Chester is a sweet, happy Golden who is 10 months old. He was surrendered by an owner who decided Chester deserved a better life than what he could provide him at this time. A family or someone who has much more time to spend with him would be great. 

Chester definitely has puppy energy and is a little mischievous, but he does calm down and relax, too. He is intact, but will be neutered on September 8th. He is in good health, loves to play with our resident Golden, and enjoys going on walks. He also does great with our 8-year-old daughter. Chester really seems to like her and everyone he meets.

Chester loves to be petted by our daughter and gets excited to see her. He has been great with her and loves to lick her face. She really likes him, too. He’s even cuddled up with her in our big chair. If she gets down on the floor with him though, he gets a little too playful with her. Other than that, he’s been very gentle with her.

When Chester first arrived at our home he was quite nervous, but after a couple days he became more and more comfortable. He has slept great in his crate every night he has been here with no problems. His previous owner said he was housebroken, and even though Chester had a few accidents in the first several days with us, he has been doing great since that time.

We are pretty sure that it just took him a few days to get used to his surroundings and new routine. He now goes down to the basement on his own when he needs to go outside, since that is where we take him out. 

Chester has such a cute face and pretty, red fur! His fur is mostly straight with a little wave in his hind end. He has a thinner coat and isn’t real bushy like some Goldens, so he is pretty easy to brush! He seems to enjoy being brushed too. He does get a little playful with the brush at times, but that’s to be expected from a dog his age. He didn’t like getting in the bathtub, but did fine once he got in.

Chester has loved playing with our Golden, Buddy, since the day he arrived. He got really excited and wound up when they first starting playing together, running all over the house and furniture. I don’t think he knew when to quit playing, as he got quite exhausted and would plop down. He has since calmed down with his playing and does a great job with Buddy.

They are able to wrestle and chase inside and outside since we have a big fenced in back yard. They have been great about sharing toys, and there has been no resource guarding issues with dogs or people. There are definitely higher value toys he doesn’t want to give up, but he will usually drop them for a treat.

Chester likes stuffed animals, balls, chew toys, antlers, ropes, etc. He does try to rip up certain stuffed animals and ropes, so we are careful about letting him play with those. He has also tried to rip up clothes that were left on the floor, but he didn’t since I was watching him and took them away. He hasn’t tried to chew up our shoes yet, which tends to be a popular puppy activity, but we have been careful.

He has tried to chew on our big fluffy rug a couple times (it could be mistaken for a stuffed animal), but he is pretty easily redirected when he is doing something he shouldn’t be, by giving him an appropriate toy or treat. He listens quite well!

In regards to training, Chester knows sit, down, shake, and is working on stay. Stay has been hard for him. I recently taught him the cue “touch” (touch my hand when I stick it out), and he is doing great with that. He still gets a treat every time I do it. It has been a great way to get his attention or get him to come to me. He doesn’t seem to know the command come, but he will come sometimes when called. 

He seems smart and is food motivated. I think he would do great with more consistent training, and I would highly recommend an obedience (manners) class with him or more training. I think he would really enjoy it, too. He’s more of an independent dog then a Velcro dog, but he does like to be petted and is always excited to see us when we get home. 

I would say Chester is in the medium energy level category. He plays a lot with our Golden (running, chasing, wrestling, tug of war…), and enjoys at least one 30-minute walk per day, if not two. He seems like he will fetch, but doesn’t have the "bringing the ball back" part down yet for us. He will go chase a ball when thrown, but often will bring it someplace else.

Being a very young dog, seeing how much Chester loves playing with our dog, and considering his energy level, I think it would be best for Chester to go to a home where he has another dog to play with and where there is a fenced-in yard. 

When going for walks with Chester, he has been pretty good so far. He pulls sometimes and not others, but it is a manageable level of pulling that I think will get better with time as someone continues to work with him, or if a Gentle Leader was used. He’s a little easier to walk when he is by himself and is definitely less distracted when working on training with him alone on a walk. 

He gets excited to go for walks and enjoys them. Chester also likes meeting other dogs and people while we are on our walk, and this is when he pulls the most and hardest. He has been very friendly with both dogs and people on our walks. 

Chester is crated trained, so he is often put in his crate when I have to leave him alone. He usually goes in willingly, but sometimes he needs a treat to go in. He always goes in willingly at bedtime. Overall, he seems to like his crate. I have tested him with a baby gate on several occasions, and he respects a baby gate and has been fine so far when I’ve left him in a confined area with a baby gate.

I did test Chester with our neighbor’s cat and he did well. He was curious and wanted to play with the cat. He actually play-bowed a few times to the cat, but the cat didn’t want to play. I didn’t see any aggressiveness with the cat at all and think he could live with a cat. 

In regards to some puppy trouble he gets into, he has dug in my garden a few times, but it’s not terrible. If he’s busy doing other things he stays away from it, but when he does start digging in it, he’s easily redirected to another activity. He will bark sometimes when he wants something, but will quit fairly quickly when ignored. 

He will pick up my child’s toys sometimes to chew on, but does pretty good with this and will drop it when asked if he knows I have a treat. He’s also tried to pull the fuzz off tennis balls a few times. He’s a little leery of the vacuum cleaner and lawn mower, but not too bad. We’ve had one bad thunderstorm since he’s been here and he seemed fine with that. 

Chester has a lot of great qualities! He takes treats very nicely, doesn’t scarf his food like a lot of Goldens do, he does well riding in the car and seems to like it, gets along great with other dogs, seems to like cats, is good with kids, and is just a happy dog overall. I just know he will make some family very happy, and that he would make a great addition to the right home.