Louie 12-348 [1]

November 7, 2012

Please welcome Louie to the RAGOM family! He’s an honorary Golden Retriever—Golden in color and loves to Retrieve a ball!

Louie was a stray from Sioux Falls, SD. The shelter there was very full and they asked if RAGOM would take him in. Of course we would!

He arrived at our house a few days ago and is settling in nicely. Louie is 61 lbs of ALL puppy! He has no manners, but is eager to please. He is treat-motivated, so the training will come quickly. What’s Louie’s biggest “issues”?? Well, it’s not really issues, but in two words it’s called EXERCISE and TRAINING! Louie will require a family that has exercise as a part of their daily routine. Even if it’s raining or snowing or freezing cold, he will need at least 1 walk/run a day! We have been running with him for about 45 minutes in the morning and walking him at night. This helps, but simply put, he’s a big puppy with lots of energy. He will also need obedience training. A good class will do him wonders!

Here are a few more tidbits about Louie:

• He’s not a barker---we’ve barely heard a peep out of him.
• He arrived at our home completely crate trained---sleeps in his crate at night and while we’re at work, he goes in his crate with no issues. (I would not trust him out during the day---way too many things he could get into.)
• Completely potty trained and only marked two times in our house (when he first arrived); he knows where he’s supposed to do his business.
• He loves, loves, loves to play fetch with a ball, or probably anything else you would throw for him.
• He has an excellent nose---it must be his lab genes. He can find a ball buried in a 5 foot pile of leaves, no kidding!
• As we’ve mentioned a few times, he’s all puppy, which includes being a bit mouthy. HOWEVER, he has a very gentle mouth and also takes treats gently.
• He gets along well with our resident Golden Retriever, Winston. He’s a smart dog and definitely understands dog language. Winston has had to “put him in his place” a couple times and he immediately backed off.
• He rides perfectly in the car, as long as he’s in a crate. We took him to the vet tonight and we didn’t use the crate---it was obvious he’s never been in a car without being in a crate, so he was hyper and didn’t know proper car-manners. But we are confident he can learn how to ride nicely without a crate.
• Lastly, he is neutered, chipped and up to date on all vaccinations. He saw the vet tonight and he is completely healthy.

We will update you more in a couple days. If you are active, love to exercise and willing to put a little obedience work into him, he’ll make a great family member. Contact your Placement Advisor if you are interested in meeting Louie!