Bear 12-018

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We are excited to introduce a beauty of a boy - Bear.  He came to us last night and is already proving to be a sweetheart.  He is a 7 year-old, neutered, 70 pound male.  Even though he joined us at about 9 pm last night, I am thrilled to say he slept through the night - that is curled around my head and resting his head on my shoulder, talk about a snuggler! 

He appears to have been recently groomed and finishing up medication from an ear infection, so it's clear to us that he came from a loving family that just couldn't care for him any longer.  He seems a bit nervous, but gentle and sweet.  We have three kids (7,9 and 12) and he is happy to hang out and get attention from all of them.  He seems cautious and hesitant to come into the kitchen, the floors are the same in the kitchen as in other rooms, so we are not quite sure what that is about.  He is also cautious on the stairs, he is okay going up but reluctant to go down. 

He is eating and drinking and doing is business in the yard.  He came from a family with dogs, a cat and kids.  He met our resident dog, Sid and they had a quick little scuffle and that was that.  He has been wagging his tail from the moment he came into the house, a very happy guy.   We will bring him to the vet tomorrow and post an update about his visit, but with the very short time we have spent with him, he is proving to be a gentleman.  We are temp fostering him in Minneapolis until Saturday and then he will head to Iowa to be with his permanent foster family.

 

At a Glance #12-018

Golden Retriever Born: April 2005
Male 70 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

We are excited to introduce a beauty of a boy - Bear.  He came to us last night and is already proving to be a sweetheart.  He is a 7 year-old, neutered, 70 pound male.  Even though he joined us at about 9 pm last night, I am thrilled to say he slept through the night - that is curled around my head and resting his head on my shoulder, talk about a snuggler! 

He appears to have been recently groomed and finishing up medication from an ear infection, so it's clear to us that he came from a loving family that just couldn't care for him any longer.  He seems a bit nervous, but gentle and sweet.  We have three kids (7,9 and 12) and he is happy to hang out and get attention from all of them.  He seems cautious and hesitant to come into the kitchen, the floors are the same in the kitchen as in other rooms, so we are not quite sure what that is about.  He is also cautious on the stairs, he is okay going up but reluctant to go down. 

He is eating and drinking and doing is business in the yard.  He came from a family with dogs, a cat and kids.  He met our resident dog, Sid and they had a quick little scuffle and that was that.  He has been wagging his tail from the moment he came into the house, a very happy guy.   We will bring him to the vet tomorrow and post an update about his visit, but with the very short time we have spent with him, he is proving to be a gentleman.  We are temp fostering him in Minneapolis until Saturday and then he will head to Iowa to be with his permanent foster family.

 

Updates

Sunday, December 29, 2013

 

It is with incredible sadness that I write to let you know Bear went to the Rainbow Bridge today. He had gone blind in the last two weeks, bled regularly from the nose periodically (the vet guessed tumor) and eventually stopped eating. We went on a few more walks, mostly short ones and he got around amazing well for having little or no sight. He loved to be outside. But he spent the most of the time resting on the floor, and so did we (we either slept with him on the floor or he slept with me and my husband slept on the floor). He tried, for the sake the of family, but yesterday we knew it was time.

It hurts so much now because we love him and miss him, especially the the happy, talkative, swimmer and runner we had. I come home and look for him at the door, stuffed friend in mouth, talking to us and sharing his gladness. He loved the family but really loved me and was my shadow. If he could, he would always be with me and I will feel this pain for a long time and will miss him forever. Thank you RAGOM for connecting us with our best Bear and thank you to his former family for letting him come into our lives. We look forward to seeing him again.

 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Bear has been diagnosed with lung cancer which originated elsewhere in his body.  He is also having seizures which we will try to manage with medication.  We're coming to the end of our brief time with Bear (less than two years!) but I wanted to send in a few more photos.  He is such a lover and now barely leaves my side.  We won't let him suffer, but we need a few more days with him to say good bye.  He has been the best dog.

Friday, January 11, 2013

This is a shot of Bear after he retrieved his duck from the water!  We lived on a lake this summer and taught him (or reminded him) how to swim.  At first he wasn't sure, but my husband carried him into the water and now he loves to retrieve.  He'll retrieve one of us, if we're not careful, so we always swim with lots of noodles and he carries them back to the beach.  While he retrieves, he is scared on guns so he didn't turn into the duck dog, but a least he's a swimmer!

After a tree crushed our car, we got a larger one and now Bear can travel with us!  This is him resting during a stay in Grand Marais.  He is a real lover, and especially loves to sleep with me.  He doesn't really fit well into the bed with two adults, but when I napped with our 4 year old, he'd get right in there (until he got hot).  He won't stay with the boys in their beds, b/c he wants to be with Mom, but he's very good with them and doesn't growl when the youngest hugs him.  I also take him to the kids' schools and the other kids love to pet and walk him.  He still barks like CRAZY when he sees other dogs, esp. smaller ones, but we know to just keep an eye on things and walk on.  We did some training classes to try to get him to chill on walks and not pull, but us humans can only be trained so much!

This is Bear today!  We went for a skate/run.  I skate around the lake and he runs along with me and exploring things.  It's great exercise and totally tuckers him out.  We've been spending a lot of time at the lake skating, skiing and snowshoeing and he loves romping around the many acres. The snow is light enough that we can skate anywhere.  Bear usually sticks with us and comes back about 99% of the time.  If he scents a deer or a turkey or another dog he is GONE, so we always look out for things that might distract him and keep him close when necessary.  He still goes a little "Cugo" on small dogs if they don't bark back (he takes his alpha role a little far) but all in all, he is a perfect dog and we love him so much!  If we are out of town, my parents take care of him (the one time we boarded him he didn't eat a lot) and he loves to visit, even just for a little bit.  But he is always happy to come home to him pack and we love, love, love him!  Whenever we come home, he greets us at the door, then runs off for a stuffed animal, which he brings back.  He won't give it to us at first, but that's part of the routine.  We just tell him we're so happy to see him and pig and he wiggles his love for us!

Monday, January 23, 2012

From Bear's forever family...

Bear has been with us for almost two days and has settled in really well. We've discovered he's a lap dog and likes to sit with us on the couch. He can't sleep with us in the bed (he tried a few times) b/c it's too small, but his bed is at the foot of ours and he stayed there all night his first night. On Sunday he went on a nice long walk with my husband and younger son (3) and enjoyed Ft. Snelling and the owl they saw. We're also working on his food preferences. I lined up multiple bowls of different food brands and he chose Blue Buffalo and Origin, didn't like Wellness or NutriSource. He's well trained and responds well to visitors and family and hasn't barked at anyone. He seems most attached to my husband (to the consternation of our older son) but we told our older son that he can be responsible for feeding Bear and maybe Bear will sleep with him too. My husband thinks Bear just knows that the two little boys aren't really his boss. We keep him leashed whenever we're out of the house/yard since we don't want him to bolt, but I'm sure he'll get used to us and his new home, and will get used to responding to our commands to stay near. We can't wait to take him to the cabin.

So all is well for Bear and we hope his surrendering family knows that he will be well loved and well cared for. Thanks for bringing him to RAGOM and special thanks to his temp foster family for working with us and the quick timeline.