Emma 19-167
Profile
Emma left the commercial breeding life behind and came to RAGOM to find her perfect home. Emma is very shy and gradually adjusting to life in a home. Because Emma startles at loud noises and sudden movements, any children in Emma's home must be age 13+. Another confident dog in the home is required for Emma to learn from. Emma must have a physical fence to keep her safe. Emma needs a calm environment so that she can relax and learn all the joys of life as a beloved house dog.
At a Glance #19-167
| Golden Retriever | Born: September 2009 |
| Female | 70 lbs |
Status: Adopted
Emma's Sponsors
Profile
Emma left the commercial breeding life behind and came to RAGOM to find her perfect home. Emma is very shy and gradually adjusting to life in a home. Because Emma startles at loud noises and sudden movements, any children in Emma's home must be age 13+. Another confident dog in the home is required for Emma to learn from. Emma must have a physical fence to keep her safe. Emma needs a calm environment so that she can relax and learn all the joys of life as a beloved house dog.
Updates
Hello from Emma and her new family!
Sweet Emma was adopted by a family that loves her so much and they all couldn't be happier to be together. She inherited a Golden sister around the same age and she loves her so much - she tries to be by her all of the time.
She is ready to live her golden years Golden-style, surrounded by love, trust, care, and a comfortable home where she can relax fully. Gone are the stressful days of life, and onward into the beautiful future. Congrats to all around!
Happy new year! Emma didn't really mind the year 2020, because she got to spend a lot more time with her people and Golden siblings.
She wants to say thank you to the 2 angel tree donors that got her a lot of yummy treats. That was very sweet. Miss Emmy sure likes food! The time she has the most energy is when she comes in from her morning bathroom break, and gets really excited about breakfast. It's a feeding frenzy with 3 Goldens in the house!
Today she had her teeth cleaned, and the vet called saying she did very well. She will be very excited to get back home since she is still not a big fan of change.
This year has been special to spend with Emma; we love her very much.
Well Miss Emmy Lou survived her first full week being away from us! We went on our first vacation since she has been with us and she did well. I think it helped that she stayed in our house with the two other dogs: things were normal, just switched some people!
She was a very sweet girl for them. She was very excited for us to return and has been a little shadow ever since. We gave her a bath this weekend and she got so curly and fluffy! She does shed a lot. Every time I brush her, a whole other dog comes off. She is a beautiful girl.
Princess Emma (yes, she's been crowned since last time) is loving the good life! I'm pretty sure she is 11 by now. But coming from her past life, I don't think she really ever got the chance to be a puppy, so what better time to start than now?
She has decided to collect shoes. If you are ever missing a shoe, start looking at her bed—there are usually about six of them. It is the funniest thing. She also has found out that she has a love for ice cubes. Every time we get a water, all three of our dogs are excited to come get their frozen treats! It's so funny.
Emma is super attached to my husband and me. We have built a lot of trust with her. She isn't very warm to strangers though, especially at first. I had company this weekend and I could tell she was scared. Sudden movements still make her shake and we feel so bad for that. She warmed up a little but was very cautious. I tell her every day that she is safe and loved and no one is going to hurt her.
Emma is still my little buddy! We have formed such a bond, it is precious to me. Everyone should foster a breeder dog; it is very rewarding.
I took Emma swimming for the first time with my resident dog, Sunni. I was hoping Sunni would inspire her to get in. There were people around, and Emma doesn't like strangers or fast-moving things, but she did dip her toes in. She was very content just wading in the water with me. No interest in swimming or playing fetch.
She actually gets scared when you throw a ball, so I make sure to always have a hand on her when I do. She feels comfortable that way. I plan on taking her again, with less people around to see if she will venture out a little further.
My little Emmy Lou is doing well. She loves her home and she feels safe and loved. She loves going on walks, but she definitely is a follower - she doesn't like to go in front of anyone.
We are also fostering Bentley 19-096TD, who loves to play ball, and we have found Emma is very scared of the swinging motion of your arm when you go to throw the ball.
She is enjoying quarantine, as she is getting to be with us more.
Emma Lou! This sweet girl is pretty easy. Like I said before, I think she just really loves being safe and cared for and loved. The first 10 years of her life were none of those things, and she is soaking it up! It makes us so joyful to give her those things.
Emma is enjoying being a princess dog instead of a breeding dog. We are also fostering Bentley 19-096TD right now, and she seems to be pretty shy around him and stays away. He is pretty vocal and energetic, so she might do better with other lower-energy dogs. She gets along well with my 10-year-old Golden, Sunni.
Emma and I lay on the deck together soaking in some warm February sun and soaking up our vitamin D. She is still also loving to go on walks. We picked June 11 (mid year) for her birthday, so she will be celebrating her Golden birthday then.
Here's a quick update on Emma. She is still just as sweet. She is still very shy also, but she's only known the good Golden life for three months, so I don't blame her. She is pretty attached to me, following me everywhere and always bumping her nose into the back of my leg; it is just so cute.
We have her in a good routine, and I think she likes it a lot. She is still very nervous when she is outside of that routine, but it is understandable, and we are giving her as much time as she needs to get comfortable. We love her very much.
There was a little incident a couple of weeks ago. She tweaked her neck and looked like she was in a lot of pain. I got her to the vet the next day, and it cleared up with some pain meds. Going forward, it is definitely something to watch out for. Some ongoing joint supplements are probably a very good idea as she gets older.
I wish I knew her birthday so we could celebrate - I might have to make one up. Maybe since she will be 11 this year, we could pick the 11th of a month and have a Golden birthday.
Until next time!
Sweet Emma got lots of toys for Christmas this year, and she loved them. She collected them all in her new bed my sister-in-law made her for the living room. It was funny: I set the bed out, and within 2 minutes, she had claimed it as her own.
I did have a small incident with the toys. We were playing 3-way tug-of-war with my resident dog, and Emma was wagging her tail and having fun, but I think when Sunni started winning, Emma got mad and started a fight with Sunni. I broke it up fast and made them say sorry. They have been fine ever since. So, we don't play tug-of-war anymore, because I think it was promoting resource guarding.
Other than that, she's very content around us. She lays wherever we are hanging out. She gets goofily excited in the morning for a bit and then is pretty lazy the rest of the time. She follows me around a lot.
She still doesn't love change. Whenever there are people she doesn't know, she finds a safe corner to keep an eye on everything.
She still hates the car. She tries to dodge the other direction when we get her near the door, and she shakes pretty badly during the ride.
She is still a sweetheart and we love her.
Emma is a huge sweetheart. She has gotten really used to us and our resident dog, Sunni. From the day she was dropped off to today, she has turned a huge corner.
I would say she isn't happy yet all the time like other Goldens, but she has many more happy moments than she used to. We certainly show her a ton of love. She has started wagging her tail and greeting me when I get home, which melts my heart.
She is most active in the morning. She likes to follow me around on my morning routine, and she likes to steal things she isn't supposed to have, like my makeup brushes, clothing, and anything else she can find.
She's like a puppy in an older dog's body--I think she thinks everything is a toy. I tell her, "No, no," but she doesn't listen too well. She hasn't destroyed anything yet, but we are working with her on this habit without trying to scare her. She does still frighten easily.
Things Emma likes: food, bones, walks, hanging out with us, watching TV, playing with chew toys, and when we put her up on the couch (we think).
Things Emma doesn't love: change, new people*, riding in the car, going to new places, walking in front of anyone, and when Sunni barks really loudly when they are outside.
*She is definitely not aggressive or anything; she just has a hard time trusting people, so when we have company over, she is usually in a corner where she can see everything, or she excuses herself from the room.
We love her lots. She is a good girl.
Emma is such a sweet girl. She's slowly breaking out of her little shell. She wags her tail more and more each week.
She's goofy - she likes to sneak around and grab things like shoes, mittens, hats, socks... but she doesn't chew them up; she just puts them where she is laying. We are trying to break this cute but naughty habit by switching out toys when we catch her.
She is still scared to go outside by herself, so we walk out with her, and then once she is out, we are able to go back inside to keep watch in the warmth of our home while she does her thing.
She loves going for walks. It's the most active and alert time we have seen her.
She really loves our dog, Sunni, and I think she secretly loves my husband and me, too. She just doesn't show it fully quite yet. We certainly love her!
She is on the last week of her pills for her Ehrlichia. She had to get a blood test done before we spay her, and last week, the test results came back negative. So I will call the vet this week to get the spay scheduled.
We certainly love watching her adapt to her new Golden life. It's wonderful to see her grow in her trust for her people.
I have had Emma for 4 weeks. She came from a commercial breeder and was in really rough shape. She had been bred for 10 years, and you can tell she has had a lot of puppies.
I can tell she hasn't had much human interaction. She scares really easily, and I think she was abused by the way she acts when we make sudden movements. From day one to one month, though, she is slowly but surely opening up to us.
She started following me around the house a lot this week, which is such a huge step. She also used to spend all day in the kennel, and now she likes to lay in the office with my husband when he works from home and in the living room or basement when we are hanging out. She also started sleeping in our room with us. She is very smart and house trained.
She doesn't like change. She doesn't like going in the car or going to other places. I am hoping eventually she does so she can go to the lake to swim and on hikes.
She is a slightly-picky eater and likes to eat off a plate instead of from a bowl. I don't think she would eat if I didn't put it right next to her.
Sometimes when she is laying somewhere, it is hard to get her to go to another place. We have to trick her into standing up or set her up on her legs.
She loves walks. We have been walking her two to three times a day. She started eating some treats from me, too.
She is very quiet. I haven't heard her make a sound in a whole month. Not a bark or a whine.
She has wagged her tail a few times, mostly when she is smelling my resident Golden. We have a long way to go emotionally, but I have faith she'll get there someday. I give her lots of pets and kisses and tell her she doesn't have to worry anymore, that her life is going to be so good now.
Her new family would need to be patient with her and be home quite a bit. Sometimes it's hard to get her to do things like moving from downstairs to upstairs, or taking medicine, or eating.
Her new family would also have to be cautious of sudden movements and loud noises, which is why I am recommending a house with kids 13+. She's never been aggressive, but she gets really scared.
Her new family also needs to be willing to provide a pain management medicine for her if her back legs get sore. The vet said she has lost muscle mass from lack of movement. She also has Erhlichia, so may need further medication for that in the future as well.
She also needs another confident dog in the home.
It is very rewarding to make small steps with Emma. We already love her so much. She is a really, really sweet girl. We are going to be getting her spayed here in the next few weeks.
