Kevin 11-421

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Profile

 In memory of Bob Nicklesen

 

 

Kevin has been in my home since Sunday afternoon. He is calm for the most part, but he has a lot of energy in him when he wants to play. He likes to "wrestle" and plays "tag" with Dexter, my resident 3.5yo Golden Retriever. Kevin is very vocal; he will bark at the sound of someone opening the front door or even walking by the house. He has a high pitched bark when he wants attention either in the form of needing to go outside, play fetch, or begging for a treat/food.

House-broken: As far as I can tell, he is fully house-broken. He has not marked or had any accidents in my home. He will let you know he needs to go out by barking to get your attention.

Food: From what I can tell, his weight looks great. I am feeding him Beneficial Lamb & Rice with 1c in the morning, and 2-3c in the evening. When feeding him, I am commanding him "Sit" and "Wait" until I tell him it is "OK" to eat his food, I do this because it is what I do with Dexter. He has started to catch on after watching Dexter do those motions. I have taken his food bowl away while he eats and he does not growl or nip, however, he is a bit possessive when it comes to treats and will be aggressive towards Dexter by growling and biting him. He does take treats from humans gently, but he gets impatient if you make him wait too long before he can have one. He will beg for people food and will sometimes while you're eating, we have been telling him "No!" when he does this and it seems to be subsiding.

Alone Time: He has 100% free roam of the house, but I have been (and will be) home for the most part for the next few weeks. Today I ran some errands and had lunch with a friend and everything seems to be ok in the house. I left a bag of potato chips on the kitchen counter and those are still in tact.

Social Skills: He enjoys car rides and loves human interaction. On the drive home he lied down in my lap. He's been ok snuggling up on the couch when I watch TV and will lay at the foot of the bed at night. He enjoys being pet and scratched. I have not had him around children yet, but his original bio says he's ok with kids, but may knock smaller ones over because he doesn't realize his size.

Toys: He likes to play fetch, I have lots and lots of yellow squeaker balls left over from Shadow (my previous foster) that Kevin has seemed to claim as his own. He has gone through the house and yard and collected them all, maybe he's a pro at Pokemon? I haven't seen him interested in any other toys and he has not chewed on anything except a compressed rawhide bone.

Other Behavior: He knows "Sit" and "Shake", no other signs that other commands are known at this time. He charges doors and hasn't learned his boundary on the front door, I opened the door for a UPS delivery and he started to bolt, it was his first interaction with that specific door though, so maybe he will learn not to go out that door. He has learned which door to go to when he needs to "go outside." Aside from him being a little aggressive when sharing treats with my other dog, I haven't seen any bad behaviors.

He's UTD on shots but needs some boosters that will be administered on his vet visit later this week, he is neutered. He is microchipped but I do not see any chip info in his file, so I may have the vet rechip him. He had some matting behind his ear which I took care of and he's getting a bath at PetCo on Wednesday. I've played with his paws and jowls and he doesn't mind, I have not had a chance to leash walk him yet.

Kevin needs a home where he can stay active where people can play fetch with him. Being in a home with bigger dogs should be ok, smaller dogs I am not sure about, he should be ok around children as well. A fenced yard would be good since I don't know if he's a runner or tether trained.

 

At a Glance #11-421

Golden Retriever Born: October 2010
Male 70 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

 In memory of Bob Nicklesen

 

 

Kevin has been in my home since Sunday afternoon. He is calm for the most part, but he has a lot of energy in him when he wants to play. He likes to "wrestle" and plays "tag" with Dexter, my resident 3.5yo Golden Retriever. Kevin is very vocal; he will bark at the sound of someone opening the front door or even walking by the house. He has a high pitched bark when he wants attention either in the form of needing to go outside, play fetch, or begging for a treat/food.

House-broken: As far as I can tell, he is fully house-broken. He has not marked or had any accidents in my home. He will let you know he needs to go out by barking to get your attention.

Food: From what I can tell, his weight looks great. I am feeding him Beneficial Lamb & Rice with 1c in the morning, and 2-3c in the evening. When feeding him, I am commanding him "Sit" and "Wait" until I tell him it is "OK" to eat his food, I do this because it is what I do with Dexter. He has started to catch on after watching Dexter do those motions. I have taken his food bowl away while he eats and he does not growl or nip, however, he is a bit possessive when it comes to treats and will be aggressive towards Dexter by growling and biting him. He does take treats from humans gently, but he gets impatient if you make him wait too long before he can have one. He will beg for people food and will sometimes while you're eating, we have been telling him "No!" when he does this and it seems to be subsiding.

Alone Time: He has 100% free roam of the house, but I have been (and will be) home for the most part for the next few weeks. Today I ran some errands and had lunch with a friend and everything seems to be ok in the house. I left a bag of potato chips on the kitchen counter and those are still in tact.

Social Skills: He enjoys car rides and loves human interaction. On the drive home he lied down in my lap. He's been ok snuggling up on the couch when I watch TV and will lay at the foot of the bed at night. He enjoys being pet and scratched. I have not had him around children yet, but his original bio says he's ok with kids, but may knock smaller ones over because he doesn't realize his size.

Toys: He likes to play fetch, I have lots and lots of yellow squeaker balls left over from Shadow (my previous foster) that Kevin has seemed to claim as his own. He has gone through the house and yard and collected them all, maybe he's a pro at Pokemon? I haven't seen him interested in any other toys and he has not chewed on anything except a compressed rawhide bone.

Other Behavior: He knows "Sit" and "Shake", no other signs that other commands are known at this time. He charges doors and hasn't learned his boundary on the front door, I opened the door for a UPS delivery and he started to bolt, it was his first interaction with that specific door though, so maybe he will learn not to go out that door. He has learned which door to go to when he needs to "go outside." Aside from him being a little aggressive when sharing treats with my other dog, I haven't seen any bad behaviors.

He's UTD on shots but needs some boosters that will be administered on his vet visit later this week, he is neutered. He is microchipped but I do not see any chip info in his file, so I may have the vet rechip him. He had some matting behind his ear which I took care of and he's getting a bath at PetCo on Wednesday. I've played with his paws and jowls and he doesn't mind, I have not had a chance to leash walk him yet.

Kevin needs a home where he can stay active where people can play fetch with him. Being in a home with bigger dogs should be ok, smaller dogs I am not sure about, he should be ok around children as well. A fenced yard would be good since I don't know if he's a runner or tether trained.

 

Updates

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Kevin had his vet check-up today. There was some confusion on his paperwork we received from the surrendering humane society, but we got it cleared up. It is confirmed that Kevin is neutered and he is now microchipped.

His check-up went well but they said he could stand to gain a few pounds, he's only 55lbs. He's been getting 1c of Beneficial Lamb & Rice at least 3 times per day, I am going to start giving him 4. He's quite active and he's always wanting to play fetch and wrestle around with Dexter, so it's not surprising he's burning a bit more calories. He still has 100% free roam of the house but I have caught him counter surfing. He really wanted some of my leftover Christmas ham I had sitting on a plate.

He is 100% house-broken, I have had no accidents in the house. One day I had an errand to run in Fargo and I was away from the house for about 7 hours, when I returned, he got so excited to see me that he piddled slightly. He's a pretty small guy, so I'm sure he just happened to have a full tank.

He has a lot of energy, he always wants to play fetch or wrestle around with Dexter. Sometimes they play tug-of-war but it doesn't last long. When I open the patio door for them to go outside Kevin takes off like a rocket and will leap over the steps of the deck completely and soar a good 8 feet, maybe dock diving is in his future! Under the right training, he might even make a great hunting partner.

He's gotten a bit more used to my dog being around and he has to share attention. He does not resource guard, but he can be a bit dominating if he wants a toy from another dog. Kevin and Dexter play well together, but there are times when Dexter does not want to play and Kevin will keep antagonizing him, that usually results in Dexter holding his ground and a fight breaks out. It's only happened a handful of times though. He's very protective of me, he will bark at people he is not familiar with but calms down rather quickly. I did have him around children this past weekend, ages 9 and 5, he did totally fine around them. The kids are pretty used to Dexter though, who is 105lbs and twice Kevin's size.

He loves to cuddle! He hasn't really left my side that much, and when I sit down on the couch to watch TV he wants to be right there with me. He does well when riding in a car. He used to want to crawl into my lap, but today he was fine sitting in the back seat. I even cracked the window and he really seemed to enjoy his ears flapping in the wind.

I think Kevin would do best in a house that he was the only dog, or with a dog that was very submissive and probably with dogs his size or bigger. I still do not know if he is a runner since I have a fenced yard, but he does come when called.