Clifford

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Sponsored in honor of Mary Jane Rizella

Let me introduce you to the newest member of the RAGOM family.  His name is Clifford, as in the "Big Red Dog".  I think it's a pretty good name because he is a big guy weighing about 80 pounds (all muscle) and he does have a reddish coat.  Clifford was found as a stray and thanks to some great volunteers with a big heart; he arrived about 1 1/2 weeks ago from Missouri.  They estimate he is about 2-3 years old.  He is already neutered.  He has had his initial wellness exam and is up-to-date on all of his shots.  The only special situation for Clifford is that he tested positive for heartworms.  Since RAGOM is the great organization that it is, they took Clifford in and immediately got him to the vet last week to begin treatment.  A big "thank you" to Dayle S. for helping with that!  The treatment for heartworm is pretty intense and painful for the dog.  Clifford endured two shots 24 hours apart and had to stay at the vet for those two days to be monitored.  Everyone at the vet's office just loved Clifford and said he did such a great job.  He was able to finally get to our house on Friday afternoon.  After the initial meeting of our resident dog (which went perfectly), we hung out on the front porch.  There is a picture where you can see both dogs with their heads through the railing, just enjoying a little porch sitting. 

Clifford was still kind of out it for the first couple of days from the meds the vet gave him.  Then Monday came and he started to act like a normal dog wanting to play.  The only problem with this new found playfulness...he can't!  As part of his recovery from the heartworms, he has to remain as docile as possible for the next month.  To finish the treatment, he will continue to take some medicine for 10 days, and then will go back to the vet in one month for a check-up.  We are hoping that the heartworms have significantly diminished.  We will know more in a month, but for now it's a lot of kennel time and some TLC from foster mom inside the house. 

Well, enough about that.  Since Clifford was a stray, we don't know much about him yet.  I will tell you what I do know after 5 days in our house.

1. I would call him housebroken.  He hasn't had one accident in our house.  Yeah, Clifford!!
2. He likes other dogs. During his journey to the Twin Cities, he met several dogs and has had no issue--including our resident dog.
3. He has yet to growl at anything or anyone. 
4. He has yet to do any resource growling over toys, rawhides, food, etc.
5. He allows you to take things from his mouth as well as stick your hand down his mouth.  I have to give him the medicine twice a day and have had to pull out a piece of rawhide that broke off in his mouth!  He lets me do both things without any issue.
6. He loves to ride in the car.
7. He sleeps on the floor next to the bed and hasn't made a sound until last night.  I think he heard something out the windows.  I just shut them and that was the end of that.
8. He loves to be brushed and allowed me to clip his nails.  He tolerated the bath, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't his favorite event of the weekend!
9. He met the neighbor’s kids, and did fine. He would probably be better with older kids because of his size. I don’t think he realizes how solid he really is!
10. Cats are unknown at this point.
11. He will go in the crate, but doesn’t really like it. He does much better with the very large size crate so he has the room to move around.
12. Most Important:  He is soooo loving!!  He nudges for pets on his head and will give kisses.  So far, he is a really sweet dog.

He has a couple bad habits that we will work to improve.

1. He pulls on a leash without the gentle leader.  I think he will do much better with a gentle leader.
2. He started to carry shoes around and begin chewing.  Lucky for Foster Dad, Foster Mom is super quick.  Moral of the story...Foster Dad needs to pick up after himself and he won't lose a shoe!
3. Even though Clifford’s just playing, he tends to play a bit rough with our resident.

We have to keep in mind that he was found as a stray, so we don't know if he has ever been in a house, so he is lacking some of those manners.  We will certainly be working on those while he is recuperating, but he will definitely benefit from obedience training. 

As you can see from his picture, he doesn't look like your typical golden retriever.  We're not sure what he is mixed with, but I don't think that will matter once you have met him.  That golden personality is in there and that's really all that matters!  If you would like to hear more about Clifford and meet him, please contact your placement advisor.