Max 13-130 [1]

June 4, 2013

Max is a handsome 1.5 year old Golden Retriever weighing in at 63 lbs. He was surrendered to RAGOM because he got into a scuffle with another dog at the SO's home.

Max is a young one, so he has a lot of energy. He will jump up on you when really excited. Some of those Golden Retriever traits he has, follows you room to room, laying down by your feet. And loves to carry socks around in his mouth. He isn't to enthusiastic about playing fetch in the backyard. Sometimes he'll bring it back, sometimes he won't.

Everyday I have been taking Max on walks. You would be surprised how well he walks on a flat collar. At first he pulls a little, but as the walk goes on, there's slack on the leash. So if you want a running or walking partner, he's your dog. At his previous home, he was trained on a visible fence and did well with that.

Max has been in 3 homes in his 1.5 years of life. This has taken a little toll on the guy and needs stability in his life. New experiences seem to scare him and he is good at communicating by vocalizing with a growl. He responds well to commands so I just say, "Max, no growling." He has an alpha personality and needs a strong leader to show him what's right and what's wrong. It is highly recommended that his future family takes him to obedience class to help understand Max's issue and build a bond and trust with him.

Since we are still getting to know Max, I wait for him to come up to me for pets. When at my computer he usually comes and nudges my arm or tries to snuggle by my legs. In the morning, I wake up to him giving me kisses on my face or arm.

Max would thrive in an environment as an only dog. At his foster home, there are 2 younger dogs, male and female. Every time I go pet one of them, Max runs over trying to get all the attention. Sometimes when my dogs are too close to him, I can tell it makes him nervous. The other day though, I saw him play with my female dog.

When I am gone at work, I will baby gate him from the other dogs. I did let him have free roam of the entire house when I took my dogs out to the dog park. I would completely trust him for 8 hours, he is house trained and doesn't destroy things.

We have 2 cats in the house, one is a dog hater, who fights back and one isn't. Max gets too excited towards the dog hater cat and chases. But when around the other cat he ignores it.

One absolute requirement for Max's home, is no young kids. I think older dog savvy teens would be fine. Sudden movements from the young kids would probably be too much for him.