Sponsored by: Ellen Sanchez
I first met Matteo (pronounced mah TEH oh, Italian for "gift of God") while he was in a kennel at animal control in Sioux City. He was a very, very frightened dog. As I approached his kennel Matteo barked, growled and backed away. And he had a very bad case of kennel cough, so he was coughing and retching as well. I wanted to give him a chance to get my scent and see that I meant no harm, so I sat on the floor next to his door and waited. After a few minutes Matteo approached me and sniffed my hand. Then he wagged his tail a little and lowered his head so I could pet him. When I opened the door to let him out he was a different dog....so happy and friendly. We walked to the front office where he sat and gently took treats from my hand. I asked the staff what had happened to him and they were quite sure that he had been abused and beaten while in a kennel. But hopefully with lots of love and reassurance, Matteo will forget that part of his life and learn to trust humans again.
Matteo has been with us 12 days now and he has made wonderful progress. In the beginning, we were so careful not to startle him...he flinched if we raised a hand or moved suddenly. But now we laugh and play and he rolls over for tummy rubs! We go for long walks and he's a perfect gentleman on a lead. He gets along great with the other dogs, but is scared of the cats (they have him totally bamboozled). At night, he likes to sleep between me and my husband which I think is just wonderful (my husband is not so sure!).
As for Matteo's health, aside from being underweight (54 lbs, should be 70-75 lbs), he appears to be in very good condition. On 4-22 we will take Matteo to the vet to be neutered and check for heartworm. As long as his heartworm test is negative, he should be ready for his forever home as soon as he has recovered from the surgery. And though Matteo has not shown an ounce of aggression since he's been here, to be on the safe side we prefer that Matteo not go to a home with very young children. But dog savvy kids ~ 10 and older should be just fine.
Matteo truly is "God's gift".
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| Golden Retriever | Born: April 2007 |
| Male | 51 lbs |
Status: Adopted
Sponsored by: Ellen Sanchez
I first met Matteo (pronounced mah TEH oh, Italian for "gift of God") while he was in a kennel at animal control in Sioux City. He was a very, very frightened dog. As I approached his kennel Matteo barked, growled and backed away. And he had a very bad case of kennel cough, so he was coughing and retching as well. I wanted to give him a chance to get my scent and see that I meant no harm, so I sat on the floor next to his door and waited. After a few minutes Matteo approached me and sniffed my hand. Then he wagged his tail a little and lowered his head so I could pet him. When I opened the door to let him out he was a different dog....so happy and friendly. We walked to the front office where he sat and gently took treats from my hand. I asked the staff what had happened to him and they were quite sure that he had been abused and beaten while in a kennel. But hopefully with lots of love and reassurance, Matteo will forget that part of his life and learn to trust humans again.
Matteo has been with us 12 days now and he has made wonderful progress. In the beginning, we were so careful not to startle him...he flinched if we raised a hand or moved suddenly. But now we laugh and play and he rolls over for tummy rubs! We go for long walks and he's a perfect gentleman on a lead. He gets along great with the other dogs, but is scared of the cats (they have him totally bamboozled). At night, he likes to sleep between me and my husband which I think is just wonderful (my husband is not so sure!).
As for Matteo's health, aside from being underweight (54 lbs, should be 70-75 lbs), he appears to be in very good condition. On 4-22 we will take Matteo to the vet to be neutered and check for heartworm. As long as his heartworm test is negative, he should be ready for his forever home as soon as he has recovered from the surgery. And though Matteo has not shown an ounce of aggression since he's been here, to be on the safe side we prefer that Matteo not go to a home with very young children. But dog savvy kids ~ 10 and older should be just fine.
Matteo truly is "God's gift".
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Matteo is adopted! Matteo just left with his new family...Rob, Jeffrey and fur brother Naoise (I hope I spelled this correctly!). I miss him terribly, but I know that he will have the best life a dog could ever hope for. Rob and Jeffrey are just awesome and will love and cherish Matteo (just a smidge more than I do!). Live well Matteo!
Thanks so much to Matteo's sponsor, Ellen Sanchez! You make such a difference in a RAGOM dog's life!
I took Matteo to the vet this week because his eyes have been a bit gunky lately and he his still so thin. Dr. M. said that his eyes are not infected and that the gunky discharge is likely do to contact with an irritant. Matteo does spend a lot of time playing under a pine tree (and getting resin in his fur), so this may be the cause. Dr. M. gave us some artificial tears to wash Matteo's eyes and we'll try to keep him out of the pine tree. As for his weight, even though he still looks thin, he now weighs 64 lbs which means he has gained 10 lbs in about 8 weeks. Dr. M. would like to see Matteo gain another 6-8 lbs. He noted that Matteo has a very narrow frame, so he will always be more slender that many Goldens. Dr. M. also noticed that Matteo has a slightly wider stance than normal, which could indicate mild hip dysplasia. We would need radiographs to confirm this, but given that Matteo is fine, there is no compelling reason to do so at this time. And last but not least, Matteo's behavior at the vet was much better than when we took him to be neutered. He let Dr. M. do a full exam and only let out one tiny growl, which stopped as soon as he was offered a treat.
As for his behavior at home, we've noticed that Matteo has started to be a bit naughty lately and all of his naughty behavior is suspiciously like that of our resident Golden Lili. In particular, both seem to have a fetish for plastic Easter eggs. Gee...maybe we should have a doggie Easter egg hunt next year...what a great idea!
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Matteo is now well on his way to being a very well-balanced dog. I don't even worry about taking food or objects out of his mouth now. In fact, he recently scampered off with a piece of our daughter's sidewalk chalk. Without thinking, I quickly opened his mouth and pulled out the chalk. A month ago he would have clamped down and growled at me, but this time he couldn't care less. He's also doing much better with being confined. I am starting crate training him and he doesn't mind a bit. He's learning that a crate is a good place to be, because after spending a few minutes in there he gets a meatball!
Because Matteo is doing so well, he is ready for his forever home and here's what this boy needs:
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Well, Matteo is just full of surprises. One day I was working in the backyard and our daughter Abigail shouted "Mom, look at Matteo!". And there he was up in her fort! Apparently he can climb both the ladder and the climbing wall. What a dog! He and Abigail are doing great together. She can kiss him right on the nose and he loves it.
Matteo is doing much, much better with his fear of being confined or restrained. As long as I am calm and assertive, we don't have any problems. And as far as resource guarding, I can take food or a special toy out of his mouth. Again, being calm and assertive is the key. As soon as he senses tension, then he gets scared and tenses up too.
And he learned one more neat trick. Every night at bedtime, all five dogs gather in our bedroom for their last treat of the day. I keep a stash of dog biscuits in my night stand and they all line up and sit ever so nicely. One night I gave them their treats, put the box away and left the room for a few minutes. When I got back, I found Matteo with his head in my night stand drawer munching away! My husband teases me that our fosters may be disappointed when they get to their forever homes and there aren't any "mints" on the pillow!
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Matteo is an amazing dog. Despite being mistreated in the past, he is learning to trust us and gradually let go of his fears. I brought him to the vet a few days ago to be neutered and as soon as he saw the cage he became very tense and nervous (as noted earlier, we suspect he had been abused in a kennel). I certainly didn't want to force him in, so I crawled in the cage to show him that it was okay. It didn't work, but the vet tech sure had a good laugh! So I crawled back out and put my coat in there and he went right in! He was still a bit nervous, but this was a huge achievement for him. We now keep a crate in the kitchen so Matteo can check it out when he feels up to it and he's started going in and out on his own. In addition to a fear of confinement, he also gets nervous when he feels cornered or trapped. One day our daughter dropped a fruit roll-up on the floor and Matteo grabbed it and ran. Without thinking, I started after him because I was afraid it would make him sick. Unfortunately I caught up to him in a corner and he growled at me. I realized right away that I had triggered that fear and backed off. But I truly believe he will get past this....he's already so much better than when he first came to our home.
As for the rest of the vet visit...everything went just fine. He was neutered, microchipped and his heartworm test was negative. He is still very underweight, but gaining slowly. I've been a little concerned about his food intake because he's a "nibbler" (and it's yummy puppy food!). So today I tried mixing in a few tablespoons of wet food and he cleaned his bowl for the first time! Hopefully his weight will pick up a little more quickly now.
Matteo is a wonderful, happy, fun-loving and very smart dog. He would do well in just about any home as long as everyone helps him work on his fear of confinement. And I would like to clarify my thoughts about Matteo and children. We do have a 5-year-old daughter and Matteo is fine with her. However, our daughter has been around dogs since she was born and we've worked very hard to teach her what to do and what not to do. My only concern is that if a young child were to inadvertently corner him, he could become scared and defensive. But older kids who understand his fear should be just fine.
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