Cinder 14-141 [1]

 To Cinder: We are so proud of your progress! -Foster Mom and Dad

I'm very pleased to introduce you to Cinder - he's a charming little guy, full of energy and enthusiasm and very affectionate!  Cinder is a 56 pound golden mix and truthfully, we're stumped as to what kind of dogs are in his background.  He's a bit of a mystery but clearly golden retriever is one of the strong parts of his lineage.  He has the most interesting muzzle - there are lots of dark brown hairs on his muzzle giving him a bit of a 5 o'clock  shadow look. 

Cinder has been to the vet and is up-to-date on his vaccinations.  He's been neutered and will be micro-chipped shortly.  Before Cinder came into RAGOM, he had been treated for heartworm and we'll be doing one more test in July to make sure he's good to go.  He is a very active boy - in fact, his surrendering owners got him when he actively had heartworm and he was much quieter at that point.  After treatment, his natural activity level was restored and he was a bit too much of a playmate for the resident dogs in that house.  He's somewhere around 1.5 years right now and excited about opportunities to run in the yard, play with the other dogs, and he loves to go for a ride.  He's an occasional barker when something just doesn't seem right and we're just fine with that.  He has shown great house manners and has not had a single accident.  He enjoys a snuggle on the couch, loves to sleep on the bed and since he's not a huge dog, there's enough bed for everyone to be happy!  Cinder has been around children but not since he's been with us.  Because he's been known to jump up when he's excited, we are thinking he'd do best with children 10 and older.

Although Cinder seems to love our fenced backyard, at this point we're not sure if he requires a fence. It could be that he would be fine with lots of walks on leash but he *really* enjoys a good romp in the yard.  If he can't get one of our resident dogs to play with him, he's been known to just run for the sake of running.  At the same time, we're not sure he's ready to be a running partner.  He seems to have strained a muscle when he first came to us so we're trying (not always successfully) to keep him somewhat restrained.  Once that is healed up we'll know more. 

Cinder has not been crated since he's come to us but we know that he was crated occasionally in his previous home.  He's quickly picked  up the household routine and looks to the resident dogs when he's unsure about what to do.  He sleeps soundly all night but has adapted to our early morning routines and now thinks 5:30  is the time to get up, even on Saturdays.  We're going to teach him the joys of sleeping in next!