Buddy 14-166

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Profile

In addition to LOVE this dog has the following requirements:
Entered Foster Care Fence Kid Friendly Another Dog Cat Friendly
 6/14/14 Not required   Yes  Optional Yes 
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

People will be waiting in line to adopt this wonderful guy! Buddy is a 6 1/2 year old neutered male who loves children of all ages, playing fetch, and enjoys cats. He is up to date on all his vaccinations which have to be given with Benadryl in a specific manner due to an allergy to the drugs. Heʼs also had his heartworm and flea/tick preventatives. Buddy will be microchipped when he goes for his wellness check this week.

While he was allowed to roam free on 8 acres most of his life, Buddy also seems to love the comfort of a home, is house trained, and loves affectionate rubs and petting. His previous owner states that he would stay with her while walking without being leashed, and always comes when called. While he doesnʼt pull too badly, he could use some training for leash walking. Buddy apparently doesnʼt like fences, because he dug under one once. 

Saying that Buddy loves to fetch is an understatement. I have started playing fetch with him on a long line in my yard and he does great. He even catches a ball in the air with another ball in his mouth! He can hold as many as 3 tennis balls in his mouth and will drop the ball or object by your feet, then back up with a command “back up” and wait for you to throw it. He likes to play inside or outside, and can be a little obnoxious dropping balls in your lap. He can also be rambunctious while chasing the ball, bumping whoeverʼs in his way. Heʼs quite the show dog and very smart. 

Buddy knows the command sit, (lie)down, off, and stay (for a very short while). Buddy communicates when he wants to go outside with a bark, or heʼll bark if he just wants you to play with him. He shows persistence in wanting your attention and perhaps could benefit from more consistent training. (He has dropped four tennis balls in my lap that were hidden in the house while writing this bio.) 

Buddy has shown some aggression towards other dogs when he tries to dominate them . He would benefit from some more training in this area, but should probably not be in a home with other dogs.

Buddy has a health condition called Hypothyroidism and takes medication twice a day. He also has a history of seasonal allergies that may cause “hot spots” and takes medication when those occur. Buddy likes to be active, especially if it involves interacting with people. 

Buddy is a wonderful family dog who will bring alot of joy and affection to your home. He rolls on his back easily for belly rubs and even greets new people without fear and with his tail wagging. Letʼs find this beautiful boy a permanent home soon!

   

   

At a Glance #14-166

Golden Retriever Born: October 2007
Male 100 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

In addition to LOVE this dog has the following requirements:
Entered Foster Care Fence Kid Friendly Another Dog Cat Friendly
 6/14/14 Not required   Yes  Optional Yes 
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

People will be waiting in line to adopt this wonderful guy! Buddy is a 6 1/2 year old neutered male who loves children of all ages, playing fetch, and enjoys cats. He is up to date on all his vaccinations which have to be given with Benadryl in a specific manner due to an allergy to the drugs. Heʼs also had his heartworm and flea/tick preventatives. Buddy will be microchipped when he goes for his wellness check this week.

While he was allowed to roam free on 8 acres most of his life, Buddy also seems to love the comfort of a home, is house trained, and loves affectionate rubs and petting. His previous owner states that he would stay with her while walking without being leashed, and always comes when called. While he doesnʼt pull too badly, he could use some training for leash walking. Buddy apparently doesnʼt like fences, because he dug under one once. 

Saying that Buddy loves to fetch is an understatement. I have started playing fetch with him on a long line in my yard and he does great. He even catches a ball in the air with another ball in his mouth! He can hold as many as 3 tennis balls in his mouth and will drop the ball or object by your feet, then back up with a command “back up” and wait for you to throw it. He likes to play inside or outside, and can be a little obnoxious dropping balls in your lap. He can also be rambunctious while chasing the ball, bumping whoeverʼs in his way. Heʼs quite the show dog and very smart. 

Buddy knows the command sit, (lie)down, off, and stay (for a very short while). Buddy communicates when he wants to go outside with a bark, or heʼll bark if he just wants you to play with him. He shows persistence in wanting your attention and perhaps could benefit from more consistent training. (He has dropped four tennis balls in my lap that were hidden in the house while writing this bio.) 

Buddy has shown some aggression towards other dogs when he tries to dominate them . He would benefit from some more training in this area, but should probably not be in a home with other dogs.

Buddy has a health condition called Hypothyroidism and takes medication twice a day. He also has a history of seasonal allergies that may cause “hot spots” and takes medication when those occur. Buddy likes to be active, especially if it involves interacting with people. 

Buddy is a wonderful family dog who will bring alot of joy and affection to your home. He rolls on his back easily for belly rubs and even greets new people without fear and with his tail wagging. Letʼs find this beautiful boy a permanent home soon!

   

   

Updates

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Buddy 14-166 went to the vet to get a checkup and have his thyroid checked.  All is good with Buddy!  He has lost 5 pounds putting him at 75 lbs and he is right on target with his thyroid pills.  Pretty soon he will be a svelte and even more handsome doggie then he already is.  The vet says he should lose about 5 more pounds and I would guess that will be off pretty soon now that his Thyroid is being treated. 

 

Aside from the vet appointment Buddy has spent the summer living the high life.  He “helps” us with our yard work, takes baths in the kiddie pool outside, goes to the beach to learn how to swim with waves (Buddy thinks big waves are a little scary still) and hangs out with the neighbor boy as much as he can.  He is much more relaxed since we stopped playing fetch with him in the house and is learning that fetch is an outside game.  Now Buddy lies calmly on floor and plays with his chew toys or comes over for pets.  Buddy does not go on the furniture at all.  We did not set this rule for him, he came to us that way and it would be fairly simple I think to convince him to go on the furniture if an adopter desires but we felt we should leave him for now and let the adopter decide.  Below is a cute picture of Buddy after he stuck his snout in the sand to get a stick!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Buddy 14-166 had another doggy play date this weekend.  This time we took him to Lake Superior.  He did great with the other dogs!  There were 4 other dogs this time, 2 dogs that he met last week and 2 new dogs.  Buddy barely even registered the 2 dogs that he had already met and after sniffing and being sniffed by the new dogs he wasn’t bothered by them either!  There was one slightly tense moment when Buddy got nervous because both new dogs approached and were sniffing him at once but when the dog’s owner called them back Buddy settled down and all was good.  There was one moment in particular that made me really happy.  Buddy was being grabby with his toy and when I reached for it to throw he would guard it and grab it.  One of the dogs took this opportunity to grab for the toy also.  I thought for sure Buddy would get upset but he didn’t even care!  I don’t know that he will always be this forgiving when another dog goes for his toy but it was definitely promising.  I think Buddy would be fine with another dog as long as the other dog isn’t pushy and doesn’t try to dominate Buddy. 

This outing was particularly enjoyable for me for two reasons.  First Buddy was super adorable as he tried to figure how to play in Lake Superior.  He really didn’t know what to do about the waves at first and he didn’t want to go in at all.  After a little while we were able to convince him to go in by throwing his toy at the edge of the lake.  Pretty soon he was begging us to throw it in the lake.  The second reason is I was able to see Buddy watching the other dogs and using their example to see how to retrieve his toy from the deeper water.  Buddy was very uncertain about actually having to swim in the lake and early on we had to have one of the other dogs retrieve his toy because it was too far out for Buddy to get it without swimming.   But after watching the other dogs Buddy learned that he could swim out to get his toy also!  It was so wonderful to watch Buddy gain confidence and to learn by watching other dogs!  Especially knowing that he hasn’t always enjoyed other dogs company. 

Big thanks to Lynda Spangler and Marjorie Johnson for a great outing and learning experience for Buddy.  In the pictures that go with this update Buddy is the golden in front staring at the toy in one picture and the golden with the red toy in his mouth in the back of the other picture.  

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Buddy 14-166 had a really tiring day today but definitely good.  We had a play date with another RAGOM volunteer and her resident dogs to see how Buddy can get along with other dogs.   Good news for Buddy!  He did great.  It was so nice to see him running and playing alongside another dog.  He wasn’t interested in the other dogs particularly but he wasn’t aggressive either.  They just played with their respective toys and mostly ignored each other.  Buddy much preferred the other dog’s toy to his own because it was new to him and at one point he tried to play catch the new toy and was warned off by a short growl.  That was all he needed and he didn’t try to steal the toy again.  It was great to see.  He had fun and it shows that he can interact with other dogs in a positive way when introduced slowly and carefully.  He would definitely need the other dog to be calm or the owner to be very confident in their control of the dogs.   

We have also had two new experiences with Buddy in terms of his reaction to the cats.  First we have found that he does have some resources guarding issues in terms of his food.  He barked and growled at one of the cats when she sniffed his food.   Because of this we are going to feed Buddy away from the cats and keep his food away from them so that he does not have to feel like he has to guard it.  On a more positive note Buddy and the cats had a cute interaction last night.  The cats were having a typical play session and running back and forth across the house and Buddy jumps up and trots over to where they were playing and sticks out his nose and my youngest kitty walks up and sniffs him nose to nose before running off to play some more.  This is great progress for my cats since they are taking quite a while to warm up to the dog.   Buddy is hoping for more cat interaction soon I think.  He really wants to be included in their playtime…

There is also a great pic of Buddy completely tired out after playing fetch alongside the other dog! Thanks to Lynda Spangler for meeting with us and bring her lovely dogs!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Buddy 14-166 has been a great companion since moving into our household last week. He has done well with our cats and is pretty much the perfect “cat” dog. He observes them but does not chase or even approach them if they are feeling uncomfortable. Mostly he wants to be around the people anyway. The biggest problem we have with the cats is that Buddy is toy obsessed and he keeps trying to play with the cats toys. This means that if we try to play with our cats he will chase the toy and scare the cats and we are concerned that he may accidentally choke on these toys as they are so small. I believe that he could be trained to know the difference but it will take a little bit of work. We have found that Buddy is a really a people pleaser so he should be really easy to train to do tricks etc. He already knows the basic commands fairly well and will just need reminders now and again. He does seem to be convinced that every time we tell him to lay down that he is in trouble. So he tends to hesitate on that command. He isn’t too interested in treats though he is highly motivated by anything ball related. In fact, when a ball is out he is completed focused on it so we have to be careful or he will knock people or cats over in his race to get the ball. I imagine that this would be the case with children as well so he probably wouldn’t be super great with really young kids or you would have to be careful as we are with the cats. Buddy is a good walker and doesn’t pull much on the leash as long there are no squirrels or rabbit or deer moving in his line of sight. He pulls quite a bit if he sees prey in his path and will even try to back out of his collar. This can make walking with him an adventure as we have to keep our eyes out so that we are prepared in case he makes a break for it.

Buddy has to be put away in the bathroom overnight so that he doesn’t get at the cat toys while on his own and he seems to be okay with this. He did not like being crated in the hallway but that seemed to be because he doesn’t like the crate. We are working on crate training so that when he gets adopted his forever family can crate him if necessary.

Buddy is not destructive when left alone at least for short periods of time. We haven’t had to leave him for more than an hour or two at a time but he was really well behaved while we were gone. He is also perfectly potty trained. He has had no accidents or marking issues. 

Since getting Buddy we have made a few excursion to see how he does out and about. We took him to Culver’s for some ice cream and he does well in the car though I would not say that he loves the car but he sits nicely and is a polite passenger. At Culver’s he wandered around to the length of his leash and tried to get the ball that we bring everywhere with us. He didn’t seem concerned about the other people or cars nearby. All in all I would say he was good but it wasn’t an excited outing for him. He probably would have enjoyed it more if there had been some kids there. What he does like is when we take him out to a park on a training lead so that he can play fetch and run a bit. He loves fetch and will play until he is tired and then he lies down with the ball to tell us he is done. 

Today we gave him a bath and he didn’t particularly enjoy that very much. He especially does not like it when I brush his tail and the back of his hind legs but he allowed me to do it with only a few wiggles to get away, no other protests. His favorite part about this was that we gave him a bath outside and the neighbor boy came by to see what was going on. Buddy loves kids and he was especially happy when our neighbor threw the ball for him. He got to play with kids and his ball at the same time so he was in heaven.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

We found out this week that like many dogs Buddy 14-166 is most definitely afraid of fireworks though his previous foster noticed this also so we were expecting it.  To help him get through the 4th we put Buddy’s crate under our dining room table and set it up so that the table cloth would hang over his crate.  He seemed to find the crate soothing in this situation and would climb into the crate and lay down to rest while my husband paid bills or read at the table.  He is not terrible with fireworks and does shake or cry like some dogs but he was definitely unhappy and nervous. 

 

Buddy has had a rough couple of days.  Because of the 4th of July festivities (i.e. people shooting off fireworks) he has not been getting the same amount of exercise and playtime as usual.  This has led to him being a bit mouthy on walks and biting his leash when he gets excited.  Also, if I am not careful and I am wearing loose clothing he will grab onto that as well.  From this we have learned that he really needs dedicated playtime every day, even if he doesn’t feel like it.  Fortunately, he does not appear to have any problems with storms and it is just fireworks that he is scared of. 

 

Monday, June 23, 2014

Buddy is doing great.  He loved his bath outside in the "baby" pool (he was not at all interesed in getting into the bath tub).  After some gentle coaxing he just layed down and enjoyed the cool water.  Buddy is so easy to care for because he constantly wants to please and he enjoys attention from anyone, including children in the neighborhood. He loves to play with balls and fetch toys, and to show off how well he catches them in mid-air. 

Buddy weighs 80 pounds and had his wellness exam last week. He's up to date on all his vaccinations and preventatives and is now microchipped. The result of his bloodwork for  hypothyroidism shows that he's been over medicated. The vet has cut his dosage for hypothyroidism in half, and recommends that his bloodwork be re-checked in 4-6 weeks to make sure the dosage is appropriate. She also states that his thyroid should be checked at least annually.  Buddy has not had any hot spots caused by allergies since being in foster care.   If they do occur, it was recommended that he  be seen by a vet for proper treatment. Finally, she recommends he be on a 1000 calorie diet and that he lose another 10 pounds. 

Buddy has stayed calm when in the presence of other dogs (like at the vet's office and while leash walking). While he does not approach them, he has not shown any aggression.  Because of his excitement over his fetch toys, however, it's possible that he would resource guard if another dog tried taking his toy. His surrendering owner states that he has shown aggression when other dogs compete for any play object.  He does not resource guard, however, when I take a toy from him. (He just follows me everywhere until I put it away.)  Buddy is a delight to have around and charms everyone who meets him.  Let's help him find a new family soon!