Tonka 15-209TD

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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
 10/17/2015 Preferred  Age 8+  Optional  Not tested 
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

 

Adoption fee: $800

 

Tonka is approximately 2 yrs old. The week after he had been neutered in a shelter, he was adopted by people who didn't know how to take care of dogs and they left him 3 days later near the shelter where volunteers saw him and took him back to the shelter.

He is very sweet and very social.

Please support our project to bring deserving dogs like Tonka to their forever homes in America.  Click here to donate.

At a Glance #15-209TD

Golden Retriever Born: October 2013
Male 50 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

In addition to LOVE this dog has the following requirements:
Entered Foster Care Fence Kid Friendly Another Dog Cat Friendly
 10/17/2015 Preferred  Age 8+  Optional  Not tested 
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

 

Adoption fee: $800

 

Tonka is approximately 2 yrs old. The week after he had been neutered in a shelter, he was adopted by people who didn't know how to take care of dogs and they left him 3 days later near the shelter where volunteers saw him and took him back to the shelter.

He is very sweet and very social.

Please support our project to bring deserving dogs like Tonka to their forever homes in America.  Click here to donate.

Updates

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Good Evening RAGOM,

We would like to take a moment to thank you for all that you are doing for amazing dogs and families.  My husband and I had always wanted to welcome another dog to our home and we wanted it to be a rescue.  What we got in our new family member, “Tonka” is more than we could have dreamed.  He is sweet, funny and extremely handsome.  (I promise we aren’t the only ones who say that!) He loves our walks, to get lots of cuddle time, play wrestle with his new sister “Liberty” and get as many belly rubs as possible. Thank you RAGOM for helping save Tonka and matching him up with us. He is healthy, happy and has transitioned beautifully into our home and we couldn’t be happier about our new Turkish addition!

Please know that we will forever be grateful for all that you have done and, please know that what you are doing matters. The entire process was a blessing and the very best was the love we felt from our pup's foster parents Rhonda and Bruce. They were amazing! Can't speak highly enough of them. To all who work and volunteer at RAGOM, we appreciate you and love you!

Very sincerely,

Shane & Katie C.

Below are a few updated pictures of our family with our new addition, “Tonka”.

   

Thursday, February 11, 2016

It’s been a long road, but we finally get to announce Tonka has been adopted!  The C family asked Tonka to be part of their family before the snow came, and then patiently waited for Tonka to finish his heartworm treatment.  We dropped Tonka off at his new home last night.  You can see from the second photo the pups were much more interested in acting like siblings than they were in posing for a new family photo.  It looks like there’s going to be lots of fun times at the C house!

Friday, January 29, 2016

Tonka arrived at our home full of fleas, and with a weeping hole through his ear.  He had several bald spots on his body, and his tail was a completely matted.  His first visit to the vet revealed Tonka had anaplasmosis, whip worms, giardia, chlostridium, and heartworm.  In spite of his health issues, Tonka was about as sweet and handsome as they come.

Tonka has now been in foster care for 103 days.  He has finished his medical treatments and is well on his way to recovery.  Tonka used to be handsome, he is now stunning.  No matter where he goes, people comment on how gorgeous he is.  And he’s still as sweet as they come, but the new twinkle in his eye tells us he’s feeling better than ever.

In 14 short days Tonka will be moving home.  Tonka’s furever family has been patiently waiting for Tonka to finish his heartworm treatment to become a loved member of their family.  Even though we will miss Tonka like crazy, we are so happy we were part of his journey to the C family. 

As Tonka’s foster family, we would like to thank RAGOM for rescuing this lovable boy and providing him the medical care he needed.  It brings tears to our eyes to think of what Tonka’s life might have been if an angel from Turkey hadn’t rescued him from the street and found it in her heart to send him on to RAGOM. 

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Laura Kreun From: Laura Kreun

 

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Tonka would like send a big thank you to Laura for the holiday mitten!  Tonka has been enjoying the snow, although I think this morning’s windchill of -15 degrees had him wishing he had real mittens for his feet!

Monday, January 4, 2016

Tonka continues to do well with his heartworm treatment.  Tonka’s first Immiticide injection was two weeks ago.  He is now on very strict exercise restrictions, he can’t do anything that will get his heart rate up and he’s only allowed outside for leashed potty breaks.  Fortunately for Tonka, there was lots of family around over the holidays so there were lots of hands to give him attention while he rested.  I think this phase of Tonka’s treatment is going to be harder on resident Josie than it is on Tonka!  Here is resident Josie pushing the boundaries.  We just got done telling her “no wrestling allowed”.  Josie put her head on Tonka’s back and if she could talk I know she’d be saying “I was NOT wrestling, I was just resting my weary head on my foster brother’s back!”  Dogs are so funny!

Friday, December 18, 2015


Josie and Tonka

We took a look at Tonka’s Christmas Wish List before he sent it off to Santa.  This is what Tonka asked for:

  • My very own family to love me and teach me about the Golden life.
  • A four-legged fur sibling like Josie who likes to play.
  • Lots and lots of walks.
  • A fenced yard so I can run and play.

Tonka must have been a very good boy this past year.  The C family has asked Tonka to become a member of their family, and they are everything he wished for.  Tonka will stay with us through his heartworm treatment, and then will join his new fur-sister Libby and learn all about the Golden life.  We couldn’t be happier for all of them.  Merry Christmas Tonka and the C family!


From the top - Josie, Tonka, and Libby

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Tonka is such a lucky boy!  Tonka’s Foster Auntie Jen is the manager at The Paw, http://www.thepawmankato.com, and invited Tonka to spend time with her while she’s at work.  Tonka loves his days at The Paw and has such a good time playing with the other daycare dogs.

Tonka spent the weekend with us at a place called The Farm.  We can tell Tonka’s time with Auntie Jen has changed how he meets new dogs.  Now instead of nervously barking at new dogs, Tonka met his three new dog friends at The Farm with appropriate sniffs and tail wags.  Here’s a picture of Tonka and Josie with their friends at The Farm (front row – Belle, Nugget 12-279, Hank (Red 09-492), and Josie (Lacey 09-048); back row – Tonka 15-209TD)…

Tonka’s new best friend at The Farm was Rick, aka as The Meat Ball Man.  Here is Tonka closely and politely keeping an eye on The Meatball Man as The Meatball Man prepares spaghetti dinner…

After spaghetti dinner it was time for some good snuggling and belly rubs on the sofa…

Tonka loves life at The Farm!

Saturday, November 28, 2015

One morning Foster Mom’s work day started from home.  As she got ready to leave, this is what she saw…

Foster Mom just didn’t have it in her heart to disturb the sleeping dogs so she sent Foster Dad a quick text letting him know today was the day to start gating the dogs in the kitchen during the work day.  When Foster Dad got home from work, there were no accidents and nothing was out of place!  This is what Foster Dad saw…

The dogs are now gated in the kitchen for a full work day and are doing great!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house.  Our families are all Golden lovers and everyone agreed that Tonka is everything that is good about Goldens.  Tonka met people politely at the door, he made the rounds for lots of snuggles but wasn’t obnoxious about it, and he quietly laid under the table while we played games.  His nose was very interested in all of the good food, so we gated Tonka and Josie in our mudroom right off of the kitchen as we ate.  As you can see, I think I think Tonka would have rather joined us for turkey dinner but he was a very good boy about watching from behind the gate.

Monday, November 16, 2015

So what does Tonka’s typical day in foster care look like?

On a work day, Tonka’s day starts out with a very early morning walk.  I think Tonka would prefer to sleep in past 4:30am, but he seems to enjoy his 1 mile walk and walks very well with a martingale collar.

Walk is followed by breakfast.  Due to Tonka’s love of food, we first fed Tonka separately from resident Josie.  Tonka has shown no aggressive behaviors around food so we now feed him from a slow feeder bowl in the same room as Josie with no problems.

While we get ready for work, Tonka and Josie are gated in the kitchen together where they often enjoy wrestling.  This is what Tonka looks like when they’re done with a match.

Tonka is crated while we’re at work.  When Tonka first arrived, a frozen treat filled Kong kept him busy as we walked out the door.  However, now that he’s been with us awhile, he’s no longer distracted by the Kong and barks when we leave.  Tonka would not make a good candidate for apartment or condo living.

After work Tonka and Josie get to go on a longer 3-4 mile walk.  Tonka has more energy in the afternoon and sometimes pulls like crazy, so we’ve been transitioning to a Gentle Leader for our afternoon walks.  Tonka isn’t crazy about his Gentle Leader, but is slowly getting used to it.

Afternoon walk is followed by dinner, again in the same room with Josie.  After dinner it’s play and cuddle time.  Tonka is one of the best cuddlers we’ve met.

At night Tonka sleeps in a crate in our bedroom.  Tonka may dislike his crate during the day, but at night he finds his crate his safe and comfortable place to rest his handsome head.

Tonka will receive his next heartworm treatment this week.  Prayers that this treatment goes as smoothly as the first.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

This week Tonka met our grandsons, ages 1 ½ and 3.  Tonka was very calm and gentle around the grandkids.  However, since Tonka is still very food motivated we made sure to keep food out of the equation while the kids visited.


Tonka and E

Tonka also attended his first Meet and Greet.  It was so nice to meet so many people who have been following Tonka’s story!  We know new dogs in close quarters make Tonka a little nervous, and when he’s nervous he barks, so we started the Meet and Greet in a quiet corner a short ways away from the action so Tonka could observe the other dogs. Once Tonka realized the other dogs weren’t a threat, he was comfortable joining the doggie crowd.


Tonka and his Turkey Brothers Gustavus and Linus, along with alumni Enapay (Hallie 15-181)

Tonka loved all of the people he met at the Meet and Greet.  He enjoyed everyone from the very young to the elderly and appreciated all of the petting and belly rubs he received.  He was one happy (and tired!) pup when he got home.

Tonka and our resident RAGOM girl, Josie, have become fast friends.  They walk shoulder to shoulder, they sleep on the floor side by side, and they enjoy Josie’s favorite game of bitey-face-wrestlemania.


Josie and Tonka

Tonka continues to do well with his heartworm treatment.  He’ll receive another dose of Sentinel mid-November, and then will receive Immiticide injections mid-December and mid-January.  If all goes as planned, Tonka will be ready for adoption sometime in January.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Tonka had his first heartworm treatment and he’s doing great!  During this phase of his treatment Tonka can still enjoy leashed walks so we’ve been taking lots of trips to our local county park to enjoy the fall weather.

Even though Tonka will remain with us during his heartworm treatment, he is still free to talk to and meet potential adopters.  Let your placement advisor know if you’d like to learn more about Tonka.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

The extremely handsome and incredibly snuggly Tonka is loving his new Golden life!  We find it hard to believe this sweet boy was left to fend for himself on the streets of Turkey.


Tonka meets Foster Mom in Chicago after his long flight to America

Tonka is such a happy guy.  He loves his walks and exploring our backyard.  He is quite mellow in the house, content to lay close by with his head on our feet, hoping if he rolls on his back we will indulge him with a belly rub.  Not surprising, after life on the street, Tonka does need some work on his manners.  He thinks every plastic bag holds precious food for his taking, he sometimes thinks resident Josie should be barked at, and he’s had a couple of accidents in the house.  Tonka seems to be a quick student and wants to please, so we are sure he will soon learn better manners.  Tonka is VERY treat motivated, which helps with his training.  But with his love of food, we have to be careful with our fingers!


Hanging out with Foster Dad just minutes after arriving in foster care

Unfortunately, Tonka’s vet appointment revealed he has heartworm.  We are so thankful Tonka found his way to RAGOM so that he is able to receive the care needed to recover from this preventable disease.  Tonka will remain in foster care through is heartworm treatment.  We promised Tonka we will give him lots of love, and the best care we can give during this time.  Please keep Tonka in your prayers as he goes through this long, painful, and expensive process.


Enjoying the Golden Life