Hi Everyone,

I have some GReat news to share! I have been adopted! Can you believe it?! I am so happy to have a family of my very own and have a last name too. I have a mom, a dad, two human sisters and a fur-butt brother named Sam. He is also a RAGOM pupper they adopted 5 years ago. He is bigger than me, so we will be able to wrestle all rough and tough--just the way I like to roll.

Here is a picture of mom, dad, me and Sam. Don't you just love Sam's Golden Smile?

The morning I was adopted, Jewel, my foster-sisters and I decided to do the zoomies in the house and mess up the vertical blinds (ok, so like every day, 10 times a day). Here is a picture of us admitting to NOTHING! We all have pretty good poker faces.

Though I will miss Jewel and my foster-sisters, foster-cousins and FM a ton, I am so excited to start a new chapter in my life. My new family promises to keep me in contact with my foster family and bring me to various RAGOM events and play dates. I am already signed up for obedience classes starting next month, so new places for me to explore, new friends to meet and new skills to learn.

I have quite a few Thank You's to say.

• First and foremost, to RAGOM for rescuing me and my sister, Jewel, and a whole bunch of other needy dogs last December 13th. Without them and all of you wonderful people that financially support RAGOM's mission, our futures would not be so bright like they are now.

• To my rescue moms and dad, Karen, Denise, Kris, and Kelly, for making the long journey to pick us up, getting us to our foster home and letting us have sleepovers with your furr-kids.

• To the awesome Dr. R for life-changing surgery to repair our faces from the injuries we sustained and give us Golden Smiles; you are a true angel for animals in need.
• To Uncle Chip and Amy L. for the countless number of hours you spent with us playing outside at lunchtime while FM was at work these past five months.

• To Jean and Joy 12-418, Konnie, Angie and Dayle for letting us hang out at your houses to have new experiences and grow in confidence.

• And lastly to our foster-sisters, Kraelyn and Lilly, and foster-cousins, Pippi, Ella and Macie, and FM for letting us share your home, teaching us how to transition to indoor dogs and live in a safe home, sharing beds, toys, food and treats. Foster homes are the critical link to helping rescue dogs find our forever homes.

You have all played a significant part in helping us on our journey to become the dogs we were meant to be -- confident, trusting of humans, fun-loving, and most of all, LOVED. I vow to return that LOVE and paw-it-forward ten-fold.

Thank you all for following my story for the past five months. I hope I will see many of my fans at RAGOM events in the future. When you see me, be sure to stop and say hello. Until then, I will be off on new adventures living the Golden Life and fetching slippers for my new dad. I sure hope he likes them on the damp side...

Love to you all,

Ruby, "Dora the Explorer"

Hi Ruby Fans!

Special hugs and kisses out to Judith C. and Danielle B. and Maizy for the Valentine's Icon!  Sorry we didn't see those before. We have been having some technical difficulties with my page.

I hope everyone is enjoying the nice S-N-O-W-E-Y spring we are having! I love running around in it and eating the cold stuff. FM even makes us snowballs to chomp on. Nummy!

Here I am with a snowball prancing around the yard with Jewel following close behind yesterday.

And I have a secret hiding place in the backyard too. Well, ok, maybe not so secret, but I bring toys outside and stash them in here for future use.

With the constant snowing and melting, FM is not fond of how muddy the backyard has become. Personally, I don't mind the mud, and actually like to run around in it! I get my feet all muddy and so does Jewel and then we wrestle. Needless to say, we then require a full bath instead of just a paw/undercarriage washing.

I don't like the baths as much as Jewel does. I usually try to climb out of the bathtub. I just don't understand why Jewel sits there so patiently. I think she enjoys pampering more than I do. And our foster sisters actually climb into the tub on command to get paw washes. Hmmm. But in my defense, I do jump in the tub so I can steal that little drain-pluggy thingy and run around the house with it, clanking it on the floors and tables. And Jewel and I have learned to drink from the faucet in the tub with our foster sisters. They love fresh cold water and will stand in front of the tub and bark until FM comes to turn it on. Those silly doodles.

Here is a current picture of my face. FM puts vitamin E oil on it nightly with a massage to loosen up the scar tissue. I totally do not like it when she comes at me with that bottle. However, I have learned resistance is futile, so I submit. At least there are some tasty treats at the end of that process.

Life has been good here over the past few weeks. We get to go on walks and I totally love that! I tend to do some sniffing around for the first five minutes or so and then I settle into walk mode. I walk really well next to one of my foster sisters too. A little bit of pulling but I am learning. FM has walked me by myself too and I am great. There is even slack in the leash. I am quiet as a mouse even when I see another dog or a squirrel. I just watch. I have very good observational skills to go along with my Dora The Explorer skills!

Car rides are another highlight of my week. Jumping into and out of the car are a snap for Jewel and me. Sometimes I will hesitate when going through doors at the vet or pet stores, but FM just coaxes me along and I see Jewel barreling through so I follow willingly. I will practice again this weekend.

When FM does whatever she does on the computer and she needs to keep an eye on us (because we are mischieveous... hee hee), I like to snooze under the desk on her feet. Sometimes one of my foster-sisters is under there too so I will cuddle up. And I am getting to be quite the couch cuddler for watching TV too.

As for the medical stuff, I had my heartworm test last Saturday and that was negative. So no more medical stuff for me for a long time! Yea! Though I really loved going to see Dr. R and give her hugs, so I will miss that.

Jewel and I will be at Chuck and Don's Edina for the Meet and Greet this coming Sunday April 14th. I sure hope I meet my forever family there! I still have the same requirements of needing another large confident dog, no kids under 12 and a physical fence. If you think that could be you, please come see me and contact your placement advisor too!

Love,

Ruby

You've Stolen our hearts-Happy Valentine's Day!-Judith C.

You have won my heart from hundreds of miles away. I know your sweet heart will find a perfect family! Happy Valentine's Day. Ruby! Danielle B and Maizy

Hi Everyone!  Dora the Explorer here reporting back in.  FM apologizes that it has been a while since my last update, but we keep her REALLY busy every night after work running in and out and playing around. We have lots of energy after resting all day.

A special Thank You to Judith C. for the Valentine Icon! Sending you a big sloppy kiss in return!

You are probably wondering how my healing is going.  Well, check out this picture!  I am now 4 weeks post op and my fur is filling in pretty nicely.  It still has a little ways to go.

I have a little gap in the front under my nose because I popped out one of the sutures.  Bummer, almost a perfect smile.  Dr. R. examined it and said it would just be cosmetic now and not functional or a health issue as my mouth is all covered.  We did not feel it was worth having to put me through another surgery and 6 weeks restrictions to correct it. So for now, we are just watching it to make sure the healing continues.

At our follow up appointment, we got some wonderful news from Dr. R.  We were freed from our leash restricted activity!  Whoo Hoo!  17 days of no running and nothing to chew on can really make a puppy go nuts, and nuts we were.  We had nowhere to go with our puppy energy and I think FM was going a bit nuts too.  However, we still can't chew any toys or bones for a few more weeks, so that is rough.

Two days later, we went to a Meet and Greet and got to meet a bunch of people and other dogs.  While we all had to stay on leashes, I did get to explore the store.  Oh what stories all the smells told me.  Then I got to have a sleep over again with my cat friend Snickers.  When I got back home on Sunday, Jewel and I had some major wrestling to do and wrestle we did.

This past week was back to normal with plenty of play opportunities in the snow.  Then last Saturday, we got to go with our foster-sister's 5th birthday party with her littermates and a bunch of other dogs.  We had such a blast!  There were 27 dogs there and we all ran and played for 2 hours until we were all tuckered out.

Here I am being the referee for a tug-o-war challenge between Joy 12-418 and my foster-sister's littermate Leia.  Leia won as she was able to pull Joy around the room because Joy was wearing her "Wheels".  It was so much fun.  

I can't believe how nice everyone was too.  I am getting some much more comfortable around people.  (Are people always that nice and fun? I sure hope so.)   After all of that excitement and activity, FM was hoping we would be really tired for rest of the night.  Here we are taking a power-nap on the couch.  Jewel is using me as a pillow.

While we did not sleep the whole evening, FM was thankful for the 90 minutes of calm. She had fun watching us act out some puppy dreams too.  Then it was time to go play in the snow. Oh how I love to play in the snow!  One of my most favorite things to do.

After a good night sleep, we were up again at 7:30am Sunday morning ready to play.  When FM had to run some errands in the afternoon, she told me to "Kennel UP" and guess what, I took her literally!  Check this out.  I just crack myself up.

Can I help it if the couch is just a short distance to the kennel?  I love to climb on things and still am being a little stinker in the counter surfing department.  A week ago, we were supposed to heading off to bed at midnight.  FM had left a tupperware container of chili on the counter cooling off and had run downstairs to turn of the computer.  Well, she heard a crash and it sounded like the babygate (ok, we knock it down a lot).  Well, when she came back upstairs, it looked like a crime scene with high velocity blood splatter.  The floor, cupboards, counters, appliances, window, blinds, and yup, even the ceiling, had chili all over!  Talk about cleanup on Aisles 1, 2, 3, 4.... Ha Ha.  There was even chunks of chili in my fur (saving it for a early morning nibble).  FM is pretty sure I was the one that pulled it off the counter.  It landed rightside up with such force it went in all directions.

But alas, my ill-gotten-booty was not as satisfying as I had hoped. Since there were onions in it, FM had to give us peroxide to make us "give-up-the-goods".  Yuck, I don't like that process.  But it worked.  Yep, I had eaten my share of chili before FM caught us.  Ah well, live to surf another day.

Well, those are my antics and updates for the past couple of weeks. I hope all my fans are enjoying all of the new snow.  I'll be back outside chasing snowballs all week!

Ruby

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FM here.  Ruby continues to do really well in fostercare.  Potty training is still a little bit of an issue when she is really excited and active, but she is improving overtime. Sometimes with puppymill dogs this just takes a little longer, but I am confident this will resolve.  She continues to ring the bells on the door to go out when she is upstairs and I am more diligent getting her outside frequently when she is active.  Overnight she does fine.

She is now more confident getting out of the crate in the car, especially if she sees the resident dogs on the ground.  With each new car experience (especially going somewhere fun), she improves.

She is up-to-date on vaccinations now that she has had her later booster and she is ready to meet her forever family.  Same requirements as before.  Physical fence, another confident dog over 30 pounds (oh does she love the boys...), and no kids under 10.   Contact your placement adviser if you are interested in meeting this very active sweetheart!

Hello there Ruby Fans! I hope everyone is doing great out there in RAGOMLAND.  I have a new sponsor, Marcia G. and my foster-cousins Pippi, Ella, and Macie.  Sending extra wet kisses your way!

I have a nickname and it is Dora the Explorer!  I am constantly on the go checking everything out and love, Love, LOVE to climb up and over stuff and test boundaries.  Ah, I love this house-living! Anything in the wood family, like the wicker-like storage cubes in the breezeway are very fun.  Really fun when I grab an edge and pull a row of the covering off and RUN with it.  Hey, I told FM I just made her a new hiding place between the top material and the foam underneath.  How can she get mad at that?!  I have thus lost ALL solo wandering privileges in the breezeway.  **Hrumpf**

We sure give our lunch-time buddy Amy L. and her dogs a run for their money.  On Monday, we knocked off a 7 foot piece of rain gutter and decided it would be fun to run around with it in the yard.  It was not fastened with screws, so whadda expect?  Too bad there is no video footage of that. I won't name names, but her initials are J-E-W-E-L and she just dares me to do things.  FM says that with us two, we total much more than the sum of our parts and are more like 5 puppies! 

I also have become talented in that I can carry Two slippers around at the same time.  FM also calls me Ruby Two Shoes.  Yep, I am definitely all retriever. And my foster sisters have taught me the fine art of retrieving tennis balls during Chuck-It Fest in the backyard!  Yup, I bring the ball back to FM and drop it at her feet.  How do you like that!  FM says my foster sisters are really good teachers.  I learn quickly from watching others.

You probably read Jewel's post about our outing last weekend at the RAGOM event.  Well, my story of the day is a little different than Jewel's. You see, FM thought it would be good to play "Pass the Puppy" so I got a lot of time on other people's laps.  Big thanks to Angie M., Karen H., Nikki F., and Kris N. for hanging with me and making me feel safe.  I even got to get down and walk amongst the other RAGOM fosters there. What a nice group of dogs we were!  I  got to explore the store with my buddy Karen too.  Another good confidence building activity for me and I really enjoyed it!

Here's me checking out the scene, wondering why all of the other dogs except Jewel and I are on the floor.  See how cool as a cucumber I am when held by one of my super-fans?!

Here I am walking amongst the other honored guests, stopping for a photo op.

At the event, a wonderful lady named Joan D. bought each of us a Lamb Chop stuffed toy and Jen E. gave us each a dog bed of our very own.  Here I am giving Lamb Chop a workout on the bed.

I am so thankful for all the love and kindness that people have shown to Jewel and me.  Now that I know people are good, I am starting to approach strangers and they are petting me and saying how cute I am.  I am really going to like this living with people gig.

And for a bonus the next day after the event, I got to go on my first walk around the block with one of my foster sisters.  I was wearing a harness and did really well walking.  OK, so I was kinda all over the place as the Dora in me took over, but I was brave (for the most part) as I encountered new stuff like parked cars, kids walking down the street and reading the pee-mail on sign posts. Let me tell you, lots of boys must be visiting those posts...

Also on my adventures I went to Chuck and Don's.  Everyone there was nice to me. I was a little afraid and was shaking a bit as I had to walk the floor on my own, but I got braver with my foster sister there to show me it was ok.  And we even got a couple of boxes of treats to take home from Jen.  And I spent a few minutes in the crate with the back hatch open watching the people come in and out of the stores and cars driving in the parking lot. I was very interested in that activity (from the safety of my crate that is). So all in all, a great outing!

I also have some great news to share and that is Jewel and I will be having our surgeries next Monday January 14!  We will be spayed at the same time.  We are excited to get our lips fixed and will continue to update you on our progress and post photos.  FM tells us to live it up now because after Monday, it will be leash restriction time as we heal up.  No wrestling or getting all crazy with the zoomies in the backyard.  It's gonna be rough on us!

Well, that's been my week.  I hope you are having a great week too!

Love to all my fans!

Ruby "Dora the Explorer"

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FM here. Just a few quick notes to let you know a little more on her requirements.

Ruby will need another confident dog that can give her the appropriate corrections and be tolerant of her exuberant play style.  She is a quick learner and will become submissive and respects her "elders".  She loves to play chase and has plenty of energy to expend as any typical puppy.

Because she is a puppy mill dog, no kids under 10.  Sudden, fast movements will make her hesitate.  She is seeking out human attention now and even starting to approach strangers. Very incredible progress since coming into rescue just 4 weeks ago.

A fully enclosed fence is required for her safety.  It may take some time for her to develop good recall, but with proper positive training, we think she will do great as she is showing that she wants human attention.

She will need a family that will be diligent in watching her at all times so as to not get herself into trouble or chew inappropriate items.  She is so busy exploring her world and she will test EVERYTHING out.  

We are still working on housebreaking, just waiting for the day when it "clicks" in her brain that peeing in the house is not right.  However, in the crate overnight and during the workday, she has been keeping it clean and dry.  She has had accidents 2-3 times in the house this past week, so lots of improvement.

Thanks for following her story!