Tanner charms RAGOM

Retrieve A Golden of Minnestoa, better known as RAGOM, has taken their first dog from Red Lake Rosie's Rescue and Tanner is one popular boy!

RAGOM UPDATES ON TANNER
May 9, 2011

We cannot believe what a handsome, (just look at his pictures and judge for yourself!), good natured, sweet, well behaved, and overall amazing dog Tanner is. He arrived on Friday and was greeted by my wife and I, our two daughters, and two resident dogs. We were of course a little nervous how Tanner would react to our dogs, but he was just thrilled to see them. He wagged his tail, and quickly took a liking to both of them. He must have been around dogs before, because he follows them around like they are his long lost buddies. The resident dogs have taken to him as well.

Tanner enjoyed walking around the yard and getting to know his surroundings, both with our dogs, and sometimes just on his own.

Tanner arrived pretty dirty, so we gave him a bath in our laundry room tub sink. He was such a good boy---he didn't exactly love the bath---but allowed us to lather him up and scrub him to get some of that dirt and smell off of him. (You can see he's still a little wet from the bath in some of the photos).

Things are never perfect in these new situations, and Tanner was a little nervous about coming inside the house. The doorways were a little scary for him, and even things like a shiny floor took some time to get used to. But by the end of the weekend, he became perfectly comfortable not only coming in and out of the house, but going from room to room as if he lived here his entire life. We've gone away and left him home with the dogs, and even by himself for a few hours and he was a perfect gentleman. No accidents, no chewing, no barking, nothing. Just quietly sat by the door and waited for us to return.

Many things are still new to him, but you can just see that smart "Golden" in him, and he's taking in everything and quickly learning the ropes. I've taken him for a couple of walks on a leash and he's already a better leash walker than my two resident dogs. But the resident dogs have been great trainers. For example, Tanner wasn't quite sure about how to get into the car, no matter how many times we tapped the seat or lifted his paws up. But then we called our other dogs, who jumped into the car as they normally do. That's all it took for this smart boy, who proudly jumped in by himself. He rides great in cars too! He likes all of us, but has taken a special liking to our girls. He snuggles up with them, and puts his paws up on their lap when they are sitting in a chair.

We don't know much about his past, only that he was found on an Indian Reservation, and then later to Rosie's shelter up North. Other than being a little shy and unfamiliar with some things---given his incredible good nature so far, we know he's been well treated, been around both adults and children, and appears to have been well fed. Hard to guess his age--he's not a puppy, I'm guessing maybe 1- 2 years old? We'll ask the vet on his visit in a few days.

We've fallen in love with this guy in just our first weekend. Tanner looks right into your eyes and just has that special way about him that's difficult to describe, but you know it when you see it. We are happy for him, but a little sad for us already, because we know he's going to be a very quick adoption and make an amazing part of someone's family.

05/12/2011:
If there's one thing pretty universal about dogs, it's that they don't like going to the Vet. So, we figured this was going to be the first "acting out" experience for us with Tanner.

We took Tanner to the Vet on Wednesday, where he was met in the waiting room by barking, nervous, squirming dogs, creating all sorts of noise. But Tanner simply wagged his tails and seemed genuinely happy to see these other dogs. He didn't even bark and after greeting the other dogs, sat calmly next to us. Amazing.

When it was Tanner's turn to go into the exam room, we figured the shoe was about to drop once and for all. Surely, he wasn't going to keep up his good manners, when being pricked and probed by the Vet, thermometers inserted you-know-where, and so forth. All I can tell you is what the Vet said. "I've NEVER seen such a good natured dog". Tanner not only let the Vet do her thing, but she passed all of the tests with flying colors and was pronounced to be in great health! The Vet also presumed Tanner to be around a year old.

Meanwhile, Tanner just continues to flourish at home. He's a fantastic walker on a leash. We're also amazed that this dog which was found roaming around an Indian Reservation and clearly hadn't spent much time indoors, has now come to love being a homebody with our other dogs, and seems to genuinely love being around people.

We do not kennel him at night, or even during the day. He seems perfectly happy to just stretch out and lay on the floor if there isn't much going on, or if we go away. We set up a little room off our bedroom for him to sleep in at night, which seems to work great for him. If you are looking for a dog to sleep on your bed, he would gladly raise his hand (I mean paw) for that option.

We are very attached to Tanner as he's become part of our family in such a short time. This dog is really special.

KAREN SAYS:
I am so happy RAGOM is very impressed with their first RLRR dog Tanner. This is so great.

Karen