Rigley

      

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Rigley went to his forever home on December 16, 2006. He will be living in East Kingston NH.

Update on Rigley and his GSGRR sister Mollie:

 

Update on July 5, 2008:

Hi Jeanne,

Thank you for sending me the newsletter. I enjoyed reading it immensely!

Rigley has been doing really well lately. My husband is working from home full time now
and Rigley seems to enjoy his much longer outs in the morning and afternoon. He did get
a little upper respiratory infection (we are not certain where he caught it from), and we
took him to the vet. The vet said that his cough was in the early stages (phew!) and that
because we caught it so early, he couldn't tell if it was kennel cough or not. Rigley was put
on a short course of antibiotics and has completely recovered. The vet did mention that he
has seen a lot of this type of cough going around, even in the dogs who are vaccinated
against kennel cough (which Rigley is). I must mention though, that Rigley seemed to love
taking his medicine because I put the pills in a spoonful of applesauce and he gulped it
right down. Unfortunately, he was a bit of a "pill Houdini" at first until I figured out the
applesauce trick. When I tried to give him the pills inside cheese like the vet
recommended, he would gobble the cheese and spit out the pill!

Rigley definitely seems to enjoy summer. He spends much of his day watching "Rigley TV"
by looking outside through the sliding glass doors to see the chipmunks, birds, etc. He
has taken to sleeping on my pillow at night (more specifically, he lays his head on mine).
He is still an avid ball connoisseur and we play ball with him at least three times a day. His
favorite ball is a red Zap Ball that flashes and makes noise. We play with that ball every
night since it lights up!

Hope all is well with you.

Taylor

 

Update on May 4, 2008:

Hi Jeanne and Jim,

I just wanted to send you a quick update on Rigley. The snow has finally melted here and the ice cream stand has opened down the street...so it must be springtime! Rigley is doing well and seems to be enjoying the good weather.

Here is a snapshot of Rigley enjoying the last of Jamie's ice cream!!!

Hope you both are well.

Taylor

Hi Jim and Jeanne,

I hope you both are having a wonderful day! I just realized that today is a year to the day that we have had Rigley! It is snowing extremely hard here today, and Rigley has already been outside to play in the snow (I have included some pictures of the boy that I took this morning).

Thank you both so much for bringing Rigley into our lives. He is such a wonderful, silly dog and a loving companion. We are so lucky to have him.

Hope you both have a great Christmas!

Taylor Smith

Update on July 4, 2007:

I have also enclosed some photos of Rigley. In one of the pictures, he looks like the creature from "Swamp Thing" (and smelled like it too) after he rolled around in some delicious, rotting, grass clippings. There are also some from Kingston State Park (I try to take him swimming there several times a week, if we are lucky).

Update on April 29, 2007:

Jeanne + Jim - Just a quick update to let you know that Rigley is doing well. He has been going to daycare and really enjoys their pool. Since the weather has been getting warmer, we have been taking him hiking every Saturday. He seems to find every mud puddle! He likes to cuddle with us on the couch while we watch tv at night. He watches too. He really likes the Dyson Vaccum commercial with all of the squeaks. He tilts his head and will watch it over and over (we tivoed it). Very silly boy. Hope everything is well with you! Taylor

Update on February 27, 2007:

Hi Jeanne and Jim -Just a quick note to let you both know that Rigley completed his first month of the heartworm treatment! We are celebrating today by going outside and throwing a few snowballs for him (not too many though, we are going to ease him in to becoming active again)! We had a big snowstorm two weeks ago, and Rigley adores the snow. So far his favorite game in the snow is something I call "Ostrich." He buries his ball in the snow and then digs it out and sticks his head in the snow.

Thank you again so very much for Rigley. We are enjoying him immensely. I have been able to work from home quite often with my new job, and Rigley seems to really like the company (I adore his). Hope you both are doing well!

Taylor Smith

A new update on January 10th, 2007:

Dear Jeanne,

I just wanted to send you and Jim a quick update on Rigley's progress. We all are doing great. I started a new job and will be working from home one day a week. Today was my first day working from home and Rigley seems to like it. Rigley started doggie daycare yesterday. The daycare was really cute and sent him home with a report card and photo of his first day (I will try to send you a scanned version of the daycare photo). He really enjoyed the swimming and outdoor play yard. They said he made three new friends, a boxer, golden retriever, and bernese mountain dog. He was a bit possessive over the toys and growled at the other dogs so they removed the toys from the playgroup for a period of time (he also was sent to doggie detention for a few minutes). From the report, it almost sounded like a toddler's first day at school rather than doggie daycare. For right now, we are planning on him going 1-2 days a week. He also starts obedience classes on the 22nd.

Rigley is still the mellow dog but is VERY energetic at times. The daycare seemed to help a lot yesterday as he came home last night and just slept. He slept all day today while I was working from home as well.

Jamie is doing very well with Rigley and we have already started training. He now knows sit and shake reliably and come is almost there (sometimes he decides whether or not to come and we are working on that-he definitely knows the word "come" though). He knows down, and we are working on down-stay this week. He is a really fast learner.

I can't believe we have only had Rigley for a month. He is a wonderful addition to the family!

Hope all is well with you.

Taylor

Here is an update from his new family on dec 21, 2006:

Hi Jeanne,

I just wanted to keep you posted on Rigley's progress. He is doing quite well! We got him groomed yesterday, and he seemed to enjoy it. He starts obedience classes on January 13th (he is quite the accomplished counter surfer and I am hoping that the obedience classes will help me to learn how to train him better). We've been working on walking on the leash, and he is walking like a champ now. He doesn't pull the leash, even when we pass distractions like other dogs. He is doing great! I've also been working with him on the Sit-Stay command and he is learning.

I took him to the dog park yesterday and he really seemed to enjoy it. He loves to play ball and brings it back every time! He also is really enjoying his toy basket and takes out all of the toys before he makes his selection.

Hope all is well with you!

Taylor

Dear Jim-

Rigley's first night was a success! We were thrilled to meet him at the airport. When he came out of his crate, his tail was wagging like you wouldn't believe. He enjoyed the car ride home and slept a bit. He wore his doggie seatbelt like a champ.

When we got him home last night he checked everything out and found his toy box rather quickly. He proceeded to take all of the toys out and spread them throughout the house. His favorite so far are the squeaky balls.

He also is quite interested in our guinea pig, Oreo. The guinea pig has been checking Rigley out too, and even allowed Rigley to lick him (very cute).

He slept well last night. He slept the whole night through on the floor with no accidents. We invited him to sleep on the bed with us, but after cuddling for a few minutes, he decided to sleep on the floor. He proceeded to sleep UNDER the bed with only his hind end hanging out!

Jamie and I are thrilled to have him be part of our family. Thank you so very much for sending him our way. He is EXACTLY what we needed. We owe our joy to you and GSGRR.

Thank you,

Taylor

My name is Rigley. I am about 1-1/2 years old. I am a real friendly guy who gets along well with everyone. I have been rescued from a shelter and I am looking for my forever home. You think you might have a place for me?