Taylor

Taylor is such a doll - loves to be with people all the time and follows us around. She seems to be very attached to Elwyn so maybe she was owned by a man. I guess we'll never know since she was found as a stray. She has the softest fur I've ever felt and such a sweet and sad face. She's a little stiff and limps some especially at the end of the day so she may have some arthritis or something. Usually she does pretty well in the morning. Stairs can be difficult for her but she manages if she takes her time. Her hearing isn't the best but she does hear when we change a channel, put a food bowl down, clap our hands etc. She doesn't respond well to her name but she has probably only had it for a few weeks. Her eyesight seems to be very good especially for a 10 yr. old. One day as it was just getting dark she saw something in the yard and started to bark. I didn't know what she wanted but let her out and she ran to the fence and started chasing a squirrel. I hadn't seen it but she spotted it. At night she loves to lay next to the cat so she can just sit and look at him. It's pretty dark with only the streetlight coming in but she will stay right there and watch him. She is just fascinated with the cat. She seems to want to play with him because she will try to chase him and bark at him but her tail is always wagging. The cat can always jump up on something or slide under something and she doesn't have the agility to follow him so he's safe. It's amazing how long she will stand by the bed and just watch him sleep. Maybe she had a cat to play with at one time. The other day she was dragging the dog bed around and trying to play with it so we thought she might like some stuffed toys. We bought her a couple and she just loves to chew and squeak them- she's very playful for her age. She gets along great with Sunny and Riley and likes to run with them in the yard even though she can't keep up for very long. She has a good appetite and is small at 53 pounds. She seems to be normal weight just shorter and smaller than most goldens. She would be perfect for someone with a smaller place since she is quite small and doesn't need a big yard to run in. She's a very sweet dog and easy to have around.

3/24/06: Hello,

We adopted Honey Bun, formerly Taylor 04-082, June 25, 2004 after being fostered with Diane in Fargo ND.

Honey Bun had a wonderful hospice with us. She passed on Tuesday, March 21, 2006. She was the sweetest little girl and even though we only were with her a short time, she definitely found a place in our hearts.

Here is a picture of her just a week and a half ago. Her passing was quick and unexpected, although we found out that she did have lung cancer that probably led to a ruptured lung, which took her.

She will be missed!

6/26/04: Taylor met her new family yesterday and was adopted! Elaine R will change her name to Honey.

6/8/04: Things are going well for Taylor. We really were not seeing a lot of improvement with the aspirin so we decided to try the Rimadyl and it really made a huge difference. She still is somewhat stiff but we don't see the limping and she moves a lot faster especially on stairs. She even stands on her back legs to try see what is on the counter - we never thought we would see that. She used to twist her body around and get both front paws wrapped around her right back leg and pull on it while panting and groaning and sometimes biting at her leg. I asked the vet if she thought Taylor was in pain when she did that but she really didn't know for sure. I have only seen Taylor do that twice since starting the Rimadyl. She really seems happier and more alert.

She has so much fun at the lake just walking around and exploring everything. We have to put her on a long rope while we are there because the yard is not fenced. The rope is long enough that she can go to the neighbors. I looked out and there she was laying between 2 little girls who were kissing and hugging her. Taylor was in heaven of course. The girls thought she looked sad so they were trying to cheer her up. We told them she's really not sad but she has an old face that sometimes looks sad. She must have lived with kids because she loves them so much and as soon as we sit a child at the table she is right by the chair waiting for food to drop - definitely knows the drill. She seems used to being tied up because she knows how to untangle her feet and she always sits and waits when she comes in the house - I suppose she always did that so someone could take off the leash. Taylor is doing great and would make a wonderful companion for someone who is not very active and would enjoy having a sweet dog to lay by their feet.

5/23/04: Not much new with Taylor. We have found that walks of more than a few blocks are really too much for her. If she gets tired she will just lay down on the sidewalk and not move. We will walk her up and down the street a little and then let her lay in the front yard for a while to see some new sights. She loves being in the front yard and loves to explore but she really can't go too far. She's now at the point where she ignores the cat completely. Most of the time she's content to just lay by your feet and play with her stuffed animals.

5/7/04: Taylor loves being at the lake. She enjoys wading in the water and exploring all the new and interesting things to see. Probably the best part is meeting new people and new dogs. She gets along great with everyone and loves new people to snuggle. She does do some running trying to keep up with the other dogs so she's tired by bedtime. The stairs at the lake are a little more difficult for her because they are wood, not carpet like at home. She does fine if she takes her time. She loves car rides and gets so excited when she sees her leash. We do have to lift her in so it's good she only weighs 53#. She probably could get in a regular car, just not an SUV. Taylor is off to the lake again with us this weekend for more adventures.

4/30/04: Taylor really did enjoy the lake. It was cold but she wanted to follow Sunny in the water to wade around for a while. She also had fun exploring the yard, meeting new people, playing with different toys and finding old rawhides. She seemed to be very comfortable there so maybe she used to go to a lake somewhere. I don't think she's quite up to swimming, but it will be interesting to see if she likes being on a boat. Otherwise nothing really new to report. Taylor is ready for her forever home.

4/23/04: Taylor has had an exciting week with Bengal #04-025 staying here while he recovers from neutering. He's still a puppy and very active, so Taylor is tired at the end of the day. Bengal's new family has been here to visit him with their 2 year old. Taylor just loved her and wanted to sit right beside her and get some pets and hugs. Maybe there was a baby in her other house. Otherwise, not really anything new. We're going to the lake, so we'll see how that goes.

4/16/04: Taylor is having a good week. Bengal # 04-025 is staying with us until he moves into his forever home next week so she's had another young dog to play with. She will try to run around with them but she gets tired first and is content to lay beside mom and watch from the sidelines. We really should be taking her for more walks but it is difficult if not impossible to get out the door with one dog and leave the other 3 inside. She does love the walks and is very excited and pulling when she first gets outside but after a block or so she settles in and walks nicely until we get close to home. Then she slows way down and finally lays on the sidewalk and won't get up- she doesn't want to go home! She will come with us with encouragement and promises of treats at home it's just so funny when she does that. Now if Elwyn's working in the garage he'll put her on a long rope in the front yard so she can have a change of scenery and watch the world go by. If anyone is interested in meeting her we can meet you halfway so don't let the distance discourage you.

4/11/04: Taylor is doing fine. She tries to play with the other dogs as much as she can. Sometimes at night she is just too tired to come upstairs so she just sleeps in the living room. We just let her do whatever she wants on that particular night. She mostly ignores the cat but now and then she decides that he is the most interesting thing she's ever seen. Then she follows him around and sniffs at him, even gets her front paws on the couch to get a better look. We got her some new stuffed toys this week - she just loves to get new toys. The only thing she's afraid of is the vacuum cleaner. If I want to keep her out of a room I can just put the vacuum in the doorway don't even need a baby gate. One thing we noticed is that when she sits down she always sits on her left hip never on the right or straight up. Maybe her right hip bothers her. Nothing really new with Taylor- she's just a sweet little lady.

4/2/04: Taylor continues to do well- not much new to report. She's trying hard to play with the other dogs and loves her stuffed toys. She still seems stiff at times and has to take her time on the stairs but no real problems to report. She's walking better on the leash. She will start out pulling when she's excited but by the time we're headed home she's tired and usually walking behind me. Now she ignores the cat most of the time. Once in a while she'll get excited about him and want to sniff and follow him around but most of the time she'll just lay down beside him. She's very sweet and quiet and we hardly know she's even here.

3/26/04: I guess Taylor has decided the cat isn't all that interesting after all. Now she just lays down beside him for a little nap. If he runs she wants to chase him and the same think with a little dog we were babysitting. We have had 3 different dogs here the last week and Taylor got along fine with all of them except for the chasing when they run thing. She really wants to play and she can keep up for a little while. It seems like the aspirin and supplements are helping because the stairs are easier for her now. We brushed her last night and she loved that. She must have been trained to go potty a certain way. She always runs out and goes right away then when she comes in she always stands right inside the door. We thought maybe she had to have her feet wiped before coming in or something. We just have to be sure her tail isn't in the door because she barely gets inside until we tell her it's ok. The water intake seems to have decreased now and it seems normal. Taylor continues to be a sweet girl and is easy to have around.

3/19/04: Taylor went to the vet this week and we got all good news! The vet did find a pelvic scar so she's sure she has been spayed - that was a relief as I was not anxious to put her through surgery. All of her lab work came back perfectly normal which is pretty remarkable at her age. I told the vet that she pants at times but her heart and lungs seem to be perfectly normal so she thinks it's just habit, nervousness, exertion or something- especially because she only does it once in a while. We also talked about Taylor drinking a lot of water then going out soon after and urinating a large amt. She checked her for kidney problems, diabetes, and Cushing's disease and everything was normal. Electrolytes are normal so she's not excreting too much water, salt, etc. She thinks this is just the pattern Taylor got used to in her previous home. She does not think it's an infection because then it would be frequent small amts. Since everything is normal we're just continuing with that pattern - we give her a bowl of water and let her drink as much as she wants then let her out in 15 - 30 minutes. She always goes right away then wants to come in - just doesn't like to be away from people very much.

Taylor does seem stiff late in the day and limps sometimes, but the vet felt that her hips and other joints were normal on exam so we'll try some buffered aspirin and see if that helps. She thinks it's just a little arthritis normal for her age. We also have her on food with glucosamine and chondroitin. Her eyes have a little clouding but she did not see actual cataracts and her vision is good. Taylor has some skin tags on her left ear and a fatty cyst on her chest and that's about it. We were very happy that everything turned out so well. Everyone at the clinic thought she was the sweetest and calmest dog they had ever seen. They thought it was so great that RAGOM got her out of the shelter before she was put down and it seems she will have many years of snuggling to offer some lucky person.