Champ

Champ has been a huge part of our family now for almost 2 years. He has brought joy and love into our home since day one. We brought Champ to a family member's cabin this Summer and saw him swim for the first time. He was hesitant at first but once he discovered the local sand bar, we couldn't get him to come home. We spent hours swimming and playing in the lake. Lots of laughs for all of us. He also has a good friend, Louie. Watching these two beauties play is pretty hilarious. He still likes to take naps and now requires a pillow as well. We don't mind his high maintenance needs ;) He is the biggest lover and the sweetest dog we have ever encountered. It's amazing how far he's come since we first welcomed him into our lives. We still feel blessed each and every day that we found him.

Champ in McGregor, enjoying a beautiful day.

Louie and Champ

Hello fellow furgoldens! Champ here! I've been with my furever family for just short of a year now, and what a time it has been! My human sister is 4 years old now and we are kind of inseparable! She likes to lay by me and read princess books, I pretend I don't mind all the fairytales! She also gives really good belly rubs and scratches my ears so nice! I sure love that little girl! I sometimes take naps in her bed with her when she needs some extra warmth or a cuddle buddy- I'm a really good cuddle buddy. We also play with my favorite toys and she's really good at playing catch, even though sometimes she doesn't throw very far. My mom usually makes up for the lost yards! I really love my family and I can tell they love me ooohhh sooo much! I never knew how wonderful and loving a family could be! I even have a couple furcousins that I visit a lot and oh boy, they are totally cool man! Especially Louie, (he looks just like me!) And even though I like to keep my options open, I may have a lady friend next door named Ava, she's got a pretty mask on her face and I think they called her a "husky" - whatever that means! But we have play dates and she's really nice to wrestle with - I even let her chase me around because I have to be a gentleman. Well, with Halloween coming up I'm pretty excited to go trick or treating with my "supergirl" for this first time. I'm going to be dressed as "superdog" and can't wait to see what this Night is all about! I'm sure I'll get lots of sniffs and licks in! My mom says I've been such a good boy and she's always telling me how much she loves me, oh that woman sure knows how to make me happy! We get to spend time with just the two of us and go walking around this big lake, you should see all the furfriends I get to sniff and lick there! I've come a long way from where I started, and I sure love where I've ended up! I'm so thankful to those nice people who rescued me and allowed me to see how life should be lived!! Woof woof!!

Here are some recent pictures of my "golden" life :)

From Champ's forever family...

Champ has been in our home for almost two weeks now, and is the perfect furmember of our family. He has become my 3 year old daughter's best friend and they often take naps together.

Champ sure is a Champ! His "battle wound" which is what we call it, has almost closed up completely on his nose where flies attacked him this Summer from being kept outside. He has excelled at everything we have been training him to do and he catches on so fast and does it with a tail wag. Coming from a sad and broken home one would think Champ would have signs of that, but he does not! Champ is one of the sweetest and most loyal dogs we have ever met. We completely fall more in love as each day passes.

He loves to play fetch with his tennis balls and toss around the snow with his nose. Champ loves to be outside but also loves taking naps on his big bed overlooking the backyard. He often joins me for car rides and sits so nice looking out the window. He has proven he is a gentlemen through and through. We feel incredibly blessed to have this guy in our lives, and he has brought many laughs and lots of love into our home!

Great News! Champ has found his forever family and is on his way to living a better life. He was such a sweet foster and as I stated in the beginning he will be very resilient pup. To remember him, I tried to get a picture by the Christmas tree, but just when I backed up after getting 3 dogs sitting nicely - he would lunge forward to give a kiss. I never got a picture to share with you, but it was funny trying to capture the moment! Best of luck Champ, Champ!

Last Sunday, Champ went to the PetSmart event and had a great time meeting lots of people who were interested in him. He was more interested in playing with Bo (12-378). The two two year olds would rather have run around the store than sit nice for all the adoptive families at the event. Boys will by Boys! He definitely was tired and slept on the way home. He continues to flourish in foster care and rarely shows signs of his past abuse and neglect. This week, he has been great at staying in the blocked off areas while we are at work. He is getting better at not jumping on the counter or table.

Since we found out he really likes meat vs other treats, it is easier to train him.  We can use the meat to train him to lay down and stay - all with the meat in front of him. He now regularly sits before taking treats. He is catching on quickly!

He absolutely loves to be feisty with Tyson and Chance - chasing them and biting their ears or legs to initiate play. It is common to find one of the boys running on 3 legs while Champ has the 4th in his mouth!!!! It is a hoot to watch them play.

I have a strong inkling that Champ may be under the Christmas tree for some special family, is it yours!?!!?

Hey guys, I am back! I went on vacation with FM and FD to the cabin last week, wow that was the life. I got to hang out with them, Tyson and Chance for a full week. I am not used to so much attention and play time, boy was it great! I got to run and play with the boys and plenty of snuggle time in too. They keep calling me big, puppy boy, I guess I came out of my shell after coming into RAGOMland. I love it here. I am learning what treats are and found out I liked the homemade dog treats that we made at Tyson and Champ's 4th bday party last week. I think it was those cute neighbor boys that fed me treats that changed my life. I also have learned to eat pears, apples and bananas, but I really prefer a chunk of meat. FM keeps making me do things to get treats like "sit", not sure what she is up to. I have been a good boy when we ride in the car. FM tells me every day to be a good boy when she goes to work, but today I was finding things to play with like christmas decorations (she blamed Chance on making a mess - heheh!). I heard we are going to Petco on Sunday in Plymouth to show me to some off to everyone. I will be there, you will know me when you see me - FM says I act like a frog - licking my tongue quickly, trying to lick or kiss whatever comes near me. See you There!

Yes, we had a good week at the cabin and I think it was great for Champ to spend time with us and he is acting like a more typical 2 year old boy. He is becoming more food motivated, so we can start working on learning some commands and correcting his behaviors. He now initiates play with the boys by tugging on their ears, biting their legs or nudging them to chase him. He now plays with toys, sits to chew on toys and retrieves the ball. It's like he is learning some of these things for the first time. Overall, he has been a good boy. In 3 weeks, he has basically had no potty issues, hasn't chewed anything in appropriate until they decided to get past my temp barrier (clearly it didn't keep them away from the christmas decorations like I had hoped - stup). He is proving to be a very resilient, happy go lucky boy.

A few things we think Champ needs with his family - another dog that has energy to play, maybe 3-6yrs and a fenced in yard. He loves to be able to run and it was hard to keep him on a tie out at the cabin. He wanted to explore the woods, but would come back when we called him. He enjoys being with the other dogs, I don't think he should be the only dog in the house. His new family needs to take him to obedience class, so they can work with him on commands and he listens to them. He still likes to jump up on people to be close and give kisses - this is his worst behavior. He has been a great foster and it hasn't been hard travelling with 3 dogs.

In these picture, Champ bound up on the couch with FD/FM, Tyson, (Champ) and Chance - he made room for himself by sitting on the other dogs! He has lots of puppy spirit...

Champ came out of his surgery like a champ! He was up and walking around after a few hours, but proceeded to nap most of the day. Clearly he didn’t understand the large cone and how to navigate with it on – it was like he was frozen. I helped him to lie down to sleep, but he didn’t move from that position – more kept frozen. He loves to be outside and takes better naps outside then inside.

I think when he was a puppy, oh so cute – he was snuggled and got to sit in someone’s lap, then he got bigger and more hyper. My guess is he was then put outside on a rope with little human positive attention. He loves to snuggle when I sit on the floor with him for a long time, even with chaos all around when Tyson and Chance are playing/fighting over a toy. It’s like Champ doesn’t notice them. He really is so sweet with such soft fur. He is waiting for a little turkey dinner celebration – will it be with you?

What a difference a week makes! Champ is much calmer; he relaxes now instead of panting and pacing around the house. He loves to crawl up on the couch and snuggle. He gets along great with the dogs, evident in the picture where he crawls over Chance to get closer to FM to give some kisses. The boys played hard outside this weekend, chasing each other, rolling around the ground and catching some rays on the deck on our last nice day.

This week, we have been practicing walking on a flat leash. I don’t want to use the gentle leader until his nose is healed up. He has periods were he does fine and then he pulls hard, especially when a squirrel runs up a tree. Champ hasn’t met any other dogs, but met a few neighbors with happy greetings. He hasn’t barked or said anything during his time here – just panting, kisses and some smiles. He responds well to his name, but Chance also is responding to “Champ” – especially when we are telling Champ no. Chance looks at us like – “What? I didn’t do anything?”.

We discovered he didn’t know how to go down stairs, after some coaxing – he runs up and down them with ease. By the time they came in on Saturday, it didn’t take long for everyone to take some naps.

For his future family, you will need to work with him on commands. He isn’t food motivated, so it is hard to teach him things. He is curious what is on the counter and stands on his hind legs for a better view of what is on the counter, table and to get closer to people to give kisses. He is learning no and off, he gets down quickly.

Champ asked me to include a special note: Thanks to my sponsor – so many nice people in RAGOMland – it’s my favorite place!