January 1, 2022:

Devonna, now Devon, has been with us for 3 weeks and is settling in to her new surroundings.

She’s learned to comfortably sit on the couch with us with her head in our laps. Our other 2 Goldens, Rico and Rusty, have taught her how to go through doors, when to go upstairs to go to bed and to stand by the laundry room door to con us into giving treats after going outside.

She loves going for long walks and laying in the family room when we’re watching TV.

While we continue to experience breakthroughs, she still has her skittish moments especially when you make a sudden move but she’s learning that she doesn’t have to be afraid. We’re learning that with love, patience and understanding we can help her blossom into a confident, happy Golden.

December 28, 2021:

Devonna has been adopted! Watch for updates on her progress in her new forever home!

November 14, 2021:

Devonna is in the process of finding her forever home. She is loving her life…playing with toys, kongs filled with treats and playing with other dogs. She enjoys walking around our four acres and will not go to the road. She is still afraid of moving vehicles. My sister stayed at my house and at first Devonna was unsure of her but by the end of the first day she was going upstairs with her. Devonna is still unsure of small children so a home without young kids would be best. Devonna is also looking for a home where someone will be home during the day. She is used to having a dog door to let herself out. She is still perfecting her house training as we speak with infrequent accidents. She will need someone who will continue with her house training and getting her on a regular schedule. Devonna is a very loving girl who wants nothing more than to have someone pet and love her.

November 2, 2021:

Devonna is doing great!! She still doesn’t care for going for walks but she does love walking around outside the fence. She used to be scare of doing it, now she goes out on her own. She comes when called regularly. I use treats every time to keep up the progress we are making. She is a true golden when it comes to being food motivated. She is still enamored by our cat and we know when Summer wants to come in in the morning because Devonna runs outside then inside and up to our bed. She will do this until we get Summer in. We are blessed with a dog door so she has access to outside when we are at work. House training is going much better. We don’t have many accidents and most are because she is too busy in the morning to take the time to pee. She just has to make sure Summer is in. So, most are our fault. She is becoming more playful with Sammy (my golden) and stole his tennis ball the other day. She started running around with it and trying to get him to chase her. Devonna is ready for her new home. I feel she would be happier with someone around most of the day since she cannot be crated. The new home would have to continue to enforce house training. She loves to be outside and spends most of the weekends outside with us. I cannot wait to see what she does with snow. The new home will definitely need another dog. She sleeps with a pile of other dogs (4 to be exact). She has absolutely no aggression and sweet as can be. She just loves to have her head petted. She is unsure of young kids so I am thinking teens and above. A fence is a must. Devonna has come a long way from being afraid of humans to love being petted. She has gotten used to living in a home too. Car rides are going better too. I feel she will continue to grow as a dog and become even more open to new experiences.

October 6, 2021:

Devonna is doing well. I did find out that she is uncomfortable around children. She steered clear of my 7 yr. old nephew when he came over. She has a funny quirk….she runs around in a circle and barks prior to pooping. She is very sweet and will come and put her head on my leg to be petted. She still sleeps in our room at night with doors closed otherwise she will pee in the house. House training is definitely one of her challenges. I also found out that she no longer likes to be contained in the room she used to love. She wants to be with the other dogs and/or us. We will be working with a behaviorist on ideas for house training and her not liking to be contained.

September 7, 2021:

Life has been interesting with Devonna. She has become very people orientated at home. She is always at our side and wanting a hand on her. Devonna has also had some challenging behaviors such as urinating in the house and needing to eat with a human in the room. She has been doing this for a couple of weeks. It all started when she was in heat and was marking in the house. Now it has become more of a behavior we are trying to work through. She will not go in a crate so at night I have her on a leash in our bedroom. this has helped at night. When we cannot be in a room with her she is outside with the other dogs. I feel it is anxiety related but not sure yet. Still trying to figure it all out. We tried a walk by the road and she would have nothing to do with it. Does fine around our property (4 acres). Devonna has become fascinated (obsessed) with our cat. She just wants to watch everything Summer does. Devonna will hang out at the cat door to the basement if she thinks she is down there. She has also become a bit devious. My husband came home to the mitten box empty with mittens all down the dog ramp outside. She then got caught with my shoe the same day. I believe she has some accomplices in this new adventure. Devonna has a pre-op next week for her spay and then on the 21st she is spayed!!!

July 25, 2021:

Devonna’s thyroid meds are in the therapeutic range and her coat is getting so much softer. She will now be able to get the much needed dental and spay. Devonna is doing well but still prefers her safe place. I close the gate when we are inside to make her spend time with us. She did walk up to Tim for petting. This was a first. I have been working with her to walk up to me to take treats instead of me going to her. She will take two steps. She does not mind her petting sessions but tends to stand during them. Her favorite place to be is outside running around. She likes her squeaky toys and will put them under a tree. I brought a new dog to the house and she ran right up to her and they attempted to play. Devonna is still trying to figure the play thing out. We have also been working on walking on leash on the road. I do not have sidewalks where I live so the vehicles tend to spook her. We are going slow with this process so she doesn’t get too scared. One thing she does NOT like is riding in the car. She will do anything to try to stay out of it and will go down to the ground. She even tried to back out of her collar. After the vet appointment I had the vet tech help and it went much better. She definitely is not one to travel places. The next steps for her are a spay and dental. Her teeth are definitely in need of some help and cleaning.

June 27, 2021:

Devonna is starting to do much better. I got her on leash outside our fenced in yard and she was very nervous. What I was happy about is that she used me for comfort. She would come right next to me and her body was touching mine. She did this at the vet too!!! I see that as progress!!. She is most happy outside. She loves to collect toys and put them in piles or destroy them. She loves a good del-stuffing. Her favorite place is under some Arbor Vitae trees. Devonna seems to like to be petted but I am not sure. She looks at me when I stop so I pet her some more. Her body language is more tricky. She is like a statue. We got some very good news from the vet. She doesn’t have any heart problems. She will be able to be spayed!!! We ran a comprehensive thyroid panel and she is hypothyroid. She takes meds twice a day in a really good treat. The great thing is that this condition doesn’t effect their life span, health or attitude. She will have a recheck in one month then we set up the spay appointment.

May 28, 2021:

Devonna came to my house with several other retired breeder dogs. The other two have moved on to new foster homes. Devonna has decided to hang out with Ella. She is skittish about humans and is slowly getting to learn that we are okay. Today she came into the house by herself without having to be herded in with Ella. They currently share a space at night and when I am gone. I gate her in a small room. She does not have any accidents in this room. We are currently working on having her spend more time in the other living spaces of the house. She did go to the vet to get spayed but they found she had an arrhythmia and low heart rate. She will be going to see a cardiologist to figure out what is going on. Otherwise she is enjoying her time outside in the fenced in yard.