Bear (Jerry 08-175) [1]

Greetings gorgeous humans! My name is Jerry and I’m a 70#, two year old, pure bred, male Golden Retriever. My brother and I were raised on a large farm, running free all day and kenneled outside at night. We were pups that were left over from two separate litters and finally had to be surrendered as there were just too many four footed furries on the farm. I don’t think my Mom wanted to give me up – she wasn’t there when our RAGOM friends showed up.

Wow! Was that scary. We were put in the basement early that morning so we didn’t find the nearest mud puddle to roll in and were completely unused to being inside. Then our RAGOM transporters showed up and put these nylon necklaces on and snapped on a long leash. We didn’t know what to do! Now, I’ll be honest…traveling in that moving box – not my stomach’s favorite thing. But my foster Mom promises it will get better and my four footed foster brother seems to think sticking his nose up to that open window thingy is the next best thing to…bacon. We’ll see.

My foster Mom calls me super dog. She seems amazed that I have adapted so well to a completely new environment, but really – I’m a very smart dog. I confess that walking through the door of her house in New Brighton, MN – in the middle of a neighborhood full of other houses, and tons of cars and people and dogs and noises – was daunting at first. Even now, I glance up a little warily at door frames – they seem to loom over me. But boy, talk about a happy dog!

I’m house trained now – that took about two minutes. My four footed foster brother showed me right away what to do so…how hard was that?

I’m pretty quiet, especially compared to the crazy Lakota, who bounces around like an acrobat all day long…and what’s up with those fluffy fake animals that he chases and tosses around all day? Some of them even squeak, which is just plain weird! Personally, I’m much happier sitting at Mom’s feet or snuggled up in her lap or just sprawled somewhere near her or her friends. I love humans! Alright, perhaps I glance a little enviously at those fluffy toys…maybe, just maybe, when nobody is really looking I toss one up in the air once in awhile, but if you glance at me I’ll set it down guiltily and look sheepish.

I’m great with other dogs, neither aggressive nor particularly submissive…just laid back and easy to get along with. I like kids too! I met a couple of young ladies at the vets on my second day here and within moments my tail was thumping gently against the floor and my head was pressed into their hands. Oh yeah, I passed my tests with flying colors except maybe a small eye issue and of course dirty ears. But I never flinched once even when they…well, you know. Even the vet person seemed to find that extraordinary.

We went for our first walk today. My four footed foster brother is either absolutely fearless…or just foolish. I’m not particularly timid, but I do keep my eyes open and when I see something I’m uncertain of, I stop, and watch. Of course, I stop right in front of my human, to make sure we’re both safe, while evaluating the situation. I have one enormous bugling bark to warn my foster Mom if something seems weird. Like, today, this HUGE yellow box on wheels with squealing sounds and flashing lights that stopped on the corner. I let out one bugle and sat my butt down on her feet, watching warily. Suddenly something swung outward…I don’t know exactly what because I scrambled quickly behind my foster Mom’s legs and kind of peered out from between them. Can you believe, all these fun looking kids came out of that horrible contraption! A couple even came over and petted me and my foster brother, how cool!

So what else? Oh, you know that commercial with the crazy dog that runs around the house screaming about bacon? Whatever. I’m not big on treats, dried or fresh. I like my dried kibble but if you put it in a bowl, I eat when I’m hungry…and I’m not a pig.

Let’s see…on the still working on it side, I’m prone to counter surfing – just to see what’s up there keeping the humans so busy and I’m not adverse to picking up anything that looks kind of interesting and carrying it around in my mouth. I’m a retriever, what can I say?

If I had a wish list, it would be to find a home with another dog…or, maybe, even my brother, Ben 08-174? I sure miss him! A child or two wouldn’t hurt either, but definitely a human or ten that are as happy to cuddle as I am.

Jerry
(the Magnificent)

PS: My foster Mom made me put that last part in.