Samara: Female 6-7 years old
Samara is an especially sweet, but very shy, golden girl. She’s OK with other dogs and cats, too. She has been neglected and really needs some TLC. Her new owner needs to quietly love on her…and her confidence will bloom!
Foster Update: 4/23/09
After two weeks, Samara is still a bit shy, but shows improvement each day. She is such a sweet, short little girl, with the prettiest face! Her beautiful thick coat is a pleasure to brush and she adores getting told how pretty she is! We get to see her smile more lately and have even had tail wags! Since she has been treated for heartworm, we can't get her too excited, but she seems to have a slower pace, so it's not been hard to keep her calm. She is showing some curiosity about the everyday goings-on in the house, and it's been fun to look up from doing something and see her watching nearby! Samara does startle easily and doesn't like to go outside at night. Although first thing in the morning, dark or not, she enjoys going out to potty and snoop around the yard. When we are outside, she follows one or the other of the resident Goldens around. We are trying to slowly introduce the leash again, as it scared her in the beginning. We are also working on getting her in and out of the car with confidence as she will be going to the vet next week for her boosters. Samara is a good eater and has the quirkiest way of laying down to eat! Her interest in food has helped with her training. A quiet home in a with a fenced yard would be her ideal furever home.
Foster Update: 5/4/09
Samara is starting to settle in to her foster home. She is still a very quiet girl and one can only imagine what horrors she has seen in her past to make her so afraid. She is now going outside on her own and had her first leash walk outside the yard. She did not like the leash at first, but once it was on and she was outside the fence, she followed along with her foster sister to the mailbox and back. She checked out everything and did not startle when several cars passed by! Samara is trying to play chase with the resident goldens, but they never all seem to be in the playing mood at the same time! She is not a big ball fan, but will sometimes take one that is lying around and lie on it. Samara loves to be brushed and told she is a pretty girl (she is!). She has been very good at getting her ears checked and cleaned. Now that her rest period for her heartworm is over, she is allowed to run. Her short little legs make her trot so funny, and since she is low to the ground, her belly gets all wet! She is good about getting toweled off, but does go out of her way to roll or run in the wet grass as well as her favorite pastime, of puddle jumping! She does not like going outside at night or if the neighborhood is noisy, but she is definitely making progress. With time, lots of patience and love, Samara will be a great family dog!
Foster Update: 5/20/09
Samara has been making steady progress in her foster home. She recently went for a car ride. She has to be lifted into the vehicle as it is too high for her to get in by herself, but once in she was very well behaved and enjoyed her ride watching the traffic and taking a little nap! Samara’s leash manners are improving, but she does not like to go without one of her foster siblings. She does startle easily especially when outside, but is now coming to sit with her foster parents when they are enjoying the beautiful weather, rolling in the grass and laying on her back! If the doors are propped open, she has gone outside alone, which is a milestone for her, and enjoyed watching her foster dad trim trees outside the fence. She has begun to greet the other dogs by bouncing into them and wagging her tail. She loves to round them up when they are called inside for breakfast in the morning! She does not show much interest in balls or toys, but at times takes a fancy to a stick out in the yard. Samara has come a long way in being able to experience new things and relax and know that she is going to be well loved and cared for from now on. Samara is going to an eye specialist in the next week to have her vision evaluated as she may have some vision loss. Samara is looking for her furever home to continue to provide the love, patience and understanding she needs.
Foster Update: 6/4/09
Samara went for her eye exam last week and it was confirmed that she has some sight loss. She has Progressive Retinal Atrophy, which means she will eventually lose her sight completely, but it could be in 5-6 years. There is no cure for this disease, and it's very similar to what humans experience. She has been getting a vitamin supplement that is readily available to help stall the progression. Since we now know that Samara has trouble seeing, we have taken measures to help her adjust and she has jumped right on the adjustment wagon! She seems so pleased to be a part of things now. She is sometimes first in the biscuit-receiving line and is always ready to go play in the yard, as long as it's daylight. She doesn't even mind going outside in the rain, since she loves to roll in the wet grass! We got the doggy wading pool out last week. Samara needed a bit of help getting in, but loved it and splashed around a bit before getting out on her own. This little girl LOVES to be brushed and will stand next to me waiting for her turn. She will be getting a summer spa treatment soon, since she has such thick fur. A permanent home will still need to have minimal steps and lots of patience for Samara's adjustment, but she will figure things out and be a loving dog forever.
Foster Update: 6/10/09
Samara got a bath and what I suspect to be her first professional grooming today. The last two pictures show how pretty she turned out! All in all, she was pretty brave, except for the blow dryer. We had to skip that and send her home damp. I think she is happy with her new, trimmer look. She trotted around the yard quite a bit this afternoon, smiling the whole time! Since we have been going to doctor's and groomer's appointments lately, Samara is learning to enjoy her car rides. She does like to ride in the wayback of my SUV, but needs to be lifted in and out. But once in the car, she has been enjoying the sunroof and having the wind blow on her. Meeting all these new people has been good for her too. She is a bit shy when we go into somewhere new, but a serviceman came to our house last week and she approached him first! She went back again to get more petting after her foster sibs got theirs. We also went to her first drive-through today, and she was happy to learn about Arby's Jr. roast beef sandwiches! I was pleased that she didn't beg mine after she finished hers.
Foster Update: 6/25/09
Samara is so proud to be the Featured Golden of the Week! She certainly deserves it. Her personality has really come out and she is having a great summer so far! She loves our doggy pool, running across the yard and playing with sticks. Rolling in the wet grass every morning and demanding to be brushed are still her favorite activities. We recently tried giving her rawhide chews and that is moving right up the list of favorites as well! She is very excited to get a chew, taking it and running into one of her napping spots to seriously work on it until it's gone. She still does not like loud noises and that's a problem in our firecracker-crazy neighborhood. She doesn't panic, but does run towards the house immediately. She has improved in this as well, because she will cautiously come back out into the yard if we call her back. I am pleased with the way she has adapted to our home. The cover for "her" loveseat was just washed, and when I called her to show her that it was back, she happily jumped up and got comfy! She still takes some cues from her foster sibs, but is becoming more independent all the time. She would love to have a doggy companion in her new furever home as she feels very comfortable with her foster siblings and is near them most of the time.
Foster Update: 8/15/09
Samara's progress has been slow but steady, and she has made herself part of the family, and has her own routine that she follows. Since her vision problem was diagnosed, all of us made the adjustments needed to make her feel good about finally being a family dog. One of the things we've done happens in the morning. All the dogs go outside for their morning potty and yard sniffing. After about 5-10 minutes of checking out what has happened overnight (nothing again!) our GRIN boy starts to dance and bark. Our GRIN girl circles and wags her tail wildly. This is the beginning of the "chow cheer". I encourage it because Samara now smiles, wags her tail and is starting to circle as well. She needed to act like a "real dog" and this is one way to get her to do that. Other ways that show she is getting more confident are how she shows up for biscuits when she hears the jar rattle and she has gotten a little bolder in stealing toys from the other dogs. She still waits until they walk away, but doesn’t wait as long. She was groomed again last week and is getting more comfortable with the whole process, except the blow dryer! Brushing is her favorite thing. She will even bump the big dogs out of the way to get her turn! She still won't go outside after dark, but has never had an accident in the house. We have had different guests over the summer. Samara will come out to greet them, and sticks around if it is my senior-citizen Mom. She has done well with older (10 & up) children, and most women, but is afraid of quick moving little kids and men with booming voices. I again have to say what a beautiful and sweet dog this small girl is!
Foster update: 10/11/09
Samara continues to become a great little dog. Since the darkness comes earlier now, we have adjusted feeding time to give her more outdoor time after dinner. She will come out at dusk, and then stay in the house, with no accidents, until 6:00 AM. Samara must have had a single-dog life previously. It has taken her a long time to catch on to the silliness of playtime with the resident Goldens. But she is catching on and plays a little chase and will go after a ball now. Her favorite thing is rawhide chews. She will take hers to her spot and work on it until it's gone. Then she roams the house, looking to see if the other dogs have hidden theirs. If she finds one, back to her spot she goes! Is doing better on the leash, and actually seems to feel more secure on it when she goes out at dusk. She will stick close by me, though, and wants to go inside after she's done with potty. During the day, she is very good on the leash, but tends to stop and look around. Samaras vision is not good, but she has very good hearing and has learned her way around the house and yard well. We think she may be able to see at a distance better than close up. She often watches the other dogs walking far out in the yard.
Foster Update: 1/12/10
Although she misses rolling in the grass, Samara seems to enjoy the snow. She loves to have snowballs thrown in the yard. She enjoys going outside more and even going out later into the evening. She has really started to try to play with her foster siblings, charging at them and bouncing around. She seems to laugh now as well and "gets it" when her foster mom teases her and calls her a silly girl. With the humans in her foster home she is very pleasant, loves to hang out with her foster family at night, and real tail-wagging has become a regular thing with her. She responds well to her name being called and does come out to greet most guests. She is still shy and does not like quick movements or loud sounds and voices. Samara does not like the snow shovel or to be cleaned off before coming in the house when she is covered in snow. She loves food and is very food motivated with her new favorite treat being baby carrots. Samara’s New Years resolution would be to have her furever home in 2010. Her furever family will need to be very patient and gentle with her, but she is well worth the time and effort!
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