Cruz 13-304

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11/06/2013:

Dear RAGOM-land, let me introduce you to a guy that has been through a lot and has gotten around. His name is Cruz! Cruz is a very sweet and lovable 4- to 5-month-old Golden/Collie mix. I am sure by now most of you have read about the 8 puppies that came into RAGOM from Cando, ND. Cruz was one of those poor puppies. They lived outside and were only fed grain or corn every 3-4 days! They were literally skin and bones. Unfortunately, 3 of them did not make it.

Cruz originally came to us in October along with his brother Malak. We were going to watch Malak for a couple of days for his foster home. We knew they were sick, and when we heard that another puppy had passed away, Foster Mom called her vet right away the next morning and got them in. Sure enough, after getting them to the vet, we tested them for parvo and it was positive. Parvo is a deadly disease in puppies. Our vaccinated, healthy dogs at home were not at risk for picking it up. After finding out they had parvo, we got a bit of IV fluids into them at the vet and then FM took them home to take care of them. We decided to keep Malak until we were sure they would make it through and be OK and keep them isolated. It is very important to make sure they are eating and drinking so they do not get dehydrated. After a week, FM was not as concerned anymore and it looked like we were going to be fine. :) Believe me, I could not have been happier! We kept Malak a few extra days and took him back to the vet after another week to get booster shots and a health exam. In those 2 weeks, Malak gained a little over 3 lbs and Cruz gained a little over 2! They were both around 10 lbs underweight still. Malak was well enough to then head off to his original foster home. In some of the pictures, you can see them together when we first got them and just how skinny they were. They were quite the troublemaking pair when they were together and feeling better! Ha-ha!

Cruz is now a VERY active puppy. We are of course working on potty training and he is doing pretty well. He is kenneled during the day when we are at work and he can usually make it through the full 8 hours. He does have the occasional accident, but it is getting better every day. He gets along great with all the other dogs in our house and we have quite the variety of dogs in our house, big and small. He loves to play with Ginger, our little Dachshund! They were both around 3 cats when I kept them isolated, and they never really paid too much attention to them.

He does love to cuddle once in awhile, though he is squirrely at times! :) We let him sleep out of his kennel at night. We usually let them out one more time around 9:00/9:30 and he can usually make it until 4 a.m. when FD gets up for work.

We are working on commands like “off,” “down,” and “no.” We also have a bell on our door that the dogs ring to let us know they want out. FM also trains service dogs and so he is also learning “leave it” and some other small commands. He eats with all of our other dogs, and is learning to sit before we put his food dish down. We do put a little bit of water in his food so he doesn’t eat so fast. After never getting dog food, I can’t really blame him for wanting to eat quickly! He has gotten much better with that.

We are also working on not nipping. He loves to try and nip FM when she lets him out of the kennel after work, and also after letting him back inside from going outside. Just FM, not FD. Not sure how FM got that side of the deal! ;) He has gotten better with that every day; it’s a work in progress. ;)

A few days ago, FM had the day off from work and brought Cruz in so everyone could see him (they had seen pictures of him on FB of course, but wanted to meet the little guy). He was pretty shy, but did very well. You can see in the one picture, FM is holding him and a co-worker got a wonderful picture of him. :) He is shy when meeting new people and it takes a little bit for him to warm up to them.

He figured out very quickly how to jump on the recliners at home and also the bed. Our dogs and fosters are welcome up on the furniture, so he now races FM to the chairs so he can get on them first and get some cuddles in. :) You can see in one of the pictures how he likes to lay his head on the chair. It’s one of my favorite pictures of him.

We need to wait until around the end of November/beginning of December before Cruz can be neutered. We need to allow him time to make sure he is completely healthy after having parvo, and he also needs to gain weight. After he is neutered and healed, he can then go to his new forever home! He would be willing to meet potential families until that time comes. ;)

At a Glance #13-304

Mixed Breed Born: May 2013
Male 15 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

11/06/2013:

Dear RAGOM-land, let me introduce you to a guy that has been through a lot and has gotten around. His name is Cruz! Cruz is a very sweet and lovable 4- to 5-month-old Golden/Collie mix. I am sure by now most of you have read about the 8 puppies that came into RAGOM from Cando, ND. Cruz was one of those poor puppies. They lived outside and were only fed grain or corn every 3-4 days! They were literally skin and bones. Unfortunately, 3 of them did not make it.

Cruz originally came to us in October along with his brother Malak. We were going to watch Malak for a couple of days for his foster home. We knew they were sick, and when we heard that another puppy had passed away, Foster Mom called her vet right away the next morning and got them in. Sure enough, after getting them to the vet, we tested them for parvo and it was positive. Parvo is a deadly disease in puppies. Our vaccinated, healthy dogs at home were not at risk for picking it up. After finding out they had parvo, we got a bit of IV fluids into them at the vet and then FM took them home to take care of them. We decided to keep Malak until we were sure they would make it through and be OK and keep them isolated. It is very important to make sure they are eating and drinking so they do not get dehydrated. After a week, FM was not as concerned anymore and it looked like we were going to be fine. :) Believe me, I could not have been happier! We kept Malak a few extra days and took him back to the vet after another week to get booster shots and a health exam. In those 2 weeks, Malak gained a little over 3 lbs and Cruz gained a little over 2! They were both around 10 lbs underweight still. Malak was well enough to then head off to his original foster home. In some of the pictures, you can see them together when we first got them and just how skinny they were. They were quite the troublemaking pair when they were together and feeling better! Ha-ha!

Cruz is now a VERY active puppy. We are of course working on potty training and he is doing pretty well. He is kenneled during the day when we are at work and he can usually make it through the full 8 hours. He does have the occasional accident, but it is getting better every day. He gets along great with all the other dogs in our house and we have quite the variety of dogs in our house, big and small. He loves to play with Ginger, our little Dachshund! They were both around 3 cats when I kept them isolated, and they never really paid too much attention to them.

He does love to cuddle once in awhile, though he is squirrely at times! :) We let him sleep out of his kennel at night. We usually let them out one more time around 9:00/9:30 and he can usually make it until 4 a.m. when FD gets up for work.

We are working on commands like “off,” “down,” and “no.” We also have a bell on our door that the dogs ring to let us know they want out. FM also trains service dogs and so he is also learning “leave it” and some other small commands. He eats with all of our other dogs, and is learning to sit before we put his food dish down. We do put a little bit of water in his food so he doesn’t eat so fast. After never getting dog food, I can’t really blame him for wanting to eat quickly! He has gotten much better with that.

We are also working on not nipping. He loves to try and nip FM when she lets him out of the kennel after work, and also after letting him back inside from going outside. Just FM, not FD. Not sure how FM got that side of the deal! ;) He has gotten better with that every day; it’s a work in progress. ;)

A few days ago, FM had the day off from work and brought Cruz in so everyone could see him (they had seen pictures of him on FB of course, but wanted to meet the little guy). He was pretty shy, but did very well. You can see in the one picture, FM is holding him and a co-worker got a wonderful picture of him. :) He is shy when meeting new people and it takes a little bit for him to warm up to them.

He figured out very quickly how to jump on the recliners at home and also the bed. Our dogs and fosters are welcome up on the furniture, so he now races FM to the chairs so he can get on them first and get some cuddles in. :) You can see in one of the pictures how he likes to lay his head on the chair. It’s one of my favorite pictures of him.

We need to wait until around the end of November/beginning of December before Cruz can be neutered. We need to allow him time to make sure he is completely healthy after having parvo, and he also needs to gain weight. After he is neutered and healed, he can then go to his new forever home! He would be willing to meet potential families until that time comes. ;)

Updates

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Hi Cruz fans!

Cruz is, well, still cruising along. :) Haha, I know, FM is soooo funny!

Cruz was neutered today and is doing great. He is still a happy puppy who is loving life and all the fresh new snow we got on Monday! He was just running around having the time of his life playing in it. He is also loving the fact that FM put up the Christmas tree and he has something new to investigate and possibly chew on. Silly puppy. :)

When I took him to the vet this morning, he weighed in at 21.1 pounds!! YAY! He is gaining a good amount of weight and is looking so good. I could tell he was gaining weight by how much closer the top of recliner was to hitting the floor each time he jumps on it. :)

Cruz is going to be meeting his potential forever family this weekend! Paws crossed! I am sure they are going to love him just as much as we do.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Hello, RAGOM-land!

Just an update on Cruz Cruz or Cruz man, just a couple nicknames we have for him. ;)

He is doing great! Slowly gaining some much needed weight and looking better every day. He is definitely a puppy! Loves to try and nip, which we are working on and he is getting better with not doing, and LOVES to play. He is probably about 98% housebroken now. There is the occasionally accident, but he is just a puppy and is working on it.

He likes to play with all the other dogs we have and is learning about Kongs. He likes those! He has learned to sit before I will put his food dish down, and he practically sits right on my feet and looks up at me like he is saying, "Like this?" Haha. He is doing great with kenneling; every morning when I say, "Cruz Kennel," he goes in and sits while I shut the door, and then he get's a little treat. :)

He is a smart puppy. Of course he occasionally wants to chew on something that he shouldn't, but again, he is a puppy. They do those sorts of things. You just need to be sure to pick up what you don't want chewed up and redirect him to what he should play with. ;)

He met our niece and nephew a couple of weeks ago and was a little shy at first, but after a little while, he started going up to them while they were sitting on the ground and got some pets. :)

We do have cats, and after he spent a week in isolation with them, it seems like he kinda ignores them.

I would like to see him in a home with another dog, but I also think he would be fine without. He would just need lots of exercise as he is very active. He loves to play with our German Shepherd, Bella; they wrestle a lot, even with the size difference. Haha. You can see in the picture that they also settle down together on the recliner and relax. Lol.

He does like to snuggle at times. He does very well at night sleeping with us; he usually settles down pretty quickly.

One of his favorite things to do is to jump on the recliner and ride the back down as I am walking past. It is so funny. He is such a little cute stinker. ;) I laugh everytime he does it. The other day I finally got a video of it. Whenever I have a bad day, I watch the video. :)

He also just loves to lay in the recliner and watch the world go by. In the one picture, he is sitting with our Golden, Ginni, whom we adopted from RAGOM back in '08. :) She is a good foster sister to all the fosters we have had.

This last week, his brother Malak came back for a visit while his foster home was on vacation. Cruz and Malak played and played and played and had so much fun seeing each other again, though it's double trouble when they are together. ;)

Cruz will probably get neutered a week or so after Thanksgiving. He is still looking for his furever home! He would love to meet someone in the meantime until he is ready to go. :)