Brooklyn 13-214

Profile

Brooklyn came into RAGOM following his owner's death. A family friend called RAGOM knowing that we'll find Brooklyn the best home possible. Brooklyn is very overweight and needs a little TLC. Brooklyn can live with children of all ages and can live with other dogs. A physical fence is needed because Brooklyn does not take care of business on a leash. Brooklyn is looking for a home that will help him get to a normal weight and help him transition to a new phase of his life.

 

 

At a Glance #13-214

Golden Retriever Born: January 2009
Male 100 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

Brooklyn came into RAGOM following his owner's death. A family friend called RAGOM knowing that we'll find Brooklyn the best home possible. Brooklyn is very overweight and needs a little TLC. Brooklyn can live with children of all ages and can live with other dogs. A physical fence is needed because Brooklyn does not take care of business on a leash. Brooklyn is looking for a home that will help him get to a normal weight and help him transition to a new phase of his life.

 

 

Updates

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Brooklyn unexpectedly passed over the Rainbow bridge yesterday. He will be terribly missed by our family. We will miss watching him shake his Cookie Monster stuffed animal, trying to sneak food from his older brother Tegan's bowl, him giving us non-stop kissies, and how he'd totally plop down on your lap because he thought he was a lap dog even though he weighed 98 pounds. He was the biggest cuddle bug ever. 

One bad habit that Brooklyn had was that he liked to chase frogs and pick them up in his mouth and then he'd spit them out because they tasted so bad. As he was going to the Rainbow Bridge, I told him that all the frogs at the Rainbow Bridge are chocolate frogs like the ones in the Harry Potter books, and that he can eat as many frogs as he'd like. 

We're going to miss you, buddy! 

Brooklyn 13-214

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Brooklyn Fun Facts:

  • Brooklyn CAN bark - but has only barked 3 little barks when our friends' Yellow Lab was running circles around him.
  • Brooklyn can and will stick his whole head under the water to retrieve rocks. He could be useful if you are a poor golfer.

  • Brooklyn came to us measuring 41" around both chest and belly. (Can you say beer keg with legs?) His waist is now down to 37.5"!
  • Brooklyn will occasionally give kisses on your chin, but he LOVES to lick your legs. Whatever is handy, I guess.
  • Brooklyn does not immediately inhale his food, which is what you'd expect from a heavy dog. We actually need to encourage him in order for him to finish his 3/4 cup of food twice a day.
  • Brooklyn likes to spin counter-clockwise 3 times before he lays down. Maybe that's why I'm having trouble teaching him the "down" command.
  • Brooklyn is still too timid to go to the car door, but runs up and down the dog ramp in and out of the back of the SUV like it's nothing. Foster Dad calls the ramp the Brooklyn bridge. :-)

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Original Initial Bio:

08/08/2013:

Please help me in welcoming Brooklyn to the RAGOM family! Brooklyn's owner died a couple of weeks ago due to a long-term illness and entrusted a family friend to find a good home for Brooklyn. The friend called RAGOM knowing that we'll find Brooklyn the best home possible.

The only information that we received from the previous owner is that Brooklyn is a 4- to 5-year-old, purebred, neutered male Golden Retriever. We were told that he gets along great with young kids (1- and 2-year-olds) and loves all people and other dogs. Unfortunately, we didn't get any past medical information but were told that Brooklyn was overweight. Brooklyn was loved, but due to his owner's illness, he was unfortunately somewhat neglected.

Brooklyn came to us matted and smelly with the dirtiest ears I've ever seen. He has patches of hair missing from both sides. His nails were so long a couple of them were turning to the side when he walked. "Overweight" seemed to be an understatement.

We removed his mats, brushed him, then gave him a bath. He loved it all! In fact, he went back into the shower after he was done. Next, it was time to clean the ears. They were hot to the touch and the black gunk was everywhere. Foster Mom didn't want to tackle those long nails, though.

The next day, Foster Dad deadlifted an uncooperative Brooklyn into the car so we could take him to the vet. Whew! What a task. When we got to the vet, we found that Brooklyn weighs 132 pounds! Wow! That's clinically obese. Okay, bring on the low-calorie food and lots of short walks.

Brooklyn has meds for bacteria and yeast in both ears, which is applied just once a day. Ears get cleaned twice a week. We also found that Brooklyn's thyroid levels are borderline low. Since he is so heavy and is missing patches of fur, we are treating that with thyroid medication twice a day. That may be temporary, we'll know more once he gets healthier. The vet did a nail trim.

Fast-forward to a week later... Brooklyn dropped 2 pounds in 5 days, which is a little too fast, but he's not eating very well yet. (He was used to feeding all day and we only feed twice a day.) Foster Mom taught him to use the dog ramp to get into the car, which makes it SO much easier to take him places!

He has gotten along great with our resident dog, the dog we are currently dog-sitting, and the dog and 2 puppies (14 weeks and 9 months) that came to visit last weekend. He can walk about 3/4 of a mile (quite slowly), before he needs to rest. We haven't heard him bark and he seems to be disturbed when other dogs bark. He slept right through the storm we had the other night. He spends a good majority of his time laying wherever it is cool - the bathroom tile floor, the garage floor, or under the cedar tree.

Brooklyn's forever home will need to be committed to helping Brooklyn get back to a normal weight. They must be able to provide frequent short walks now but longer walks in the future when he turns back into a normal 5-year-old dog. It would be best for him to have a fenced-in yard because he doesn't "do his business" while on a leash.