Raggs

Original: Raggs is one spunky, sweet little guy who loves to be with people and other dogs. He was apparently abandoned in South Carolina and seriously injured before coming into MAESSR’s care; however, he’s weathered that bad time with his loving personality intact.

The vet thought Raggs might have been hit by a car which broke his right rear leg near the hip joint. As a result, Raggs had to have surgery to remove the damaged bone. He hasn’t let this stop him at all and his foster mom must slow him down; otherwise, he’d scamper on three legs! Raggs is getting lots of good food and physical therapy for the injured leg. Even with his leg injury, he can climb one or two steps, but he’s not so sure about going down the steps at this point! Due to his injury and surgery, he’ll probably always have a limp.

Raggs is a little guy which makes him perfect for lap snuggling. He currently weighs only 23 pounds but will probably weigh about 30 pounds when he’s filled out. He was most assuredly someone’s indoor dog at some time in his life because he has excellent house manners and is housebroken. Raggs has only had one accident so far in his foster home which was due to his foster mom not paying close attention to his signals. This little guy does not do any counter-surfing (he’d need a ladder!), trash picking or chewing on inappropriate items. Due to his continuing recovery from surgery, his foster mom has not had a chance to try many commands with him, but he is recognizing the command “go out” to take care of his potty business.

When Raggs is taken outside every couple of hours, he takes care of business and sniffs around for all interesting smells. He is a very inquisitive boy and explores all the closets and the corners of each room in the house. Raggs quickly learned where the water is located, and which door is used to go outside. He follows the resident Springers wherever they go and rests his head on the back of the older female, resident Springer too cute!

At night Raggs currently sleeps in a crate and is crated when the family is not home. His foster mom thinks that he will soon no longer be crated since he’s so good in the house. He is a quiet little boy and has not barked once since being in his foster home but wags his stubby tail furiously.

Watch for more to come as Raggs improves and his foster family gets to know him better.

Update 03/17/09: Ragg’s appearance and physical condition continue to improve every day with good food and lots of love. His coat is growing back thick and glossy, and he is filling out with three meals a day and many treats. He still does not put much, if any, weight on the repaired back leg but scampers around on three legs. Raggs surprised his foster mom the other day when he followed her up two flights of stairs, totaling 16 steps, to the upstairs bedrooms. He now goes up and down those steps several times each day. His foster mom continues therapy for his repaired leg and Raggs will be taken to an accredited animal physical therapist next week.

This sweetie has discovered the doggie toy basket and has claimed a long furry snake as his own. It is too funny watching him drag that 3-foot-long snake which is at least twice as long as he is around the house. He has decided that he must protect the house from his foster mom’s invading peace lily plants and has been caught fiercely shredding a couple of leaves he doesn’t eat them, he just shreds them. While in the front yard, he’s also been very helpful to his foster dad who was trimming bushes. Raggs decided that the trimmed branches were not stacked properly and needed to be rearranged. He carefully selected branches, one at a time, and walked around the yard, proudly showing them off for all to see.

Raggs charms the entire neighborhood by trotting up to each passerby for a friendly pat on the head from people or sniff greetings from dogs. For a couple of weeks, his foster mom was wondering if he could bark since he hadn’t barked inside the house or outside in the yard. Last week, Raggs barked while outside to alert his foster parents that people were approaching his yard. He stopped barking when told “no” by his foster mom and then wanted to be petted by the people walking by.

Raggs loves to sleep on his back with his feet waving in the air. He continues to snuggle with the senior resident female ESS and would stay blissfully by her side for hours if she’d allow it. His foster mom thinks that Raggs would really enjoy a doggie buddy in his forever home.

This is a little guy who packs a whole lot of love in his small frame. Could you be his new snuggle buddy?

Update 04/20/09: Great News!!! Raggs is putting some weight on his injured leg during slow walks and is running on 3 legs after the younger female resident ESS. He’s had several physical therapy sessions and improves with each one. His foster mom is also continuing his physical therapy at home. A discovery about Raggs and cats came about as the result of his visits to the physical therapist as well. He has interacted well with the therapist’s cat. There was no chasing or paw swiping. They both just looked at each other and walked their separate ways, good boy!!

Raggs recently began itching all over for no apparent reason no red or flakey patches on his skin. He was taken to the vet for this and received a shot for relief. Raggs is one engaging sweetie and with his health issues squarely behind him, he is beginning to think about a family to spend forever with. How about you?

Update 04/24/09: Good news is always a treat to share, and for Raggs, the good news just keeps rolling. Recently during physical therapy, Raggs played well with an 8-year-old girl. She was able to entice him with cheese (he LOVES cheese!!!) to walk up a steep ramp. This was a new accomplishment for him which shows his repaired leg is getting stronger.

Raggs would like to meet a Springer-loving family who has space in their home and hearts for a furry and affectionate little cheese lover. Got cheddar in your frig?