Duke 05-194

Profile

Duke is an 8.5 year old male that was surrendered by a family that has had him the past 3 years. This was his third home that he's been in. The first home had many dogs and I didn't get much information on that home. The second home got him for hunting, but he wasn't interested. His current family had just lost their 13 year old Golden, and of course loved the breed.

Duke was surrendered because he has storm anxiety and was running away from the yard if he wasn't with his people. At this home, he was an outside dog and did very well with invisible fencing except when there was a storm. When I talked to the owners, they said there wasn't any problem if they were home near him during a storm. They felt the damage he did was more to get into the house when a storm came up.

He has previously lived with cats and dogs and is doing very well at my house. He has been around children and of course will be with my kids who are 10 and 14. The home he came from (the third one) had teenagers.

Duke will need to be given a rabies shot in August and is taking meds for hypothyroidism. It's one pill a day. It looks like the last time he was at the vet, he weighed around 90 lbs. and does look bigger now. He is already neutered. It doesn't look like he's had Heartworm since August 2003, so I will be getting him to the vet for the work he needs (I will say a prayer he is negative, but wouldn't know just by looking at him).

Duke

At a Glance #05-194

Breed not specified Born: September 1998
Male Weight not specified

Status: Adopted

Profile

Duke is an 8.5 year old male that was surrendered by a family that has had him the past 3 years. This was his third home that he's been in. The first home had many dogs and I didn't get much information on that home. The second home got him for hunting, but he wasn't interested. His current family had just lost their 13 year old Golden, and of course loved the breed.

Duke was surrendered because he has storm anxiety and was running away from the yard if he wasn't with his people. At this home, he was an outside dog and did very well with invisible fencing except when there was a storm. When I talked to the owners, they said there wasn't any problem if they were home near him during a storm. They felt the damage he did was more to get into the house when a storm came up.

He has previously lived with cats and dogs and is doing very well at my house. He has been around children and of course will be with my kids who are 10 and 14. The home he came from (the third one) had teenagers.

Duke will need to be given a rabies shot in August and is taking meds for hypothyroidism. It's one pill a day. It looks like the last time he was at the vet, he weighed around 90 lbs. and does look bigger now. He is already neutered. It doesn't look like he's had Heartworm since August 2003, so I will be getting him to the vet for the work he needs (I will say a prayer he is negative, but wouldn't know just by looking at him).

Duke

Updates

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Duke was able to get to the vet today for shots, heartworm test and microchip. He is smaller that I thought...weighed in at around 80 lbs. The vet said he's 1-2 pounds UNDERWEIGHT. He has a thick coat and I guess that is why I thought he was bigger.

During the vet vist, he lay on the floor while I was petting him. He didn't do anything as they took his temp, gave him his shots and all the other stuff. He was so good (my two aren't that good).

Last night, Duke met my kids and then settled down. I thought that he would want a doggie bed to lay on, but he picked his spot on the floor next to the bed. He was soaking up all the air from the a/c, which is fine with me. When I woke up this morning, he was on the floor downstairs. He didn't move until I stepped over him and let him out.

While he hasn't been with me that long, I would describe him as a very mellow dog. He will pace around when he has to go outside (no accidents so far) and is happy just to be next to you, but will seek out his own spot. One thing I discovered is he will cower if you say his name loudly. The previous owners told me about this, but I discovered it for myself when he was trying to steal a taste of the cat food. He is also somewhat afraid of my cats. When one was by the door he didn't want to go past her to come in. So a home with cats would be fine for him. He seems to know "sit" and has always come when called and hasn't run off.

Duke is a "low-maintenance" dog that is happy just to be with his people. When he wants to be petted, he will put his big paw on you, very gently. I was able to clean his ears (one does have a yeast infection) and while he did lift his lip when I was working on the one that is infected, he seemed to know that I was trying to help him. He will be getting treatment for his ears while he's with me (which is common in Goldens, so it's not a problem with me). I was able to brush him and when I got to a matt, he just lay there. Right now, he does have a dry coat, but once he's on better food, I think this will go away. To me...he's just a big teddy bear.

There has been no barking and when someone knocks on the door, he will go to see who it is, but doesn't jump and will wait his turn for pets. He will "cry", according to his previous owners, when he has a toy in his mouth but so far, he hasn't done that for me.

If you're looking for a great dog to share your home with, Duke is your boy. Please email Placementatragom [dot] org if you have an interest.