"Love you, Tundra! You are wonderful!" -Gary and Vicki Hudgens

From John and Amy Borg

Tundra is having a great summer. He’s been the Saint Paul Saints “Dog of the Game” twice and even got to swim in a pool! Tundra just loves when he sees me load his wheels in the car; he literally bounces, smiles, and spins on his butt until he finally gets to shove his way out the front door.

I took Tundra to a friend’s pool to see what his back legs would do when they were hanging free - they paddle, but at about a quarter of the speed of his fronts. He also didn’t seem to be that thrilled in the pool and was always heading for the side - well, unless you tossed the tennis ball, then he went for that instead.

Tundra has come a long way in his behavior. We have had many uneventful meetings with other dogs, although he still is wary of many and will act out. Tundra is very good with children of all ages when they are calm and behaved - he has also improved in his tolerance for hyperactivity, but he still needs a family with either no children or only older kids, as he doesn’t always play appropriately.

We’ll be doing the fundraising walk at Goldzilla again this year. Please visit his page here.

Tundra is really enjoying the spring weather and the new baby bunny that has moved into the plastic downspout in the backyard - he is obsessed with trying to get it; he gets so excited that his back legs spasm him somewhat upright.

Several weeks ago, I volunteered to drive the Turkish dog duo of Charlie and Daisy to Iowa, and Jean watched Tundra for the day and sent us home with another half dozen belly bands - the belly bands are the best thing ever for keeping a clean house with an incontinent dog. You simply stick a pad inside and wrap the band around him, and it catches any drips or accidents. Thanks, Jean! Tundra is very stylish in the new patterns. We also would like to thank Lisa B. for the spring icon.

Tundra is still unpredictable with other dogs - some days, he seems fine and even ignores the other dogs that we pass; other days, he will try to nip them - definitely not a guy that could visit a dog park! His separation anxiety hasn’t gotten much better, either; I left the window cracked one morning when I went for a bike ride and I could hear him crying half a block away, but I think he lies down and naps after about a half hour or so. He takes medicine and I make sure to give him a good walk before I have to leave him alone. He is not destructive, although my front door has scratches on it.

He faces many challenges, but with the right environment, he really shines; he is perfectly behaved in the house, very quiet and handles free roam wonderfully. He has even started to roll onto his back for belly rubs.

Tundra’s ideal family would be adults or older children, have no other pets, walk him twice a day, and be home most of the time. Let your placement advisor know if he sounds like the dog for you. We try to get around to meet-and-greets on a regular basis and would like to see all of his fans!

Oh, my, we’ve been a bit negligent on our updates. Well, first off, if you haven’t followed Tundra’s surgical recovery on his Facebook page, you might be wondering how he’s doing. Well, he hardly missed a beat and recovered in a timely fashion to his fun-loving self - he got a bit stir-crazy for the week and a half when he couldn’t go walking because of the incision, but has made up for it even during this last cold spell.

We would like to thank all of you for your well-wishes and holiday icons - thanks to: Cindy; Joy’s godmother, in memory of Joy; and Carl and Mary. We would like to also thank all of his sponsors, including the latest one in honor of Cedar.

Several 6-day work weeks means that Tundra had to stay home alone more than either of us like, so I took Monday off and we enjoyed a trip to Stillwater. We walked across the bridge into Wisconsin and along the river banks and even up the steep hills to a park. I was wanting a milkshake, but didn’t think I could get away with bringing him into a restaurant, but alas, they had a walk-up window and even gave us a scoop of vanilla for Tundra. I, much to his dismay, only fed him a smaller portion.

Tundra gets super excited when I load his wheels in the car - he really likes to explore new places and Monday’s excursion was no different. Where would you take him? Let your placement advisor know!

  from Brooklyn and Tegan

"Best wishes." -Anonymous

" Good luck at finding a furever home and we hope you have a wonderful life." -Elena and Synne

"In memory of RAGOM girl, Emmie." -Judy D

"Loving fan!" -Mary R

From Teresa B

Tundra has been getting all ready for his fun-filled day at Goldzilla by doing long walks, meeting other dogs, and swimming in the lake. Please join us and meet him in “person” and check out his cool shark fin life jacket - might even get a Tundra kiss!

Tundra is doing the walk to raise money for RAGOM. We’d like to thank several more great donors: Amy L., Kathy W., Paige M., and Bug F. THANKS! If you would like to help out Tundra and other great dogs, you can pledge him here.

We look forward to meeting everyone on Sunday, Sept. 13th.

Tundra likes to keep his weekends busy and the last couple were no exception; he headed out to Eagan for a Meet and Greet at the Chuck and Don’s, where he met all sorts of nice folks and was pretty well-behaved with the other dogs with a few little incidents - not sure what cues he gives or receives that make him decide if another dog is friend or foe. I keep telling him that he needs to make a better effort since he already has enough problems to overcome.

This weekend, he met Chance, RAGOM’s latest paralyzed boy, who was very nice, but a bit too puppy crazy for Tundra and it took a bit of barking on both parts to settle in and somewhat behave. Chance is currently being fostered at a home with 4 other dogs, so if you wanted to open your home and heart to a special (and very sweet) dog, but already have dogs at home, Chance might be the boy for you.

The one thing that Tundra really seems to like and will need to be part of his future is calm; he does enjoy an occasional hyper game of fetch and chewing on his favorite balls, but always goes back to being mellow.

Please contact your placement advisor if you would like more information on Tundra or Chance.

Summer is in full swing and so was Tundra. He took advantage of two great weekends, spending time at Pet-A-Palooza, meeting many people and pups and doing pretty good, although he sure seems to get annoyed when dogs are having fun and is vocal about it - may just be the Captain of the Fun Police. Speaking of the Police, Tundra was not being friendly with the St. Paul Police K-9 that was in attendance. I keep working with him, but he may always have an issue with some other dogs; it’s not all dogs and not all the time, just probably be better for him to be an only dog.

This last weekend finally found us at the Lake Phalen swimming beach before it opened to try out his new shark fin equipped life jacket. He went right in, but preferred to stay shallow enough to touch the bottom and use his back legs some too. I think he kind of treated it like being on the treadmill at water therapy. Next time I’ll don some trunks so I can go out deeper with him and give him a chance to dog paddle.

Interested? Please contact your placement advisor - swim vest included!

“Who’s your daddy?” and your mommy for that matter. Since so many people ask us what kind of dog he is, even before they inquire about his disability, and since Tundra won’t tell me, no matter how many times I ask, we turned to modern medicine and science to do a DNA test. We had some blood drawn by the doctor and Tundra was a trooper, after which Tundra probably wanted to say, “Dude, you paid someone to jab me with a needle? You do know how many treats we could have bought instead, don’t you? Besides, I could have told you that I’m purebred awesome!”

Well, as awesome a dog as he is, the test revealed that one of his parents was a German Shepard and the other a English Springer Spaniel mix and a Siberian Husky mix - we had always guessed that he had Husky in him, but I never heard anyone guess the other breeds.

I took a week-long vacation last week and couldn’t take Tundra with me, so he stayed with Jean S. and family and was a well-behaved young man. Thanks, Jean, for taking good care of him.

Tundra is still looking for a good home; he would prefer you to be home or with him most of the day, take him for walks, and to be an only dog. Please talk with your placement advisor.

Tundra has been busy as always. Last weekend, he went to the Meet and Greet at the Roseville Chuck and Don’s and got to meet a few of his fans. Thanks for all the pets and well-wishes - we would have had photos to share, except one of us brought a camera, but not the battery! This weekend, we ventured to the Stone Arch Bridge and met up with Shannon, another RAGOM volunteer who is a photographer and remembered her battery. Okay, I brought mine this time too and you’re seeing my pictures now; Shannon will send hers along soon and I promise, hers will be better.

In other news, Tundra is back in water therapy now that Sandi is healed all up and he is loving it too; it even seems like he tries harder to use his back legs after each session and it also gets him out of the house two days a week. Speaking of, he is still doing very well on free roam, although he did have one accident and I‘m taking some blame because it took me a little longer to park the car and get into the house, so he had more time moving around waiting to head outside and the moving around seems to “shake” things loose.

One last point of interest, but you’ll have to wait a little, is that we had a blood draw done to DNA test him; one of the first questions people ask, even before they ask about the wheels, is “What kind of dog is he?” I usually say that he’s some kind of Husky mix. Soon we’ll know for sure.

Make sure to ask your placement advisor about this sweet fellow.

Free range chickens have nothing on free roam Tundra; he did a whole week of being out and loose for the whole day without an accident or getting into trouble. He really dislikes being kenneled and I’m thrilled that he can be left out all day.

To wrap up his week, he went to the Vet for a checkup and his annual vaccinations. Yes, you read that right, Tundra has been with RAGOM a little less than a year and with me for a bit more than 3 months, but he really would like to be with you for forever! The Vet said that Tundra could probably use another 6 pounds or so - “Told you so, now make haste with those treats and don’t skimp on the kibble!”

After his trip to the Vet, we took advantage of the gorgeous Saturday weather and walked the lake with his buddies Dudley and Windy; Tundra gets along great with them and I think with slow introductions and mellow dogs, he would be fine, although I really think he would rather be with people, walking and eating treats.

We took advantage of the sunny Saturday and went for a walk around Lake Phalen. Tundra insisted on taking the steep ravine down to the path; boy is fearless! The channels were free of ice, the main lake still is mostly covered. I had to hold the lease tight or he would have wheeled right in.

We had an incident on a walk around the neighborhood this past week. The bus had just let some little kids off and they came running full speed down the sidewalk and were going to run across the street. I heard a car, so I had looked back and at that moment, one child ran straight past us and Tundra turned and growled. The little boy didn’t hear him, but it was a reminder that Tundra needs to be around dog-savvy kids who behave calmly. Tundra is perfect with kids that approach him slowly.

I’m currently working on two things with/for Tundra: the first is to try and get the fur on top of his feet to grow back (he drags them around, causing injury - I’m keeping booties on him to help); the second thing is free roam. He doesn’t like his kennel, and his separation anxieties don’t help either, so I’ve been dog-proofing the house and letting him stay out for longer periods - five hours Saturday night! No damage and no accidents. I would like to build up to a full workday. I think it is a strong possibility.

Tundra is still asking to meet you. Talk with your placement advisor for more information; also, don’t forget to check into his Facebook page - Find a Home for Tundra.

  We love you Tundra! We're so glad you have such a wonderful foster family and hope you find your fur-ever family soon!  Buddy, Wally, Sheri & Jason  

  Happy Valentines Day Tundra from Bo 13-117 and Smoozer 08-045

This is part two of Tundra's great Mall of America adventure. We had so much fun meeting everyone and telling his story, and we also handed out a bunch of RAGOM business cards with his Facebook page info on it and would appreciate any help getting word out to anyone who might be able to offer Tundra a nice forever home. Tundra is living pretty well with me, except that three days a week, he has to sit in his kennel for a full workday - Tundra has some separation anxiety; hard to blame him with all he's been through, so those days are tough on the both of us. Tundra would really like to be in a house where his owners worked from home, were retired, or had people with overlapping schedules so he didn't need to be kenneled at all or for very long. I give him free roam for short periods (up to two hours so far), and he does fine. Really, the only issue would probably be if he had an accident - you would come home to a mess. He seems to behave otherwise.

Enjoy some more mall pictures and be sure to contact your placement advisor if you can give this guy a home.

Window shopping at the dog treat kiosk - no worries, I bought him a frosted bone!

Trip into a jewelry store - time for a new collar?

On Saturday, I took Tundra to the Coon Rapids Petco for a “Meet and Greet.” We haven’t been to one in a while because Tundra didn’t get along well with many of the dogs at other “Meet and Greets.” We decided to give it another chance since he has getting along with just about every dog we’ve met out walking lately, so we loaded up his wheels and drove to the event, and I am so happy to report that he was showing excellent manners the whole time! He really liked alumni Ruby and got along just fine with Mushka, Kash, and the rest of the dogs. We even rolled over to check out the Greyhounds that were having an event as well, and he liked them too. A visit to the pet shop wouldn’t be complete without looking at the fishes and Tundra seemed to enjoy watching them swim.

 From Kathleen G

Merry Christmas from: Byron, Larry, Brody and Betsy Bruhn

Hi, everyone.

Just a quick update as I’m finding it hard to type with a fluffy guy pushing up against me! Well, we’re still keeping up our walks in this cold weather and looking forward to that “sweet spot” of not-too-cold, but also below freezing to keep the mud off of him.

I thought I might give you a little look at his schedule: we get up real early every day and Tundra goes outside to do his business (we’ve been pretty lucky lately), then he eats; next, we go for a walk of two miles on the weekends and on the three days that he has to sit in his kennel while I’m at work, and one mile on the two days he gets to go to water therapy; in the late afternoon, we walk three miles, except on water therapy days, when he’s too tired to go for a walk after that; then he has dinner, after which he tries to convince me he needs more to eat!. Whew, he is a busy boy.

Let your placement advisor know if you’re interested in meeting him.

Tundra and I are now “roomies.” After spending every weekend together, we decided that he should move in full-time until he finds a family to adopt him, which we hope is very soon. It’s been a tough weekend to move him in as the warm weather, melting snow, and rain are getting him very dirty - I’ve taken to calling him my “muddy buddy,” and had to go buy more towels and wash cloths too.

The past couple of weeks, we have joined another RAGOM volunteer and her pack of alumni to help Tundra make progress in playing nicely with other dogs. After a little bit of snarky behavior, he decided that these other dogs are pretty neat and he got along fine, even with the male dog, although Dudley is soooo very mellow, how could he not like him?

This weekend, we went and had holiday pictures taken, and Tundra impressed the staff with how well he sat for the camera; I wasn’t surprised as he has excellent inside manners.

Did I tell you how much Tundra likes his car rides? He insist on having his snout out the window, even when we’re in single-digit temps. driving 55 mph dwne the freeway (picture taken while stopped!).

We would love to talk to you about welcoming Tundra into your home.

Tundra lived up to his name this weekend as we braved the cold and snow to have our fun. We walked a bit less than normal, but he didn’t appear to ever get cold or uncomfortable being outside. I think he even liked it more as the rabbit tracks were even more interesting; he would stick his snout in almost every one. The more time I spend with him, the more I learn. It seems that he knows “no” and “stay,” although knowing “stay” and doing it are two different things!

When he gets strapped into his wheels, I think in his mind, he becomes a “whole” dog, which means in the winter, I have to be more watchful of him flipping over, or “turtling” as I call it. He likes to sniff near the edge of the path, which is now full of snow chunks, and he can get the wheels stuck and then roll - he now realizes that I’m going to flip him back over and he remains calm while I right him. Speaking of “turtling,” I ended up on my back facing the sky after taking a tumble on the ice, and right away, there was Tundra looking down at me - he leaves no man behind.

Tundra has also found different food items that were tossed into the snow, including a pizza slice and some sort of dessert bar; I told him, “Drop it,” and he did with the slice, but the bar he just stopped, so I opened his mouth and pulled it out - I went into the jaws of the beast and came back unscathed! Tundra is really a pretty well-behaved guy, although he does give a bit of attitude here and there.

In other news, Tundra is taking water therapy twice a week and we may have some video to share in the near future. The vet tech says that he absolutely loves walking on the underwater treadmill - anyone got an indoor pool?

It’s been real quiet around here; Tundra and I keep asking to be invited to your house for a visit and a walk. Please give your placement advisor a call so you can meet us - well, him; he’s much more interesting than I am.

Tundra goes to college, but first, a word TO our sponsors! Tundra and I have been busy doing those last-minute fall home improvement tasks that I could have done all summer but put off, so we didn't get a chance to update his page or notice and thank all the fantastic folks who have sponsored Tundra with gifts, "paws," and Goldzilla pledges - THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!! Tundra is saving one of his special kisses for each and every one of you (they're very nice, quick, and sweet, not that slobbery business that you might get from other dogs).

Back to our scheduled college story. On Monday the 13th, we had an appointment with Dr. Hu at the Iowa College of Veterinary Medicine. She is working on a trial to try and help paralyzed dogs regain function in their back legs. One of our volunteers saw a special news report on the study and got us an appointment. Tundra and I drove down to Ames (I did most of the driving) and got there about 3:00 pm for our 4 o'clock appointment; they were running behind, so we took a walk in the rain to pass time. Tundra got a once-over in the office to see where his feeling stops and it stops about mid to upper back. Then they took him to the lab without me and when they got back, they said that he was very stressed being around other dogs in there and didn't care for how they had to place him for exams. That, along with the nature of how his break was, didn't make him a good candidate for the study. The trip wasn't a complete loss as we were able to pick up a couple of cute puppies to bring back to a RAGOM foster in the Cities.

Tundra has a brand new video of his swimming and beach-going during Goldzilla. The video was made by the same talented young RAGOM volunteer who made the video of him using his new wheelchair.

Please think about adopting this special guy. Let your placement advisor know if you would like to meet him and see if he could become a part of your family.

It was another Tundra weekend at my house and the floors stayed clean! It took some learning, but I can now very easily empty his bladder outside and with a belly band and a pad in the house, everything went well. As for pooing, he doesn't have control of it, but does go on his own, seems to go only once or twice a day and with good timing. Both myself and the vet techs have been able to have him outside when he goes. His bladder is a different matter. It doesn’t appear like he can go on his own until it gets full and leaks out, fortunately. The bladder is easier to deal with than the other mess. Don’t let the bathroom issues be a barrier to adopting this sweet guy; it can be managed and the burden is much less due to how sweet and appreciative he is.

So, just like the other weekends, we walked and walked some more. Yesterday, we stayed on local roads and paths; today, we drove to Lake Phalen and walked the whole distance plus - over three miles and when we got home, he wanted to go some more! Tundra would be happy walking four or five miles a day.

Here are some Tundra observations and information:

• He is around four or five years old.
• Weighs about fifty pounds.
• Is obsessed with squirrels.
• He’s unpredictable with other dogs; a Pomeranian puppy was literally in his face on a walk and he didn’t care, but most larger dogs he will start growling at them.
• Has good household manners.
• Likes to chew toys and will destroy stuffed ones and tennis balls quickly.
• Sleeps quietly through the night.
• Respects “baby gates.”
• Appears fearless (I think he would go down stairs and ravines with or without his wheels, although he is good at waiting by the outside doors so I can carry him out.)
• Wasn’t bothered by fireworks or mild thunder; I haven’t had him during a major storm, though.
• He will resource guard bones and rawhides, okay with toys and plastic bones.
• He enjoys rides in the car and getting the wind in his face.
• Loves people.
• He is very food motivated.
• Will go into his kennel for a treat and is okay being in there, although it took him about twenty minutes to quiet down and go to sleep; he would much rather sleep up against a person in a soft bed.

We think that Tundra would really thrive in a household environment, please think about taking him in; RAGOM has many resources to help adopters out.

I sprung Tundra from the vet’s office for the three-day weekend not quite knowing what I was in for, but after seeing the videos, I finally had the desire and the free time to take him home. Well, I will tell you this: he is about as sweet as they come and a fantastic guy. Whenever he scoots over to see you, he has a huge open-mouth grin and when he tucks his ears back, you would think one of those cute fluffy white seal pups was on its way! Tundra has very good manners in the house and respected the board I put across the doorway to the carpeted room and was always very quiet and polite.

He might be paralyzed, but he isn’t letting that get him down or slow him down. I tell you, he is fast both with his wheels and just dragging his legs behind. About those legs, they are strong as well; he just doesn’t have much control of them. He will use them a little while scooting around and even try and get upright - in fact, I have a picture on my iPad of him fully up, except it is a little like a picture of Bigfoot, a bit grainy and his face is hidden by the tree, but I saw him do it twice.

Tundra is very good for your health and social life. I got on the scale the morning after our weekend and I had lost four pounds, probably due to all the walking; he couldn’t get enough. We would walk over a mile and when we got home, he took a drink from the hose and pulled me down the driveway for more and more and more - yes, he loves to get out and walk. You’ll also meet many people who have questions or even just nice things to say. I had several people literally stop their cars to talk to us.

Well, that's the fun stuff. The hard part is that the poor little guy doesn’t know when he’s going potty, so that becomes a challenge in the house. The vet tech who, by the way, is taking great care of our guy, showed me how to empty his bladder with a bit of pressure. I wasn’t as good as she was, so I tried diapers on him and that helped, although with his scooting around, they would slip down. I bought Large. Next time, I’m trying XL. I really think a creative seamstress could make something that covered him and was washable. He is not scared of the hose, so I could put it on a light spray and keep his “undercarriage” nice and clean!

If you can open your heart and home to this boy, he’ll repay you with tons of love. Talk with you placement advisor if you think Tundra would be a good addition to your family.

We’re planning to be at Goldzilla. Please stop by and say hi if you can catch us. We’ll be on our third lap of the walking course!