Ernie 12-321

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Profile

October 2, 2012

Ernie is a healthy,energetic neutered male Golden retriever and Border Collie mix at 8 months old. He has had all his shots and ready to find his forever family.

Ernie came from a home in which he was an outside dog, his companions are his Mother Allie 12-310 and his brother Bert 12-320 and his family had to move out and could not take them with. Ernie has had quite a few changes in his short life. He and his brother were at the Impound for awhile, overall went from free roam to small kennel. Then brought into RAGOM and was temporarily staying at a boarding facility along with Bert in which they had great care. Then Bert found a foster a week before he did and he was lonely and very anxious. Everything he knows of his world is gone.

He arrived at our home on 9/28. I sat with him in the back seat of the car on the way home he did very well on the 2 hour trip. When introduced to the other dogs, 2 seniors and a 9mo old pup, he quickly got along and in a matter of 15 minutes he was running and chasing outside happily with the others. The cat he is obsessed with and terrorizes him frequently, has not hurt him though.

It was very apparent he has not had much exposure to a house, He had some difficulty with the stairway at first. But shortly after he kept going up and down over and over. He also walked into the deck door and basement window many times and bumped his head. I suspect he has not had any limits or boundaries, he jumped all over the house on table and counter-surfing. Needless to say the deck screen door is now a doggy door. After all he has alot to experience and is very curious. He is not potty trained, but we are working on that and he is making excellent progress. He is very friendly to all humans and likes to cuddle, hugs and kisses, we are able to take bones and prize items from him no problem, not so much with the other dogs, he growls and nips. We are starting at the early puppy fundamentals of sit and down and leash training, he is catching on very fast. It makes it a bit easier that he is probably only 35-40 lbs and as a adult will be smaller then an average Golden retriever. He is always at our sides and tries to keep everything in check, the herding instinct in him. Working on the gentle leader, he is doing well on walks.

My opinion is Ernie is a very quick learner and needs a permanent home that will be patient and get him in formal obedience class and consistent training. A home with a fenced yard would be ideal for his safety, until he understands his boundaries. He will need lots of exercise to keep him happy and will gladly play ball and Frisbee till no end.

Older kids 8 and up I am positive he does well with. He loves to play. He would do well with a confident adult dog to show him some of the ropes, but not a necessity. A home that understands this is a very active dog and if he does not have enough physical and mental outlet, you will have no shoes or slippers left.

I think he will make someone very happy, I think there is no limit to what this dog can do with the right training and environment.

At a Glance #12-321

Mixed Breed Born: February 2012
Male 40 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

October 2, 2012

Ernie is a healthy,energetic neutered male Golden retriever and Border Collie mix at 8 months old. He has had all his shots and ready to find his forever family.

Ernie came from a home in which he was an outside dog, his companions are his Mother Allie 12-310 and his brother Bert 12-320 and his family had to move out and could not take them with. Ernie has had quite a few changes in his short life. He and his brother were at the Impound for awhile, overall went from free roam to small kennel. Then brought into RAGOM and was temporarily staying at a boarding facility along with Bert in which they had great care. Then Bert found a foster a week before he did and he was lonely and very anxious. Everything he knows of his world is gone.

He arrived at our home on 9/28. I sat with him in the back seat of the car on the way home he did very well on the 2 hour trip. When introduced to the other dogs, 2 seniors and a 9mo old pup, he quickly got along and in a matter of 15 minutes he was running and chasing outside happily with the others. The cat he is obsessed with and terrorizes him frequently, has not hurt him though.

It was very apparent he has not had much exposure to a house, He had some difficulty with the stairway at first. But shortly after he kept going up and down over and over. He also walked into the deck door and basement window many times and bumped his head. I suspect he has not had any limits or boundaries, he jumped all over the house on table and counter-surfing. Needless to say the deck screen door is now a doggy door. After all he has alot to experience and is very curious. He is not potty trained, but we are working on that and he is making excellent progress. He is very friendly to all humans and likes to cuddle, hugs and kisses, we are able to take bones and prize items from him no problem, not so much with the other dogs, he growls and nips. We are starting at the early puppy fundamentals of sit and down and leash training, he is catching on very fast. It makes it a bit easier that he is probably only 35-40 lbs and as a adult will be smaller then an average Golden retriever. He is always at our sides and tries to keep everything in check, the herding instinct in him. Working on the gentle leader, he is doing well on walks.

My opinion is Ernie is a very quick learner and needs a permanent home that will be patient and get him in formal obedience class and consistent training. A home with a fenced yard would be ideal for his safety, until he understands his boundaries. He will need lots of exercise to keep him happy and will gladly play ball and Frisbee till no end.

Older kids 8 and up I am positive he does well with. He loves to play. He would do well with a confident adult dog to show him some of the ropes, but not a necessity. A home that understands this is a very active dog and if he does not have enough physical and mental outlet, you will have no shoes or slippers left.

I think he will make someone very happy, I think there is no limit to what this dog can do with the right training and environment.

Updates

Monday, October 22, 2012

Well, today was a very bittersweet day for me......

Ernie packed up his bones and moved into his FURever home!

It was surprising how fast we bonded with Sweet Ernie in just 12 short days. My resident dogs, Charlie & Bentley have been looking all over the house for him!

But, I just know this is the PERFECT home & family for him; His kind, new parents have a 14 month old golden that was also adopted as a RAGOM pup. I am sure that he and his new brother are going to have Many really great days playing in their back yard together!

Best of luck to Ernie and his new FURever Family!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

SWEET, petite 8 month old Ernie has moved and has joined his permanent foster family; Mom & dad and 2 1/2 yr old English creme golden Bentley and 8 year old golden Charlie. Within 36 hours we have all become besties! (Means best friends I am told by my college age daughter.) He is one special, SMART little boy that WANTS some patient guidance and lots of LOVE. He is just eating up all of the attention and COULDN'T BE CUTER during playtime with our dogs. A puppy that is 99 % trained ~ WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THAT?

He already has free run of the house when I am home. He chews on bones, looks out the windows, plays with my dogs, has the occasional zoomies around the dining room table and goes to the door and barks when he needs to go out. Oh and most importantly loves to CUDDLE on the couch with us!!!

I have a large kennel for when I have to leave the house until he gets a little more used to being alone with my dogs. He goes in the crate fine and barks a few times and then settles down. He does potty (only) in his crate but I just wash the large towel when I get home. I think it is just A MATTER OF TIME before he can have free roam when I am gone.

I believe he will fit in nicely in ANY TYPE OF HOME situation whether there are other dogs or not. He will need daily exercise and LOVES WALKS. He likes the frisbee and tennis ball and teasing our dogs with them also. But he also likes cat naps on my feet, following me around the house, car rides, BATHS, other people, treats for "sitting" and an extra SOFT BLANKET on his bed to snuggle with!

With a beautiful darker GOLDEN RETRIEVER MOM and a beauty of a black and white border collie dad he has a shiny black coat with a small patch of white on his cute belly. I believe his coat will get a little longer and feathery and fill out with better nutrition. I am working on the weight gain and he should be around 50 lbs. or so full grown.

He will need some training classes or just some work on some of the basics. HE IS A FAST LEARNER so it should be easy for him to catch on quickly. He knows, sit, working on lay down, Go night-night, potty, come, his name. Needs some work on not jumping up on us when he's excited, although he is as GENTLE AS A FEATHER when he does. If I walk around the house with him on a leash it is easy to work on these skills. Because he was an outdoor dog most of his life he likes to look through windows both inside and out and also is really confused when he sees himself in the mirror. Lots of new, curious indoor things for him to see but HE IS SO RESPECTFUL of really everything in our home.

As I write this I realize how fast we've fallen for this little guy. His BEAUTIFUL DARK EYES are just begging for approval from us. At only 8 months it is the perfect age to adopt him and mold him into the PERFECT family pet for you. Contact RAGOM today.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Went to the vet today and Ernie did very well. He is getting used to the car, he jumped in after my resident pup did first with a little coaxing. Once he is in, he is fine.

He is now 42.5 lbs which is wonderful, he still needs to gain some weight. His neuter incision healed nicely, he received his last dewormer med and he has a mild ear infection in the right ear, so some irrigations and antibiotic drops for 7 days. Ernie allows me to irrigate and apply the drops without any fuss.

He is doing well on a Gentle Leader with his daily leash walks and looks forward to them. His favorite toy is a baby Kong with crunchy treats. We are now 99% done with potty training, he is now really reacting to praise which has helped his training process. He has learned sit. The vet is so impressed with his progress. He is adjusting well now to being in a house and lays at my feet and cat naps frequently.

He is very intelligent and catches on fast. I think he has the potential to be a great family dog, agility, dock dog (he loves water) and with some work and maturity a therapy dog. The sky is the limit with this one. Can't believe my Inbox is not full of offers to adopt such a gem.