Samwise

Profile

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Samwise 09-062 says Hi from the woods and water of northern MN! Samwise prefers to be called Sammy so that's were doing! Sammy is a 3 year old spayed Female Purebred Golden Retriever who arrived to us from South Dakota thru the efforts of a whole bunch of RAGOM volunteers. Sammy's previous family had some life changes occur and a big thank you to them for contacting RAGOM as we now have a super girl that's going to be a great dog to adopt!

Sammy has been here a few days and was a bit cautious when meeting us and spent a day getting used to her new surroundings. Sammy is a beautiful red color, weighs about 87 lbs (she needs to lose a few lb's), and knows all the basic commands. She has had the complete run of the house since arriving and there's been no problems with her. Sammy walks great on a regular extended leash with some pulling which only takes a small tug to correct. She's getting better at coming when her name is called, and does all her duties outside in the woods. Sammy was originally a bit hesitant on the leash as she was looking at all the places she can play in with a "is this all for me?" look and with a hand wave she was playing in the snow, which she likes to roll in as most GR's do. She has some interest in the little critters such as squirrels and didn't know what to do at all when she sited her first deer....we don't think the deer had anything to fear. We do have timber wolves around and we're pretty sure she caught the scent of one as she bristled at something in the woods and she needed a reminder that she goes wherever the person holding the leash goes.

Sammy's previous family noted that she can be very timid of strangers and stairs, and does great with children (her former home had 5 kids from 1.5 to 13 years), and decent with most other dogs. We've been introducing Sammy to neighbors and other dogs and while she is still cautious at first she's been great at following our lead and within a couple of minutes allows herself to be petted by her newly made friends. She's been playing well with neighbors dogs even though she's still leashed to us and we're sure she'd play more if she was off-leash. Sammy does get startled by loud noises but seems to settle down afterwards.

Sammy visited our good friends at the Garrison Animal Hospital in Garrison, MN yesterday and Dr. Katy checked her over and said that it appears she may have had some allergies previously, which is not unusual for GR's. Dr. Katy went thru Sammy's meds that accompanied her and has been adjusted to just 1 pill a day, and we'll give her a bath soon. Sammy did have some dandruff type flakes on her when she arrived which have pretty much disappeared as she's enjoying being groomed a couple of times a day, and we'll keep watch on this.

We've earned Sammy's trust over the past few days which will likely be the same for others she meets. We've been working on her food to come up with the right mix that she'll enjoy and help her skin and coat. As she has full roam she can sleep anywhere but has now selected our room to sleep or hang out in. She'll let you know when she needs to go out and is always looking around to make sure we are around. She will gently take treats from your hand and she owes me one fig newton which disappeared while I was tying my boots. We have not seen any signs of counter surfing, garbage digging, or climbing in an open dishwasher.

Sammy's going to need someone(s) who will be patient with her at the start and slowly integrate her into their lives. Today she was playing outside and inside like a pup - she needs a bit of work on that retrieving thing. She has a couple of toys that she's beginning to share with us but doesn't appear to have the need to carry something around with her. Not sure if she's a velcro GR yet as she's still keeping an arms length away and is just beginning coming up to us to be petted and praised. We'll learn much more about Sammy in the upcoming days - her previous owners said she likes the water but we might have to wait a couple of months to find out.

If you'd like to find out more about Samwise 09-062 aka Sammy please contact RAGOM at [email protected].