Ruby 11-006

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Profile

 

Meet Ruby, an 11 year-old, 75 pound, dark red, spayed female.  Ruby is certainly a gem!  She has not slowed down, even though she's getting up there in years.  After a 45-minute walk, she ran through the backyard to see if there were any critters on the woodpile.  When she finally came in the house she went to find a toy. She's definitely spunky!
 
Ruby came into RAGOM because her owner took a new job and was going to be gone too much. It's obvious that she was loved and well taken care of. She loves everybody!
 
Her RAGOM vet says she's in great health. Her weight is normal. There are a few things you expect in a dog her age; a couple small cysts (nothing to worry about), slight clouding in one eye, and slightly worn teeth. None of which are major concerns. She does take a thyroid medication twice a day, but the meds are inexpensive (about $25 for a 3-month supply) and she came with several months worth. She did have blood drawn for some routine tests, but the results are not back yet.
 
Ruby is housetrained and has free roam when we're not home. She's not destructive. She gets along great with dogs and kids. She might do okay with an indoor, dog-savvy cat but she seems to have a pretty strong prey drive, so some training with cats may be needed. She loves all dogs! At least, all that we've met so far. She walks well on a leash with a flat collar, although will pull you towards any dog she sees.
 
Ruby would love to find her forever home so, if you want a dog who is already trained and easy-going, please contact your placement advisor.

At a Glance #11-006

Golden Retriever Born: January 2000
Female 70 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

 

Meet Ruby, an 11 year-old, 75 pound, dark red, spayed female.  Ruby is certainly a gem!  She has not slowed down, even though she's getting up there in years.  After a 45-minute walk, she ran through the backyard to see if there were any critters on the woodpile.  When she finally came in the house she went to find a toy. She's definitely spunky!
 
Ruby came into RAGOM because her owner took a new job and was going to be gone too much. It's obvious that she was loved and well taken care of. She loves everybody!
 
Her RAGOM vet says she's in great health. Her weight is normal. There are a few things you expect in a dog her age; a couple small cysts (nothing to worry about), slight clouding in one eye, and slightly worn teeth. None of which are major concerns. She does take a thyroid medication twice a day, but the meds are inexpensive (about $25 for a 3-month supply) and she came with several months worth. She did have blood drawn for some routine tests, but the results are not back yet.
 
Ruby is housetrained and has free roam when we're not home. She's not destructive. She gets along great with dogs and kids. She might do okay with an indoor, dog-savvy cat but she seems to have a pretty strong prey drive, so some training with cats may be needed. She loves all dogs! At least, all that we've met so far. She walks well on a leash with a flat collar, although will pull you towards any dog she sees.
 
Ruby would love to find her forever home so, if you want a dog who is already trained and easy-going, please contact your placement advisor.

Updates

Thursday, May 5, 2011

It's been too long since I've done an update, so there's lots to tell about Ruby!
 
She passed the kid test! We had a bonfire one night and there were two 4-year-olds roasting marshmallows. Ruby did great with the kids, just like we expected. She even gently licked marshmallows off of their fingers. We did have to watch her tail so it wasn't too close to the fire though.
 
She passed the volleyball test! We play volleyball in our backyard in the summer. One night it was nice enough to play so we had friends come over, which Ruby loved, of course. When we first started bumping the ball around, she got excited, but we called her off the court, told her she was a good girl and told her no when she tried to come back on the court. Seriously, it took only about 3 minutes for her to learn to stay off the court.
 
Here's some other things we've learned about Ruby since the frozen tundra has thawed.
1 - Ruby LOVES to be outside!
2 - Ruby LOVES water! She's quite a swimmer!
3 - Ruby loves to hunt. When the ducks landed in the pond, she thought she could swim out to get them. (See #2)
4 - Ruby will spend hours watching squirrels in the trees. (See #1) (See photo)
5 - Ruby thinks sticks are to be chewed into wood chips. (But she doesn't eat them.)
6 - Ruby will fetch a ball, once or twice, then it's on to something else. (See #4)
 
As soon as we get a computer that has enough RAM for our movie camera, we'll show some video.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Happy Spring to the Golden Seniors from Anonymous Happy Spring to the Golden Seniors from Anonymous

"In memory of my Abby" "In Memory of my Abby"

Monday, February 21, 2011

Hi everyone! It's Ruby! Guess what?!? I got to go to PetSmart both Saturday and Sunday! It was SO much fun! We only stayed 60 minutes on Saturday and 90 minutes on Sunday because - just like FM thought - I didn't sit down the whole time. Why would I want to sit down? There are so many people around that might want to pet me. Plus, there was the dog food aisle that needed to be sniffed and those parakeets were SO entertaining. FM knows what a busy girl dog I can be.
 
I don't know why FM and FD are searching for a perfect "furever" home for me because I like it here. Everyday me and my fur-brother get to go for a car ride to a park and go on a long walk. (FM makes me stay out of the street because the salt isn't good for my feet.) We have different ones we go to but they all have hills and trees and dog smells! My favorite is Purgatory Park because it is Dog Heaven! There are so many dogs that go there and I love to make new friends. Some dogs hang out with their people in the middle area, but not me! I follow (or lead) FM and FD through the back hills on narrow paths, up and down hills. Usually, they can keep up with me for about an hour. I think I'm more spry than they are!
 
One day last week I got to walk on Minnehaha Creek. It was great! It goes on and on and on. FM decided to try me off leash for a bit because nobody else was there. I came back every time they called! I even came back sometimes when they didn't call. Anyway, they say that I'm off-leash tested and think my furever home would have a grand time with me at a dog park.
 
FM likes to try to take photos of me but when she pulls out the camera, I follow her around. If she gets down low to take my picture, I come right over to see what she's doing. She keeps mumbling about having lots of pictures of my nose and forehead. I did include one picture of me that she took outside when I couldn't get close to her quick enough.

Friday, February 4, 2011

What a difference a couple of days make! That was quite a scare Ruby gave us on Tuesday when she appeared to have a stroke. Ruby is almost back to her old self! Occasionally her gait is off just a little and her right eye isn't quite perfectly centered, but she's SO much better and we're thrilled!  Her mood never altered, she's been sweet and loving and never complained through the whole ordeal. It's cool that dogs don't feel self pity.
 
I Googled strokes in dogs and found that a lot of sites contradict each other but there were some things they agreed on. Strokes in dogs are not as debilitating as a stroke in a human. Most dogs recover within a few days to a couple weeks. So far, Ruby is on track with that.
 
Ruby will visit the vet again on Monday and we'll work on weaning her off the prednisone. There's a minute chance that her stroke was caused by a brain tumor, but it's not looking that way. If she's weaned off of the anti-inflammatories and it doesn't recur, most likely there's not a tumor.
 
We're very happy that she's been able to go for walks with us and has not slowed down one iota. Ruby is ready to meet any families interested in her. She is sweet and loving and wants to be wherever you are. Or, by the woodpile. Gotta check for critters frequently, I guess.


I just LOVE toys!


Aren't I a pretty girl?!?