Ford (Gabriel/Ford 04-258)

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This sweet baby’s name is Gabriel (meaning God is my strength), and he is only 3 days old. Right now, Gabe is not feeling very photogenic – he’s fighting really hard to stay alive without a Mom or any littermates.

 

Gabe and one littermate were turned into a Humane Society yesterday (7-19) after a kind person saw their neighbor throw them in the trash. Yes, you heard me right – the trash. Unfortunately, Gabe’s littermate didn’t survive and now Gabe is working very hard at learning to drink supplement from a bottle and stay cozy and warm. He’s already seen one of our marvelous RAGOM Vets who says he’s looking good – just needs lots of TLC and a real dog Mom if possible. He weighed in at 1.2 pounds.

 

Tonight he will be joined with our very own Paige 04-181 who we hope will take this little one under her wing to feed and care for him. Even with Paige helping us out, I’m sure that our little guy will continue to need some supplemental feedings and extra Vet care for awhile. So please, please, please remember Lil’ Gabe not only with your thoughts and prayers over the next few days – but also with your donations. We all know how expensive formula can be!!

 

 

At a Glance #04-258

Golden Retriever Born: July 2004
Male Weight not specified

Status: Deceased

Profile

This sweet baby’s name is Gabriel (meaning God is my strength), and he is only 3 days old. Right now, Gabe is not feeling very photogenic – he’s fighting really hard to stay alive without a Mom or any littermates.

 

Gabe and one littermate were turned into a Humane Society yesterday (7-19) after a kind person saw their neighbor throw them in the trash. Yes, you heard me right – the trash. Unfortunately, Gabe’s littermate didn’t survive and now Gabe is working very hard at learning to drink supplement from a bottle and stay cozy and warm. He’s already seen one of our marvelous RAGOM Vets who says he’s looking good – just needs lots of TLC and a real dog Mom if possible. He weighed in at 1.2 pounds.

 

Tonight he will be joined with our very own Paige 04-181 who we hope will take this little one under her wing to feed and care for him. Even with Paige helping us out, I’m sure that our little guy will continue to need some supplemental feedings and extra Vet care for awhile. So please, please, please remember Lil’ Gabe not only with your thoughts and prayers over the next few days – but also with your donations. We all know how expensive formula can be!!

 

 

Updates

Saturday, July 18, 2009

From Ford's forever family...

I can’t believe that five years have passed since RAGOM got a call from an animal shelter asking for our help with a one-day-old golden puppy that was thrown in the trash with his nine littermates on the hottest day of the summer. Only one little boy survived, but the shelter was unable to care for such a fragile, little guy who would need hand feeding or a willing surrogate mother to take care of him. Having raised litters of puppies before, I took him in and did all I could for him. We had a rescued golden mama who was still nursing her pups, but she wanted nothing to do with the little boy so we fed him from a bottle. He was a good little eater and loved being fed by people, but really needed some doggie touch and attention. You see, little puppies need to be stimulated by their mothers to eliminate their waste and to keep themselves clean. Although the little guy received plenty of human petting, he really needed this contact from another dog. Alex (04-038), a 12 year old RAGOM senior who came to my house for doggie day care, stepped up to help out. The first time Alex came over, he started sniffing the air and looking around. He quickly found the puppy in his whelping box and jumped over the wall. We were a little concerned what his intentions might be, but he immediately started licking the puppy and smiling about it. We had found a surrogate mom for our little red boy! Alex continued caring for, and cleaning up, our little puppy until he was just way too big for all that! Ford thrived under Alex’s care and grew into a healthy young pup.

When it came time to find a forever home for the puppy, I decided that after 20 years of rescuing dogs for RAGOM that I would adopt this boy for myself! I had recently lost my old boy, Aubbe, and had sold my big Ford van, so adopting a little boy and naming him Ford just seemed right. My RAGOM friends knew after about a week of having this puppy in my house that I would adopt him, but I maintain to this day that I had no plans of this until he was about 5 weeks old.

Ford quickly grew to be a very big boy. Alex gave him love and affection and Alex’s sister, Sally, taught him manners and how to play. Ford and Alex visited local elementary, and junior high schools together to teach kids about caring for dogs and dog rescue for two years before Alex died of old age. Ford has continued to do these school visits with me and with other senior dogs that came for day care including Otie (05-445) and Isabeau (07-024) who have since died. He now visits kids with his old girl Zoey (07-572) and his new puppy pal Leroy (Madison 08-486). Ford is showing Leroy how to be a good boy and just enjoy the kids, (they have faces that need cleaning)!

At home, Ford loves nothing more than running in the big back yard chasing tennis balls – two at a time for my big boy! – with his best friend Bogey (Kelby 03-118).

Friday, July 22, 2005

Ford had his first Birthday Party on July 17th, with 17 guests, and about 14 dogs in attendance. He received so many nice gifts and some he would like to share with other RAGOM dogs in foster homes. He got great Birthday Cards and checks and cash totaling $115.00, some to me and some to RAGOM. So he is donating $115.00 to help other RAGOM dogs to enjoy living their first year being so well socialized by all his RAGOM 2 and 4 legged friends.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Ford posed for an ad at the dog show on Dec 6th at Canterbury Park, while sitting at the RAGOM booth greeting everyone that stopped by. He is now 4 months old and weighs in at 23 lbs. He has calcium deposits on his bones from living on only formula. He eats adult food ( 1 ½ cups) 2 times a day and at noon has his puppy food ( 1 ½ cup). He knows sit and shakes hands with everyone, loves to retrieve, and enjoys RAGOM school visits - he likes the kids.

Friday, August 13, 2004

Gabe is now FORD Nygaard and is going to be adopted by RAGOM’s Founder and President. After his struggling to stay alive, and my being up all night bottle feeding, after over 1000 foster dogs over 20 years, it is time I adopt my first RAGOM dog.

     

Saturday, July 31, 2004

Here are some pictures showing Alex 04-038 licking and cleaning up Gabe.

             

The little guy isn’t so little anymore. He is about 2 weeks old and doing very well. Gabe has a great coat of nice fur and is up to over 2 1/4 lbs. He's eating/drinking his formula every 2-3 hours. A donated $30 can is going fast.

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Little Gabe is growing - I can tell his head has gotten larger. He has a vet appointment today to make sure he is progressing well. Paige is having a hard time letting him suck; we had success once overnight - we're not giving up!