Rufus 12-342

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Profile

Sponsored by:

Kelly and Casper Urbanek
"In memory of Mason"


October 26, 2012

Rufus is an adorable 3-4 year old Golden mix, though he looks about 80-90% Golden. He’s a gorgeous light gold color with white on his chest and on his nose. Though he has minimal training, he doesn’t jump up, hasn’t had any accidents in the house, hasn’t chewed on anything inappropriate, and doesn’t seem to have any bad habits other than wanting to mark everything in sight outside. We have kept a belly band on him in the house so he won’t mark anything, but he hasn’t even tried once to mark in the house. He is very sweet, loves to be petted and cuddled, and has quickly learned that he prefers to sleep on the couch instead of the floor or his dog bed! He gets along great with my 15 month old male Golden Retriever, my 2 cats, and my 8 year old daughter. I think he would really love to have a dog friend in his forever home. I don’t think he has a mean bone in his body. He is up to date on vaccines, his fecal was negative, and we will get him microchipped at his next vet visit.

Rufus was surrendered to a kill shelter in Georgia by his owner. Being heartworm positive, he didn’t stand a chance at the shelter. One of the shelter workers contacted RAGOM to save this sweet boy. Luckily, RAGOM said “YES!” and transport was set up for Rufus. During transport, Rufus was attacked by another dog, leaving a large wound under his chin and on the inside of his lip. He was taken to an emergency clinic and his lacerations were repaired before being transported to Minnesota. Rufus spent a week in a temp foster home while transport was arranged for him to go to his permanent foster home. I can’t imagine what this poor boy was thinking during this scary time in his life. I want to thank everyone who was involved with pulling Rufus from the shelter and who helped with his transport. You literally helped save his life! I also want to thank, Jane, his temp foster mom, for taking such great care of Rufus!

After experiencing all of this in a short amount of time, I expected a very stressed, nervous, and scared dog when I met him for the first time. Though he was a little freaked out, his sweet and loving personality was already evident. The only sign of him being stressed is that he’s still a little hesitant to eat, but we aren’t sure if that’s due to nerves or if it’s because he doesn’t feel well. Rufus is very thin, weighing in at 54 pounds. He should be 70 or 75 pounds. I bought a few different types of premium food for him to try, including canned food, but he hasn’t shown much interest in any of it. I finally got him to eat a mixture of kibble soaked in chicken broth, cooked ground beef with oats, fish oil, and eggs, and boiled chicken breast pieces on top. He loves Hill’s A/D canned food, so I’ve been hiding his medications in a small amount of that. It’s a very rich food that can easily cause diarrhea if he eats too much of it, otherwise I’d be feeding him cans of it! Even though he is eating some, he needs to eat a lot more in order to gain weight. I try to offer him food in small amounts of food several times a day when I am home, hoping that he’ll eat even a little bit each time.

I took Rufus to the vet this week to get blood work and x-rays done. They both looked great, and we got the okay to start his heartworm treatment next week. The vet classified him as Stage 1, with minimal to no symptoms, normal blood work and x-rays, and minimal exercise intolerance. The only symptom that I’ve noticed is that he pants most of the time. Even when he’s at rest, he pants like he’s just run a few miles. He was started on Doxycycline (for 30 days) as part of the heartworm treatment protocol, and Cephalexin (10 days) to clear up the infection in his dog bite wounds. The wounds are already looking a lot better, and he doesn’t mind me inspecting and cleaning them. Rufus has also been started on Heartgard every 30 days to kill the microfilaria (baby heartworms) that are swimming around in his blood. (See photo)

Rufus will go back to the vet next week for his first injection of Immiticide for his heartworm treatment. This injection is given deep into the muscle next to his spine near his hips. It is very painful, and he will need to be on pain medication for several days. After the injection, Rufus will need to be kept quiet for 30 days. This means strict cage rest and he will only get to go outside on a leash to go potty. After 30 days, he will go in for 2 more injections, 24 hours apart. Then 30 more days of complete exercise restriction and cage rest. Finally, if everything goes well, Rufus can be neutered after that. For more information about the process of treating for heartworms, here is a great link: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=610

Rufus will stay with us until his heartworm treatments are complete and he is able to be neutered. Although he won’t be available for adoption until then, we can talk with interested adopters before that time. If you are interested in this sweet, amazing, resilient boy, please contact your placement advisor!

At a Glance #12-342

Mixed Breed Born: October 2008
Male 65 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

Sponsored by:

Kelly and Casper Urbanek
"In memory of Mason"


October 26, 2012

Rufus is an adorable 3-4 year old Golden mix, though he looks about 80-90% Golden. He’s a gorgeous light gold color with white on his chest and on his nose. Though he has minimal training, he doesn’t jump up, hasn’t had any accidents in the house, hasn’t chewed on anything inappropriate, and doesn’t seem to have any bad habits other than wanting to mark everything in sight outside. We have kept a belly band on him in the house so he won’t mark anything, but he hasn’t even tried once to mark in the house. He is very sweet, loves to be petted and cuddled, and has quickly learned that he prefers to sleep on the couch instead of the floor or his dog bed! He gets along great with my 15 month old male Golden Retriever, my 2 cats, and my 8 year old daughter. I think he would really love to have a dog friend in his forever home. I don’t think he has a mean bone in his body. He is up to date on vaccines, his fecal was negative, and we will get him microchipped at his next vet visit.

Rufus was surrendered to a kill shelter in Georgia by his owner. Being heartworm positive, he didn’t stand a chance at the shelter. One of the shelter workers contacted RAGOM to save this sweet boy. Luckily, RAGOM said “YES!” and transport was set up for Rufus. During transport, Rufus was attacked by another dog, leaving a large wound under his chin and on the inside of his lip. He was taken to an emergency clinic and his lacerations were repaired before being transported to Minnesota. Rufus spent a week in a temp foster home while transport was arranged for him to go to his permanent foster home. I can’t imagine what this poor boy was thinking during this scary time in his life. I want to thank everyone who was involved with pulling Rufus from the shelter and who helped with his transport. You literally helped save his life! I also want to thank, Jane, his temp foster mom, for taking such great care of Rufus!

After experiencing all of this in a short amount of time, I expected a very stressed, nervous, and scared dog when I met him for the first time. Though he was a little freaked out, his sweet and loving personality was already evident. The only sign of him being stressed is that he’s still a little hesitant to eat, but we aren’t sure if that’s due to nerves or if it’s because he doesn’t feel well. Rufus is very thin, weighing in at 54 pounds. He should be 70 or 75 pounds. I bought a few different types of premium food for him to try, including canned food, but he hasn’t shown much interest in any of it. I finally got him to eat a mixture of kibble soaked in chicken broth, cooked ground beef with oats, fish oil, and eggs, and boiled chicken breast pieces on top. He loves Hill’s A/D canned food, so I’ve been hiding his medications in a small amount of that. It’s a very rich food that can easily cause diarrhea if he eats too much of it, otherwise I’d be feeding him cans of it! Even though he is eating some, he needs to eat a lot more in order to gain weight. I try to offer him food in small amounts of food several times a day when I am home, hoping that he’ll eat even a little bit each time.

I took Rufus to the vet this week to get blood work and x-rays done. They both looked great, and we got the okay to start his heartworm treatment next week. The vet classified him as Stage 1, with minimal to no symptoms, normal blood work and x-rays, and minimal exercise intolerance. The only symptom that I’ve noticed is that he pants most of the time. Even when he’s at rest, he pants like he’s just run a few miles. He was started on Doxycycline (for 30 days) as part of the heartworm treatment protocol, and Cephalexin (10 days) to clear up the infection in his dog bite wounds. The wounds are already looking a lot better, and he doesn’t mind me inspecting and cleaning them. Rufus has also been started on Heartgard every 30 days to kill the microfilaria (baby heartworms) that are swimming around in his blood. (See photo)

Rufus will go back to the vet next week for his first injection of Immiticide for his heartworm treatment. This injection is given deep into the muscle next to his spine near his hips. It is very painful, and he will need to be on pain medication for several days. After the injection, Rufus will need to be kept quiet for 30 days. This means strict cage rest and he will only get to go outside on a leash to go potty. After 30 days, he will go in for 2 more injections, 24 hours apart. Then 30 more days of complete exercise restriction and cage rest. Finally, if everything goes well, Rufus can be neutered after that. For more information about the process of treating for heartworms, here is a great link: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=610

Rufus will stay with us until his heartworm treatments are complete and he is able to be neutered. Although he won’t be available for adoption until then, we can talk with interested adopters before that time. If you are interested in this sweet, amazing, resilient boy, please contact your placement advisor!

Updates

Sunday, March 31, 2013

I am very happy to let everyone know that handsome, sweet boy Rufus has found his forever family with a wonderful mom, dad and two very dog savvy teenage children. Rufus's journey to his forever home is what rescue is all about. To say it sometimes takes a village to save just one dog is very true in Rufus's case and sometimes a healthy dose of luck is on their side. I am very honored to have been able to help Rufus not only get into RAGOM but to be his foster when he found his forever family.

Rufus was surrendered to a very high kill shelter in GA back in October of 2012. Only about 5% of the dogs surrendered to this particular shelter make it out alive. Because Rufus had heartworm, his chance of making it out was zero. Lucky for Rufus, one of my friends is a wonderful rescuer who lives in North Dakota. She has made it her mission to help the dogs at this shelter. She contacted me when she saw the photos of Rufus and we agreed to take him into RAGOM. Rufus was lucky to find a temporary foster home in GA while we worked out his transport to MN. Thankfully a one woman rescue is able to foster dogs while they await transport to their rescue groups. During transport, when the dogs were being exercised, Rufus was bitten by another dog on transport. Again luck was on his side, as we were contacted and authorized the transporters to take Rufus in for emergency vet care. He was sedated and received stitches in his jaw and inside his mouth.

Once he arrived in the Twin Cities, he was placed in a temporary foster home until he could move to his permanent foster in Iowa. Again luck was on Rufus's side as his foster is a vet tech and was able to provide Rufus with all the medical care and TLC he required. He made it through his heartworm treatment without complications thanks to his wonderful foster family who kept him on crate rest for 60 days and made sure he was well taken care of. After his heartworm treatment, Rufus was able to be neutered and had a mass on his foot removed. Again luck was on Rufus's side as the mass was nothing to worry about and he recovered without incident.

Rufus was adopted out and returned to his first foster when he showed some resource guarding after a child in the home took away a rawhide bone and his food dish. He was nervous and a little anxious when he went back to his foster home and growled at the young child there so we made the difficult decision to move Rufus to one of our boarding facilities so everyone would be safe. Luck was on my side this time as I was able to foster Rufus once my current foster was adopted. I was very happy to be able to help Rufus find a forever family and see him off on the final leg of his journey.

He is one very sweet boy and so deserves his happy ending. A special thank you to Patty P and Michelle L and all the the temp fosters, transporters and medical staff who helped Rufus on his journey. First reports are good from his forever family, he has been on several walks, met several dogs, saw some deer and an owl, took it all in stride. I know he is enjoying snuggling with his new family and getting spoiled. I also know he is enjoying his big dog bed that his first foster sent for him as well as all the nice toys she sent with him. Maybe Rufus should be named "Lucky"!! Best wishes from your foster family, look forward to seeing photos of you enjoying your new life.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Hi everyone, it's me Rufus writing to you with big news. I have moved from my foster home in Iowa to a new foster home in Minnesota. I've been at my new foster home for 5 days now and I am settling in just fine. I have 4 dogs to play with here and a nice big fenced in back yard to run around in. I met all 4 of the dogs without any issues. The two boy dogs, Raven and Rocco are lots of fun, they both like to wrestle and run around. They play rough and so do I so we are a good match. Willow is a foster dog like me, only she is from a puppy mill, so scared of new things, like new dogs and people. She was afraid of me when I first got here, showed me her teeth, growled and yipped at me. I just took it all in stride and played with the boy dogs. The next day she was better with me and each day she has gotten more relaxed around me. Today we actually played a little!! Jimmie is an older lab and she likes to growl at me, I growled back at her a couple of times but now I know she won't hurt me and it is just all talk so we are fine.

The first night here I got to sleep in the bedroom with foster mom and the rest of the dogs. I did just fine, no accidents and slept all night on the dog bed right next to foster mom and Raven. Foster mom did have me stay in a crate when she went to work as she wanted to make sure I would not get into stuff or have any accidents. I did fine, no issues. I was pretty tired so I just slept all day. On the second day here I got to go to work with foster mom. That was fun. I got to meet 3 new people and they all said how handsome and sweet I am. One lady taught me how to shake a paw for a treat and I took a nap on the dog bed at work. Wow, work is exhausting Well, foster mom wants to say a few things so I am going to go play with the dogs now. More from me in a few days.

Foster mom here: Rufus is doing great at my house. He is very sweet and loving. He has gotten along just fine with all the dogs here and I have not seen any evidence of resource guarding. I am able to walk by him when he eats, and I've been working with him by tossing a few goodies in his food dish while he is eating so he knows good things happen when people are near his food dish. He likes to eat some food and then walk around before eating more. My resident dogs like to try to eat anything that is left, so I pick up the food dish and hold it for Rufus so he can finish his food. He has not shown any issues and is just happy to finish his food. I don't give my dogs rawhides as I've had dogs who have had intestinal problems because of rawhides but I did test Rufus with one when he was at work. He was fine with the rawhide, I was able to walk by him, talk to him and pet him on the back while he was chewing on it. He left part of it on the floor and I picked it up and called him to me. He sat in my lap and chewed on the piece while I held it, no issues at all. I've started working with Rufus on trading toys for treats and that is going well. No issues at all and he loves his treats so I think he will do fine learning to trade things. It is very important to teach dogs to trade and not to take things away from dogs. This is one thing that I tell all my adopters to work on, never be a taker, always be a giver.

Rufus is ready to find his forever family. He would be happy as a second dog as long as the other dog likes to play and is ok with some rough play. He would also do just fine as an only dog. I know he would love a fenced yard but it is not necessary as long as his owners are willing to walk him and give him time to run off leash, maybe at dog parks or on play dates with other dogs. I do think Rufus should go to a home with older children or at least with very dog savvy children and parents who can instruct the children to be givers not takers given his issue in his previous adoptive home. Rufus, like all adoptive dogs, will need time to settle into a new home but based on his time with me, that will not take long. He is a very handsome boy, with a medium length coat. He is a nice size, about 60 pounds. Rufus does not get on the furniture unless he is invited up, so if you don't want a dog on the furniture he would be a good fit. He is also very smart, he learned to shake a paw for a treat within about 5 minutes and sits very nicely for treats and before meals. He is not a barker, only barks when the other dogs bark. He is 100% housebroken, and goes to the door when he needs to go out. I am actually very surprised Rufus is still available for adoption. Someone out there is missing out on a very nice dog, could that be you?? Please let your placement adviser know if Rufus sounds like a good fit for you.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

From your buddy, Preston! From your buddy, Preston!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Rufus was adopted and then returned within the 2 week period after he showed a few instances of resource guarding at his new home. Once, his family gave him a rawhide and then tried to take it away. He growled, and they ignored his warning and took the rawhide. Rufus growled again and snapped at them when they tried to “steal” his high value item. Rufus is a very good “communicator” and warns people by growling. Dogs who aren’t good communicators don’t growl, they go straight to biting without any warning. Rufus is not aggressive, he is communicating with his growling. I met with the family and discussed trading instead of taking, about not giving him high value items while he was still settling in, and about getting a trainer if they didn’t have the experience to work with him themselves. Moving to a new home is stressful on a dog, and Rufus needed time to settle in and learn to trust his new family. About a week later, Rufus growled while playing with one of the boys in his adoptive family and at his adoptive mom while he was eating. They felt that they could not trust him around their two kids, so Rufus came back to his foster family. I know they loved Rufus very much and it was very hard for them to give Rufus up, but it was important to keep the kids safe.

I had never had an issue with resource guarding before he was adopted, so his behavior came as a shock to me. I talked to several other RAGOM volunteers and got a lot of great information. One likened the rawhide incident to giving a teenager a $100 bill and then trying to take it away. That teenager is likely to do more than growl! Whenever a dog has something that you need to take away, it is best to “trade” for something they really want, such as a high value treat or toy. I have worked with Rufus on trading and he is very willing to give up a toy or bone for a yummy treat! Taking is never a good way to start any relationship. Humans should always be the “giver” and show a dog that all good things come from us. When Rufus first came to me, he learned that only good things came from me – food, love, attention, etc. Because of this, Rufus trusted me and didn’t feel a need to protect his toys since he knew I wasn’t going to steal them.

Rufus settled back in to the routine with his foster family, until one night when he was on a dog bed with a stuffed toy and his 8 year old foster sister walked through the room, ignoring Rufus. Rufus growled and snapped at her, but luckily it didn’t go any further. I was right in the same room, so I was able to see the whole thing happen and make sure everyone was safe. Because of these few incidents involving children, I don’t feel it is safe to have him in a home with kids. Rufus has been with us since October 2012, and has not shown any instance of resource guarding until he was adopted. I don’t think his resource guarding is very bad, but he will need to work on trading exercises and he will need to learn to trust his family. We didn’t take anything from him, and he quickly learned that we could be trusted not to “steal” anything that he had. If I wanted something from him, I would “trade” for it with a high value treat. Again, think of him as a teenager. If a teenager had something of high value that you wanted, you could try to take it, but I’m sure the teenager would resist. Or you could offer $100 (high value treat) and the teenager would give up the guarded item a lot more willingly. Rufus is very smart and has been doing very well with trading exercises and obedience training. He needs an adult only home who will continue to work with him with trading exercises and teaching him that humans “give” and don’t “take.” Obedience training would be highly recommended for Rufus as well, as it can help with the human/dog bond.

Please don’t let this scare you off if you are interested in Rufus. If he is given time to adjust in his new home, positive training, and plenty of love, he will be a perfect family member! He absolutely loves people and other dogs and wants to be a spoiled member of some lucky family!


Monday, February 18, 2013

Hi guys! I'm back with my foster family after it didn't work out with my adoptive family. I have been a very good boy for my foster mom and I am having fun playing with Finn and Vinnie. If you would like to meet me and talk to my foster mom about me, please contact your placement advisor!

-Rufus


Sunday, January 20, 2013

I forgot to thank Rufus’s wonderful sponsors and the family who gave him the holiday icon! Thank you so much for your support! Rufus's new family is very excited to adopt him as soon as he has healed from his neuter surgery!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Merry Christmas from Ginger (07-404), Jackson (08-442), and Benji (07-664) just up the road from you in Waverly, IA! Merry Christmas from Ginger (07-404), Jackson (08-442), and Benji (07-664) just up the road from you in Waverly, IA!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

BIG NEWS!! Rufus is adoption pending! He had a wonderful family come to meet him last weekend and they have decided to adopt him! Rufus will be neutered and have a growth on his foot removed on 1/21 and after he has recovered he will be able to go to his new home! The R family and Rufus are a perfect match!

Thank you, Jane, for temp fostering Rufus when he first came to RAGOM! Thank you, Barry, for switching fosters so Rufus could come to my house and start his medical treatments and for helping with his transport! Thank you for everyone else behind the scenes at RAGOM that helped with Rufus in any way! He is such a wonderful boy and I am so happy RAGOM was able to get him from the shelter in Georgia. We are thrilled to be a part of another happy ending!


Monday, December 31, 2012

Our sweet Rufus had a wonderful Christmas! He is camera shy so I didn’t get many good pictures, but he did have a great time seeing what new toys and treats were in the packages! Santa also came and brought everyone more toys! My daughter was very happy that none of the dogs barked at Santa.

Rufus has just a few days left of cage rest! He is raring to go and can’t wait to run around again. He has been such a good boy for putting up with all the medical treatments and 2 months of cage rest. He has quickly become buddies with our other foster, Vinnie 12-382, and they are crated next to each other during the day. Neither of them is neutered yet, but they have both been on their best behavior.


Vinnie and Rufus

Rufus hasn’t had any complications from having heartworms and we don’t expect him to have any long term problems. He will need to have a recheck heartworm test in April, and then yearly after that as is recommended by the American Heartworm Society. It is also recommended that he be on heartworm prevention year round for the rest of his life so he never has to go through heartworm treatment again.

When Rufus first arrived, we thought he would do best in a forever home with another dog. He quickly bonded with our resident dog, Finn, and he seemed less stressed in our home with a dog than he was in his temp foster home without another dog. As Rufus gets more comfortable here and as we get to know him better, it doesn’t seem that he would absolutely need another dog in his forever home if his family was home a lot to spend time with him. We have been giving him more freedom outside of the crate (on a leash so he can’t run around) and he ignores the other dogs and only pays attention to the people in the house. Whenever I sit on the floor, he will crawl in my lap and rest his head on my shoulder. My heart just melts every time he does it! Though he has some bursts of energy, overall he is a pretty mellow dog and he loves to curl up on the couch with me.

Please contact your placement advisor if you are interested in meeting Rufus!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Rufus and his foster family want to thank the family who posted a holiday icon to his page! FM looked up your three RAGOM pups and they are so cute! They are very lucky to have such a wonderful family!

We had a blizzard in eastern Iowa, and Rufus wasn’t sure what to do! It’s possible, being from Georgia, that he’s never seen snow! He was very hesitant at first, but he decided he needed to go potty so he trotted across the yard.

He doesn’t like to spend any extra time outside right now since it’s so cold. Rufus would much rather be curled up on his warm bed. Rufus has been the perfect houseguest for us. Sometimes I forget he is even here, as most of the time he’s content being curled up on his dog bed or on the couch. He has shown a lot more interest in toys lately, his favorites being a nylabone or filled kong.

Rufus got a spa treatment this week – bath, nail trim, and his ears cleaned. He had the start of an infection in one of his ears, so he has been started on an ointment that I put in his ear once daily. He is very good for it, though it doesn’t surprise me at all. He has always been wonderful for all of his medical treatments. Rufus will go back to the vet next week for an iv injection that will kill the remaining microfilaria (baby heartworms) in his blood. Two weeks later he will be neutered and will be ready for adoption after that! If you are interested in Rufus and have a fenced in yard and another dog, please contact your placement advisor!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Rufus had his heartworm treatments on 12/4 and 12/5. He was tired and sore on those days, but by 12/6 he was eating full meals (canned food) and wagging his tail. Now, 2 weeks out from the injections, he feels GREAT and wants to run and play. The only problem, he has to be quiet for 30 days! He has put on 5 pounds in the last month, and is close to his ideal weight of 65 pounds. He is now eating dry food without any extras and he always eats his whole meal!

We are learning more about Rufus.

  • Loud noises/storms do not bother him and he doesn’t have separation anxiety.
  • He gets along with all of the dogs he has met while I have had him. He’s met a female (spayed) Bernese Mt. Dog, small dogs at the vet, and he loves our resident Golden. This week we also got a new temp foster, Vinnie 12-382, who is also not neutered, and there have been zero issues between the two, although they have not been allowed to be out of their crates together since Rufus gets so excited and wants to play.
  • Rufus loves his crate, but I think he would do fine being out during the day too once he is off cage rest. He has had zero accidents in our house.
  • He will need to be allowed to get up on the couch in his forever home! If he’s not curled up in his kennel on his dog bed, he’s usually on the couch. He doesn’t try to get on my bed, but it’s pretty tall so I don’t think he wants to try to jump that high.
  • Rufus has learned to sit before going outside to go potty. He would greatly benefit from obedience classes with his forever family. He does pull on a leash, and I plan on introducing the Gentle Leader once he is cleared for exercise. He doesn’t always come when he’s called, which is one of the reasons why a fenced in yard is so important for him.
  • He LOVES to cuddle and get belly rubs/body massages. He is such a sweet boy. Everyone who has met him has fallen in love, and he loves everyone!

Rufus and his foster family would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Rumor has it that there are a few boxes under the tree with Rufus’s name on them, and that Santa loves to spoil everyone here, pets included!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Rufus goes in this week for his 2nd and 3rd injections for his heartworm treatment. Since he was on a 30 day cage rest from the first injection, he hasn’t been able to have any exercise. With the vet’s permission, he was able to go on a few walks and be off leash in the backyard for a few minutes at a time this weekend since it had been more than 30 days since his last injection. We certainly didn’t want to give him too much freedom, so we limited walks to about 10 minutes (at a slow pace). When off leash in the back yard, he ran the fence line once and then sat in the yard and enjoyed the beautiful weather. All the excitement and fresh air wore him out.

He looks much bigger in pictures than he really is. He has a stockier body type, but he’s pretty compact. His back barely comes up to my knee. I’ll try to get a good picture of Rufus and my resident dog, Finn, to give a good size comparison.

Here are a few more things we’ve learned about Rufus:

  • We feed Rufus in his crate, mostly because our resident dog would gulp down Rufus’s food since Rufus is a slower eater. Rufus has never shown any food aggression to me, my daughter, or our resident dog, but he has growled at one of my cats when the cat tried to steal food from the bowl in his kennel. (The cat was on the outside of the kennel, and reaching his paw inside to get pieces of kibble from the bowl.) In all fairness to Rufus, the cat is a pig and constantly tries to steal everyone’s food! I have been able to take food and toys from Rufus without any issues. My 8 year old daughter helps to feed the dogs and I trust Rufus around her. Rufus takes treats very nicely from her. Even though Rufus growled at the cat, I still think he’d do fine in a home with cats, as long as they aren’t trying to eat out of his food bowl. He has never tried to chase my two cats. He hasn’t really seemed too interested in them at all.
  • Rufus would do great in a home with kids around 8 and up. My daughter is able to lead Rufus by his collar, walk him on a leash, give him treats, and pet him without any problems. I am hesitant to have him with kids much younger than that in his forever home, only because I haven’t seen him around kids younger than that. We don’t know much about his history, so to be on the safe side he should either have kids 8+ or no kids in his forever home.
  • Rufus barks when someone comes to the door. He lets out a few deep woofs and then settles down when I tell him “Rufus, enough.” He also barks when he seems someone walking past our yard, a stern “Aroo roo roo rooo rooooo,” but he is all talk. As soon as he meets the person, he rolls over for a belly rub! Our resident dog, Finn, barks at people walking by the backyard (we have an alley in the back) so he isn’t helping to teach Rufus that it isn’t necessary to bark at everyone that walks by. He doesn’t bark obsessively, but he can be vocal at times.
  • Rufus will need a fenced in yard. We have part chain link, part wood privacy fence, and he would be fine with either. (Though he would probably bark less if the yard was completely fenced with a wood privacy fence.) He has not tried to jump the 4 foot section of our fence.
  • He rides pretty well in the car, but sometimes he pants a little more than necessary. A few times he’s paced a little in the back seat, but he gets better each time he rides in the car. So far he’s only been on car rides for transport and to the vet, so I don’t blame him for being a little nervous!
  • Rufus doesn’t have any anxieties. Storms and loud noises don’t bother him at all. He also doesn’t have any separation anxiety.
  • Rufus has had several families interested in him, but they all had the same thing in common that we thought would not be a good fit for Rufus. None of them had another dog. Rufus definitely needs another dog in his forever home. He doesn’t necessarily need a dog who wants to play constantly, but he really just enjoys being around other dogs.

Please keep Rufus in your thoughts this week while he goes through the 2nd phase of his heartworm treatment. This 2nd part is much more painful and he will be feeling even worse than he did the first time since he will be getting two injections this time. We will be doing everything we can to make him more comfortable. He has a comfy orthopedic dog bed with a cozy fleece blanket for him to sleep on in his crate, and we will be keeping him on pain medication for as long as he needs it. I also have stocked up on several different types of canned food for him, since he only wanted to eat canned food (and some homemade foods) after his last treatment. Though it’s very hard to see him so miserable, I know that it’s necessary to get him healthy. Please remember to give your dog(s) their heartworm prevention every month, year round, to protect them from having to go through what Rufus is going through.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Rufus is doing very well! We had some issues getting him to eat after his heartworm treatment, but he is now eating his food most of the time. He loves his crate and spends a lot of time sleeping on his comfy dog bed. Luckily, it hasn’t been too difficult to keep him quiet. There are a times (usually when my resident dog gets the zoomies) that he wants to play, but I am able to distract him with a nylabone or filled Kong. I can’t wait for January so they can play together!

I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what Rufus may be mixed with. My best guess would be an Australian Shepherd. I can see it in the shape of his ears and face, and his body closely resembles the breed. He is not very tall and he is stockier than my Golden. I’ve also thought that maybe he has some Husky in him, as he has a really thick coat. However, his behavior and personality are all Golden Retriever. One of the best things is that he doesn’t seem to shed much! He had a black fleece blanket in his kennel for 3 days and there were only a few hairs on it… which is practically unheard of for anyone who has ever owned a Golden Retriever! His coat seems to be in pretty good condition and so far hasn’t required a lot of grooming. He got another bath today, along with a nail trim and ear cleaning, and he did wonderful for all of it. 

I am thankful for Rufus’s sponsors, RAGOM, and all of the wonderful RAGOM volunteers who open their homes and hearts to dogs in need this holiday season. Rufus wants to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! He also wants to mention that if you are interested in meeting him, please contact your placement advisor today!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

I want to thank Rufus’ sponsors, Kelly and Casper Urbanek! Thank you so much for realizing what an amazing dog he is and for choosing to make a donation to RAGOM to help cover his vet bills from his heartworm treatment. Mason would be so proud that his loving family wanted to honor him by being a sponsor to another RAGOM dog. We are so appreciative of your donation!

Rufus had his first heartworm injection on Tuesday, 10/30. He was feeling pretty lousy for a few days after his injection, mostly due to the pain associated with the injection. The first 7-10 days are the most crucial for him to stay quiet, as that’s when the heartworms are dying and the body is breaking them up. Rufus has had no coughing or any other side effects. On Dec. 4 and 5, he’ll get his 2nd and 3rd heartworm injections. After those injections, he’ll need to stay quiet for another 30 days. If all goes well, after the 30 days are up we can schedule his appointment to be neutered.

We have been able to get Rufus to eat much better. He is currently getting 1 ½ cups of dry food with a can of wet food mixed with warm water in the morning and at night. He takes his medications in a pill pocket without any issues. He certainly doesn’t feel as thin as he did before.

We have decided that Rufus’ forever home needs to have another dog. Rufus has quickly bonded with our resident Golden, Finn. He wants to play so bad, but we have to keep him quiet. Rufus has no anxieties when Finn isn’t around, but he is definitely happier when in the company of another dog. His forever home also needs to have a fenced in yard. His recall is not great so I would not trust him to be off leash without a fence. He currently needs to be on a leash since he is on exercise restriction for heartworms, but he is not a fan of doing his business on a leash or tie-out.

Rufus is very content being crated in order to keep him quiet. He especially loves the new orthopedic bed that he has in his crate. In the evening, I’ll let him out so he can curl up with me on the couch. He has done fine being crated during the day while I am at work. While he has spent a lot of time in his crate due to his restrictions, I would still consider him to be housebroken. I was originally worried that he would try to mark since he is not neutered, but he has not tried to mark a single thing in our house. Outside is a different story, but it is to be expected from a dog who is not neutered.

At this time, we think that Rufus is a pretty mellow dog, but it’s a little hard to tell if it’s just how he is or if he feels that bad due to the heartworms. He is certainly a Velcro dog and wants love and attention from us whenever he can get it. Rufus’ whole body wiggles when he wags his tail! He has been a perfect houseguest for us. Despite the hardships that he’s had to face and endure, he was quick to forgive and forget. It just goes to show how amazingly resilient these sweet dogs can be. Rufus just wants to have a loving home with a family who will spoil him and show him how great life is. I am so thankful that I can provide that temporarily while he gets his medical treatments and while we wait for his forever family.