Hawkeye (Bowen 12-047)

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February 26, 2012

Bowen is an energetic 10 month old puppy who is as cute as can be.  He’s 60+ pounds already with a beautiful deep red shiny coat, sparkling white teeth, and big puppy feet.  He’s been busy the last few weeks getting caught up on his shots, being neutered and learning how to be a civilized golden retriever.  He’s starting to grow his coat and I think he’s going to have a lovely tail with great feathering on his legs.  We think he’s going to grow up to be quite a handsome dog.  He’s a very enthusiastic tail-wagger and has already perfected the golden retriever nudge to let you know when you need to give him a bit more attention or toss a toy.

Bowen’s pictures don’t do him justice – they don’t show how excited he is when you come home, or how pleased he is to get a special treat, or how much he enjoys sneaking up and giving your ears a lick when you’re trying to sleep in on a Saturday.  He is very bright and learned the command ‘down’ in just one session today.  We’re fine-tuning Bowen’s housetraining and expect he’ll have that mastered shortly.  Bowen is very active – just as you’d expect from a young, healthy male golden.  He enjoys a good romp with our younger dog, plays hard and sleeps soundly.  He needs a lot of exercise so he can burn off some of his energy.  So that Bowen will be a good companion for his forever-family, we’re taking him through basic obedience classes shortly.  Bowen is eager to learn and the classes will also give us a chance to see how he does with strangers and how he handles himself around children. 

Bowen was surrendered by his owner because he was unruly and noisy.  While we haven’t noticed too much barking, Bowen gets very stressed when his people leave.  He paces, drools, and becomes very agitated in his crate.  We crate him when we leave the house now and are working to help him appreciate his crate as a safe place.  Bowen has a lot more to learn before he’s ready for adoption. We want to make sure he goes through the entire 6-week obedience classes and learns to manage being by himself when needed.  We’ll keep you posted!  He is such a happy boy with that very sweet golden personality – he’s smart and will be ready to find his forever family soon.

 

At a Glance #12-047

Golden Retriever Born: March 2011
Male Weight not specified

Status: Adopted

Profile

 

February 26, 2012

Bowen is an energetic 10 month old puppy who is as cute as can be.  He’s 60+ pounds already with a beautiful deep red shiny coat, sparkling white teeth, and big puppy feet.  He’s been busy the last few weeks getting caught up on his shots, being neutered and learning how to be a civilized golden retriever.  He’s starting to grow his coat and I think he’s going to have a lovely tail with great feathering on his legs.  We think he’s going to grow up to be quite a handsome dog.  He’s a very enthusiastic tail-wagger and has already perfected the golden retriever nudge to let you know when you need to give him a bit more attention or toss a toy.

Bowen’s pictures don’t do him justice – they don’t show how excited he is when you come home, or how pleased he is to get a special treat, or how much he enjoys sneaking up and giving your ears a lick when you’re trying to sleep in on a Saturday.  He is very bright and learned the command ‘down’ in just one session today.  We’re fine-tuning Bowen’s housetraining and expect he’ll have that mastered shortly.  Bowen is very active – just as you’d expect from a young, healthy male golden.  He enjoys a good romp with our younger dog, plays hard and sleeps soundly.  He needs a lot of exercise so he can burn off some of his energy.  So that Bowen will be a good companion for his forever-family, we’re taking him through basic obedience classes shortly.  Bowen is eager to learn and the classes will also give us a chance to see how he does with strangers and how he handles himself around children. 

Bowen was surrendered by his owner because he was unruly and noisy.  While we haven’t noticed too much barking, Bowen gets very stressed when his people leave.  He paces, drools, and becomes very agitated in his crate.  We crate him when we leave the house now and are working to help him appreciate his crate as a safe place.  Bowen has a lot more to learn before he’s ready for adoption. We want to make sure he goes through the entire 6-week obedience classes and learns to manage being by himself when needed.  We’ll keep you posted!  He is such a happy boy with that very sweet golden personality – he’s smart and will be ready to find his forever family soon.

 

Updates

Saturday, April 14, 2012

It’s been a while since we posted but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy! Bowen continues to mature and grow – he has a new favorite toy, an oversized tennis ball with a squeaker, that he just loves. On rainy days when we can’t get out for a walk he entertains himself by tossing the ball down the stairs to our lower level and then dashing down to grab it and run back up to do it all over again. I think it’s a sign of intelligence that he can entertain himself so easily and he manages to get a fair amount of exercise in the process.

Bowen has graduated from his first obedience class (he was the star of the class in my book!) and is almost finished with his agility class.

At this point, Bowen is ready to find a permanent home. He has some quirky habits but has not destroyed a single thing. He is still *really* excited about food time but now he’s learned sit and stay and mealtime is so much nicer. He still loves to go for a ride in the car but can now sit and wait to go through the door to the garage – so much more civilized.

He’s also become much more affectionate. It’s not unusual for him to want to crawl up on my lap and he still absolutely loves to lick my nose or nibble on my ear to wake me up from a nap. There’s no sense in ignoring him – sometimes he just needs to be petted and isn’t that what it’s all about? Connecting with your dog?

I think Bowen will do very well with a family who has had a dog before and knows how to be consistent with him and can give him plenty of exercise. He’s very smart and is quick to figure out what’s going on – he truly benefits from a calm approach and consistent positive rewards. We’ve really seen Bowen blossom in the last few weeks. An experienced family without small children will be the right kind of home for Bowen and they’re going to find that he’s a delightful, energetic, inquisitive and affectionate dog.

Bowen is scheduled to meet a family in a few weeks – we’ll keep you posted about how that goes! If that doesn’t seem like a good match, Bowen will be at the RAGOM ‘meet and greet’ at the Iowa City Petco on May 12th!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Bowen has had a couple of very good weeks! He’s been going for walks wearing his Gentle Leader and he’s doing great! He’s still rambunctious but in a much more controlled way and is learning to be a well-behaved young dog. He was running in the back yard with our youngest dog and broke a toe a few weeks ago and that seems to be healing nicely, thankfully. It hardly slowed him down at all!

Bowen went to his first obedience class last week and is starting to learn to focus and pay attention. He got to be the demonstration dog in class and was just the perfect guy – he really is smart and learns fast. He gets along nicely with all the people he’s met and dogs too. Because he’s so strong and energetic, I think his forever family should probably not have very young children unless Bowen was closely supervised. He’s strong, healthy, and full of life!

His coat is starting to fill out and it has a lovely shine. He’s red, copper, and dark golden depending on the lighting – everyone comments on how handsome he is. He’s also learned to respect the other dogs’ dishes and he’s been accident-free for two weeks. We’re all feeling good about that. Right now, his favorite toy is a stuffed pheasant which he treasures. Unlike some dogs, he’s not shown any interest in destroying his toy – he just loves to make it squeak and carries it very gently.