Rory

Profile

I am so excited to introduce you to sweet Miss Rory 15-257. Rory (or Ro-Ro, as we fondly refer to her) is an absolutely gorgeous 6-year-old purebred Golden Retriever that comes to RAGOM from South Dakota. Rory came from a very loving family who surrendered her because they simply didn't have enough time to give to this amazing girl. She is house-trained, has no aggressions, takes treats nicely, doesn't resource guard anything with people, doesn't counter-surf, respects baby gates, loooves ALL people, and has free roam in our house with no destructive behavior whatsoever. Rory's surrendering family had an infant and a 2-year-old toddler, and though Rory hasn't met any children since she's arrived, she has gotten along beautifully with everyone that she's met since she's been with us. She is going to be meeting a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old later this week! We will keep you posted.

Rory is one of the happiest and most affectionate Goldens that we've ever met. She has become BFFs with our 2-year-old resident Golden and loves to wrestle, make Wookie sounds, run with her in our yard or snuggle up and share doggie pillows. When she's not skillfully retrieving tennis balls (she very gently tosses them back into your hand) or dragging around a stuffy, Rory's MOST FAVORITE thing in the entire world is snuggling up with her people. It will melt your heart. All she wants in life is a good belly rub and the chance to be your lap dog. When we snuggle with her, she does the cutest talking thing and makes these adorable sleepy groaning noises as she nuzzles in and soaks up the attention. She definitely has the Golden nudge down to let you know when you are falling down on the very important job of spoiling her with pets!

Our other favorite thing about this sweet girl is her utter joy and love for life. She's just so happy... all the time... no matter what. If you so much as look at Rory, you can expect to instantly hear the batting of her tail against the floor (or whatever happens to be around her). Smile, she wags. Say her name, she wags. Poke your head up at any time, day or night, to check on her, she wags. It is adorable and makes us fall more in love with her every day.

The 7 short days that she's been with us have flown by and she has stolen our hearts faster than we knew possible! We know that it's going to be bittersweet to say goodbye, but we know that she is going to make one VERY lucky family really happy!

From what we've learned, Rory has spent a lot of her life in a kennel in the garage, so as a protective Foster Mom, I really hope to find a wonderful family who can devote lots of time to her each day: going for walks, throwing her beloved tennis balls, and working on basic obedience commands. When she came to us, she didn't know a lot of basic obedience commands. In just a short week with diligent training and lots of treats, she has made leaps and bounds with learning lots of commands and is now really demonstrating her excellent recall. She will need a family who is willing to continue to work with her on this so that she can be the best pup she can be!

There are a few other things about Ro-Ro that are worth mentioning:

• She walks okay on a leash, but walks perfectly with a Gentle Leader on.
• She was hit by a truck at one point in her former life and she does have some stiffness and/or soreness in her hips. She is a bit slow to get up in the morning and sometimes has a hard time going up stairs or getting up from laying down. The addition of a Glucosamine supplement has helped with this, but it's something to be aware of. She has given a yelp (shown pain) when laying on her back with her back left leg popped open (for belly rubs) and this is the leg that was affected when she was hit. The vet has said that everything looks okay to him.
• Rory has also had 3 episodes of MMM (Masticatory Muscle Myositis) as a younger girl that required veterinary intervention. The disease seems to be under control for her now without daily medication, but is something that her forever family should be aware of in case of future episodes (characterized by the inability to open one's mouth and a painful jaw). Again, the vet seemed very happy with her overall health and didn't show much concern about reoccurring episodes, since it's been so long since she's had one.
• Rory lets you touch/inspect her ears, paws, belly, etc., but doesn't love people looking in her mouth. We think this is due to her history with MMM.
• That being said, the vet has mentioned that she has some plaque buildup and that her teeth could use some attention. We have been attempting to use a dental spray called Plaque Attack, but this has been difficult to do.
• She is up-to-date on vaccinations and heartworm negative. Yay!
• Rory came to us severely matted and looked like she was recently trimmed with a trimmer. Due to this, her tail, hind quarters, and belly are "high and tight" as compared to her front legs. She enjoys being brushed, but does mat easily and does not like the brushing/grooming once matted. Due to this, her forever home must be diligent about brushing her to prevent matting.
• Rory does bark and we are working on this every day. She is mostly an alert barker, but also barks when she gets really, really excited.
• She does exhibit some boredom/separation behaviors in the form of licking and chewing at her wrist/paw. She came to us with an open sore on her front leg which we have been treating with a topical spray. We believe this is more behavioral rather than a skin allergy, although we have switched Rory to a good-quality, grain-free food and that also seems to help. When Rory gets lots of exercise and attention, she doesn't do this, so it is important that her forever home can give her the physical and mental stimulation that she needs.
• Rory has only once shown some resource guarding with our resident dog over a particular stuffed animal. We were able to easily diffuse the situation and have since been working with her on this. She has not shown any guarding or aggression whatsoever since, even over food bowls or bones.
• Rory is very easy-going and could be happy just about anywhere that there are hands to pet her!
• Rory could go to a forever home with or without other dogs.
• Rory would love to have a fenced yard to chase and retrieve her beloved tennis balls, but it's not required.
• She would also prefer not to be kenneled for long periods of time as she does so well with free roam and is a lovely, polite houseguest. We do leave a crate open with a dog bed in it, in case she feels inclined; but she much prefers laying on our bed or snuggled up with a four-legged friend while we are away.

If you are interested in meeting this beautiful, sweet girl, contact your Placement Advisor today!