. If she’s not in the room with us we can call her name and she comes running…then halts…checks out the situation…and comes the rest of the way a little bit more cautiously. She still startles easily, but she wants so much to explore this new world and take in all the love it offers.

  • She’s eating two meals a day and will come right into the closet with me to get her food. She knows the routines now. She doesn’t always want to eat in her crate anymore. Sometimes she’ll hop up into the window seat instead. I feed her where she’s most comfortable. I anticipate that in the next few weeks she be ready to eat in the kitchen with her foster brothers.
  • She goes outside without a leash now. We let all the pups out multiple times throughout the day. I’m reading her cues better now. Also if I (or Hank 10-240) ring the bells on the door she comes running. She’s the first one out the door & the first one back in. She let her foster brothers know that’s the way it’s going to be. They acquiesced without any fuss.
  • She comes in the house by herself. Sometimes if it’s been a long time (she loves the outdoors) I ask Hank to go get her. He’ll run out and shortly they will both return. She gets a little treat after she comes in the house. She won’t eat from my hand yet, but my hand is just a few inches away & I can pet her while she eats it. She is learning to trust us.
  • Her eyes aren’t as sad as they used to be. They are alert, curious, or content.
  • She doesn’t spend much time in her crate, but does use it as a safe space throughout the day. She is usually near Sunny and Hank or enjoying the view from the window seat…sometimes all three of them are there. 
     

  • About two weeks ago she started coming into my son’s room when I was tucking them in at night. (It’s a lengthy process.) Ben invited her up on his bed and she took the offer. That alone made my heart swell. For about a week she stayed down by his feet and then slowly started moving closer for the hugs. One night after tucking the boys in we went into our room. Usually she’d go into her crate. Instead I picked her up and put her on our bed and snuggled with her. She’s been sleeping there every night since. She hops up herself. I smile every night and every morning when I see her. Just knowing she isn’t scared and she knows she’s loved fills my heart.
     

As you’ve read she has made incredible strides in the past 3 weeks. I have just one more story to share. Last week we got up and everyone went to the door to go outside. As usual Molly was the first one out the door and her tail was high in the air J. It’s not always as high as it was that morning, but it doesn’t hide under her anymore.

She had a special family visit this weekend. I will keep you updated.