Abby is a petite eight year old, reddish in color with a little grey around her nose and eyes.  She was given up by her family because she has a hard time around small children and they now have a two year old and an infant.  Giving Abby up was very difficult for her owners, since she has been with them since she was a puppy.  They began to realize, though, that she was not coping well with their children and therefore creating a situation that wasn't fair to either Abby, or the kids.  Overall Abby is a healthy, happy eight year old, who needs to find a new home without small children.

2/18/02:  We picked Abby up at her home on Saturday, and brought her home to a household of new friends.  Talk about throwing her right into the mix!  We not only have our Golden, Westie and two cats, but are currently dog sitting for an additional Golden and a large Black Lab/Newfoundland mix!  So, Abby had many new playmates right from the start (which I think helped to distract her from the strange new surroundings of not being at her own home!).  One thing we had been told to watch for with Abby was that she did not handle small animals that "get in her face"!  Well, welcome to our house, our Westie, Suzi runs the place and always greets each new foster with letting them know exactly that.  Since Saturday was such a beautiful day, all the dogs spent a lot of time in the yard and met out there.  I didn't really notice whether Suzi got into Abby's face, or not.  Again the number of current playmates may have lessened that some on Suzi's part too. But, I did notice Suzi and Abby chumming around quite a bit that afternoon.  So, definitely no worries about the "little" dog and Abby not getting along.  The mix of dogs at our house right now is two males and three females, and everyone is getting along fine.  So, I can safely say Abby gets along well with other dogs of either sex, and small or large.  Her paperwork said she had no experience with cats.  Well, she doesn't even give our cats a second look.  The only thing I really noticed was our 5 month old kitten playing with her tail (she LOVES Golden's tails!!) and Abby kept trying to get her tail away from Sassy.  Sassy would bat the tail, and would turn away from her, Sassy would move to where she could reach it again.  This went on for a couple of minutes until Abby just got up and left.  She didn't seem mad, she just wanted to get away!  All in all Abby's first day at our house went fine.  She was definitely better outside, playing.  When inside she seemed a little lonesome, sticking by the door in the entryway.  I don't know if that is because she wasn't allowed on carpet before, or if she didn't like the stairs (and we have a split entry...).  But, by Sunday she was coming right up when she came in from the outside.

I think this is Abby's first experience on the gentle leader.  Let's just say she didn't appear to be real fond of it!  She kept trying to take it off.  On Sunday we took a long walk, though, and she gradually seemed to accept it. This morning, however, it didn't seem to be a problem getting it on her.  She was just excited to be going out on a walk!  She is learning to be very good on the leash and gentle leader and definitely likes to get out walking!  Since we just got Abby on Saturday, that is all for now.  One additional note, Abby is currently not spayed, so we will be getting her in to the vet soon to take care of that.  After her spay, she will be all set to find a new forever home!  The main thing about her new home should be that there are no small children in the home.  Small children tend to make her nervous and growly (we have not yet experienced her around children, that comes from her previous owner...).

2/25/02:  Abby spent the week getting acclimated to her foster home and is doing great!  It didn't take her very long to start noticing the cats and decide that they may be fun to chase once in awhile.  This doesn't happen too often, but every now and then it is great fun!  The fun is probably two sided - our cats have a habit of looking for attention from ANYONE - human or canine.  So, overall I would still say she gets along well with cats. Abby loves playing ball and a good chew bone.  She also gets quite excited about our daily walks.  She doesn't even seem to notice the gentle leader anymore.

One thing we were told about, from her previous owners, was that Abby does not like small children who try to smother her.  When that happens she supposedly gets growly.  We have still not experienced her around small children, but have experienced some of that growly behavior.  During some of our lovely, drizzly weather last week muddy paws needed to be wiped before coming into the house.  Abby learned quickly that she needed to sit and wait for paws to be dried before going into the house.  She is a smart girl!  But, if approached wrong (wrong to Abby) she would growl at us.  What I could determine was is, if she felt too crowded (smothered) she would growl - but approached from the front she was fine.  So, we are working with her, to show her she is fine and that growling is inappropriate behavior.  Overall, though, she is a very happy dog with her tail high and wagging most of the time.  Another new thing for Abby is being crated, she had the run of the house at her old home.  Needless to say, she is well trained and there are no concerns of accidents in the house.  She has taken well to crating, though.  When she can tell we are getting ready to go, she heads right down to her kennel.  Like I said, a very smart girl!

Abby had a visit to the vet on Thursday.  Due to her age, she had a complete blood work-up and examination.  Everything came out normal and she is scheduled to be spayed on Wednesday.  Once she recovers from her spay, she will be ready to find her new forever home!  Someone will be very lucky to have such a bright Golden join their family!

3/4/02:  What a week at our house!  Both Abby and Sassy (our 6 month old kitten) were spayed this week, so they could share their horror stories of surgery!  Needless to say, that calmed the house down for a short time.  Abby was spayed on Wednesday and is recovering very nicely.  Thursday morning she showed absolutely no interest in the morning walk, but by Friday morning she was upset at being left behind!  By the end of the week, or early next week, she will go in for a follow-up and to have her stitches out.  Since she has no health issues, Abby will be ready for her forever home at that point!

In her short time at our house, Abby seems to have become my shadow.  She plays contentedly in a room when I am there, but immediately gets up to follow me if I go downstairs to do laundry, or something.  It isn't that she is overly clingy, but she definitely likes to know where we are before she settles in.

3/11/02:  Abby is doing wonderfully!  She was spayed on 02/27/02 and is completely recovered.  Well, she needs her stitches out, but that will happen this week (we just were not able to get in over the weekend...).  Abby had a wonderful weekend (not so much for the foster mom, but....).  Since we had not been to our cabin since fall, we decided (yes in the worst weather we have had all winter!) to head up north on Saturday morning.  This adventure, albeit short lived, was a favorite to Abby.  She loves car rides and LOVED getting out in the country to run and run and run.  Sophie and Abby did not even notice the 100 mile an hour winds coming directly out of the North!  And that happy sparkle in her eyes was hard to miss.  Due to mechanical problems with the furnace, the trip was short lived.  No matter, the two Goldens and even Suzi, were in heaven!  And, if I haven't mentioned this before, Abby is quite the retriever!   Her past owner did hunt with her, and she loves to retrieve a ball, stick or whatever you have to toss for you!

We had another addition this weekend.  Added to our menagerie, we are now fostering two seven week old puppies (from the Lil' Rascals batch!).  The puppies are adorable, but pesty, and Abby was fine with them.  Sophie was probably the more intrigued of the "big" Goldens, but Abby checked them out and wasn't totally annoyed (that was Suzi's job!).  The babies want to snuggle, but thankfully didn't try to nurse.  So, everyone settled in quite nicely.

We are busily working on finding Abby's forever home, since she is definitely ready for that move now.  What a great addition she will make to some lucky home!

3/15/02:  Good news for Abby!  In our normal fashion, a little snow doesn't keep us at home!!  We traveled to St. Paul, in the snow last night, to introduce Abby to the M's and their pets.  By all accounts the meeting was well worth a little driving in snow!!  Abby has now found her forever home, and they are very excited to have her!  Tomorrow Abby is going to go live with the M's, along with their dogs Candy and Dave (Max #01-036) and Miss Blue, their parrot.  Everyone seemed to get along very well, and by the end of the visit Abby was just "looking" at Miss Blue - not jumping at the cage.  I am sure it won't take her long to get the hang of how to act with Miss Blue!!!

Congratulations to Abby and The M. Family!  We will miss Abby's bright eyes and happy tail in our house.

3/25/02:  Abby went to live at her new forever home on Saturday, March 16.  We talked with her new Mom the very next day and have had a couple of e-mail updates in the week since.  They are VERY excited and happy that Abby has joined their family.  In the week that she has lived with her new family they have already started some modifying behavioral techniques to curb her growling.  They are convinced that her growling is mainly fear based and also a pattern of past training.  They will continue to work with her in a very positive environment and are sure that it will all subside over time.  Other than that her new brother Dave (Max #01-036) is enamored with her and she has made friends with Miss Blue, the parrot!

With a little understanding, some behavior modification and alot of positive reinforcement, Abby is turning out to be a wonderful dog.  We are so glad to have her. She is a sweetheart and as you can see she is leading the easy life.  For some reason, she thinks being pulled around the yard in the wagon is great fun.  She loves the daily  walks with our other two dogs, Dave (Max #01-036) and a 13 year old mixed breed.  Currently, her favorite thing to do is snuggle on the couch after dinner.  She quickly laid claim to all six of the soft fleece toys at our house and she keeps them in her kennel.  She brings one of them out at a time for play and then puts it right back when she is finished.   Her house manners are impeccable and she has free run of the house.  Abby has been good at meeting new people and new dogs over the seven weeks we've had her and we know she will continue to do well.  Thanks to everyone at RAGOM for another wonderful addition to our household. 

Gail and Edward