Nora 21-019
Profile
At a Glance #21-019
| Golden Retriever | Born: June 2013 |
| Female | 60 lbs |
Status: Adopted
Profile
Updates
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Nora is happy to report, with her typical big smile, that she has joined her fur-ever family in the Twin Cities. She has a new brother TJ to play with and two wonderful dads to cuddle with her.
She's going to enjoy exploring her new home and taking fun trail walks. This little velcro girl is the best snuggler and her new family can't wait to love her up.
Such a happy ending for a retired breeder girl who deserves the best in life.
Sunday, April 18, 2021
First off, a very big thank you to Nora’s sponsor! This girl is so gentle and sweet and waiting for her special family.
Nora transitioned back to our home a few weeks ago as being kenneled for long workdays was stressful for her. We were her temporary foster and dog-sitter on occasion, so she slid right back in like she had never left!
She loves having foster mom at home most of the time but we’ve been practicing longer absences. Nora’s been doing great with those and has shown no negative behaviors. She’s left out of the crate all day and night and only goes in to eat her meals.
Nora was treated for a urinary tract infection and hotspot, which may be why she was having accidents in her kennel before her move. Ideally, though, she would do best with a family that can spend plenty of time with her without really long absences.
One thing we’ve learned recently is that she doesn’t like to be outside when it’s thundering or lightning in the distance, and even rain keeps her inside. When inside the house, these things don’t bother her.
Nora enjoys leash walks but does best if a confident dog is in the lead. She’s a good follower! She’s still very frightened of younger children and hesitates on walks if she can hear them in the distance. It seems more the noises they make that cause her stress. Going to new places is still very scary for her as well. She really needs a confident dog to follow.
Nora’s favorite toy is balls. After peeling all the tennis balls in the house, we switched to a rubber one, which she seems to like just as much. She carries a ball with her around the house and in the yard. She shares toys well and gets along easily with other dogs in all respects. Here’s Nora surrounded by the pack with her typical smile.
What Nora likes best is to be right at your feet (or on your lap). Looking down before taking a step is a really good idea. She is indeed a Velcro girl and possibly the best snuggler on the planet. We have continued working on the “space” command but it’s still a work in progress. She has learned the sit and watch-me commands, and as she’s very food motivated is very trainable.
While we haven’t had a road trip with Nora yet, she does great on short rides in the car.
On her last veterinary appointment, we learned her new ideal weight is 55 pounds as she will likely have more trouble keeping weight off after her spay surgery. She has already made some progress towards that goal. Her surgery has been scheduled at the end of April so it won’t be much longer before she will be available!
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Vet update: No more mouth restrictions! We are excited about that! And, surprisingly, she is able to have normal dry kibble the rest of her life. They said her gums will harden with time and she should be able to eat like a normal dog - good news there! I am still softening her kibble with hot water for now. She has also lost weight and is at her ideal weight of 60 lbs.
She continues to do well and is enjoying some bites of human food again. Just the other day, she was chasing after my dogs with a tennis ball in her mouth. It's the most "playing" she's ever done!
She continues to take small steps forward. She's still a little nervous with doorways, but with an uplifting "ok!" she runs through. She sometimes rushes the doorways, so we've been working on waiting for the "ok" command and she's been progressing with that.
I am gone for 10 hours for work, a few days a week. She does sometimes have accidents in her crate when I'm gone. In her forever home, it would be best if she is adopted into a home with her people home more often than not, since she doesn't like being alone for long periods of time.
She'll need a low-key home, where she can get all the walks and affection she can handle! She is afraid of children, even from a distance, so she will need older, calm children in the home, or none at all.
She still needs to have her mass removal surgery and spay (hopefully as just one surgery), so she won't be available for adoption until after she recovers from that.
Fence requirement: she does just fine in a fenced yard, but it's not a requirement. She does well going potty outside on the leash as well, and is used to doing this in addition to going potty in my fenced backyard.
Since she is so scared by anything, she will never be a dog that can be trained to stay in the yard or nearby. She will need a committed adopter to keep her safe and on-leash if she is outside of a secure fenced yard.
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Nora came into RAGOM from the breeding life. Since she has had limited exposure to everything, she is timid, but has made some amazing strides since arriving to her new life.
She is a cute little golden, who is 100% a velcro dog - she follows me around everywhere! If you want to add a shadow to your life, look no further! You'll never be alone when doing the laundry, going to the bathroom, or sleeping.
She is a sweet, gentle soul, who is looking for a quiet, calmer household with a confident medium/large fur sibling.
She has 2 four-legged foster siblings and she does look to them to learn how to act and know to feel safe. She hasn't played with them at this point, but does run after them.
It seems like she wants to play sometimes, just doesn't quite know how to. Overall, I'd say she is way more of a human-dog and is way more interested in the humans around - so she can get pets and love of course!
She is crate trained. She finds her crates as comfort zones and will frequently run to her kitchen crate (she gets fed in it, so she loves it) to hang out if I'm in the kitchen.
She occasionally barks, but once she knows the routine, she's fine. She will sometimes bark a couple times when she's super excited - mostly when I get home from work and we're heading outside.
She gets frozen kongs when I leave for work, so she loves crating for that. She goes into her crate with little encouragement, no issues there. I do crate her whenever I'm gone from the house, or at work.
She sleeps in my room with me and the dogs at night and sleeps through the night laying right next to my bed. She doesn't lay on the dog beds around the house and hasn't tried to jump onto the bed yet. It may be because she's little, I'm sure if I had dog stairs she'd climb right up!
She enjoys walks and has been doing really well with that. At first, she would just run around your legs because she was scared and get all caught up in the leashes.
I now keep her on a shorter leash and she walks perfectly next to me just on a flat leash (no gentle leader needed).
Like I mentioned earlier, she loves her humans, so she has no complaints about being right next to me! If she gets nervous or scared, she's kind of like a little kid and will just run into your legs and try to hide.
She's been doing really well with cars passing by and doesn't shy away much anymore.
She is a lower energy dog and is fine with going on a walk every day, and maybe some playtime if she's feeling up to it. She likes to chew on toys independently, and a few times she's chased after balls.
She does like to chase after the ball/frisbee when I throw it in the backyard for my shepherd. She'll go to the toy, but then leave it and run happily back to me. It's adorable!
In the house, she does like to empty the toy bins and hoard toys in her crates or in her "spot" by the couch. She is currently on "mouth restrictions" so can't play with toys until her mouth heals, which she is sad about.
She's a typical golden and loves carrying around toys (or the occasional piece of bread!
Cars: She rides well in the car and tolerates wearing her doggie seatbelt. She'll lay or sit in one spot the whole ride. She does like to snuggle up to one of my dogs if they're with. She hops out all on her own.
A couple other things to note:
- Respects baby gates
- Takes treats gently
- Lays down and allows her nails to be clipped
- Tolerates her ears being cleaned
- Does well with brushing/grooming
- Doesn't try to eat her fur siblings food/is respectful
She has her silly moments. I caught her rolling her face in the snuffle mat that I feed my dogs with. She also has this ADORABLE eye squint/smile that she does when she's happy. It is the cutest thing ever!
She has visited another foster home several times when I am out of town or have a long weekend. She does pretty well with the transitions back and forth.
She'll need a more extended transition period to her forever home than a "normal" dog. She will be nervous, but with positive words, encouragement, and time, she'll adjust beautifully.
Honestly, it may take a few weeks, so be prepared for that. She'll continue to open up as she gets more comfortable in both foster care, and in her adoptive home! I can't wait to see who she'll "grow up" to be!
She is an older gal and since she lived a hard life, she had several issues coming into rescue. She was treated for a urinary tract infection, worms, ear infection. She's a little overweight, so we've been working on that (aren't we all).
She had dental surgery and because her teeth were so rotten, they had to remove all but 2 molars. She has been on a soft diet (watered-down canned food) since then, and this may be what she needs for the rest of her life, but I'll know more after her follow up vet appointment.
She came to me in heat, so she has to wait until the end of April to get spayed due to that. She also needs to have a couple mass removals, so hopefully that will be done during the spay surgery.
Besides the diet, she won't have any long-lasting medical issues after her surgeries. She's been fully vaccinated and vetted otherwise.