Happy Valentines, Byron and Larry

I would like to introduce Gizmo to RAGOM. This little peanut came from another rescue in North Dakota, and I am so glad that he did. Gizmo will turn 1 year old on January 13, 2014, and is a Golden mix. We aren’t exactly sure what he is mixed with, but our (and the vet's) guess is Golden and Border Collie. Whatever he is, he is smart, cute, and tiny, weighing in at 35 lbs. Gizmo was born and raised in the back of a UPS truck along with his mother. When he was younger, he was hit by a car and has some deformities in his right front paw and leg and some scarred areas with little hair. He can walk and run on it just fine, but after a lot of exercise or playtime, he will start to favor it. We have pain medicine for him for the times when we know he will be using it a lot. The vet said that chances are good that he will get some arthritis in it as he gets older, but for the meantime, he is a normal, frisky boy who loves cuddles!

Gizmo arrived with us, his temporary foster family, on Christmas Day. This is a crazy time to bring any dog into your house, but Gizmo did very well after the initial excitement from the other dogs calmed down. He warmed up to my husband and me as soon as we got him in the car. In the 20 minutes it took to drive home from where we picked him up, he had already decided that we were nice people to be around and that he liked us a lot (especially my husband). We have had several groups of people over to our house during the last week, male and female, old and young, and he has greeted all with some barks. Gizmo seems to look to my husband and me for guidance as to whether the people are okay, and he warmed up to them after a very short period of time.

We had him meet all of the dogs over for Christmas, our 2 residents and my parents' 2 dogs, and he was a little apprehensive. We started with our 4-year-old calm Golden. Gizmo met Sammy with a little lip curl, but they sniffed each other’s butts and Sammy walked away, and that was that. The next two dogs were a 2-year-old, very playful Golden, named Lucy, and our 7-month-old puppy, Cinnamon. Both of these dogs were SO excited to meet Gizmo, but Gizmo was not as excited to meet them. We had him on a leash, and he was doing a fair amount of growling, telling them to back off when they were right in his face. Gizmo kept trying to get into our arms to get away from them. When those two started playing with each other and leaving him alone, and Gizmo got some quality butt sniffing time without another dog trying to sniff his, he settled down. After the initial greeting, he has been just fine with both of these dogs.

The big surprise came when we brought out my parents' Shih Tzu, Benny. Gizmo's tail started wagging right away and he tried to get to Benny. They sniffed and you could tell Gizmo was happy to see him. Benny is normally a little crabby when he meets new dogs (small dog syndrome), but there was no problem at all. Benny started trying to “get to know” Gizmo’s leg, and Gizmo just stood there with his tail wagging and a smile on his face until we got Benny off. We had been told that he liked little dogs, and can say now that it is certainly true. He gets excited every time Benny comes around and wants very badly to play with him.

Gizmo is very playful and tries to get Cinnamon playing all of the time. Cinnamon is a bit of a rough player and can get to be too much for Gizmo at times. Gizmo will tell her to back off and come running to us. We have to help Cinnamon calm down a little before they start playing again (she isn’t the best at boundaries), but then Gizmo will come over and start another game of bitey-face and off they go again, so he clearly likes playing with her. They have started chasing each other in the backyard and boy, that dog can run really fast!

We have had him trailing a leash in our backyard and he is incredibly cute when you first let him out. All of the dogs go running outside and Gizmo will pick up his leash and start frolicking around growling at it. Sometimes he will step on the leash and then start playing tug-o-war with it. Watching him do that always puts a smile on my face. Cinnamon has started trying to play with the leash as well, which makes for some interesting games of tag. Gizmo is faster than Cinnamon, but when she has his leash, he almost drags her around. Again, this is really cute to watch.

The yard is fenced and he has shown no interest in trying to find his way out. He is very attached to us, so if we are walking someone, he will follow. We were out in the yard when a dog behind our house started barking. The three dogs went tearing off towards the corner to see if they could see the dog. I called Gizmo’s name in mid-sprint and he stopped, turned and looked at me, and came running back to me at full speed. There is no way I would be able to get my dogs to do that! He also knows sit and down, and is very gentle and dainty around food.

Gizmo has developed a very healthy curiosity for our cats. He was fine the first couple of days, but the cats now sit on the stairs, which are blocked off by a baby gate, just out of reach for him – almost teasing him. Gizmo’s excitement over them has started Cinnamon wanting to get at the cats now too, which hasn’t helped anything. Gizmo and Cinnamon managed to catch one (leapt off the bed on top of him – the cat is fine), but didn’t seem to know what to do once they had caught him. I think they just wanted the cat to play with them. The cat got away, but they still whine when they see them.

We did take him to the vet, and his heartworm and fecal tests were negative, but he did have a buildup of yeast in his ears. Besides cleaning them every other morning, we have drops that go in twice a day. He really doesn’t like this and will try to get away when he sees the bottle come out. He has a couple more days to go and then we should be all done. Another thing that he doesn’t like is his kennel. Since he has gone after our slippers several times, and I don’t trust Cinnamon not to try and eat him while we are gone, Gizmo gets to go in a kennel. He does not go very willingly. We tried treats, rawhides, peanut butter filled Kongs, but he wasn’t going in on his own. We have to put his front half in and then he will go the rest of the way in. Once in, he cries a little, but doesn’t scratch or try to get out. The few times he has been in the kennel, I can hear him crying when I get home. And he gives the most enthusiastic greetings once released with frantic tail wags and moaning. You would think he had been in there for hours, rather than the time it took to go to the grocery store.

When you get a new foster dog into your house, you truly never know what you are going to get. One of the things you don’t do is hug a strange dog, or kiss them or get in their space until you really know how they are going to act, but Gizmo is different. From the minute we got home, I have been completely comfortable around him. He jumps into your lap and snuggles in close. In the morning when we wake up, he climbs between my husband and me, and licks faces and wants hugs. He is such a sweetie!! And because he is so small, he makes a great lap dog. I love having him jump on the couch next to meet and scoot in for hugs. He is gentle and sweet, and we are totally in love with him.

Gizmo will be moving to his permanent foster home this weekend. I am going to miss this little guy with all of my heart! He has completely won all of us over. If you are looking for a little peanut of a lap dog who loves to cuddle, then Gizmo might be the guy for you.