Hi everyone! My name is Hope and I am 14 weeks old. I am a purebred Golden girl who was surrendered to RAGOM due to some medical issues. I had never lived in a house when I came in to foster care, so I was a bit of a wild child. I thought everything and everyone was here for me to bite on, and so the first word I learned was "Ouch!" followed by "No, Hope" which if you ask me sounds very pessimistic. There is always Hope, right?! I'm trying to teach my foster family that.

I came in to RAGOM with a crooked front leg and I was recovering from a case of puppy strangles which the vet told me is an autoimmune disease that affects the lymph nodes in my neck and causes blistering on my face. All I know is my nose was covered in scabs and made me not look so cute. Is that even possible? No, I joke. I was still as cute as could be. He put me on an antibiotic and three weeks of prednisone to wipe it out of my system permanently. I think it worked as my scabbing is almost completely cleared up and I feel great!

The vet also took X-rays of my leg, compared it to my other front leg, and even got a second opinion from a vet in the Cities, and they both said it was temporary and nothing to be concerned about. Well, guess what?! They know their stuff. It was only a few days after the appointment and my crooked leg went straight and I don't think there is any reason to think it will grow crooked again. Other than that, I am a very healthy girl.

I am a lighter-colored Golden, but getting a little darker by the day. I do have two pretty blonde streaks by my shoulder blades and some blonde on my chest. I even started to grow my long fur (feathers), so I know I am growing up.

Foster mom decided when I came here that I should be crate trained. It didn't take me very long to learn that my crate is a good place to rest and hang out. She gets all excited when I run into my crate on my own when she says, "Kennel." Well, duh, there is always a good treat if I do that. I also sleep in my crate at night for up to 8 hours without needing to go potty and I don't even whine anymore! Since I am still a puppy, I do need to go outside during the day every 3 hours or so, though. It would be great if I had someone home who could make sure they let me out. If not, please line up someone to come in and let me out at lunch time. Please! It will be awhile yet before I can go all day without pottying. I have two puppy gates that mom uses to keep me contained a little during the day. I learned to scale the one in about one day. The other is taller and doesn't have anywhere to put my feet for leverage, but I try. She has been trying free roam with me while she works down in her shop. I do pretty well if there are plenty of toys left out, but will have the occassional potty accident. I am a work in progress.

It took me a week or two, but I am learning that we don't bite people. I think I might have been removed from my litter a little early because I was really lacking bite inhibition which my brothers and sisters should have taught me. But I've been working hard and every day I am doing a little better. I do like to grab foster mom's long hair when she is on the ground playing with me, and will "air snap" and chomp my teeth when I am really excited. I do tend to get ramped up sometimes; I mean I am a puppy, and would probably do better in a home with kids that are a little bit older. I love toys, by the way. I also like to go, go, go when my foster dog siblings are around. I could wrestle and chase all day long. My favorite friend is an 11-year-old terrier who is just a little smaller than me. I could pester him every minute of the day if my foster mom didn't interrupt us. Sometimes he tells me off, but I just come back for more. My other friend is a 4-year-old Pittie. She wrestles me too, but I listen a little better to her. She is a joy to follow around the yard and always knows where the best dead fish are (we live on a lake). Speaking of that, when I am outside, I really use my nose and have it to the ground a lot. I love to "hunt" the tall grass and cattails, and mom can tell I would do well as a hunting companion. Also, my recall is pretty good if you ask me.

I also LOVE the cat that lives here. Funny thing is she doesn't like any of the new fosters, and hisses and bats at them with her paws, but she just hunkers down when she sees me coming and allows me to tackle her full force. I think she must know that I am just a puppy that just wants to play and so she puts up with it. That said, I am working on being a little less "rough housey." I'm thinking some cats might not be so understanding.

I should mention that when the other dogs are not around, I actually have moments of quietly playing with my chew toys or even cuddling, but just a little bit. I just have too many things to do to take the time to cuddle! You might want to hide all of the socks in the house. I am kind of addicted to them. My 16-year-old human brother is frustrated because I keep finding his Nike Elites and chewing them up. I guess he doesn't understand that I cannot open drawers yet. Oh well, mom can train him later when she's not so busy with me.

I love to go for walks and do pretty well except that I need to help carry my leash which I guess is frowned upon. I will chew and bite at it for the first 5 minutes or so of every walk. And if my siblings are along, I will try to carry their leashes, too.

I am treat motivated, whatever that means. I learned sit and shake, and am working on down and drop. Mom says I am very smart. Oh, and did I mention cute?! I will need a family that is committed to working with me to become the best Golden I can be! If I sound like I might be a fit for your family, please contact your placement advisor. But remember these things:

• Puppies are a LOT of work in their first year!
• Puppies have small, immature bladders and cannot go a full work day without being let out. You will need to make arrangements for a midday break until I am about 6 months old.
• Puppies NEED obedience, manners training, and socialization! RAGOM gets many unmannered and undersocialized dogs in due to a simple lack of training and socialization when they are young. This is a crucial time for puppies to learn so many things!