Kevin 11-421 [1]

 In memory of Bob Nicklesen

Kevin has been in my home since Sunday afternoon. He is calm for the most part, but he has a lot of energy in him when he wants to play. He likes to "wrestle" and plays "tag" with Dexter, my resident 3.5yo Golden Retriever. Kevin is very vocal; he will bark at the sound of someone opening the front door or even walking by the house. He has a high pitched bark when he wants attention either in the form of needing to go outside, play fetch, or begging for a treat/food.

House-broken: As far as I can tell, he is fully house-broken. He has not marked or had any accidents in my home. He will let you know he needs to go out by barking to get your attention.

Food: From what I can tell, his weight looks great. I am feeding him Beneficial Lamb & Rice with 1c in the morning, and 2-3c in the evening. When feeding him, I am commanding him "Sit" and "Wait" until I tell him it is "OK" to eat his food, I do this because it is what I do with Dexter. He has started to catch on after watching Dexter do those motions. I have taken his food bowl away while he eats and he does not growl or nip, however, he is a bit possessive when it comes to treats and will be aggressive towards Dexter by growling and biting him. He does take treats from humans gently, but he gets impatient if you make him wait too long before he can have one. He will beg for people food and will sometimes while you're eating, we have been telling him "No!" when he does this and it seems to be subsiding.

Alone Time: He has 100% free roam of the house, but I have been (and will be) home for the most part for the next few weeks. Today I ran some errands and had lunch with a friend and everything seems to be ok in the house. I left a bag of potato chips on the kitchen counter and those are still in tact.

Social Skills: He enjoys car rides and loves human interaction. On the drive home he lied down in my lap. He's been ok snuggling up on the couch when I watch TV and will lay at the foot of the bed at night. He enjoys being pet and scratched. I have not had him around children yet, but his original bio says he's ok with kids, but may knock smaller ones over because he doesn't realize his size.

Toys: He likes to play fetch, I have lots and lots of yellow squeaker balls left over from Shadow (my previous foster) that Kevin has seemed to claim as his own. He has gone through the house and yard and collected them all, maybe he's a pro at Pokemon? I haven't seen him interested in any other toys and he has not chewed on anything except a compressed rawhide bone.

Other Behavior: He knows "Sit" and "Shake", no other signs that other commands are known at this time. He charges doors and hasn't learned his boundary on the front door, I opened the door for a UPS delivery and he started to bolt, it was his first interaction with that specific door though, so maybe he will learn not to go out that door. He has learned which door to go to when he needs to "go outside." Aside from him being a little aggressive when sharing treats with my other dog, I haven't seen any bad behaviors.

He's UTD on shots but needs some boosters that will be administered on his vet visit later this week, he is neutered. He is microchipped but I do not see any chip info in his file, so I may have the vet rechip him. He had some matting behind his ear which I took care of and he's getting a bath at PetCo on Wednesday. I've played with his paws and jowls and he doesn't mind, I have not had a chance to leash walk him yet.

Kevin needs a home where he can stay active where people can play fetch with him. Being in a home with bigger dogs should be ok, smaller dogs I am not sure about, he should be ok around children as well. A fenced yard would be good since I don't know if he's a runner or tether trained.