Nothing really new to report on Zoey. She is doing well; she is finally getting the whole potty training deal. She has a playpen she stays in during the day while Rick works. He has to let her out every two to three hours – she cries at the sliding glass door when she wants out, when she is in the play pen area.  She is there from 9 to 3 usually with breaks to potty, but the play pen area is a 8 x 10 area in the kitchen so it is really pretty big. When she is not playing by herself she is sleeping in her kennel like a good girl.

When she has full run of the house, she forgets she has to go outside to potty. So that's when we keep a real close eye on her. But she is getting way better and I would guess in a week we will have this whole potty training down to a science.

We just now started to learn sit. We had not worked on it until now. She is not thrilled with this concept either, but she is learning. We are teaching her this with the clicker training since we are working with Stevee Rae that way too. Sophee is already clicker trained.

Aunty Cindy J. said she would be nice enough to bring Zoey to the PetSmart event in Eden Prairie on Saturday so everyone come and get lots of puppy kisses. I think the three black goldens will also be there.  She will be there from 11-1.  Zoey loves giving everyone love. When Zoey gets tired she will just curl up under a table or chair and fall asleep.

Check out my snow pictures and the pictures of the Resident dogs and Zoey sitting waiting for a cookie!  They are sure cute.

If you are interested in this great girl, please let Placement know – she so deserves a home of her own and boy is she a love!!!

From Right: Zoey, Sophee, Stevee.  Back:  Mistee

Stevee and Zoey in the snow

Zoey LOVES the snow!!

Zoey has had so much fun in the snow this morning we cannot get her to come inside.  She thinks it’s the best.  Her favorite thing is to stick her nose way in the snow and plow through it!  Cutest thing I have seen in a long time.  We only let her play for 10 or 15 minutes, and then she heads in the house for a short nap.  Her naps last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour.  She lets us know when she is done, but her naps are always taken in a crate – her choice, not ours.  She loves the big crate or her small crate.  She always has stuffed animals and blankets in the crates to lay on.  I think that helps her settle knowing that she is laying on a bulky item.  When she was with Sally, she was always laying on top of her.

A few people have asked about Zoey’s quality of life.  I can tell you today, it is great.  She is just like any other puppy.  She goes potty in the house, she plays all the time with the 3 resident dogs, she naps well, but would prefer if it was quiet so she was not disturbed.  She is finally running up to people when she sees them.  When we got her, she would run from us.

Now will she be sickly?  Today I would say no, tomorrow we do not know.  It is all going to depend on her heart.  If the hole does close up, that would help her considerable.  Will we know if the hole closes? We could get another echo done in  6 months to see if it has, but by this time her heart may already have some of the wall thickening. That is part of the heart disease that will kill her.

Her life expectancy is 2 years, but as the vet said, she could die suddenly tomorrow.  But hey, any dog can.  Zoey needs to go to a family that will be happy to have her for a day, a week, a month, a year, or for that matter a life time.  The progression of the heart murmur is she will find it harder to breath even at rest.  While she is resting you will be able to see her breathing very deep and hard.  This will be one of the signs that Heart Disease has set in.  When she starts to cough, that is a sign of blood in her lungs, and it will be time to let her go.  But our hope is that will not happen for a few years.  Our real problem is this darn hole.  That is what is causing a lot of the what if’s, in Zoey’s life.  Because of this hole, the vet said Zoey could be playing tomorrow and she just drop and have a heart attack.

I don’t want to scare anyone off, because she really is a sweet wonderful girl.  Her potty training is not going great, but we are making small baby steps.  I think we have gotten better than her first week, but I can say for sure she is NOT potty trained, but she is trainable.   Zoey will be going to the PetCo events; she needs to hang out with her fur friends and we welcome any inquiries.

If you could be her special home, please let placementragom [dot] org know and we can look at your application.

Zoey in the new snow

Stevee Rae here – Zoey and I are best pals at her current foster home.  I thought it was important that her perspective family had a dog view of Baby Zoey.

Baby Zoey can play just like Sophee and I; don’t let anyone tell you different.  In fact, Zoey can whip my butt once in a while. Oh okay, I actually let her do that because mom and dad get mad at me when I stomp on her while trying to find her.  Oops, my bad.  However, when Zoey starts to growl play she is the one who gets in trouble, and I think that is funny!

Zoey eats her food pretty well but she still leaves some behind for me to find now that I know where she eats!   Mom and dad said she could go to eating twice a day in two or three weeks.  Well, she won’t like that at all.  She thinks she is a starved puppy if we eat an hour late.  I am sure she will make it.  Zoey still cannot go out with us big girls; she goes out on the hay filled deck.  See mom ran her down to the vet yesterday, and she still has worms.  I guess those nasty critters are hanging on for dear life.  So they got a couple new kinds of meds, and they hope this will take care of it so she can come out with us.  Zoey LOVES going out in the back yard when mom or dad come.

Oh by the way, Zoey is a puppy, so if you think she will come to your home potty trained, nope not this pup.  She is doing her best to keep pottying inside which mom hates, but her floors are getting really clean from the constant washing.  Trust me, they still are not real clean. They are old and need to be replaced, but I am sure mom knows that already.

Mom said on Thursday she and dad will be going to the U of M to meet the heart doctor, I wonder if I get to go too – that would be pretty fun.  I am pretty sure she has a heart, because she likes to play with me even when I step on her. But mom said they need to get it checked out to see if there are any major problems.  The way she plays, I don’t think so.

Since Zoey came to live with us, I had to go back to sleeping in my crate at night since Zoey has to sleep in a crate.  I guess mom was not impressed that I would like to come out potty every time Zoey does (Zoey goes out once a night).  She said something about this is NOT play time for Zoey and Stevee.  I thought it was a great time to play.  Yep so back to a crate I sleep.  I really don’t mind, Zoey and I really sleep well in our individual crates at night.  I would not like it if we had to stay in a crate during the day working hours though – that would be way too much crate time for us puppies.

Zoey wants a family that will spend time with her, teach her how to potty outside, bring her to obedience school (very important with the heart murmur), play with her, and keep her cool in the summer.  It will be very important that Zoey does not get over heated.  So that also means no running at the dog park and no running on a leash with her new family.  Zoey loves going for walks. Zoey just cannot go and get overheated.  Oh and Zoey can run in the back yard, not to worry, she can still play catch and all that.  It just has to be in moderation.

So are you going to be Zoey’s special family?  If you think you can pass the Stevee Rae exam – let placement know and we can meet – you know  I, Stevee Rae, will have the final say because both Zoey and I are very special RAGOM dogs.  I cannot wait to meet you!!!!

Stevee Rae (7 month old RAGOM resident)

Zoey is doing well and last night she slept 5 hours in her crate, got up, pottied, and then went back to sleep again.  She does so well in her crate; I just love that.  Stevee feels that Zoey should be sleeping with the big girls, so I keep trying to tell her that is not possible.  Stevee Rae is our blind girl, and this is the first foster that she really seems to be enjoying.  She will play with Zoey, and tends to be close by her during the day.

Zoey drinks constantly, so I need to figure out why that is.  I am hoping just her way of coping with her new life, and things will be better in a couple of days.

I got more information on her heart murmur from another foster that adopted one of my pups a long time ago – Emma has a level 5 heart murmur.  What her mom has learned is the following:

The vets told us to keep Emma basically from over exerting herself. NO dog parks, NO running on leash, but she can self regulate in the back yard playing. We are to keep her weight down, and keep her cool in the summer.  We also need to watch for coughing as this can be a sign that she's bringing up blood and getting worse.  Because she's a high risk for anesthesia, we need to keep her teeth clean too.  She needs a large rare steak on Friday nights along with a massage (just kidding)

So I think this is going to be important information for Zoey’s new owners to know.  Zoey is the most wonderful little girl.  I just love her to death already and cannot wait to find that perfect family for her.  So make sure you let placement know if you are willing to give this imperfect perfect girl a chance!