Champ 08-405

Profile

Champ came to stay with us on Tuesday, August 19. He comes from a very loving home and his owners were broken-hearted to have to give him up.

Good news first: Champ is a great dog. He was born 1-21-08, so he's about 7 months old. He is a beautiful purebred Golden Retriever that currently weighs about 55 lbs.

He has settled in with our clan pretty well. He loves to play with our 1.5 yr old Springer, Lexi, (who is so happy to have a friend!) and tries to get our 13 yr old Springer, Sam, to play as well. Sam doesn't play anymore, though, and lets Champ know it with a growl now and then. He listens very well to her warnings. He and Lexi wrestle often, so often in fact that after our first day, I thought "What did I get us into? Will these dogs ever stop?" Things have settled down, though, and now the dogs have a routine of playing, sharing sticks to chew on, and resting.

Champ is still a puppy, just a very big one. He will grab toys, shoes, socks, tissues, etc. if given the chance and doesn't really like to give them up. He has had some obedience training but could stand to have some more. His former owner had a 12 yr old son with whom Champ would get "mouthy". We have not seen this behavior yet. He is great with my 5 and 7 yr old, but they know to give him his distance since he is new in our home. He has done some digging in the yard but stops when given a firm, "No!".

As I said, he gets along great with our dogs. He shares his toys and sticks nicely - no growling at all. We haven't fed all the dogs in the same spot yet so I can't say if he gets testy about food. Champ loves his kennel. He is kenneled when we leave the house and he goes into his kennel at night on his own.

The not so good news: Champ was given up because he needs surgery on both hips. The surgery is quite expensive and his owner just couldn't afford it. She made the difficult decision to contact RAGOM in hopes that her beautiful dog can get his surgery and continue to live a happy, pain-free life. His x-rays have been sent to a RAGOM vet who will read them and give us her opinion. Hopefully Champ will get to go visit her soon so that she can decide if she thinks the surgery will help him.

He does walk kind of funny and has a tougher time laying down, getting up and walking up and down the stairs than a 7 month old puppy should. But that doesn't stop him from playing and running around the yard (he just runs in smaller circles than Lexi and cuts her off).

I will update soon to let you know how Champ is coming along.

At a Glance #08-405

Golden Retriever	Born: January 2008
Male	53 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

Champ came to stay with us on Tuesday, August 19. He comes from a very loving home and his owners were broken-hearted to have to give him up.

Good news first: Champ is a great dog. He was born 1-21-08, so he's about 7 months old. He is a beautiful purebred Golden Retriever that currently weighs about 55 lbs.

He has settled in with our clan pretty well. He loves to play with our 1.5 yr old Springer, Lexi, (who is so happy to have a friend!) and tries to get our 13 yr old Springer, Sam, to play as well. Sam doesn't play anymore, though, and lets Champ know it with a growl now and then. He listens very well to her warnings. He and Lexi wrestle often, so often in fact that after our first day, I thought "What did I get us into? Will these dogs ever stop?" Things have settled down, though, and now the dogs have a routine of playing, sharing sticks to chew on, and resting.

Champ is still a puppy, just a very big one. He will grab toys, shoes, socks, tissues, etc. if given the chance and doesn't really like to give them up. He has had some obedience training but could stand to have some more. His former owner had a 12 yr old son with whom Champ would get "mouthy". We have not seen this behavior yet. He is great with my 5 and 7 yr old, but they know to give him his distance since he is new in our home. He has done some digging in the yard but stops when given a firm, "No!".

As I said, he gets along great with our dogs. He shares his toys and sticks nicely - no growling at all. We haven't fed all the dogs in the same spot yet so I can't say if he gets testy about food. Champ loves his kennel. He is kenneled when we leave the house and he goes into his kennel at night on his own.

The not so good news: Champ was given up because he needs surgery on both hips. The surgery is quite expensive and his owner just couldn't afford it. She made the difficult decision to contact RAGOM in hopes that her beautiful dog can get his surgery and continue to live a happy, pain-free life. His x-rays have been sent to a RAGOM vet who will read them and give us her opinion. Hopefully Champ will get to go visit her soon so that she can decide if she thinks the surgery will help him.

He does walk kind of funny and has a tougher time laying down, getting up and walking up and down the stairs than a 7 month old puppy should. But that doesn't stop him from playing and running around the yard (he just runs in smaller circles than Lexi and cuts her off).

I will update soon to let you know how Champ is coming along.

Updates

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Champ is doing well after his hip surgery. He is making good progress getting around and is playing somewhat with the resident dogs. Still a little wobbly, but when he gets tired he will go and lay down to rest, but that is expected. He is a very special Golden at 8 months, he has learned to just relax and loves the attention. He has no issues with the resident dogs, they share their toys, he loves his bones and doesn't have any guarding issues that we have seen. He will go to the door if needs to go outside, and waits to have his paws wiped when he comes in. He also loves his kennel and one of the many dog pillows that we have. He sleeps by the bed and usually doesn't move until the other dogs get up. Like I've said, he's a special dog with a great temperament.

Champ needs someone that will give all the love and attention that a Golden deserves and he gives you the respect if you respect him. At this point he is a very mellow 8 month old, with a few spurts of energy, but I'm sure once he is fully recovered from surgery he will have a few more spurts.

We go to the vet this week to get his Heartguard and see how he's doing with his leg.

It's time to go out....	Champ on the floor
Champ	What do you mean, SNOW?