Rudy 10-176

Profile

Let’s give a warm RAGOM welcome to 5-1/2 year old Rudy!!

His loving family was forced to surrender Rudy to RAGOM because of the tough economy and the cost of keeping his allergies in check.   He moved in with his family when he was 4 months old.

Rudy is house-trained and has full run of the house day or night; he is good with kids of all ages, cats and other dogs.   He is the definition of a velcro-golden, following foster mom everywhere even into the bathroom!   Rudy is great on a leash and would be perfect for a walker or a runner.

More to come on this purebred golden boy, contact your placement advisor if he looks like a fit for you and your family!

At a Glance #10-176

Golden Retriever Born: December 2004
Male 75 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

Let’s give a warm RAGOM welcome to 5-1/2 year old Rudy!!

His loving family was forced to surrender Rudy to RAGOM because of the tough economy and the cost of keeping his allergies in check.   He moved in with his family when he was 4 months old.

Rudy is house-trained and has full run of the house day or night; he is good with kids of all ages, cats and other dogs.   He is the definition of a velcro-golden, following foster mom everywhere even into the bathroom!   Rudy is great on a leash and would be perfect for a walker or a runner.

More to come on this purebred golden boy, contact your placement advisor if he looks like a fit for you and your family!

Updates

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Thought it was about time for one more update on Rudy. We're all settled into our back-to-school routines after a rough summer and this seems like a good final update, though my son insists I not say "final" in case "something good happens."

Larson still annoys Rudy from time to time, but "the boys" have worked out that Rudy is definitely still the Dog in Charge. We had a surprise with Larson when we eventually worked out he's what our trainer calls a "high, high energy dog." Having had only Goldens in the past, we had quite a learning curve!

We eventually figured out that "high high energy" meant that we must to get Larson to the dog park every day for at least an hour or he's nearly impossible to handle. The up side? That was more exercise for Rudy too - and I swear he's acting at least three years younger!

We're still teaching Rudy new tricks. Right now we're working on "leave it" so that he doesn't plunge for dropped food or other items, and "place." "Place" is a particularly cool one - he goes to a specific spot and sits there while I answer the door. When he and Larson get that one down solid, it's going to impress everyone who comes to the house!

Rudy's allergies are well under control too - he still goes for the occasional face-scratch in the morning, but the rest of the day he's just your average everyday Fantastic Golden. Here's to many years to come!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Yet another update on Rudy - again because I had a picture I just had to share.   We can't imagine life without Rudy at this point - we call him The Perfect Dog!

As mentioned in the last update, we have indeed taught him to "play dead" and it's hilarious.

The big news, though, is that Rudy has a new playmate.   We offered to be emergency fosters to a black mix puppy named Larson that was found a few weeks ago.   He and Rudy got along so well, we decided to keep him.

Rudy and Larson play together all the time.   Rudy lays on his back - Larson tries to sneak in,  and then Rudy wraps his paws around Larson like a hug and rolls him over.   There's a lot of good-natured snarling and yapping, but it's amazing to see how careful they both are to never use their teeth hard.

Larson's been getting me up early every morning, so the walk schedule has become very consistent - the dogs and I are up and going before anyone else in the house is moving.   Then once everyone's off to school and work, Larson and Rudy chill out (see picture).

We brag about Rudy to everyone we meet - he's just fantastic, and we feel so lucky to have him.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Hi!

Another update on Rudy, and another great picture.   Rudy's pretty comfortable now - he cracks us all up when he sleeps on his back with his legs splayed up in the air.   A friend of ours suggested we teach him "play dead."   I think he'll be a champ at it.

Rudy started obedience classes about three weeks ago and all is well so far.   His stubborn streak is finally starting to show (our trainer says that's a good thing, 'cause it means he's relaxed and feels like part of the family).   We like joking that he does a lot of "I don't hear yoooooou" when given a command, but he's actually super well behaved.  It's so much fun to have people over - he's a total gentleman!

We had a little scare a while back when we discovered a sore in Rudy's mouth that looked like cancer.  The vet got as much out as he could, and the tests came back benign - phew!   We're not out of the woods for another three months, but we're hopeful.

Rudy's days are filled with face scritches (he loves having his face scratched!), tummy rubs, and an a.m. and p.m. walk.   In between he hangs out with us and particularly likes to ride in the car.   We just love having him in our family.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Hi!

This is Kendra, the mom of the family that adopted Rudy. I was planning to wait a little longer to send an update, but I snapped this great picture of Rudy yesterday and just really wanted to share.

 

After a few nervous first days, Rudy's all settled in and it feels like he's been part of the family for years. The kids absolutely adore him, and are so thrilled that he'll do "sit" and "down" for them without a grown up having to say it too. We're trying to teach him a few new tricks, and he starts his obedience classes in mid September. The boys are super-excited to come to obedience class with us.

Rudy got a clean bill of health from our vet - in fact, our vet was surprised at how healthy he was (particularly his eyes) considering his medical history. We haven't had any trouble with any excessive itching or licking and our fingers are crossed that the medicine and high quality food will keep it that way.

We took Rudy to the groomers the other day just to get his hair all evened out - I was sort of sorry to see his funny little ear tufts go, but he's such a handsome dog that it was well worth it.

Rudy's got himself a new Kong and a new bone, plus an old tennis ball - he seems content with that trio, and hasn't been too interested in any other toys. We think it's hilarious how he carries something around in his mouth all day - he even fell asleep with his big Kong in his mouth! I'll have to get a picture of that...

We took Rudy to a company picnic a little while ago and he was quite the conversation piece. He was great advertising for RAGOM too - a few folks at the picnic didn't even realize you could adopt a dog his age and one picnic-goer was fascinated by the idea of being a foster for dogs and is going to look into it.

At some point we're hoping to teach him to catch a frisbee, and we'd love to see him learn to swim. He loves the water (see the picture) but he won't go in past his tummy. Not to worry, though - there's another golden in the neighborhood who's an ace swimmer. We figure a few "doggy playdates" will help.

So all is well with Rudy! We'll write again when we have more news. And hopefully, we'll be at Goldzilla!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Hi Rudy Fans,

Just a short update. Rudy was at the lake this last week and met some new friends. At one time we had 6 dogs in the cabin and Rudy got along great with all of them. He went in the water for the first time with us, he seemed to like it but he was not running down to the lake to jump in all the time. Here are some photos of Rudy and his friends Lacey, Bailey and Samantha. His allergies seem to be under control on the current regimen he is on and it looks like his skin infection has finally cleared up. If laid back Rudy would fit into your family please let your placement advisor know.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Rudy came to us about 2 weeks ago and he is the perfect gentleman around the house. He gets along great in our pack here. With the change in foster homes Rudy took it in stride and you would not know there has been any changes in his life at all. He respects baby gates and has had free roam of the house without any accidents or destructive behavior. He greets us when we come home with a few excited barks and likes to be with his people. He knows some commands like, sit, stay, wait, and hi-5. Rudy has a typical Golden disposition and gets along great with everyone. He can be kind of goofy too. He like to carry around his bone and it looks like he is smoking a cigar. He is gentle with kids that he meets on our walks and came from a home with a daycare. 

Rudy weighs 82 pounds and is in good health except for his allergies. Rudy is on allergy shots every 3 weeks and a combination of Benadryl and Steroids to control the itching. Rudy is going to require medications to control his allergies the rest of his life. 

If you would like to meet Rudy let your placement advisor know.