Meet Miss Daisy, probably one of the sweetest RAGOM dogs ever. She came from an older couple who weren’t able to give her the exercise and activity they felt she needs. It’s evident how much they did give to her: She loves people, is incredibly affectionate, and wants nothing more than to be close to you. What a gem. 

Daisy is a Lab/Golden Retriever Mix. She has physical characteristics of a Lab, but her coat it is much softer and silkier. She is a smaller girl, weighing 49.5 lbs. She had a vet appointment and is now up to date with vaccinations and preventatives, and the tests for worms (including heartworm) and tick diseases were all negative, yay! She is already spayed. The vet put Daisy between 3 and 4 years old. She was so friendly and affectionate with all the staff there. The vet said, “She’s an absolute doll,” and I have to agree. 

Daisy is a snuggler extraordinaire. If we are on the couch, she is right there next to us. Yesterday I laid down on the floor to take a 5 minute nap, and there was Daisy plastered up next to me with her head on my chest. She gets an A rating for her duties as Outside Helper. This past week I had some final things to do outside before the temperature tanked, and rather than using a tie out I tethered her to me with a 25 foot rope, and honestly, I only wish the resident dogs stayed with me as well as she did. She came immediately when I called, and if I said, “right here” to keep her walking by my side, she marched right up next to me. I had to chuckle when we went to the garden shed to take out the snowblower: The minute I opened up the door she went right over to the snowblower and was fixated on trying to crawl underneath it. Sure enough, when I went to move it a mouse went scurrying out the door. She thought that was pretty fun! She is totally a Velcro girl, and even though there are all kinds of exciting smells out here in the country, she comes immediately if I call her. I’ll keep testing her recall and keep you posted if I see any changes in that. 

Yesterday a young couple stopped over and she was friendly and engaged when she met both the husband and wife.  They have an 8-month-old child, and Daisy LOVED seeing the baby and giving her kisses. When the child reached out to touch her, Daisy’s tail wagged a mile a minute and she licked her hand. 

Daisy is timid and a little insecure, and her forever family will need to help her build confidence. She didn’t know any commands when she first arrived, so we’ve been working on the basics: Sit, down, stay, come, leave it. She is all about pleasing you and picks up on training really fast. We are working on going for walks. I don’t think she had much opportunity for walks in her previous home. We are using an Easy Walk harness or Gentle Leader (or both) and she is getting the hang of that. With the Gentle Leader she puts up a little fuss at first but after a few minutes shifts gears to enjoy the sights and sounds. 

I haven’t seen any resource guarding with food or toys with people or the resident dogs. She is a little shy about meeting some dogs at first, but others it is a non-issue. For example we dog sat senior girl Belle (14-056) for Thanksgiving. Those two met and did appropriate sniffing, and got totally in-synch in under a minute. Amazing. I don’t think Daisy had much opportunity to practice her dog social skills in the past. When she first got here she was a little awkward socially with the resident dogs. Each day she is getting more into the rhythm of playing, and she is like a sponge picking up on their cues. If there are corrections, she responds beautifully. Since she’s been here she’s added tuggie, chase, take-away and catch me, and face-bitey to her repertoire.  It is really fun to see her blossom. In her forever home she will need regular opportunities to play with other dogs so she can to continue polishing up her social skills. With people, her wonderful temperament shines through. You’d be hard-pressed to find a sweeter, more faithful companion.  

I will update more as I get to know this lovely girl! If you are interested in meeting Daisy, let your placement person know :-).