Boden 08-364 [1]

This beautiful buff golden is Boden (aka Bodie, or the Bodenheimer). Boden is typically golden in nature, LOVES everything and everyone. He is about a year and a half, a 78 lb PB golden male, and was a stray who was found in northwestern Minnesota. Since we have a cabin in the Park Rapids area, we volunteered to pick Boden up from a shelter in Detroit Lakes and foster him at our home in New London.

Boden loves car rides, and quickly jumped into the back of the Subaru, where I was glad I had restraint straps ready for him. (We've found that he does the kangaroo act in the car at first if not restrained, but then settles down.) Bodie came to us as an intact male, and quickly marked the shrubs at our cabin door. The shelter said that he kept his kennel clean, and thought he was housetrained but I kept a close eye one him as he explored the cabin and met our two resident dogs. They didn't much like a new dog coming in and trying to take over right away, so there was some disagreement over who's boss but nothing serious. I'm afraid however that Boden did decide at the end of a pretty successful day to lift his leg on a leather chair (right in front of me…no big deal, right?). Oh dear. Well, hopefully neutering will take care of that. Bodie quickly bonded to my husband and me and became a Velcro dog. As he settled in at the cabin for a few days, the dogs seemed to be reaching an understanding. Another "mark" on the living room floor happened, but all in all, he understood that he is to potty outside.

My husband took Bodie home to New London and "bached" it for 5 days while I remained in Park Rapids with our two "residents". Bodie made a visit to the vet and is now neutered, was tested (negative) for heartworm, and microchipped. Jim reports that while they were home alone for almost a week, Boden had NO housebreaking accidents. Furthermore, he was the perfect companion, calm but eager for pets and hugs. He has been taught some basic commands such as sit and down, and shake hands. He lacks "stay", but responds pretty consistently to the "no!" command. He is not crate trained, but will enter a crate with a treat offer and will remain for a brief time. He barks and whines to get out, however, and will begin to try to "dig" out. Jim allowed him to stay in a bedroom in lieu of a kennel and that went very well. No chewing, accidents or problems and after a few complaining barks, he settled down nicely.

When the "pack" returned home from the cabin there were some re-entry issues, some testing dominance like before. My husband reports that Boden is much more active and he observed more panting and pacing than when it was just the two of them. It's been less than 24 hours, so I anticipate that will work its way through. The "kids" are only seeing each other for supervised short visits right now. Boden LOVES the other dogs and we can see he is very excited to be with them. He play bows, and doesn't understand why these other dogs don't play nice with him, but he also will try some dominance displays (mounting, standing over them) when he thinks he can get away with it. He doesn't complain when the other dogs take things he has been playing with, and even seems to try to entice them to play. He is very tolerant of our cat, and doesn't chase. He does pull strongly on a leash, so I see a Gentle Leader in his future

Both Jim and I agree at this point that Boden would be a perfect gentleman if he were an only dog in a household. Loves to be with people, and will settle down by your feet for long stretches and naps. He did get up on a couch once, but when told no, hasn't done so since. No counter surfing or stealing items from tabletops. No chewing other than toys and chewies we give him. Loves walks and car rides. We're working on his tolerance for being crated, and being a good pack member as things sort themselves out in this area in our household. However, we can honestly say this is one beautiful, smart and loving dog. He will make someone an excellent companion!