Izzy 13-066

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Profile

 

In addition to LOVE this dog has the following requirements:
Entered Foster Care Fence Kid Friendly Another Dog Cat Friendly
 12/19/2013  Required  Age 10+ Required  Not tested 
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

 

A portion of Izzy's medical care was paid for by a generous grant from the Golden Retriever Foundation's April Fund

After 6 months in what was to be her forever home, Izzy is back with us.   For some unknown reason, Izzy began having frequent accidents when she was left alone and her family was not able to figure out what was stressing her out.  They made the incredibly hard decision to surrender her back to RAGOM.  Thanks to her fantastic adoptive dad who brought her to see me numerous times, she remembered me and immediately made herself at home back in our house.

She gets along so perfectly with the resident girls and they seemed happy to welcome her back in the fold.

Having come to us as perhaps the most scared puppy mill girl we have fostered, she has come so far.  She still loves to dart to her safe spot in her kennel if something spooks her, but most of the time she is hanging out with us.  She loves to snuggle, is incredibly playful with both us and our resident dogs, and just seems like an all around happy girl.  Having said all that, she definitely had her quirks, and may always have them.  She will still run if I approach her head on (unless I am bent over and walking very slowly), loud noises cause her to bolt for safety, and any new movement or noise in her environment immediately puts her on guard.

Luckily, our house is relatively quiet and so she just shines here.  When we are sitting down, she runs up to us and wants attention.  Particularly with me, she is actually really frisky and jumps, paws at me and wants to play all the time.  I absolutely love seeing her like this.  She absolutely loves to play outside and zooms all over the back.  While she is cautious of new people, she opens up so much quicker and will actually approach after a bit and allow petting.

As for her accidents.  We have not had one here, however, we do crate her when we are gone and she does fantastic.  The first few nights here, she was kenneled at night as she was when she was first with us.  She had never really learned to do steps, and since our bedroom is up 1 1/2 flight of steps, she would not come up.  After just a few days, she conquered her fear and now joins us upstairs every night for bed!!  This was a huge step for her and us.

Izzy is  truly one of the sweetest fosters we have had and she will always have a piece of our hearts.  But, we know she needs a home to call all her own.  If you are interested in this beautiful, petite girl, let your placement advisor know.

At a Glance #13-066

Golden Retriever Born: April 2010
Female 56 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

 

In addition to LOVE this dog has the following requirements:
Entered Foster Care Fence Kid Friendly Another Dog Cat Friendly
 12/19/2013  Required  Age 10+ Required  Not tested 
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

 

A portion of Izzy's medical care was paid for by a generous grant from the Golden Retriever Foundation's April Fund

After 6 months in what was to be her forever home, Izzy is back with us.   For some unknown reason, Izzy began having frequent accidents when she was left alone and her family was not able to figure out what was stressing her out.  They made the incredibly hard decision to surrender her back to RAGOM.  Thanks to her fantastic adoptive dad who brought her to see me numerous times, she remembered me and immediately made herself at home back in our house.

She gets along so perfectly with the resident girls and they seemed happy to welcome her back in the fold.

Having come to us as perhaps the most scared puppy mill girl we have fostered, she has come so far.  She still loves to dart to her safe spot in her kennel if something spooks her, but most of the time she is hanging out with us.  She loves to snuggle, is incredibly playful with both us and our resident dogs, and just seems like an all around happy girl.  Having said all that, she definitely had her quirks, and may always have them.  She will still run if I approach her head on (unless I am bent over and walking very slowly), loud noises cause her to bolt for safety, and any new movement or noise in her environment immediately puts her on guard.

Luckily, our house is relatively quiet and so she just shines here.  When we are sitting down, she runs up to us and wants attention.  Particularly with me, she is actually really frisky and jumps, paws at me and wants to play all the time.  I absolutely love seeing her like this.  She absolutely loves to play outside and zooms all over the back.  While she is cautious of new people, she opens up so much quicker and will actually approach after a bit and allow petting.

As for her accidents.  We have not had one here, however, we do crate her when we are gone and she does fantastic.  The first few nights here, she was kenneled at night as she was when she was first with us.  She had never really learned to do steps, and since our bedroom is up 1 1/2 flight of steps, she would not come up.  After just a few days, she conquered her fear and now joins us upstairs every night for bed!!  This was a huge step for her and us.

Izzy is  truly one of the sweetest fosters we have had and she will always have a piece of our hearts.  But, we know she needs a home to call all her own.  If you are interested in this beautiful, petite girl, let your placement advisor know.

Updates

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Izzy continues to blossom.  She is just such a joy to have in our home and is so happy all the time.  She does, however, get a bit overwhelmed with a lot of commotion.  At a meet and greet a couple weeks ago, there were multiple other rescues and the yapping of the smaller dogs just seemed to take a toll on her.  She kept jumping on me wanting to be help and when I finally sat down, she crawled up into my lap.  (insert picture)

After a bit, she calmed down and was content to go out and meet people again.  She does get quite a bit of attention at the meet and greets as she is just as sweet as can be, is very petite, and is drop-dead gorgeous.  Unfortunately, most of her adoring fans just do not have the right home environment for her.  So what does she need:

  • A quieter home where someone is home most of the day with her.
  • Another larger confident and very playful dog
  • A fenced in yard is preferred
  • No young children as their sudden movements tend to spook her.

It is hard to believe that Izzy came to us almost a year ago and I recently looked over all her old pictures and notes from when she first came in and it truly is amazing how far she has come even with the changes in her life in the past year (with us for 4 months, adopted for 6 months and now back with us).  As a scared unsocialized girl who was terrified of human touch, she now constantly seeks us out - honestly, if she could just permanently plant herself on my lap, she would be the happiest girl around.  She also never played with toys and now loves each and every one in the house (and will still try to hoard them all) and is even beginning to learn how to fetch.  She is now a bed hog after months of preferring her kennel and after conquering her fear of stairs, which she now bounds joyfully up and down.  But perhaps the greatest gift she gives us every day is her endless joy - she jumps, wriggles, scampers, smiles and sometimes just gets so happy and excited she trips over herself and falls.  She still has her quirks and will startle easily, but she is such a gem and is ready for her forever home.  I know that that special home is out there and she will find it.  But until it appears, we are enjoying every single day with her.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Izzy attended her first meet and greet this weekend since she has been back with us and she did fantastic and had quite a few fans who had come out to see her (and she made quite a few new ones also).  It is hard not to fall in love with her.  Not only is she truly the sweetest girl, she is stunningly beautiful and very petite.  While she still startled at sudden movements and loud noises, she was on her absolute best behavior and did a great job as the RAGOM donation girl that day.  She gently took treats from those offered and accepted pets and loving from everyone.  Thanks to our wonderful RAGOM volunteer Cindy G., we finally have some great pictures to share where her personality just shines.

While Izzy continues to blossom in our home, she definitely still has her quirks. She loves to go on walks, but getting her collar and leash on can be quite a production - she either runs to her kennel or jumps on the couch and we have to slowly approach her to get everything on. Once everything is attached, she bolts down and jumps all over with her butt a-wiggling and is ready to go. She also has had a couple accidents in the house - once first thing in the morning when I didn't get her out right away and once when she was left alone for just 1/2 hour (I was testing her to see how she would do). At this point, I would definitely say that she needs to be kenneled when left alone (and then she is perfect and has been left for up to 5 hours). Also, she will need a home that keeps a fairly regular schedule - I would not call her house trained as she does not indicate when she has to go out, but we let her out on a regular basis and she never has accidents except for the two indicated.

Healthwise, we have been trying to clear up a stubborn ear infection she has had since she came back to us. We are now on our second course of antibiotics. She is so stoic and does not show that they hurt her, but at first, one was pretty bad. Since she is prone to these infections, she will need regular cleaning of her ears to help her kept them clean. Our second surprise at the vet, because she is such a petite girl, is that she actually needs to lose a bit of weight. She does not look heavy, but she does have a tiny bit of a potbelly. I am sure with regular walks and slight reduction of her food intake, she will lose this right away.

Izzy has really just flourished socially. She loves to be by us all the time, is quite the snuggler and is an incredibly playful girl. It is so sweet watching her play as she is a bit awkward, as if she is not sure how to do it. She jumps at me and the other dogs and swings both paws with a gigantic smile on her face, but just seems a bit spastic. I love watching how happy she is and watching her learn how to express this emotion. Because of her love to play, in her forever home, she must have a medium sized dog who is active and playful. She loves to zoom around the backyard with Sammie, one of our residents, but other than zooming, Sammie does not play a whole lot (our other two residents are just plain lazy and have no desire to zoom!) We are having one of former foster puppies over this week to doggy sit and I can't wait to watch him and Izzy play.

Izzy will be at the Burnsville Meet and Greet next weekend and would love to meet more fans. This girl is such a gem and I know she will find her absolutely perfect family!

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

I am sorry it has been so long since Izzy's last update - in the  last few weeks Izzy has continues to grow in her confidence.  We have had quite a few fosters in and out and she has loved all of them.  Her favorite right now is little Doozer 13-109, an 8 week old puppy - I can see that she was an amazing mom.  She is so gentle with him and welcomes him in her kennel to sleep, plays with him all the time and puts him in his place when his little baby teeth bite too hard.  While new people and environmental changes still scare her a bit, with dogs, she is the ultimate greeter in our home and welcomes each and every one.  She is also doing better with new people.  While she doesn't initially approach them, she does come out and stands at a distance to see who is here (she used to just curl into a tight ball).  She will run back to her safe spot as they approach, but she keeps her head up and actually accepts pets.  After a while, she does reach out for them also.  
She has definitely learned that human touch is a good thing.  Our mornings and nights are her favorite times.  As long as there is not a lot of commotion, she runs around the house with her tail going a mile a minute, will jump up on me, and is right there with the rest of the pups seeking out attention.  She loves to lay her head on my lap and just have her ears scratched.  The other night she had popcorn for the first time and I have truly never seen a dog so excited - at first she was hesitant to try it, but by the fourth piece, she had jumped up on the couch and pushed her way in front of the other dogs to make sure she got her share.   Outside, she is what everyone thinks of as a "normal" dog.  She runs and plays, does the zoomies, throws balls in the air and chases them (she won't if I throw them, yet).  She now comes up to me when I call here (at least most of the time) and lets me pet her and play with her.  It is so cute to see her as she never really learned how to play so she gets really excited and will start running back and forth around me give a little jump on my legs and run away.  She is always smiling and happy.  The best part of her "emergence" is that she now goes out and comes in almost always on her own.  Sometimes it takes her a minute or so to gain that extra little bit of confidence she needs to cross over the thresh hold, but with some encouragement, she almost always comes in on her own.

Izzy is still a work in progress, but we are seeing the sweet, loving and loyal dog she will become.  She is a truly special little girl (like all the other females rescued from this breeder, she is small, weighing only 51 pounds) and is most likely the most beautiful golden I have ever seen (and I hear this from everyone we meet on our walks).  I am probably the world's worst photographer, so her pictures are not great (plus, every time she sees me with the camera, she runs a away), but trust me, she is a beauty.  Izzy will require a fenced in yard (she loves to run around, and with her being so skittish, I would never let her run outside of a fenced area), another larger very confident dog to help her and to play with her, and not children under the age 10.  Izzy does best in a quiet household with a set routine.  With the right family and environment, Izzy will be a loving companion and, one day, the environment she came from, will be a distant memory for her.

Monday, March 18, 2013

March 18, 2013
It is my honor to introduce this gorgeous little 3 year old girl. Izzy came to us three weeks ago from a breeder in South Dakota. While physically she is absolutely perfect and beautiful, emotionally she displayed every puppy mill characteristic there is in spades. She was almost catatonic in her fear and did not take even one step for over three days - for a while I worried whether she could even walk.

We let her acclimate for a while and literally dragged or carried her outside twice a day. One day, my husband decided to push her just a bit to show her that nothing bad would happen to her if she ventured out of her safe spot, so, armed with multiple leashes attached to three different collars, he took her on a short walk. I could not believe it when I looked out and she was literally prancing down our driveway with her tail in the air. She did great (although hit the ground multiple times as she encountered new things - a car driving by, another dog walking on a leash) and really seemed to gain so much confidence. She came in, and instead of running right back to her corner, she slowly and shyly, investigated new parts of the house. Since then, we walk her a couple times a day and take her outside in the fenced backyard multiple times a day. Every day, we see her gaining a bit more confidence. No longer does she has to be dragged out - we just say outside and she runs out with the other dogs. She now loves to run around the yard and loves to play with the other dogs. Coming in, is however, another story. She will run to a corner of the yard and try to hide, but when I pull on her lead, she will stand and follow me in (at least most of the time!). She still does not seek out attention, but no longer cringes when we come near here and will take treats from us. She also, will stay in the same room with us, in fact she is right now laying at my feet.

Today, we brought home a new foster, Riley 13-085, and Izzy even came out of her corner to greet him (as long as we backed far away, of course). While I hated seeing Izzy so scared when she first came to us, I love watching her true personality emerge. She is a very special girl who deserves all the good things that are going to happen to her now that she is in RAGOM's care. As with any other puppy mill dog, Izzy will require a family with another confident dog so that she can continue to learn, and she will need a family with no children under the age of ten. But perhaps most of all, Izzy needs a family with infinite patience and love so that she can continue to grow.