Raven 11-173 [1]

Please help me welcome RAGOM's newest addition, 2 year old Raven.  Not much is known about Raven's history as he was saved just in the nick of time from a rural animal impound where he had been held for a week after being picked up as a stray.  Lucky for Raven, a nice volunteer from another rescue met him and knew he was a diamond in the rough so she put out a request to any rescue who could save this sweet boy.  I happened to see her post and RAGOM quickly agreed to take him.  As luck would have it Raven was able to hitch a ride with a wonderful  volunteer who was in the area doing a transport of another stray from another shelter.  He spent his first night as a RAGOM dog at the local vet office after getting updated on his vaccines and received his microchip.  Raven is heartworm negative and pending his fecal test results is healthy other than a minor skin infection on his belly and groin area.....probably due to being wet and dirty while living as a stray.  He does need to be neutered, we will schedule that in early June....he'll need to finish his antibiotics before he can have his surgery. 
 
Raven is 71 pounds, well probably 70 now as I think I bathed and brushed at least a pound of dirt and hair off of him already!!  Thankfully he smells much better after bath number 2.  He was a champ about taking a bath, stood in the bath tub without an issue and even turned around so I could rinse the other side of his body.  Raven must have lived with a family at some point as he knows sit, wait, no, off, come, down and heals pretty well.  He is 100% comfortable in the house and is unafraid of loud noises such as the garbage truck, school bus or motorcycles. He marks a ton outside but I've kept him tethered to me inside so I'm not sure how he will be....I'm taking it slow since he is not neutered and did pee in my truck when I picked him up.  He loves kids and dogs of all ages....was tested on the first night as we encountered  5 loose dogs and 6 young children playing outside during a late night walk.  I was a bit worried when I saw 5 dogs running up to us but Raven took it all in stride with tail wagging and friendly sniffs all around.  He had no problem getting tons of pats from the children and jumped into their Suburban, laying down on the seat with a look of "lets go home".  Kind of made me sad as I have to think someone somewhere must be missing this sweet guy but I know we will find him a wonderful forever family and he will never be a stray again.  He is safe now.  Thank you RAGOM. 
 
By now you are probably wondering when I'm going to mention that Raven is not your typical Golden.....he is most likely a black lab/golden retriever.  He has a medium length coat, with a good undercoat similar to a Golden Retriever.  While his coat color may not be typical of a Golden, he does have the typical Golden personality. He is sweet, smart, and so happy to be a RAGOM dog.  I swear I can see the appreciation in his eyes and certainly in his tail wags....it's not stopped since I picked him up.  He loves belly rubs and quickly rolls onto his back if he thinks he's found someone to rub his tummy. 
 
Raven will make his RAGOM debut at the Bloomington Chuck and Don's on Sunday, May 22nd. We'll arrive around 11 and will stay as long as Raven is comfortable.  Please come meet this sweet boy.