Ashton 12-048 [1]

We have had Ashton for 1 1/2 weeks, and what a lovable and loving guy he is! He is 4 years old and is a golden/lab mix who weighs 63 lbs. He looks very much like a lab, but he is a beautiful reddish-gold color. What a handsome guy he is - very solid and muscular! He is house trained and knows some basic commands like sit, shake, down, drop, and leave it. There is a certificate for passing a beginner level class in his records. With continued training he would be a very well-behaved dog. He likes to greet people by jumping up on them, but we know he can be trained that this behavior is unacceptable. We have been working with him on this. He loves being petted and scratched, so we use a lot of positive reinforcement with him. He is great with our resident female golden. They play long and hard together a few times a day. Ashton likes to bark at people and cars from the window. Also, he barks when he hears car doors shutting. We have been able to control the barking with commands for him to stop, and we love on him and thank him for stopping. We are also working with him on play nipping our hands and clothing. It isn't real biting, but it is annoying. He's just showing us in dog language that he wants to play or be petted. However, we're trying to show him other ways of telling us that are more acceptable. He is learning!

Ashton is a very energetic dog, and his favorite pastime is playing fetch. He is a powerful and fast runner. What we humans love most about the game is that Ashton will bring the ball back and drop it at our feet! Because he does that, he is rewarded with longer play since we don't have to chase him around trying to retrieve the ball ourselves. He also loves going for walks. However, because he is very strong and pulls on the leash when attached to his flat collar, we use the Gentle Leader for walks. He doesn't care for it much, but his love for getting out of the yard overpowers his dislike of the collar.

Ashton does not guard food or toys from humans or our golden. He loves chew toys and will demolish stuffed toys in record time. So our favorite toys for him are black Kongs. We have the regular black Kong for snacks and a bone-shaped black Kong for chewing and playing tug with our golden. So far the Kongs have proven indestructible. When we leave the house and at night, Ashton is kennelled in a large wire crate. He goes in on his own at the "kennel" command. His kennel is beside our bed, and he sleeps quietly through the night.