Original Initlal Bio:
Meet Lizzy! This drop-dead gorgeous 4-year-old Golden Retriever girl came into RAGOM along with her sister, Lesa 19-295, and two other Golden females, Lia 14-294 and Libby 14-285, last week. Lizzy is officially hanging up her hat from her previous job of being a mama. She is ready for her “retirement” and is already enjoying living indoors and being spoiled!
Lizzy had her vet visit last week and did very well! Foster brother, Finn, went along to provide emotional support. Lizzy weighed in at 77 pounds, and should be closer to 50 or 55 pounds, so we are getting her on a diet and making sure she keeps moving to help her shed those extra pounds. She is scheduled to be spayed next week.
We did notice 2 small masses near one of her nipples, so we will remove those at the same time and send them out for histopathology. We should have the results back about a week after we send them in, and we will share those results as soon as we have them. Given her age, it is likely that they are benign, but we want to be 100% sure.
Lizzy was brought up to date on vaccines, tested negative for heartworms and 3 tick borne diseases, and is generally in good health. Her ears were a little dirty, but there was no infection present so we cleaned them and will make sure they stay healthy. Lizzy did not produce a fecal sample on the morning of her appointment, so we will get one into the vet next week. We will also microchip her during her spay surgery.
Lizzy is shy and timid, especially around people. In the week that she has been with us, she has gone from cowering in the corner of her crate to approaching us, but she is still leery of us. We are teaching her that she can trust us.
We had visitors come over to visit our other foster, and Lizzy definitely regressed when they were here. She does better with females than males, but with time, she will learn to trust! She’s not your typical happy-go-lucky Golden Retriever right now, but with continued socialization and enough time to settle in and trust, she will make a wonderful, happy dog for some lucky family!
To see how much she has learned to trust us in just the week she's been here is remarkable. She wags her tail a lot now and is really enjoying life! With dogs, on the other hand, Lizzy is playful and outgoing! She immediately took to my 3-year-old resident Golden, Finn, and our 14-week-old foster puppy, Hank 14-259. She runs and plays with them, play bows, wrestles, and generally just has a good time with them! She gives Hank a run for his money! They taught Lizzy how to come in and out of the back door and she now is first in line to go outside to play!
Lizzy has spent her whole life with other dogs and looks to them for comfort. Due to this, it is required that Lizzy have another medium- to large-sized confident dog in her forever home. Lizzy LOVES to play, so her own personal request would probably be for another very playful dog in her forever home! Lizzy also requires a physical fence since she does get scared and is not easy to catch if she got really freaked out. I do keep a leash on her in case I need to catch her (I can just step on the leash), and it is recommended that her new home do the same at first. Most of the time she will come up to me now, but there are still times that she’s a little too scared to come to me. Lizzy is used to being around kids and is not afraid of them. A forever home with kids 10 or older would be a great match for her!
Lizzy has not had any accidents in our home. She is crated for a full work day without any issues and she considers her crate to be her safe place. She is eating well, but prefers to dump her food and eat it off the floor, so we are working on getting her to just eat it out of a bowl!
Lizzy walks surprisingly well on a leash! She is willing to follow me and has gone on a few short walks so far. She is nervous about all of the new sights and sounds, but she takes it all in stride! She also really loves toys, and will collect all of them out of the toy basket and put them by the side of the couch. She’s definitely a toy hoarder, but we were so excited to see her playing with toys that we definitely don’t mind! Lizzy has not shown any resource guarding and I don't expect that she ever will.
We want to thank everyone who was involved with getting these 4 girls into RAGOM! It takes a village sometimes with these dogs, and we are so thankful that RAGOM has such awesome volunteers that are willing to do whatever it takes! We are honored to be a part of Lizzy’s journey.
Do you think this beautiful girl might be a good fit for your family? Are you okay with putting in the extra work, time, and patience Lizzy will need to become the dog we know she can be? If so, please contact your placement advisor! We know you will fall in love with the amazing girl as quickly as we have!
