Bo 11-055

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Welcome Bo!   What a handsome, sweet boy! Bo was surrendered to RAGOM from the Humane Society in South Dakota.  He was found as a city stray on 2/11/11 and no one came to get him.  Due to over crowding at the HS they moved Bo to boarding on 2/15/11.  Bo has been  with our family since Saturday, 2/19/11.

Since Bo was found as a stray the 2 Vets he visited can only estimate his age.  They believe he is between 5-6 years old.  He is also neutered and UTD on all his vaccinations. His coat is a dark red color with a little wave and he weighed in at 91 pounds.  This is the only concern the Vets had.  They suggest he lose 20 pounds.  We have been working on that by taking 3 walks a day, which is his favorite thing to do.  He cries and wags his tail so fast I can hardly get his leash on.  Another suggestion is supplementing his food will a small amount of veggies- green beans for example.  Although, he hasn't been a big eater so far at our house, one last suggestion other then weight loss would be a dental cleaning. Bo has all his teeth but they are showing color in the back.  Nothing a clean or hard bones can't fix.  It sure doesn't prevent him from gobbling up treats:)

Now on to the good stuff about Bo or should I call him "Gentle Ben" or even "BIG Ben" for his size..  He is a true gentlemen.  So sweet and well behaved.  Bo is always at my side or following me around.   He has been in our home for 5 days now.  He immediately took to the 2 dogs we already have at home (2 males both age 2).  He was retrieving and playing with our daughters ages 12 and 10 immediately.  Bo has also been playing with friends that have been at the house- some are children as young as 3. I was also amazed at how well he listens.  He comes when you call his name (better then any dog I have had in my home) and can sit on command.  Bo is also house trained with free roam of our home.   His favorite thing to do is carry a stuffed toy around in his mouth to show you. 

Bo was definitely part of a family before he became a stray.  With his gentleness, good listening, house training and I'm sure he has had obedience (he is amazing on a leash).  He is the most LOW MAINTENANCE dog we have ever had as a permanent dog or foster.  And loves to be groomed.

We have a routine that works for all of us.  We take 3 long walks a day. After his walks he seems to drink a lot of water, sometimes fast.  He can spit some water up if you don't limit the amount. We have left Bo for up to 5 hours. He did great with free roam of the house and the other dogs.  We haven't used a crate, no need for it but he was transported in a crate and I don't think he cared for that very much.

Bo is such a lover and gentle boy.  I've received emails from both the boarding and humane society checking up on him.  He really left a warm spot in their hearts.


 

At a Glance #11-055

Golden Retriever Born: February 2005
Male 90 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

Welcome Bo!   What a handsome, sweet boy! Bo was surrendered to RAGOM from the Humane Society in South Dakota.  He was found as a city stray on 2/11/11 and no one came to get him.  Due to over crowding at the HS they moved Bo to boarding on 2/15/11.  Bo has been  with our family since Saturday, 2/19/11.

Since Bo was found as a stray the 2 Vets he visited can only estimate his age.  They believe he is between 5-6 years old.  He is also neutered and UTD on all his vaccinations. His coat is a dark red color with a little wave and he weighed in at 91 pounds.  This is the only concern the Vets had.  They suggest he lose 20 pounds.  We have been working on that by taking 3 walks a day, which is his favorite thing to do.  He cries and wags his tail so fast I can hardly get his leash on.  Another suggestion is supplementing his food will a small amount of veggies- green beans for example.  Although, he hasn't been a big eater so far at our house, one last suggestion other then weight loss would be a dental cleaning. Bo has all his teeth but they are showing color in the back.  Nothing a clean or hard bones can't fix.  It sure doesn't prevent him from gobbling up treats:)

Now on to the good stuff about Bo or should I call him "Gentle Ben" or even "BIG Ben" for his size..  He is a true gentlemen.  So sweet and well behaved.  Bo is always at my side or following me around.   He has been in our home for 5 days now.  He immediately took to the 2 dogs we already have at home (2 males both age 2).  He was retrieving and playing with our daughters ages 12 and 10 immediately.  Bo has also been playing with friends that have been at the house- some are children as young as 3. I was also amazed at how well he listens.  He comes when you call his name (better then any dog I have had in my home) and can sit on command.  Bo is also house trained with free roam of our home.   His favorite thing to do is carry a stuffed toy around in his mouth to show you. 

Bo was definitely part of a family before he became a stray.  With his gentleness, good listening, house training and I'm sure he has had obedience (he is amazing on a leash).  He is the most LOW MAINTENANCE dog we have ever had as a permanent dog or foster.  And loves to be groomed.

We have a routine that works for all of us.  We take 3 long walks a day. After his walks he seems to drink a lot of water, sometimes fast.  He can spit some water up if you don't limit the amount. We have left Bo for up to 5 hours. He did great with free roam of the house and the other dogs.  We haven't used a crate, no need for it but he was transported in a crate and I don't think he cared for that very much.

Bo is such a lover and gentle boy.  I've received emails from both the boarding and humane society checking up on him.  He really left a warm spot in their hearts.


 

Updates

Thursday, September 20, 2012

 

On September 17th our friend and companion Bo was helped across the Rainbow Bridge. Bo was a very happy boy and touched the lives of many people with his kindness and need for affection during his short stay with us. We were hoping to have many more good years with Bo but the cancer inside him wouldn’t allow that happen. Bo was a happy boy even at the end and suffered no pain. Bo’s spirit was strong but the body was giving up on him. We miss him dearly.

Bo was found wandering the streets of Sioux Falls, SD and was rescued by Ragom. He was transported up to MN and stayed with a wonderful foster family. We knew right away he was the one for us. We were so excited to come up and meet him and hopefully take him home back to Sioux Falls, SD. We were so excited we barely slept that night in the hotel waiting to pick up our big boy the next morning. It was a crisp February day and the snow was piled up. I remember Bo was not too excited to get in the back seat of our truck. I picked all 92lbs of him in my arms and laid him on his new bed I had placed on the floor of the truck. He was such a good boy and happy to head to his furever home. Before our trip to MN we went to the store and bought tons of toys and treats. We had them laid out on the floor of the living so when he first stepped in the house he had a plenty of toys to choose from. Bo loved his toys and always had one in his mouth. In fact, the first walk we went on Bo choose the pheasant toy and took it with him on our walk. People in the neighborhood thought he really had a pheasant in his mouth but upon further inspection it was just a toy. Thus our short journey with this gentle boy began.

We walked Bo twice a day and got the fat trimmed off to around 76lbs which was a comfortable weight for this big boy. He was the hit with everyone he met and just wanted affection. Our nieces and nephew loved him and called him BoBo. He wasn’t very good a fetch because he never wanted to release his toy but he was great fun. We were so blessed with the best dog a family could ask for. He loved everyone and everyone loved him.

In the summer of 2011 we were presented with a situation to do a little rescuing of our own. Some friends of ours had a very tragic event happen in their lives and long story short there was a Golden puppy thrown in the mix. After the puppy was passed upon several family members it was to end up on a farm and live as a farm dog. After our short experience with Bo and ever growing love for Golden’s we couldn’t allow that to happen and we took her in after nobody wanted her. We weren’t sure how Bo would feel about another dog and especially a puppy but we thought it was our duty to give it a try. Bo immediately stepped in as the mentor and it was a great experience for our new Carly girl. She took Bo like a sister looking up to her big brother. She followed him everywhere. When she got in trouble Bo would bring her a toy and make it all better. They were like two peas in a pod. We then started to see Bo learn how to play again and be very youthful. It was a very good experience. What a great teacher we had in Bo. We were very lucky.

We had a great fall that year watching Carly grow up and Bo right by her side. Carly wanted to do everything Bo did. They would walk side by side on our walks rarely heading other directions. It was quite a site to see. We had a mild winter and spring and I felt so bad because Bo loved to roll around in the snow. Not very many chances last winter. Spring came and everything was just as we expected with our Big Boy and his little sister. We started taking them around to events around town like Bark in the Park. They were big hits and even got a little TV press on local news show. Life was good.

Bo started feeling bad a few weeks ago. We really saw a drastic slow down and his eating habits were inconsistent. He had a vet visit a couple months back and checked out great and even got his teeth cleaned. What we didn’t know was a fast moving cancer was eating away at his system. He was still a very happy dog and we were so confused. We decided to take him into the vet and our worst fears were upon us. However there was hope in a surgery and hopefully the cancer was just around the spleen and could be removed. That wasn’t the case as the liver was completely infected. There was nothing we could do and the only humane thing to do was to let him go. He went out as a happy boy and that is the way we wanted it.

We were so blessed to have shared this time with such a loving boy. We thank Ragom and everyone that was involved in bringing us together. We are forever grateful. We miss him so much! We are looking forward to adding another Golden to our clan but there will never be another Bo.

Sincerely,

Bo’s loving parents Jason and Antje and little golden sister Carly.