Please welcome Max to RAGOM! Max is a 4.5-year-old purebred, 88-pound, neutered male Golden Retriever; he is up-to-date on his shots and is microchipped as well. Max visited the vet for a wellness exam, and left with a clean bill of health. He should lose about 5-8 pounds, but otherwise, he's in phenomenal health! Max spent the first four and a half years of his life with a wonderful family who loved him dearly. Recently, Max's family moved into a new neighborhood with a lot of children. While Max lived very comfortably with a two-year-old child in his home, new people and children make him kind of nervous. Max is also cautious of new people touching his rear-end area until he gets to know them, and when an unfamiliar child touched his rear end or tail, he reacted to the child and there was an altercation. Max was evaluated and it was determined that he was safe to return to his family, but, since they had just moved into their new neighborhood and they were expecting a new baby soon, they made the extremely hard decision to surrender Max to RAGOM. It is obvious that Max's surrendering owners loved him very, very much and only want the best for their special boy.

Max came to us on October 11th, so as of today, he's been with us for one week. During Max's first 24 hours in our home, he was very cautious and apprehensive. He, as stated previously, is wary of new people, so we gave him lots of space and let him do his own thing so he could make himself comfortable. After the first day in our home, he began to approach us for pets and began to sit with us on the couch. Fast forward to a week later, and Max is currently cuddling with me on the couch with his head on my lap as I type this. Most dogs who go through traumatic changes need time to warm up to new people and become comfortable in new environments, and this situation is no different. Max needs time and space before he feels safe, and once he does, he's a truly wonderful dog.

Max received formal obedience training as a young dog; he responds to the following commands: sit, lay down, come here, drop it, all done, leave it, and sometimes stay (depends on the situation). Max's recall is very good, and he is trained on an invisible fence; his owners had one for four years and had no problems with him minding the invisible fence. Max has also been formally trained as a hunting dog; he hunted birds and duck with his previous owner, and enjoys fetching dummies to keep up his practice. :-) He also absolutely LOVES the water, and would love to reside near a large body of water. He is also a master fetching-machine, and will play fetch all day long. He is very strong and does pull on a leash, so we are currently working with the Gentle Leader, which he's not a huge fan of, but it does seem to be helping tremendously.

Max gets along very well with our 1.5-year-old resident dog, Sadie, and although he doesn't play with her too much, he's tolerates her high energy level very well. He is reported to be cat friendly, and when he saw a cat at the vet, he did not react at all, just walked right by it to the car. Max will need to live in a quieter home with older children (12 and up) who are respectful of his space at the beginning. However, once he is comfortable with the children around him, he is very loving and cuddly, so I feel confident that visiting children (i.e. grandchildren) would be fine once they allowed Max some time to get to know them.

So, here are his requirements in a nutshell:

• A calm, patient family who is willing to give him time to settle in and get comfortable.
• Experienced dog owners who will be committed to Max's growth and comfortability in new situations.
• Older children (12+) who are dog savvy and respectful of Max's space until he gets to know them.
• Another dog is optional. He would be fine either way.
• He is cat friendly.
• Fence is not required, and he is invisible fence trained.
• A family who will love him and help him grow forever and ever.

If you are interested in hearing more about Max, please contact your placement advisor!