Sandee

Sandee's former foster informed us that Sandee passed away this week. Condolences to Sandee's family and her former foster.

 To Sandee 14-364 from your foster fur sister Josie 09-348; I hope you get your Christmas wish!

In addition to Rez Rescue, Sandee can now add Pampered Princess to her resume! Sandee Sue is now a member of the P family. Sandee will rarely spend time home alone and is guaranteed many road trips with her new dad. We miss Sandee like crazy, but are so happy she found her perfect family.

Even though we’ve had some bitterly cold days, Sandee continues to enjoy her twice daily walks. In fact, she now gets so excited when she knows we’re getting ready for a walk she spins and jumps and almost makes it hard to get out the door! We’re working on "sit" and "wait" before going outside. She has the "sit" part down (if you count bouncing her bum off the floor!), but we still have some work to do on the "wait." We tried to talk her into wearing a hat one day. As you can see from the look on her face, she was not impressed, so we left the hat at home.

Sandee helped Foster Mom run errands one day last week. She was a very good passenger in the car. She hopped into the back seat and sat quietly watching the world go by. Her favorite stop was at our local pet supply store where she got to go inside and meet lots of people. She was gentle and friendly with everyone she met. Many people commented about her beautiful and unique markings.

Sandee’s ears are just the right length that they flop when she’s upright, and stand straight up when she sleeps. We think they’re adorable!

Contact your placement advisor if you would like to learn more about Sandee.

Hello! This is Sandee wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

I heard Foster Mom (FM) and Foster Dad (FD) talking about me this morning. They said it was time for another Sandee update. They said they’ve seen so many changes in me it was hard to know what to write. So I told them no worries, I’m a smart girl and can write my own update this time!

I am what they call a rez dog. When I was rescued from the reservation, I had my baby, Lennox, with me. Because I was a momma, the people who rescued me figured I was about 1.5-2 years old. From the reservation, I went to boarding for a few weeks until a foster home was found for me. Now that I’ve been in a foster home for a while, I am showing FM and FD that I am really much more like a puppy than an adult. I get so excited to see my FM and FD that I sometimes jump on them or nibble on their pants. I am now learning that jumping and nibbling doesn’t get me the attention I crave. The good news is if I sit nicely by FM or FD with a big smile on my face, I get all kinds of lovin’. Sometimes I get something called the zoomies where I tuck my tail between my legs and run as fast as I can around the house. This makes them laugh. They tell me they are glad to see me so happy and it’s nice to see me having fun.

FM and FD are something called empty nesters. They live in the country on a dead-end gravel road, so there’s really not a lot of action around here. Occasionally, someone called the adult son stops in and I’ve liked him from the moment he walked in the door. When we’re out on walks, I’ve met a few adults and a couple of dog-savvy kids (ages 9 and 11). I greeted those outdoor people with my tail wagging and four-on-the-floor. However, when the loads of Christmas guests noisily piled in our front door, I found them pretty stressful and I barked at them. FM and FD realized I had probably never been locked in a house with lots of noisy people, so quickly tucked me into my crate and put me in a spot where I was out of the way but could still see the noisy people. I quickly calmed down and watched the festivities from my safe place.

I have a foster sister who was rescued by RAGOM about 6 years ago. Her name is Josie. It took me a little bit to get used to sharing my people and space with Josie. Josie said she’s used to having foster siblings, so just ignored me. I have now done a 180 and want Josie to be my play buddy, but Josie is still ignoring me. Hopefully soon Josie will forgive my initial rude behavior and will play with me. Over Christmas, we had a 10# rescue dog named Coco stay with us. Coco barked her fool head off every time she saw me. So I returned the favor and barked back at her. For this reason, FM and FD say it’s possible for me to go to a home with another dog, but it will have to be a nonreactive dog, and there will probably be an initial warm-up period.

We go on at least two long walks every day. I love my walks! I run back and forth to the door when we’re getting ready, just in case FM or FD forget where the door is. FD does our afternoon walks and it didn’t take FD long to figure out our afternoon walks were much more enjoyable if I wore something called a Gentle Leader. FM is our early morning walker and FM continued using the martingale collar until one morning when I decided I should walk FM instead of FM walking me. I took FM on our own version of skijoring down the driveway, on a trip through the bottom of the road ditch, and then FM accused me of almost pulling her shoulder out of joint when she opened the door to let me back inside. We now use a Gentle Leader on all of our walks which doesn’t bother me one bit!

As I mentioned in my opening, I am a very smart girl. FM said now that the holidays are over, we can start working on something called obedience. Here is a little video clip of one of our first home sessions.

I knew FM wanted me to do something, and once I figured out what she wanted, it was SO MUCH FUN! FM says it’s going to be important for my forever family to continue my obedience and hopefully take me to classes where I learn things in a group setting.

Thank you for reading about me. If you would like to hear more about me, please contact your placement advisor.

Love,

Sandee

Beautiful Sandee continues to enjoy her new life as a house dog. We are very impressed with how quickly Sandee is learning our routines. For example, in the mornings, Sandee knows it takes Foster Mom (FM) a few minutes to get ready for morning walk. FM lets Sandee out of her crate when the alarm goes off and Sandee quietly takes a few steps down the hall and then sprawls in the middle of the hallway. That’s where Sandee stays while FM does a few morning chores. However, as soon as FM grabs a leash or a pair of shoes, Sandee springs to life. One morning when FM grabbed her shoes, Sandee hopped around the kitchen like a bucking bronco. 64# of dog hopping and twisting for joy around the kitchen island was one of the cutest things FM’s ever seen. Another morning, after FM clipped the leash onto Sandee’s collar, Sandee took the leash handle in her mouth and Tigger-hopped her way to the door, and then tossed FM a look over her shoulder like “C’mon! What are you waiting for?!?” Sandee definitely gives us a reason to start our days with a smile. Sandee knows after walk is over, she gets breakfast, and then she’s content to sprawl in the hallway until it’s time to crate up with her treat-filled Kong for our work day.

We are amazed at how quickly Sandee has acclimated to life as a house dog. We have some pictures of Sandee prior to coming into RAGOM that will be shared with her forever family; the sad look on her face is heartbreaking. Now, Sandee has a twinkle in her eye, a smile on her face, and her tail is constantly wagging. We have completely fallen in love with her.

• Sandee is very calm, gentle, intelligent, and wants to please her people.
• She loves pets and snuggles, but isn’t overly demanding about receiving attention.
• She is very loyal to her people and follows us from room to room.
• She has had no accidents in the house and potties well on a leash.
• Sandee sleeps quietly in a crate in our bedroom. She is also crated while we are at work.
• She respects baby gates.
• Sandee has been left for 5 hours with free roam with no problems.
• Sandee loves food. (more about that to follow)
• Even though Sandee loves food, she does not beg at the table.
• Sandee loves walks and will go on as many and as long as you want.
• We are working on leash walking with a martingale collar. Morning walk in the dark with resident Josie leashed beside her is not a problem. Afternoon walks on our lake and through the woods where Josie gets to run free are understandably more of a challenge.
• Sandee loves to be groomed and has a super silky coat.

As mentioned, Sandee loves food. This means you have to be careful as you set her food bowl on the floor or you will find 64# of dog in the bowl and 1.5 cups of kibble all over the floor. Even if it appears that Sandee is sleeping as you cook in the kitchen, if you drop something on the floor, she is as fast as lightening and the item dropped is gone. We had to give up carrying treats in our pockets because Sandee became completely focused on the treats and lost sight of the rest of the world. The good news is Sandee is not aggressive about food, but is just very passionate about it. For this reason, we think it best that Sandee go to a home without young children. We are fairly certain her attention to food comes from having to survive on her own and probably going hungry many nights. We are hopeful that as she learns she will be fed on a regular basis, her interest in food will diminish. We are finding it hard to get a good picture showing how beautiful Sandee is. Her coat has the length and waves of the softest Golden. The brindle coloring makes her absolutely stunning.

Sandee would like to thank her foster fur sister, Josie, and Josie’s helper, for the holiday icon. Sandee knows without the support of RAGOM’s many volunteers and sponsors, her life story would have probably had a very sad ending. Sandee now knows life in a foster home where she’s loved, and looks forward to finding a forever home of her own.