Meet Abe, a male, purebred Golden Retriever. He will be six months old on November 28th. The vet guesses he should top off at about 55 lbs. 

He had a long drive to MN and he slept the whole time, and I think he was just exhausted from his day of events. It took about 15 minutes to get him through the main doorway to my house, so I wonder if he had never been in a house before. His foster sister finally gave a quick bark, and he decided it was safe to come in. It took him about 3 days to understand stairs, which he finally learned from watching his fur-foster sister. He depends on her for a lot, so another dog in his adoptive home is a must. He seems to get the whole going-outside-to-go-potty and has had only a few accidents in the house. 

He has not been a chewer and has free reign of the house during the day. I have about 50 toys around the house, and he carries and plays with them. If I’m not watching, he carries them outside, too. He’s not a fan of being crated, but after staring at you long enough, he will eventually settle down. 

Abe wears a harness and walks pretty well. I’m able to clean his ears and play with his teeth and feet with no problems. He seems to do fine with my resident cats, though he has his spurts of barking at the one that tends to hiss at him. Overall, Abe is a Velcro dog that needs someone with patience as he experiences what being a family dog is all about.