August 29, 2013
Please welcome Blue to RAGOM! Blue is a 7.5-year-old (born 12/16/2005) male Golden Retriever/Irish Setter mix (mom was a Golden and dad was a Setter) that looks mostly Golden. Blue was surrendered by owners who loved him very much but were losing their home and made the difficult decision to ask RAGOM to help him find a new home. He's fairly petite at 65 lbs but it is a good weight for him. He has the most beautiful, soulful amber eyes and a gorgeous dark red coat. He's a real looker!
After picking Blue up (he rides really nicely in the car!), we took him straight to the vet to get up to date on his vaccinations and have a microchip implanted. Other than being quite dirty and matted, he was in excellent health. He tested negative for heartworm, parasites, and worms, and the vet noted no major issues. There were a few very minor things: His teeth are quite dirty so he will probably need a good dental cleaning in the near future and he had a small epulis on his gum line. An epulis is a small mass which the vet said is benign about 90-95% of the time, and felt that because it was so small (smaller than pea-sized), nothing needs to be done at this time. It may or may not ever grow and cause problems so right now, the vet just recommended monitoring it. If it does grow too large, it will probably just need to be removed. Alternatively, if his adopter does decide to have his teeth cleaned, it could be removed at that time. Blue still needs to be neutered, but overall, the vet gave Blue a pretty clean bill of health!
Blue grew up and spent his entire life living outside in the kennel with his momma. As a result, Blue came to us not really understanding about how to live inside a house. He was confused about how to use the sliding glass door, did not understand the concept of eating his food at scheduled times, and spent the first couple days looking outside as if he were eager to get back to the life he knew outside, where he was more comfortable. Not only was this new life confusing, but he was probably missing his momma, and I think he was a little depressed at first. It's not uncommon for dogs to be nervous and stressed for the first few days, but Blue took longer than average to settle in and was quite anxious for the first week and a half. It took him several days before he would eat any food or take any treats from me and he spent a lot of time panting. We kept things very low-key and had him spend some time in a crate, which allowed him to relax and get used to his new surroundings and his foster siblings without quite as much stress and overwhelming attention. He has started to relax a bit, though, and is getting more comfortable being an inside dog. In fact, now when we are outside, he is the first to run to the door when I tell the crew it's time to go inside! He has discovered that the couch is the best place to be and hops right up to snuggle next to you! Ironically, I was expecting that he would not be housetrained since he has always lived outside, but he has not had one accident in the house! I hesitate to officially call him housetrained since he isn't actually telling me when he needs to go to the bathroom, but he seems to understand that outside is the place to do it.
Snuggle buddy!
Blue is a sweet boy and loves human affection. He will crawl up onto the couch or bed to snuggle up next to us or get some lovin'. If you are looking for a sweet snuggle buddy Velcro dog, he is your boy! We have not tested him with children yet so don't know how he is with kids. It does not sound like he had a lot of exposure to kids in his previous home, though, so I would be reluctant to place him in a home with small children, for everyone's safety. He has not shown any aggression to humans, though, so I think he would be fine with older children that understand the appropriate way to handle (and not handle) a dog. He has not been around cats or other small animals at all so I'm not sure about that either. I tend to think Blue would do fine as an only dog or with other dogs, but I haven't decided for sure yet on that. I'm also undetermined yet if I think he needs a fenced yard or not. I will report back on these things as we get to know Blue better.
So there you have it! This happy boy is sweet as sweet can be so I do not expect him to be around long! Please let your placement advisor know if you are interested in meeting sweet baby Blue!
Watching Animal Planet's "Too Cute!"
Look at those ears fly!