April 16, 2013

Please welcome Brooke to the RAGOM world. Brooke is a 7-year-old female purebred Golden Retriever being temp fostered in the Twin Cities. She had a rough life until a little over 2 months ago, when a Good Samaritan (GS) took her from a home where the person was “doing things” that a person shouldn’t be doing to their dog. But even with her rocky start, Brooke has kept a positive attitude and has a true love for people’s attention.

Brooke has already settled into our house well. She met our resident dog just fine with many tail wags and sniffs, and since then they have pretty much ignored one another. She has sniffed our cats but has not bothered them beyond nosing them out of the way to get pets. She wants to be continually petted and will nose her way in for loving at every opportunity. I think Brooke would sit for hours without moving as long as you were touching her.

Brooke had her initial vet visit and she is an overall healthy, but overweight, dog. The vet put her age somewhere between 5-7 (probably closer to 7) with great eyes, teeth, hips and range of motion in her joints. Brooke has a mild ear infection in both ears but has been wonderful about letting us clean them and put ointment in. She also let us cut her toenails – which were very long, curved and looked painful to walk on. We have started her on a diet as she needs to lose at least 10-15 lbs (she currently weights 73.5 lbs). There is a fatty tumor on her back close to her tail, but it is not anything to worry about or very obtrusive.

Brooke really is a super sweet dog who wants nothing more than to be loved by people. She will follow you from room to room, and as soon as you stand still or sit, she will be right there looking for love. The GS said Brooke would wrestle and run with the Mastiff that lived there, but she has shown little interest in playing with our resident dog so far. She is much more interested in being with people. She has had one accident in our house and doesn’t seem to have a specific way to ask us to let her out. This is something we will keep on working with her since she will do everything outside if given the opportunity.

We are still getting to know Brooke, but so far she is an easy girl to have around – knows her name and will come when you call her, doesn’t wander off when outside as she wants to be near you all of the time, settles in for the night when the light turns off, is great about letting you clean her ears, will willingly go into her crate when you have to leave (for a small treat), and is super cute when she gets excited (meal time and first time out in the morning) with twirling, woofs/rooing and frantic tail wags. Brooke also knows the basic commands (sit, down, short stays) and is one of the most food motivated dogs I have ever met, so further training should be a breeze. She even gets excited over apples – her diet treats. If you have time to give a dog lots and lots of loving, then she could be the dog for you.