Shadow 14-393

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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
12/5/2014  Preferred Not tested Optional  Not tested 
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

Shadow found his way into RAGOM by way of a humane society in northern Minnesota. His original owners had to move and were unable to take this sweet boy with them. We feel very fortunate he was able to come and stay with us. We have a soft spot for black dogs.

Shadow is 7 years old, but acts like he’s still a young boy. We’re not really sure what he is, but we think he’s stunning. He needs to be brought up-to-date on a few things, including his neuter procedure. The paperwork says he is 64 pounds, but next to our resident boy who is 64 pounds, he is definitely smaller. It will be interesting to see what he really weighs. Foster dad is guessing he’s 60 pounds, and foster mom’s guess is 53 pounds. It’s become a contest with our last several foster dogs, so we’ll see who wins this time. Shadow knows how to coexist with our resident boys, but doesn’t seem to understand them completely. Our boys like to grumble when they talk and Shadow takes this to mean they are angry so he needs to be angry too. There has been no aggression, but he will get overly excited and get in our boys’ faces. He is easily redirected with a firm NO and the issue will pass. This not understanding has gotten better as he’s been with us. I get the impression Shadow did not spend a lot of time with other dogs. I firmly believe this is a small issue and will get better the more exposure he has to other dogs. Otherwise, he is a very happy boy and loves attention and praise. Every night, he will snuggle with foster dad by putting his front legs and head on his chest. Shadow does not get on furniture or our bed, even if he’s invited. He will share the popular dog bed, though.

Shadow knows many basic commands, “sit,” “shake,” “down,” “stay,” but he needs work on “come.” I think he just gets so excited it’s hard to listen to “come” when there are so many things to look at and explore. He is great when he’s in the fenced yard, but we haven’t tried him on a tie-out yet, so for now, I would say it would be best if he’s in a fenced yard. As we get to know him better, this may change. Even though he may not always come to the command, he is very good at coming to a whistle or when the rest of the pack comes running.

On one of our warmer cold days, we took everyone for a much needed walk. I used a Gentle Leader on Shadow and quickly realized this whole experience was not something he was used to. It wasn’t just the Gentle Leader that seemed strange to him; it was actually going for a walk. We would walk a short distance and Shadow would completely stop. I thought maybe it would be easier if one of the resident boys walked next to him, but that didn’t seem to make a difference. I would have to hold his collar and move him forward for the walk to continue. We could walk a short distance before the process would begin again. Luckily, the really cold weather is holding off, so we’ll get more practice. Again, this is not a difficult thing to learn, it just takes time and patience. I can tell you that Shadow is very smart and very willing to please. It is rare he doesn’t have a smile on his face.

We don’t have small children in our household, so we’ll have to see how he reacts to kids at an event. My grown children will be coming home soon, so I’m excited to see how he handles the excitement that’s generated in our house. We also don’t have cats, so that will be an experiment when we go to a pet store. Shadow doesn’t seem especially interested in the squirrels outside the sliding glass door, but does like to sniff around the yard where the bunnies usually come through the fence.

If you’d like to know more about this fantastic boy, please contact your Placement Advisor.

At a Glance #14-393

Mixed Breed Born: November 2007
Male 60 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

In addition to LOVE this dog has the following requirements:
Entered Foster Care Fence Kid Friendly Another Dog Cat Friendly
12/5/2014  Preferred Not tested Optional  Not tested 
This is the most recent information available; however, it may change as we learn more about the dog.

Shadow found his way into RAGOM by way of a humane society in northern Minnesota. His original owners had to move and were unable to take this sweet boy with them. We feel very fortunate he was able to come and stay with us. We have a soft spot for black dogs.

Shadow is 7 years old, but acts like he’s still a young boy. We’re not really sure what he is, but we think he’s stunning. He needs to be brought up-to-date on a few things, including his neuter procedure. The paperwork says he is 64 pounds, but next to our resident boy who is 64 pounds, he is definitely smaller. It will be interesting to see what he really weighs. Foster dad is guessing he’s 60 pounds, and foster mom’s guess is 53 pounds. It’s become a contest with our last several foster dogs, so we’ll see who wins this time. Shadow knows how to coexist with our resident boys, but doesn’t seem to understand them completely. Our boys like to grumble when they talk and Shadow takes this to mean they are angry so he needs to be angry too. There has been no aggression, but he will get overly excited and get in our boys’ faces. He is easily redirected with a firm NO and the issue will pass. This not understanding has gotten better as he’s been with us. I get the impression Shadow did not spend a lot of time with other dogs. I firmly believe this is a small issue and will get better the more exposure he has to other dogs. Otherwise, he is a very happy boy and loves attention and praise. Every night, he will snuggle with foster dad by putting his front legs and head on his chest. Shadow does not get on furniture or our bed, even if he’s invited. He will share the popular dog bed, though.

Shadow knows many basic commands, “sit,” “shake,” “down,” “stay,” but he needs work on “come.” I think he just gets so excited it’s hard to listen to “come” when there are so many things to look at and explore. He is great when he’s in the fenced yard, but we haven’t tried him on a tie-out yet, so for now, I would say it would be best if he’s in a fenced yard. As we get to know him better, this may change. Even though he may not always come to the command, he is very good at coming to a whistle or when the rest of the pack comes running.

On one of our warmer cold days, we took everyone for a much needed walk. I used a Gentle Leader on Shadow and quickly realized this whole experience was not something he was used to. It wasn’t just the Gentle Leader that seemed strange to him; it was actually going for a walk. We would walk a short distance and Shadow would completely stop. I thought maybe it would be easier if one of the resident boys walked next to him, but that didn’t seem to make a difference. I would have to hold his collar and move him forward for the walk to continue. We could walk a short distance before the process would begin again. Luckily, the really cold weather is holding off, so we’ll get more practice. Again, this is not a difficult thing to learn, it just takes time and patience. I can tell you that Shadow is very smart and very willing to please. It is rare he doesn’t have a smile on his face.

We don’t have small children in our household, so we’ll have to see how he reacts to kids at an event. My grown children will be coming home soon, so I’m excited to see how he handles the excitement that’s generated in our house. We also don’t have cats, so that will be an experiment when we go to a pet store. Shadow doesn’t seem especially interested in the squirrels outside the sliding glass door, but does like to sniff around the yard where the bunnies usually come through the fence.

If you’d like to know more about this fantastic boy, please contact your Placement Advisor.

Updates

Friday, December 19, 2014

Shadow has really started to settle into our home and routine. He is a very smart boy. We have discovered Shadow does have OK recall; we just didn’t learn this by choice. Mr. Shadow decided to push his head, then body, through the bottom of the fence. It happened so fast I didn’t realize he was on the other side. Luckily, my son was home and he ran around to the front of the house and called Shadow back into the garage. Even though he spent a little time sniffing around the front yard, with a little encouragement, he happily came when called. My son was laughing at me, as I was panicking.

Shadow is figuring out our resident boys now and they spend a lot of time lying next to each other on the floor. He is still not sure about the grumbling our boys do; it almost seems like he feels he needs to go into protect mode. It hasn’t escalated into anything more than some low grumbling from him and he will stop immediately when told “no” or “stop.” He wants so badly to play with the boys, but when they sound off, his energy level goes up. Because of that, I don’t encourage play, at least not until he learns doggie sounds don’t always mean … "I’m mad." Otherwise, Shadow is just the sweetest boy. He loves, loves, loves to snuggle with his people. When my son came home for dinner, Shadow couldn’t get enough of him.

We think Shadow is absolutely gorgeous and so did everyone at our vet clinic. Shadow went in for his neuter procedure and to get his vaccinations brought up-to-date. When we walked into the clinic, there was another dog in the waiting area. Mr. Shadow went right up to this dog without issue and said hello appropriately. I was aware Shadow didn’t appreciate a blood draw while at the humane society, so I gave them a heads-up. Apparently, he did really well until they went to hold him down for inserting the IV. They opted to muzzle him, which he handled fine, but he hated the needle. Otherwise, he was a very good boy. We now know Shadow weighs in at 54 pounds … so foster mom won the guess. He’s really at a perfect weight. He came back heartworm negative, but positive for Lymes. This only means he’s been exposed. Typically, the treatment, if needed, is a course of antibiotics. Because he came from northern Minnesota, it’s not uncommon.

All the boys eat in the same area with no issues, but Shadow would love to eat everyone’s food. We are teaching him “out” when he’s done and to wait outside the room until everyone is done. Shadow is always first to gobble up his food, so we’ve changed him to a special bowl to slow his eating. This has helped, but he’s still a fast eater.

I don’t think Shadow will be good with cats, but we don’t have cats, so this will have to be tested. We did have an incident with a bunny in the fenced yard. Needless to say, the bunny no longer has a cotton tail. This also caused an incident between one of our resident boys who is also bunny-crazed. The boys had a disagreement over who got the bunny. On a positive, it immediately ended when mom was yelling “stop.” They both looked at me like …. "What?"

If you’d like to know more about beautiful Shadow, please contact your Placement Advisor.