Please welcome Gracie to RAGOM!

She is a 2 1/2yr old Mini Golden Doodle (DOB 6/23/14). Gracie has been lovingly surrendered by a family that had her since she was a puppy. Things have changed in their family, they now have a 9 month old baby and with long work days they feel they cannot give her the time she deserves. They have decided she should find a family that can devote more time to her. It is very evident that her family spent time training her and she was well cared for and very loved.

1st she is quite a snuggler, and loves her people. She is pretty much a Velcro dog in that she wants to be by her people most of the time.

2nd she has the ‘golden nudge’ down to perfection! -( and uses it often. I think she would like to be pet 24/7 if she had her way!)

Gracie is 39lbs and is only as tall as my knee. She is very smart and will let you know when she wants to go out by giving a scratch at the door. She knows sit and down and she also seems to know the hand signals for sit and down. Gracie met my dog and the neighbor dog without any issues. She is not reactive to other dogs when walking on a leash. She does pull some on a leash, but I believe someone has worked with her on ‘heeling’, as when I give the command she seems to know I want her to walk next to me. Gracie is a champion Counter Surfer! She would like to stand next to you at the counter and put her paws up on the counter so she can see what you are doing. I have found, if I take her to the rug at the doorway to my kitchen and give her the ‘down’ ‘stay’ commands she will lay on the rug and watch me from there.

She LOVES to play fetch in the yard with both Frisbees and balls. She will even bring them back and drop them! Another command she knows, ‘drop it’ when coming in the house I can tell her drop it and she will leave the ball or Frisbee outside the door. With the warm weather my yard is a little soggy and Gracie has gotten pretty wet and dirty, she will stand nicely on the back step and allow me to wipe her feet and dry her off before she comes inside. She also let me give her a bath in the walk in shower. (Technically I guess I gave her a shower) Anyway she stood still and had no problem with me scrubbing her up with shampoo and rinsing. She wasn’t too sure about the brush though.

She has been allowed on furniture, so that is something we are working on at my house, since I have not really allowed my dogs on the furniture. She is allowed on the couch with me when I am sitting on it and otherwise stays on the floor. It took a few reminders when she jumped on the furniture but I think she seems to understand the rules now. She also sleeps on the bed and I will say she can be quite the bed hog and really wants to be touching you. I have found if I put a body pillow next to me to kind of section off her area it works really well. Oh and she is an early riser, I would have to guess her family used to get up around 5am. The good news is once she is fed and let out she will come in and go back to sleep.

Gracie and my RD Miller engage in play on occasion, it is very gentle play. It is fun to watch them. They will first stand by each other and hold still both of them with tails wagging slowly, then one will take a step or two and the other will move and then they go! Gracie loves to play with toys inside too; she definitely knows what the toy box is and is not afraid to use it! She pulls several toys out every day. She especially likes the squeaky toys and is a champion De-stuffer!! She really enjoys the puzzle toys I have. I put some of her dog food in them and she has to figure out how to get it out. She is much like my Miller in that she is vocal.

She will start ‘chatting’ at me when she wants my attention. Basically she seems to want me to play with her. She enjoys being outside and barks appropriately at noises she hears. She does seem to be leery of new people when she first meets them, but warms up quickly. She does jump on people so for this reason should not go to a home with small children. A dog savvy 5 yr old would probably be just fine with her, while a child with little or no dog experience would probably need to be a few years older. Gracie did go to doggie daycare one day a week in her previous home. When I come home from work she does like a lot of attention and wants to play. I think she will be happiest in a home where she will be active.

Gracie has been to the vet and is healthy and ready for her furever home.