Dutchess 09-114

Profile

We picked Dutchess up from the Jewell Animal Hospital on Saturday and one thing that I can tell you about her is that she LOVES people. A good belly rub and an head scratch are heaven for her. Dutchess is a 2 ½ year old golden mix. There is definitely a lot of golden in her but there is also something else in there that we aren’t sure of. It doesn’t really matter though, she is very pretty and very sweet. She is spayed, up to date on her shots, her heartworm check was negative, and we will be going in for a physical on Monday. Dutchess gets along really well with the cats and gets along well with the resident dog Mia and our other foster Harlee 09-088. It took her a couple of days to warm up to the dogs, but now her and Harlee love to wrestle around and play tug.

Dutchess is very laid back and besides playing with Harlee just mostly likes to lie down and relax. She was an outside dog before she came into RAGOM so she is not housetrained. We have been using the umbilical method for the past few days where she is attached to us at all times and has not had any accidents while tied to us, but if allowed freedom to roam around she will have an accident. It will just take time, but I know she will eventually get it. She does do some resource guarding from the other animals with her food as well, nothing huge, but just lets them know that she doesn’t want anyone eating out of her dish. We haven’t seen any of that behavior with people.

She knows sit so far and we are working on down and wait. She likes to go for walks and is really pretty good about not pulling, even without the gentle leader on. She is pretty quiet so far, and really just a doggie that loves her people. Here are some pictures of Miss Dutchess.

At a Glance #09-114

Mixed Breed	Born: May 2006
Female	60 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

We picked Dutchess up from the Jewell Animal Hospital on Saturday and one thing that I can tell you about her is that she LOVES people. A good belly rub and an head scratch are heaven for her. Dutchess is a 2 ½ year old golden mix. There is definitely a lot of golden in her but there is also something else in there that we aren’t sure of. It doesn’t really matter though, she is very pretty and very sweet. She is spayed, up to date on her shots, her heartworm check was negative, and we will be going in for a physical on Monday. Dutchess gets along really well with the cats and gets along well with the resident dog Mia and our other foster Harlee 09-088. It took her a couple of days to warm up to the dogs, but now her and Harlee love to wrestle around and play tug.

Dutchess is very laid back and besides playing with Harlee just mostly likes to lie down and relax. She was an outside dog before she came into RAGOM so she is not housetrained. We have been using the umbilical method for the past few days where she is attached to us at all times and has not had any accidents while tied to us, but if allowed freedom to roam around she will have an accident. It will just take time, but I know she will eventually get it. She does do some resource guarding from the other animals with her food as well, nothing huge, but just lets them know that she doesn’t want anyone eating out of her dish. We haven’t seen any of that behavior with people.

She knows sit so far and we are working on down and wait. She likes to go for walks and is really pretty good about not pulling, even without the gentle leader on. She is pretty quiet so far, and really just a doggie that loves her people. Here are some pictures of Miss Dutchess.

Updates

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Just wanted to update RAGOM on our girl Dutchess. We have had her for over a year now and she has been a wonderful addition to our family. She loves her sister Mia and any person that she has ever met. She will keep putting her head under your arm over and over so that someone is always petting her. She is never too thrilled at first when we bring another foster into the household, but over time she gets used to it and we always tell the girls that we have to keep helping other dogs too.

Since we have had her Dutchess has gotten to go on many adventures. She regularly gets to visit her grandparent's acreage where she gets to run and play and sometimes swim in the dirty pond if we aren’t watching closely enough. She has been camping twice in the past year, gone with us to my in-laws farm for many visits, goes to the farmer’s market throughout the summer, and likes to go to Dairy Queen on a regular basis. She has been to basic obedience and will start an advanced class sometime this fall/winter so we can get her CGC. Dutchess has aspirations of being a therapy dog. Last night she got to go to Bark in the Park at the Iowa Cubs and in a couple weeks she will be going to the Pooch Paddle to swim with all the other dogs. Dutchess is the sweetest girl ever and wants to thank RAGOM for giving her the golden life.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

So we have decided to make Dutchess a part of our family. We are very excited to have her and she loves her sister Mia and her two kitty brothers. Every one of our family and friends has said that she is the perfect dog and we couldn’t agree more. We are thrilled to be adopting her! Here is a picture of the family (minus the kitties) and some more pictures of Dutchess as she is just too cute.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Hi again from Miss Dutchess. I am still enjoying life down in Ames, but I am really starting to wonder when my forever family is going to find me. Foster mom says I am wonderful girl and any family would be very lucky to have me. I am such a good girl. I know sit, wait, come, almost know down, like to go for walks around the neighborhood, love car rides and LOVE PEOPLE. I got to go meet some of FM’s vet school friends this past weekend and I was a hit. I just sat there and let people pet me and pet me and pet me. It was true bliss for a girl like me! Everyone told me that I was just the sweetest girl they had ever met.

I can go to a family with or without dogs. I am a little leery when first meeting new ones, but if you give me a day or two to settle in we get along just fine. I love my foster sister Mia. I try to make sure I do everything that she does. I also get along with the two resident cats and I am really catching on to this crate training thing. I go in there when FM calls me about 90% of the time. I am almost potty trained now too. I have not had an accident in the past week. Way to go me!

I am also very calm for a girl of almost three. I like to take naps and go for walks but I am never going to be a marathon runner. I would much rather be cuddled up to you warming your feet and getting a belly rub. FM loves how calm and easy going I am and says it makes me even more perfect!

Okay now I’m going to tell you about my few little quirks. I do like to jump up on new people when they come to the door. I am getting better at it, but I just love people so much that it is hard for me to contain my excitement sometimes. I will need time to get used to new dogs but have spent time with three different dogs and have got along fine with all of them as long as I am given time to get used to everyone. I would never think of guarding my food or toys from people, but I do get a little growly when the cats try to get in my dish. I’m just telling them to stay out, otherwise they would eat it all themselves. Well, I think that is about it for tonight. I’ll be waiting for the perfect family to find me, but until then I am going to go take a little snooze.

Here are a couple of pictures of me pleading for FM to rub my belly

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Dutchess is still doing really well at our house. She is still working on potty training but she is getting it. She is having about an accident per week so she is doing well. She is her sweet self all the time. She loves our resident dog Mia and gives her kisses all the time. I think she would do well as an only dog getting all of the attention or with another dog especially a dog that would like to play with her. She is doing really well with wait while I get dinner ready and sits and waits every time before she goes outside. She stills likes going on car rides and walks and is just waiting for a family to call her own.
Here are a few pictures of her with the new foster kittens. Pretty cute, I think!