Meet Sam, who is a whole lot of dog to love!
This handsome guy was found as a stray in Iowa, brought to a shelter and soon after became a RAGOM dog. Yippee! Sam spent a few weeks in boarding waiting for a foster home to become available. He won over the hearts of everyone who helped take care of him in boarding!
We picked up Sam a few days ago and the first thing we learned is he is a VERY gentle, but large guy! He weighed 105 pounds when he first came into RAGOM and has lost some weight. The second thing we learned is he would not get into our SUV. Once he was lifted in, he was fine for the two hour ride!
Sam entered our house very willingly and handled meeting our dog and cat VERY well. In fact, he was the easiest dog I have ever introduced into my house. He did not seem interested in playing with our 2 year old resident dog and just kept turning away from him. I have not seen him play with any toys yet…he doesn’t seem interested. Sam LOVES our kids and they love him! He is great with them, even with his large size. Sam doesn’t jump up on people. He will sit and wait to receive attention.
Sam is very comfortable inside and just wants to be by humans! It appears he does get concerned when we leave the room and/or house, but he has not been destructive. He does have free roam in most of our main floor and prefers that. Like I said, he just wants to be by people!
At this time, crates stress him out. We are feeding him in a crate with the door open so he gets used to going in one and receiving good things. I tried to crate him when we left our house yesterday and he absolutely refused. His 100 pound body wasn’t going in, so I gave up and gated him into our kitchen. He did just fine and was found sleeping 2 hours later. I also think some obedience training with his family or professional may help Sam work on learning to wait and not bolting through doors when left open. Right now if he decides he isn’t going to do something, he just simply lies down and refuses to move
Sam met company who came to our house with no problem. He greeted them with sniffs and enjoyed the extra TLC.
Sam had no accidents in his kennel during his time in boarding. He has had a couple here, but he is figuring out our routine and we are figuring out his needs. I would expect I can say he is housetrained very soon! Sam has no resource guarding issues with other dogs or people with his food. He waits while we get his food and didn’t care when our dog tried to eat some of his. He is very laid back and although he hasn’t gotten into toys yet, I just know he wouldn’t have guarding issues with toys either.
Now for Sam’s quirk…and we all have our quirks! Right now Sam drools a lot, more than what I would expect is normal. When he gets nervous or is active, it really increases. However, when he is just lying around being mellow, it isn’t a problem. We are having a tooth looked at in a couple of days as it is suspected that there is an infection there, causing all the drooling. If that is the case, the drooling will be solved. My son, with a huge smile on his face, said it best the first day he was here, "He is so cute, I just can’t stand it! Even with all his drool!"
Sam definitely has the color and temperament of a golden retriever, but is considered to be a golden retriever mix. Mixed with what, we have no idea, but we like him just the way he is. I would guess he has some lab in him for sure. Sam has the most absolute lovable, "please pet me" eyes I have ever seen!
He is a very mellow guy, just wanting to be by people so he can give and get a lot of love! Sam has been neutered, is up-to-date on all his vaccinations, is heartworm negative and is ready to go! If you are interested in Sam, contact your placement advisor to see if he is the right dog for you!
Welcome to RAGOM Sam!
