I've got sunshine....on a cloudy day....

What a fitting song for RAGOM'S girl, Sunny! Sunny has had quite the life so far, only 14 months of it. While people have tried to make Sunny's life as, well, sunny and happy as possible, Sunny has found her way back to a shelter or humane society every time. This, however, does not sum up Sunny's amazing personality - and it won't keep her from smiling!

Sunny is a 14-month-old, fun-sized Golden Retriever mix, although honestly, she is the most Golden of a mix I've ever seen. She's about 40 pounds.

Things Sunny loooooves:

• Humans (especially getting pets!)
• Other dogs (loves both female and male dogs)
• Kitties (very interested, but doesn't hurt them)
• T-R-E-A-T-S (shhhh, don't say the word!!)
• Being outside with whowever and whatever will be with her
• Snuggling
• Playing with toys

Sunny is just fine on a tie-out, is potty-trained, and is a very gentle dog. She is, however, still a young and exuberant little one, so she will need some obedience training so she will end her jumping-on-people-when-they-come-in-the-door phase. We're working on that, though! Sunny does counter-surf when home alone (learned that the hard way), but she doesn't mind being in her crate at all and will go in on command. She can be in there up to 8 hours at a time with no fuss.

So, after all these amazing qualities she has, you must be wondering, "Why does Sunny always get brought back to the shelter?" She just has one medical issue that remains to be permanently fixed: urinary incontinence. When she came to us, she was very infected and strained to pee - she was in so much pain. It was horrible. Previous owners and vets thought she had urinary tract infections, so she was given antibiotics and improved, but the issue never completely went away. So, alas, now that she is with RAGOM, we are determined to get to the bottom (no pun intended) of the issue and find some answers. Now that her infection/inflammation has subsided, the next step is to either try incontinence medication to see if it will work, or if those are ineffective, to move forward and see a specialist.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with urinary incontinence in dogs, it isn't just a big puddle of pee on the ground at arbitrary times. Sunny's incontinence is very light and sporatic, and is maintained by her wearing a doggy diaper in the house. This is a very easy thing to put on her, and she doesn't mind wearing it. When she is in a crate, it is off so that she doesn't shred it, etc. She does go potty outside - it is not done in the house. I clean her with a baby wipe every few hours when I'm home, which takes about 30 seconds. Hopefully, with more time and vet advice, she will not need this and her medical issues will be solved. For the time being, though, she is just on the mend and is happy little "Sunny Bunny"! She really is a great dog who needs a break in life. I'm guessing she would love little kids, as she is very gentle and loves affection.

Sunny wishes you all a very sunny day! :) Until next time!