Adopted

 

 

 

Tana entered our home two weeks ago, having been discovered as a stray by a family in Smithville. The family had a hard time giving her up to GRR, and we found out why. It may sound cliché, but you’ll think she eats sugar for every meal, this dog is SO sweet!

This beautiful country girl has been estimated at about 1year old and initially weighed in at 56 pounds, but is quite mature for her age and according to the vet’s initial guess, probably had been on her own for a while. She is friendly and gentle with all new acquaintances (human, feline, or canine) and has a special reverence for cats, and reportedly slept with a mama-cat and her litter at her good samaritans’ house. Ironically, she also seems to have picked up some of the cats’ grooming habits, resulting in the cleanest Golden we have ever encountered! She loves to “hug” (put front paws on the couch or bed to get closer to the humans for some attention) and snuggle, and is still trying to convince our Lab that it would be a good idea to share body heat, even though it is 90+ degrees outside!

One of the most endearing qualities of Tana’s is the implicit trust she gives to humans. Although she may be timid at the initial meeting, Tana will allow anyone to hug her, touch her feet/clip her nails, touch her tail head, nose, ears, and even brush her teeth (which really needed some help when we first met her)! She takes treats gently, is wonderful with children, adapting to their excitement level and mood. Tana focuses and tries so hard to please her master during training time. “Her” favorite trick is to nudge an arm up near the wrist so that she can sneak her head under for some petting!

When she is bad, telling Tana “No” obviously hurts her feelings and uncovers some unhappy experiences; she rolls her puffy little lips back in what could be seen as a sneer/cringe and hangs her head, so we try to use alternative negative words or noises to calm her fears but let her know that her actions were not acceptable. She also makes her funny face when she’s very excited, like welcome-home time. The little lips just flop upward when she’s upside down too!

We lost our hearts when Tana came into our home and saw a dog that did not dream that ANYTHING was her own, and did not even know how to accept anything, if given – no blanket/pillow to sleep on, no toy, not even a chew-bone. Now, every time we see her pick up one of the dog toys or lay on a blanket, it feels like a victory.

Tana is housebroken and is doing great at learning to accept crating in gradual, supervised increments and how to behave on the leash - she does not pull, but it is new to her, and practice makes perfect! In the meantime, with the removal of some tasty objects, she has become reliable in a restricted indoor area while we’re away at work and in our bedroom with us at night. Her only medical concern is the need to be spayed, which will be done as soon as scheduling allows. Tana LOVES to chase and chew on racquetballs, especially during a belly rub. She knows her name and is amazingly reliable about coming when called.
She is a good eater and loves to rough-house with our dog. She will, however, settle down and lay at your feet if asked, and actually expects that this is what acceptable indoor behavior is…This makes Tana the first Golden we have had to encourage into exuberance! She also loves being brushed and enjoys swimming. She is still deciding whether or not she loves our sprinkler as much as the open water…

After the recent rainstorm and the fireworks of the 4th, we’re pretty convinced that noises do not overly disturb her. She is, however very cautious of cars – especially ones with the engines running. But when excited or scared, Tana does some panting and drooling – nothing a little toweling, which she does not mind, can handle. We are working with Tana to be comfortable riding in the car by visiting fun places like the park and Petsmart and to build her all-around confidence and trust level by exposing her to as many new “city” places as possible. It was so adorable on her first trip to Petsmart – everyone in the store, including cashiers stopped to pet and welcome this adorable, unsure little girl!

Tana has makes us feel like the luckiest foster parents, as we watch her blossom in to a more and more wonderful dog. We’re confident that she will continue her amazing transformation when she moves on to her forever-home.

View Pictures Here