Baxter 13-160

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Profile

June 8, 2013

Please welcome Baxter to the RAGOM family! This handsome boy arrived last week from a family that knew he deserved a better life. We thank them for making the loving decision to surrender him to our care, and promise we will find him a wonderful home.

Baxter will turn 6 years old on July 21st. He weighs in at 52 pounds and will be at the perfect weight once he gains a few more pounds. He would be perfect at around 55-57 pounds. He was recovering from a foot injury when he was surrendered, and has one more week of restricted activity before he can run and play to his hearts content. He loves going for walks and walks like a dream on a Gentle Leader. On his flat collar, not so much! He is house trained and goes into his crate willingly while we’re at work. In time he may not need a crate, but he gets into too much mischief right now to allow him free roam. At night he likes to sleep under our bed. Yep, you read that right! :)

Baxter was enrolled in obedience training as a pup and earned a First Place ribbon! He’s a little rusty at some things, but really is a smart boy. He will sit and wait when we put his food dish down, without being told to do so. He knows the basic commands and would love to have an owner that will take him back to class to keep his mind active. He would be fantastic at agility!!

Baxter’s only bad habit is that he’s an alert barker. So far he doesn’t really seem to bark at much outside, but inside he barks whenever he hears a noise. His previous owner noted that he barked a lot, and we are hopeful some of his behavior may decrease as time goes by, and with more exercise. Living in a home is not new to Baxter, but he tends to bark when he hears a strange noise. It may be us closing the cupboard, one of our dogs walking in from the other room, or the garbage truck going by outside. Baxter will leap to his feet and give out several loud barks, sometimes frequently. He also does this at night sometimes when he hears one of our dogs moving around. Because of his barking, he would not be a good match for someone that lives in a townhouse or condo. In addition, although he’s good with kids, we feel a quiet home without children would be in Baxter’s best interest.

So, what does Baxter’s perfect home look like?

  • One that will give him plenty of exercise and attention. For Baxter this means daily walks AND play time in the yard. He loves fetch!
  • A quiet home without a lot of commotion or activity. He needs an environment without the hustle and bustle of kids so he can relax and not feel the need to be on alert all the time.
  • A family that will help him with his barking and train him in a positive manner. His behavior is not going to change overnight, and his family needs to be willing to work with him regarding this issue.
  • He loves our dogs, but another dog is not necessary as long as he is getting plenty of exercise to help tire him out.
  • A fenced yard would be great, but not necessary if his family is committed to boundary training.

Baxter is such a sweet boy and we love him to pieces already. He loves to play in the sprinkler and loves dropping his toys in our lap for some play time. He gets the happiest look on his face when we throw his toy in the air over and over again. He's so thrilled to be getting attention! This wonderful boy deserves nothing but the best, and we’re going to make sure he gets it. He is a RAGOM boy now, after all! :)


At a Glance #13-160

Golden Retriever Born: July 2007
Male 50 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

June 8, 2013

Please welcome Baxter to the RAGOM family! This handsome boy arrived last week from a family that knew he deserved a better life. We thank them for making the loving decision to surrender him to our care, and promise we will find him a wonderful home.

Baxter will turn 6 years old on July 21st. He weighs in at 52 pounds and will be at the perfect weight once he gains a few more pounds. He would be perfect at around 55-57 pounds. He was recovering from a foot injury when he was surrendered, and has one more week of restricted activity before he can run and play to his hearts content. He loves going for walks and walks like a dream on a Gentle Leader. On his flat collar, not so much! He is house trained and goes into his crate willingly while we’re at work. In time he may not need a crate, but he gets into too much mischief right now to allow him free roam. At night he likes to sleep under our bed. Yep, you read that right! :)

Baxter was enrolled in obedience training as a pup and earned a First Place ribbon! He’s a little rusty at some things, but really is a smart boy. He will sit and wait when we put his food dish down, without being told to do so. He knows the basic commands and would love to have an owner that will take him back to class to keep his mind active. He would be fantastic at agility!!

Baxter’s only bad habit is that he’s an alert barker. So far he doesn’t really seem to bark at much outside, but inside he barks whenever he hears a noise. His previous owner noted that he barked a lot, and we are hopeful some of his behavior may decrease as time goes by, and with more exercise. Living in a home is not new to Baxter, but he tends to bark when he hears a strange noise. It may be us closing the cupboard, one of our dogs walking in from the other room, or the garbage truck going by outside. Baxter will leap to his feet and give out several loud barks, sometimes frequently. He also does this at night sometimes when he hears one of our dogs moving around. Because of his barking, he would not be a good match for someone that lives in a townhouse or condo. In addition, although he’s good with kids, we feel a quiet home without children would be in Baxter’s best interest.

So, what does Baxter’s perfect home look like?

  • One that will give him plenty of exercise and attention. For Baxter this means daily walks AND play time in the yard. He loves fetch!
  • A quiet home without a lot of commotion or activity. He needs an environment without the hustle and bustle of kids so he can relax and not feel the need to be on alert all the time.
  • A family that will help him with his barking and train him in a positive manner. His behavior is not going to change overnight, and his family needs to be willing to work with him regarding this issue.
  • He loves our dogs, but another dog is not necessary as long as he is getting plenty of exercise to help tire him out.
  • A fenced yard would be great, but not necessary if his family is committed to boundary training.

Baxter is such a sweet boy and we love him to pieces already. He loves to play in the sprinkler and loves dropping his toys in our lap for some play time. He gets the happiest look on his face when we throw his toy in the air over and over again. He's so thrilled to be getting attention! This wonderful boy deserves nothing but the best, and we’re going to make sure he gets it. He is a RAGOM boy now, after all! :)


Updates

Monday, November 21, 2016

It's hard to believe it's been over 3 years since we fostered this handsome boy!  Baxter really hit the jackpot when he was adopted and he is truly living the Golden Life.  I think this picture shows just how happy he is in his forever home!  Not only was it featured on the cover of the 2016 RAGOM calendar, but it also won a contest at a local pet food store!  He is so happy and photogenic. 

Baxter loves to travel with his mom and dad - whether it's to Wisconsin to visit his grandparents (who also adore him!), or to Duluth where he gets to hike and swim, he is always ready for his next adventure!

Baxter loves when his mom and dad order takeout - that means he gets a special treat, too!  I don't think I could resist that adorable face, either!

We feel so lucky that we get to see Baxter every year at Goldzilla.  Here he is with his mom, ready to do some shopping!

People always ask if it's hard to give up our foster dogs, and truth be told I usually shed some tears.  But when they go to a wonderful home like Baxter did, they are always happy tears!  He couldn't have found a better family and we are so very happy for all of them.  Every dog should be as lucky as Baxter!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

A fellow volunteer once said that when her foster dog gets adopted, she wants to be able to look them in the eye and tell them they're soooooo lucky! With Baxter, we were able to do that a thousand times over! I can't even begin to put into words how very, very happy we are for this sweet boy! He found the most wonderful home with Joe and Lisa, a home that is more perfect for him then we could have ever hoped for or imagined. They have a nice quiet environment, which is exactly what Baxter needs. He is already the hit of the neighborhood and will have lots of doggie play dates with the neighbor dogs. This weekend, he went out to breakfast with his new mom and dad to a local restaurant that allows dogs on their patio. He was the perfect gentleman, which is no surprise because he is a wonderful boy! He is going to have the most incredible life and we are thrilled for him!

Congratulations Joe, Lisa, and Baxter - we are so very happy you found each other!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Baxter is easily one of the sweetest dogs I've ever met! He LOVES to give kisses and we are always so thankful for them! He loves to play, and will bring his toy to us over and over again to toss in the air for him. If we’re on the phone or not paying attention to him for a few seconds, he will drop his toy in our lap, let it roll down our leg, and start the process over again. He is just too cute! He is also content to lounge on the deck outside, soaking up the sun. Now that it’s finally come out, hopefully we’ll be doing a whole lot more of that!

We are working very hard at helping Baxter with his barking. We are ignoring him whenever he barks, which is tough to do, but we don’t want to teach him that he is being rewarded with our attention for barking. Instead, we ignore him when he barks, and once he is finally quiet, we click and give him a piece of kibble. This keeps us on our toes as his barking can be frequent and we never know when it might happen. So, we keep a pouch full of kibble on our belt at all times and always carry a clicker. We can already tell Baxter is starting to make the connection. However, since we have other dogs, it can also be challenging. At times it feels as if they feed off each other. Baxter will be barking, and even our dog that rarely barks has started to chime in sometimes. Then you have more than one dog barking, and it’s harder to control. Just yesterday, while in the house, one of our dogs barked at someone that was being loud across the street. Even though he stopped, Baxter ran over and started barking. Then my dog started barking, and it took a while to settle them down. Because of this, we are starting to believe Baxter should be an only dog. He LOVES other dogs, so his family should make sure he will have plenty of play time with them – weekly play dates, doggy daycare, or dog park visits would make him very happy! Being an only dog would not only help Baxter with his training, but it would ensure there are no other dogs in the house that might get stressed in the process. His family still needs to be committed to plenty of daily exercise and obedience training.

I just cannot say enough about this boy’s potential! He really is a smart cookie! When we were on the deck yesterday, one of our neighbor dogs came to the fence and barked a couple of times. It’s true, Baxter did race down the deck to see what was going on, but as soon as I called his name and told him to come, he stopped and came right back to me. I wish my own dogs would do that!

Baxter still has a few days of exercise restriction and then he’ll be able to run and play like he’s dying to do. He loves playing with my dogs, and a couple of times when I've turned my back for just a minute, they break into play and do laps in the backyard. I've had to be the fun police on more than one occasion! I couldn't resist tossing a toy across the yard for him yesterday, though – just once! He just really, really, wanted to play, and I just had to give in.

Today when I looked at Baxter, I was so incredibly thankful to RAGOM for taking in dogs that although not perfect, are so very wonderful. It reminded me of when we adopted our RAGOM boy Bauer nearly 5 years ago. He had some quirks and was not the perfect dog by any means, but that’s why we fell in love with him. We couldn't wait to welcome him into our family and he is still making us laugh and smile every single day. We know there’s a family out there just like that for Baxter, and he is going to have the best life ever. Come on out to the Edina Chuck and Don’s this Saturday and meet this wonderful boy – you’ll be so happy that you did!