Leo

Hello RAGOM family,

It is with great sadness that I write to tell you that our best friend Leo went to the Rainbow Bridge this past Sunday, August 29. 

He went in peace in my arms on our deck in the sunshine, one of his favorite places to be. He was surrounded by his family that absolutely adored him, his mom and dad and brother and sister.

We are grateful to Dr. Marissa from MN Pets who helped us make his last moments very memorable and helped him pass. It was the hardest and most heart wrenching decision we have ever had to make. After having his tail amputated due to an infected cyst back in June, he started having some health problems this month. He start limping and not eating. We brought him in to find his liver labs severely elevated and they eventually got worse after initial treatments.

The vet suspected that something was seriously wrong with his liver and any further diagnostics and treatment would require surgery and hospitalization, if anything could be done at all. His prognosis was not good. He was tired and not himself and we couldn’t bear putting him through any more stressful vet visits, surgeries, or treatments after an already long summer. We decided to do comfort care for him at home and had five wonderful days with him before deciding it was time.

Leo was very special to us. Our kids were 4 and 7 when we adopted him from RAGOM. He will be their childhood dog, the one that grew up with them, the one that will forever have a spot in their hearts

I am going to miss my faithful companion. My seat stealer. My walking partner. My crumb picker upper. The one who slept on my feet every night and the one who never left my side. The one who always laid on the couch between my husband and I. Who comforted us and helped dry out tears when we were down.  Who made us smile each and every day.

He was the SWEETEST dog there ever was. He was SO LOVED, and he loved us SO WELL. We are heart broken.

I took some photos of him with us the last few days he was with us that I wanted to share. The last photo was his very last smile. There will definitely be another golden in our future, but there will never be another Leo.

The M. Family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s that time again! We wanted to just quick give you an update on our sweet Leo!

What can we say? We just adore him and can’t believe he’s already 8 years old! He is our favorite snuggler. He lays by us on the couch every night and is always at the end of our bed while we sleep, usually on my feet. But I don’t mind. He gets jealous of our kids when they are in “his” spot on the couch and sometimes will make his way on the couch even when there is obviously not enough room for him, thereby making the kid leave their spot. Smart dog!!

He loves walks and loves being outside. He sits perfectly while I put on his gentle leader while his tail wags back and forth, sweeping the floor. That’s my favorite part. We often walk with our neighbor and their little dog. The two of them have become quite the pair.

He also loves sitting on our front porch keeping an eye on the activity in the neighborhood, or on our deck surveying the back yard. We recently got a trampoline for the kids and he will run around the perimeter as they jump. I’m pretty sure he’s wishing he could join them up there.

Of course, summers are our favorite, and Leo’s too. He loves swimming at the lake and spending time out on the boat. He’s even gotten a few rides on the paddle board. We have friends that come down every year with their golden doodle and they have a great time playing together.  

He has a few bad habits, like barking at everyone at the door and counter surfing. But our mail lady loves him, even though he barks at her. When we are home to meet her we let him out to say hi to her and apologize for the barking, but she knows it’s just because he wants to be her friend! And who can blame him with the counter surfing. Sometimes we leave yummy treats within paw’s reach and they are just too good to resist. Us humans know what that’s like!  

We love Leo SO MUCH.  He’s such an important part of our family and we are always grateful to RAGOM for introducing us to him!

Happy New Year!!

Hello again!

Just writing my yearly email to update you on our wonderful Leo! He is now 7 years old, wow.  It’s hard to believe he’s been a part of our family for 6 years now. We couldn’t imagine life without him!

Leo is a snuggler and is always near by.  Whether it’s at your feet, or ON your feet, or on your lap!  He loves attention and we love giving it to him.  He sleeps in our bed at night and has to come give each of kisses before he settles down at the foot of the bed.  He always lays on the couch in between us every night after we put our kids to bed.  He knows his spot and isn’t afraid to claim it!

Leo loves our yard and can be found out on the porch in the summer watching the kids and other dogs in the neighborhood. He loves playing catch in our backyard. And snow is his favorite, until it gets stuck in his paws. We go for lots of walks and he knows when the leash comes out to sit perfectly while I put on his gentle leader. We walk all year round and he still even sometimes runs with us.

Summer at the lake is another highlight for Leo! He loves to swim and loves the boat rides. Every summer our friends with their goldendoodle come to visit so Leo has a friend to play with. He will not jump off the dock, but he can swim like crazy!

Leo still loves my kids’ stuffed animals, and that’s okay because they have grown out of them so he can now have them all to himself. Right now he’s laying on the couch next to me, resting his chin on one. He’s been known to counter surf while we are away and recently ate half of an apple pie, whoops! Guess us humans need to learn to put those treats out of reach! 

We obviously adore Leo and are so thankful that RAGOM brought him into our lives. He is such a special part of our family and is just the sweetest and best dog. We love him so much!

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Darin, Stacey, Evie, Eli, and Leo

Hello!  It’s that time again!  We thought we’d quick update you on our sweet Leo (#12-376) who is already 6 years old!  We’ve had another wonderful year with him and are so happy he’s a part of our family.

As I write this he is laying on the couch next to me with his stuffed toy under his chin.  He is always by my side, at my feet, or ON my feet when I sleep at night!  He always comes up and gives dad kisses before we go to bed and then takes his spot at the foot of our bed.  In the evening he can be found in between my husband and I on the couch.  And he loves to lay on my son’s bed during the day and look out the window from the bed surveying the neighborhood!  Our kids adore him and often will cuddle up with him on the floor.  He is spoiled by his Nana and gets lots of treats.

Summer is always fun with Leo.  He loves boat rides and swimming in the lake.  He’s made friends with our friend’s goldendoodle and we even visited a friend’s cabin in August where he met their golden retriever puppy.  He’s even had a few rides on our paddle board!  He loves playing catch in our big backyard.

Leo also loves snow and we are hoping for some more soon for him to play in!  He digs his head in the snow and plays like a puppy!

He is well loved by all of the neighbor kids.  They love to come visit him in our yard and he loves their attention.  Things he’s not too fond of:  the UPS guy delivering packages, the groomer, and long car rides.  

Leo is the best and once again we are so thankful to RAGOM for bringing him to us.  He is such an important part of our family and we love him so much.  We wish you all a blessed Christmas!

Darin, Stacey, Evie, Eli, and Leo

Hello!

We wanted to say hi and once again give you an update on our sweet Leo (#12-376)!  We adore him and can’t believe it’s been 4 years now that we’ve had him!  He celebrated his 5th birthday last month and he continues to be a wonderful companion and addition to our family.  We can’t imagine life without him!

Our kids adore him.  He is never short of hugs as our kids are constantly giving him love.  As our kids have gotten older they have gotten better at walking him (with the help of the gentle leader).  Leo often hops up on their beds as we are tucking them in to say goodnight.  It’s pretty sweet.

He sleeps on our bed every night and often keeps my feet warm!  He is a big cuddler and can be found in between my husband and I on the couch every night while we watch TV.  Like most goldens, he thinks he’s a lap dog, but we don’t mind.  :)

He loves summers on the lake and loves boat rides.  He runs circles in our back yard and his favorite thing is burying his head in the snow.  We can’t wait to get more of it so we can play with him!

He’s not too fond of long car rides (gets anxious) but loves hanging his head out of the window and getting some fresh air.

He is a love and whenever he’s with us anywhere we always get comments on what a sweet dog he is.  And everyone is so right!  He is the sweetest and we are so very thankful for him and the blessing he is to our family.

Thank you so much and we wish you a wonderful Christmas!

Darin, Stacey, Evie, Eli, and Leo M

Hello!

We just wanted to send our yearly update on our sweet Leo!  He continues to be the BEST dog and we just love him so much.

He celebrated his 4th birthday last month!  We took him in the car with us to Dairy Queen and got him a pup cup.  :)

He likes to claim the kids’ stuffed animals as his own!  Even though we get him his own toys to carry around, he always would rather have the stuffed animals found in their rooms.  He carries them around in his mouth around the house like a blanket and we usually try to stop him the first few times he does it, but then give up and just let him claim it as his own.  The kids are okay with letting Leo have one of their animals.  :)

We take him for lots of walks and sometimes runs.  He loves running around in the back yard playing with a frisbee.  And he loves the snow!  The kids make snowballs and throw them up for him to catch.

He once again loved the lake this past summer!  He rides on the boat and swims after ducks.  We had friends there one weekend who brought their golden doodle along so Leo had a playmate which he loved!

Leo is currently laying next to me on the couch while I type this.  He loves to snuggle and his routine now is to hop up on bed with us when we climb in and “give daddy kisses” before claiming his place at the foot of the bed keeping my feet warm.  

We adore him and are so grateful to Ragom for matching us with him.  We hope you all have a Merry Christmas! 

Many blessings, 

Darin, Stacey, Evie, Eli, and Leo

Hello there!

We just wanted to quick update you on our sweet Leo! (12-376) He recently had his third birthday (we celebrated with cupcakes) and we thought we'd let you know how he's doing and what we've been up to and share a few photos!

I'm pretty sure Leo was the only one that didn't mind the long winter we had.  He loves the snow and loves playing with the kids in it.  He also loves praying Frisbee with dad in the backyard all year round.

We had a lot of fun with him this summer on the lake!  He loves the boat rides.  He's becoming a bit braver in the water and swam more and more as the summer went on.  He even liked to climb in the tube with the kids.  He won't jump off the dock yet, though.  :)

We took him geocaching with us this fall at Lebanon Hills with the kids.  And we still frequent the dog park whenever we can!  He's also become quite the hit with all of the neighbor kids.

He still sleeps with us and pretty much insists on being on our laps whenever possible!  There will be a whole wide open floor and he will squeeze in between us on the love seat.  :)

We adore him and couldn't imagine life without our sweet pup.  Thank you again!  Please enjoy the photos I've attached!

Darin, Stacey, Evie, Eli, and Leo M.

I can't believe we have had him for a little over a year now!  We adore him and he has made such a wonderful addition to our family.  We couldn't have asked for a better companion for us and our kids. We are so grateful.

His favorite things: 

Stuffed animals from Evie and Eli's rooms.  He'll carry them around like a blanket for awhile and then eventually claim them as his own and chew out the stuffing.  He hasn't chewed up anything else in our house and the kids think it's endearing when he plays with one of their toys.  :)

In the warmer weather he loves runs with either Darin or I.  He was running up to 4 miles at a time with Darin and loved every minute!  We also took lots of family walks when the weather was warmer and the gentle leader has been wonderful!

Now that the weather is colder we routinely go out and play in the snow.  We have a big back yard and we play fetch with him and he loves to dig his head in the fresh snow and run and run and run.  He loves chasing after snowballs.  :)

He sleeps with Darin and I on our bed every night.  At times he'll jump down and climb into the chair in the corner of our bedroom instead, but always ends back up with us by morning.  

He loves the dog park!  We've gone there a lot the past year and he loves playing with the other dogs!  

He travels with us pretty much everywhere.  He loves the car and visiting our family.  He especially loves going up to Fargo where there are two goldens next door that he gets to play with when we are there.

He loves the lake!  We went there a lot this summer and took lots of boat rides and he played in the water and on the beach, but was too leery to jump off the dock yet.

He LOVES to snuggle and can routinely be found on my lap every night after the kids go to bed.  He is such a sweetheart and we love him so much.

I attached a few photos of him from the past year.  I hope you enjoy looking at them.  

Thank you again for choosing us to have Leo!  We think he's the best.  :)

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!

Leo is a very lucky boy, He has 2 kids to play with and a family that that adores him. My best to a very happy family. I love my volunteer job!!

From Leo's new family:  "Leo is doing great! We are so excited and blessed to have him in our family!"

Leo is a 12 month old neutered Purebred Golden Retriever, he is up to date on his shots. Very healthy, heartworm negative, no intestinal parasites and microchipped. Leo is a tall picture perfect blonde retriever, a 76 lb gentle giant.

Leo was surrendered by a family that loved him very much, his human mom had extreme allergy reaction to him.

I wanted to rename him Prince because it suits him. He is well behaved, handsome, strong, loyal and loving AND he had a 1st class transport to his foster family's house by private plane! Thanks to our volunteer Transport team he got here speedy and safe. VERY CLASSY.

Leo is very well mannered and socialized with humans of all ages, he is cat friendly and gets along appropriately with all the dogs in this house, 2 senior and a 10 mo old pup. He has never had any formal training, but he is a very fast learner, he is very treat motivated and not as rambunctious as most pups his age. He is a very wise soul in a puppy body.

Leo loves to play take away, tug of war with the other dogs and likes chew toys as kongs, rawhides and hooves. He has not been kenneled at his previous home or mine, with the other dogs here he has not gotten into any trouble. He is a very strong boy and pulls with the leash but is easily redirected.

As of now he has only been exposed to a fenced yard, he has made no attempts to jump it or run away. He was a bit timid about getting into the car at least by himself, but when I jumped in he followed suit.

Leo loves his humans, he will constantly lean in for hugs and does the retriever shake, he believes human hands are exclusively for petting him. He has not displayed any resource guarding with food or toys. So far, the only bad habit I have noticed is he likes to dig in the back yard.

Are you interested in having a young dog without the fuss? Contact your adoption coordinator to meet with Leo.