Ruby 12-226

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Profile

Everybody please join me in welcoming another gem to RAGOM-land... the delightful Ms. Ruby!  She's been with me & my pack for a little more than one week and I have to say she's probably the sweetest dog & easiest foster I've had.  Ruby's a 4 year old Golden/Black Lab mix, 70 lbs, healthy, not even ear infections, experienced house dog.  At her well doggy vet check all she needed was a microchip.  Her previous family was transferred out of state and unable to find housing that allowed big dogs (feel free to insert your own commentary about shortsighted landlords here).  They sent her dog bed, food, toys and treats with her, sure signs of a much loved family dog.  

Ruby's attributes include:

  • Totally house trained, not even one accident to announce her presence in a new environment
  • Has lived with kids & cats, her mom had an in home day care & Ruby loves attention from the little ones - petting, hugging, even laying on her, it's all good :)
  • No bad habits like counter surfing, resource guarding or begging at the table
  • Totally trustworthy, Ruby's had free roam since day 1.  Although she's emptied my dogs' toy basket a few times, she hasn't touched any inappropriate items
  • Loves fetch, her whole body language changed when I took the chuck-it out of her bag of toys!  Ruby also enjoys soft, squeakie toys or a good game of tug
  • Walks reasonably well on leash, pulls some but getting better with every walk
  • Loves car rides

You may be wondering why such a young, well behaved dog isn't on RAGOM's wait list?  Well... in addition to not looking like a Golden (those black Lab genes seem to regularly trump Golden Retriever genes) Ruby's greetings aren't exactly welcoming.  She's the first intake I've done where I was met by barking & growling.  It wasn't long before we were pals but Ruby doesn't make a good first impression.  Her SO rescued her at 6 months of age from a negligent breeder who hadn't bothered with little niceties like socialization or even kindness.  So while kids are all great, big humans - particularly men - are all scarey until proven otherwise.  When meeting a few neighbors on day 2 here, Ruby put on her growly, barking act.  Today we stopped over to chat with one of them again and again Ruby barked and threw in a few growls for good measure.  But within about 30 seconds Ruby was sniffing her hand, then sat & lifted a paw to shake :)  

Ruby will make somebody, even a first time dog mom, very happy!  I can't wait to see who's first to ignore the stigma of 'black dog syndrome.'

At a Glance #12-226

Mixed Breed Born: November 2007
Female 65 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

Everybody please join me in welcoming another gem to RAGOM-land... the delightful Ms. Ruby!  She's been with me & my pack for a little more than one week and I have to say she's probably the sweetest dog & easiest foster I've had.  Ruby's a 4 year old Golden/Black Lab mix, 70 lbs, healthy, not even ear infections, experienced house dog.  At her well doggy vet check all she needed was a microchip.  Her previous family was transferred out of state and unable to find housing that allowed big dogs (feel free to insert your own commentary about shortsighted landlords here).  They sent her dog bed, food, toys and treats with her, sure signs of a much loved family dog.  

Ruby's attributes include:

  • Totally house trained, not even one accident to announce her presence in a new environment
  • Has lived with kids & cats, her mom had an in home day care & Ruby loves attention from the little ones - petting, hugging, even laying on her, it's all good :)
  • No bad habits like counter surfing, resource guarding or begging at the table
  • Totally trustworthy, Ruby's had free roam since day 1.  Although she's emptied my dogs' toy basket a few times, she hasn't touched any inappropriate items
  • Loves fetch, her whole body language changed when I took the chuck-it out of her bag of toys!  Ruby also enjoys soft, squeakie toys or a good game of tug
  • Walks reasonably well on leash, pulls some but getting better with every walk
  • Loves car rides

You may be wondering why such a young, well behaved dog isn't on RAGOM's wait list?  Well... in addition to not looking like a Golden (those black Lab genes seem to regularly trump Golden Retriever genes) Ruby's greetings aren't exactly welcoming.  She's the first intake I've done where I was met by barking & growling.  It wasn't long before we were pals but Ruby doesn't make a good first impression.  Her SO rescued her at 6 months of age from a negligent breeder who hadn't bothered with little niceties like socialization or even kindness.  So while kids are all great, big humans - particularly men - are all scarey until proven otherwise.  When meeting a few neighbors on day 2 here, Ruby put on her growly, barking act.  Today we stopped over to chat with one of them again and again Ruby barked and threw in a few growls for good measure.  But within about 30 seconds Ruby was sniffing her hand, then sat & lifted a paw to shake :)  

Ruby will make somebody, even a first time dog mom, very happy!  I can't wait to see who's first to ignore the stigma of 'black dog syndrome.'

Updates

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Ruby is now pending adoption! She'll have a mom who's retired but takes care of her twin grandkids while their mom's at work so she really liked Ruby's previous experience as a daycare provider! She'll also have a 2-legged brother who plays baseball, so she'll have her own human pitching machine & a fenced backyard for fetching!  And when he goes off to college, Ruby's new mom is looking forward to Ruby's guard dog, i.e., barking, skills ;)

The pic is from a birthday party Ruby attended this week at Woof Dah :) Woody is my sister's dog, Mini & Mojave are my fur butts. Pretty cute group don't ya think? And Ruby didn't even make a run for it when she saw a camera pointing her way, thank you Woof Dah!

Ruby's a great dog & I'm going to miss her -- a lot. But I'm sure Ruby will be even happier with her new family... little kids, no competition for patting time, regular games of fetch, etc.  What more could a dog hope for! Luckily for me, they have some previous commitments so Ruby will stay with us for another week or so. We'll let you know when she officially adopted!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Looks like another week of enjoying the great indoors and air conditioning!  Good thing we had some nice days last week so Ruby, and the resident dogs, had some fun outside.  Ruby REALLY does love fetching!  She gets a bit impatient if you don't throw the ball again fast enough and does a funny bouncy jump while barking at you to pick up the pace.  Pretty sure that's when this blurry shot was taken...

Sure was nice being able to take the dogs for walks.  FM discovered that Ruby does very nicely on leash when she's wearing her harness.  While she's not bad with just her flat collar, she barely pulls using the harness & we both get to enjoy the walk.

While Ruby currently has the coat of a black Lab, her vet records show she got a summer haircut shortly before joining RAGOM.  I can already tell that her fur is growing out.  What will she look like when her 'natural do' is back?  There seems to be some wavy fur around her neck and some future feathering on her back end.  Will she maybe look like a Flat Coat Retriever in a few months?  They're gorgeous dogs & I'm sure Ruby would be even cuter than she already is.  But FM developed a fondness for short Lab coats with a previous foster when I learned how much cleaner, or at least drier, it is compared to the usual Golden Retriever flowing feathers that wick water & sand over a good portion of their body.

Whatever she looks like, Ruby's definitely got a Golden personality.  She likes to follow me around during the day and usually sleeps beside the bed at night.  She loves being petted, particularly belly rubs!  Loves going in the car with you & such a good passenger she gets to ride shot gun.  Can be trusted home without you, the worst thing she does is nap on the bed in the guest room.

Miss R does have one unusual quirk -- she's afraid of cameras!  I've had camera shy fosters before, they turn away when they see you coming with a camera so it's tough getting good face shots.  But Ruby takes it to a new level.  Maybe she's part of some secret canine witness protection program?  Or maybe she was a celebrity stalked by the paparazzi in a previous life, but... she's the most camera shy dog -- ever!  She actually gets up & leaves the room when you turn on the camera or point it at her.  Fortunately a good game of fetch is sufficiently distracting that cute pics are possible :)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Ruby continues to be her sweet self, she's fit in so seamlessly I sometimes forget she's not one of the resident fur butts.  But since Ruby's still searching for her very own next family... I'd better remember to update her blog...  With last week's extreme temperatures I had lots of opportunities to learn about her indoors behavior and she really is a perfect house dog.  Not only can she amuse herself with discoveries from the toy basket but she'll even invite you to play!  The resident dogs are good at entertaining each other so I don't usually think about playing dog games so it was pretty fun when Ruby came over and offered me an end of a stretchy tug toy :)   We've had several games since, including one when I was sprawled on the couch.  Her invitation was gentle but persistent so I discovered how strong she is when she almost 'tugged' me off the couch!

Ruby also got to experience her first visit to Woof Dah for doggie daycare.  I was a little concerned because of her barking, growly greetings but she did great!  A little shy at first but warmed up to the staff nicely.  She was even spotted chillin' next to the biggest guy who works there!  Although she didn't interact with the other dogs much she got along with all and FM got a tired dog at the end of the day :)

 
   

Contact your placement adviser if you're interested in meeting this delightful dog!