Eleanor 11-177

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    -Anonymous


Please welcome Eleanor 11-177 to RAGOM.  Eleanor is a PB golden found as a stray and turned in to a shelter, estimated to be 7-8 years old.  She is a gentle soul with a very laid back personality and always has a big golden smile on her face.  She is crate and house trained, non-destructive in the house and does not counter surf.  In the 4 days she's been with us, we have found she is a bit of a couch potato, likes walks and does very well on the leash, and does not appear to know how to bark.
 Before coming to her foster home, another RAGOM volunteer took her to the Vet to get up to date on all her shots.  She weighed in at 72 pounds which is about 12 to 15 pounds too much for her size.  We will be working with her in the coming days to get her more exercise and eating a healthy diet to get her that beach body for the summer.  She has had some skin issues but it's unknown if it's caused by allergies or from her time as a stray.  We currently have her on a grain free diet and her skin is clearing up nicely. Her first day home, FM and Eleanor went for a girls' afternoon at the dog spa where Ellie got a wash and dry of her beautiful red-golden hair.  She seemed to enjoy the attention and likes to get that beautiful hair brushed.  Maybe Miss Ellie is a bit of a diva in that respect. Prior to her current foster home, she was with a foster family with two young children and got a little growly and snappy with them.  She appears to like children but seems to prefer not to LIVE with them – just like some grandparents with their grandchildren. From our first impressions, we think Ellie would do best in a quiet home with no small kids.  She gets along with other dogs but may not like another dog that is too young and active.  Of course, a couch for her to curl up on is a must.  Miss Eleanor is a definite keeper for someone who wants a cuddly, sweet senior girl.

 

At a Glance #11-177

Golden Retriever Born: November 2005
Female 70 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

    -Anonymous


Please welcome Eleanor 11-177 to RAGOM.  Eleanor is a PB golden found as a stray and turned in to a shelter, estimated to be 7-8 years old.  She is a gentle soul with a very laid back personality and always has a big golden smile on her face.  She is crate and house trained, non-destructive in the house and does not counter surf.  In the 4 days she's been with us, we have found she is a bit of a couch potato, likes walks and does very well on the leash, and does not appear to know how to bark.
 Before coming to her foster home, another RAGOM volunteer took her to the Vet to get up to date on all her shots.  She weighed in at 72 pounds which is about 12 to 15 pounds too much for her size.  We will be working with her in the coming days to get her more exercise and eating a healthy diet to get her that beach body for the summer.  She has had some skin issues but it's unknown if it's caused by allergies or from her time as a stray.  We currently have her on a grain free diet and her skin is clearing up nicely. Her first day home, FM and Eleanor went for a girls' afternoon at the dog spa where Ellie got a wash and dry of her beautiful red-golden hair.  She seemed to enjoy the attention and likes to get that beautiful hair brushed.  Maybe Miss Ellie is a bit of a diva in that respect. Prior to her current foster home, she was with a foster family with two young children and got a little growly and snappy with them.  She appears to like children but seems to prefer not to LIVE with them – just like some grandparents with their grandchildren. From our first impressions, we think Ellie would do best in a quiet home with no small kids.  She gets along with other dogs but may not like another dog that is too young and active.  Of course, a couch for her to curl up on is a must.  Miss Eleanor is a definite keeper for someone who wants a cuddly, sweet senior girl.

 

Updates

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Time for celebration!  This week saw the passing of 30 days since surgery and Eleanor is no longer restricted from running and jumping.  For the first two weeks, she had that terrible cone on her head, so keeping her calm wasn't difficult.  However, have you ever tried preventing a golden from running and jumping?  Not an easy task.  Eleanor is still on some anti-inflammatory medication and may continue that for another 2 to 4 weeks while her bladder heals completely.  Otherwise she is appears happy and healthy. This morning we had our first round of fetch, one of Eleanor's favorite activities in the yard.  Even after 30 days, she was chasing the tennis balls and running back with them like a pro.As promised, here are some new pictures.  As you look through these recent shots you may see a theme, Eleanor has a new favorite toy, tennis balls.  We have retired her green pony collection, or at least, what is left of the de-stuffed ponies.
Toward the end of Eleanor's recovery, she had a visitor.  Bear/Pete 09-446 came over with Denise and Connie to meet someone interested in adopting him.  Bear and Eleanor didn't do too much playing together but did spend some time sniffing and following each other around.  Fortunately for Eleanor, Bear didn't seem too interested in her new tennis ball collection.  You can see more details on Bear's visit under his 08/21/2011 update.
One interesting story about Eleanor that occurred before her surgery.  As we have mentioned before, Eleanor loves her walks around the neighborhood and parks.  Well, one busy day, FD was working from home and spending far too much time on the computer.  Next thing you know, Eleanor was over nudging FD with her nose for attention.  When FD looked down she saw that Eleanor had gotten her leash off the shelf in the other room and had it in her mouth.  She then dropped it at his feet and gave FD that "well, aren't you going to take me for my walk" look on her face.  Who could resist, Eleanor got her walk.Hope everyone is enjoying the last few days of summer and getting some time outdoors with their favorite golden.  And if you don't have a golden yet, there are lots of wonderful goldens on the RAGOM site looking for a home.  Of course, we think Eleanor's the best one available but we may be biased.

 

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

It's been almost two weeks now and Eleanor (aka Ellie) is really settling into the routine around the house. She was quite the couch potato the first few days but this last week Ellie has come out of her shell and is more outgoing and playful. She enjoys playing fetch, although she sometimes forgets the part where she needs to return the ball and decides it's more fun to just chew on it. We've adapted by using two balls while playing fetch. After she chases down the first ball, we start bouncing the second ball on the deck and she comes running back with the first ball. Guess a bouncing ball is too much for any golden to resist. Another of her favorite activities is wrestling around with FD. She likes to play a little rough and get mouthy. Fortunately she has a very soft mouth and doesn't bite, but she tends to get FD wet so we're working on getting her to play without using her mouth.

When Eleanor first arrived here, she wasn't very good at responding to her name. Coming in as a stray, Eleanor probably wasn't her real name so she had to learn her new name. We've been working with her, using her name a lot and she now responses well to Eleanor or Ellie.

We weighed her late last week and she was down 4 pounds to 68 pounds, a good start. For now her goal is to get down to 60 pounds, losing about 2 pounds a month. We've been carefully measuring her food and getting her walks and exercise. We'll continue checking her weight once a week or so to check on her progress. We noticed that Ellie sneezes a bit so the Vet suggested trying Benedryl. We'll see if it helps with the sneezing and prevents a re-occurrence of her skin issues.

One of Eleanor's favorite toys is a small green stuffed pony that one of the RAGOM volunteers got her, a special thanks to the volunteer that got it for her. We were told by the people at boarding that she really liked that pony and carried it everywhere she went when she was out of her kennel. She's taken an interest in other stuffed toys, although she is mostly interested in getting the stuffing out of them so we've had to put them away for now. Her favorite pony is still intact and she still likes carrying it around.

Since she came to RAGOM as a stray, we don't have any information about Eleanor's life before RAGOM. We have noticed that Ellie has some small worn spots of rough skin and no hair on both elbows and knees. The Vet said she probably spent a lot of time in a kennel with a concrete floor so she may have been an outdoor dog. Even so, she's having no trouble adjusting to life in the house, with soft carpet, a cushy dog bed, and a couch for naps. We discovered she enjoys water, what golden doesn't, and likes to drink from the hose when we are out watering. She tends to just stick her face in the stream of water and we're not sure how much water she actually drinks. She had no storm anxiety, storms last weekend didn't bother her. Both FM and FD have finally heard Ellie bark. It was more of a single "woof" and not much bark, but we now know she can bark. Eleanor knows some commands, such as sit, shake, down. She really likes to shake and will sit back on two feet to get your attention.

Anyone interested in giving Ellie a chance will not be disappointed so contact RAGOM placement about Ellie or any of the other wonderful dogs looking for good homes.