Hawkeye is a sweet, happy Golden who will be 4 years old on May 12. He was surrendered to a vet by owners who were no longer able to care for him during this time. Since he was surrendered to a vet and then spent two nights with a Good Samaritan who then surrendered him to RAGOM, we do not have a lot of background information on him.

A family or someone who has more time to spend with him would be great. Hawkeye has a low to medium energy level. He is in good health (except he needs to lose a little weight), loves to play with our resident Golden, and loves going on walks. He has been with us for two weeks now and has been a joy to have as a foster.

Hawkeye loves to be near people. He will often get up in your lap by putting his front paws on your lap if you are sitting on the couch, chair, or in bed so he can get close to you for pets. Sometimes he even gets right on the furniture to cuddle next to you. He will get down when asked or if you ignore him.

Hawkeye has a fascination with shoes, especially flip flops. He has tried to remove them from our daughter's feet when she is wearing them and tripped her once.

When Hawkeye first arrived at our home he was a little nervous, but after a couple days he became more and more comfortable. He has slept great on our bedroom floor every night with no problems. We were told he previously slept in a crate, but he didn’t want to go in the one we had, so we didn’t push it.

He did sleep in our laundry room the first night with a baby gate, which he respected, but he seemed to want to be near us, so we decided to let him sleep on the floor in our room. That went great! We were also told he was housebroken, and he definitely seems to be as we have allowed him free roam when we have been gone with no issues.

He did have one accident in the morning on the way outside, but that was my fault. He went to the basement to go outside like we normally do, but I was still upstairs giving my resident Golden his pills and by the time I got downstairs, he had just started to pee on the floor.

I really think I just took too long and he couldn’t hold it. I always make sure I get out with him right away now instead, and we’ve had no other issues.

Hawkeye has pretty golden to light golden colored fur. His fur is mostly straight and pretty thick and bushy like most Goldens. When he came to us, he was in need of a bath and grooming. He didn’t know how to get in the bathtub, so we had to lift him in, but he was good for his bath once we got started.

He had a lot of mats that needed to be cut out, but he was very good about being brushed and seems to enjoy it. He was also good about letting me cutting the mats out. It took some time for him to let me cut the ones behind his ears, but slowly over time, I was able to get them cut. It will be important to keep up on brushing him so this doesn’t happen again.

He has chewed on the front of his legs near his wrists and licked his paws some. I did ask the vet about this as my Golden has allergies and does this also. She didn’t think he had licked them too much to be concerned yet and he could be doing it for other reasons, but she did say to watch it. Previous vet listed no allergies.

Hawkeye has loved playing with our Golden, Buddy, since the day he arrived. They wrestle a lot inside and outside and chase each other around the yard. They have been great about sharing toys and playing nicely.

The first day Hawkeye was here he growled at Buddy when he tried to take a stuffed toy from him. Hawkeye accidentally got a hold of one, so that was our fault. After they had more time to acclimate to each other and we slowly introduced toys, there hasn’t been any issues.

Except today we introduced some new toys and he did growl a little when Buddy tried to take one away again. Hoping that may resolve after a day or two of playing with the toys. We have not seen any resource guarding with people. There are definitely higher value toys he doesn’t want to give up right away or doesn’t want you to take, but he will usually drop them or trade them for a treat.

He likes stuffed animals, balls, chew toys, ropes, etc. We just started to let him play with a rope and he did growl a little bit when they were playing tug of war with it. We’ll have to watch that. He does try to rip up certain stuffed animals so we are careful about letting him play with those by watching him.

He tried pulling some tassels on a blanket one day, but as soon as I said his name, he stopped and we haven’t had an issue since. He likes shoes and socks and carrying them around. He hasn’t chewed any up, but we watch him and take them away pretty quickly. He is pretty easily redirected when doing something he shouldn’t by giving him an appropriate toy or treat. He listens quite well!

In regards to training, Hawkeye knows sit and down and is working on stay. Stay has been a bit hard for him. I have tried teaching him the cue “touch” (touch my hand when I stick it out), but he is having trouble with that. He usually comes to me when I call him though.

He is definitely 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.

I would say Hawkeye is in between the low to medium energy level category. He plays a lot with our Golden (running, chasing, wrestling) and enjoys at least one 30-minute walk per day, if not two. He loves to go for a walk and sits very nicely when we get the leash out to walk him, waiting for us to hook it up.

He seems like he could get fetch down with more work. He will go chase a ball when thrown, will often bring it back, but he won’t let you have it.

Since Hawkeye loves playing with our dog, I think it would be nice for Hawkeye to go to a home where he has another dog to play with. I think he would also do fine as an only dog if he had enough opportunities to socialize or play with other dogs such as at doggie day care or play dates.

I think a home with a fenced-in yard would be best. He was previously on a tie out of some kind, but when I’ve tried him on a tie out here, he has tried to chew on it each time even though I am right there.

When going for walks with Hawkeye, he has been pretty good so far. He pulls occasionally when he really wants to sniff something or see something, but it is a manageable level of pulling and overall, he is easy to walk. He gets excited to go for walks and enjoys them.

Hawkeye also likes meeting other dogs that have been out in their yards when we’ve walked. He doesn’t get super interested in people on our walks and is more interested in just smelling instead.

The only issue we’ve had on our walks is that he has barked a bit aggressively at a couple dogs being walked. It has only happened when there has been a couple people and a dog being walked together or a dog out in their yard barking at him first.

He is usually easily redirected though when you say his name, keep walking, and give him treats. It’s been hard to figure out why he does it as he has been fine in many other situations with dogs being outside in their yards, dogs being walked by one person, etc. 

I have not tested Hawkeye with a cat. I was told though that he did catch a gopher in the yard where he stayed with the Good Samaritan. He didn’t kill it though, he just brought it to them and dropped it. I’m not sure how he would be with cats yet.

We are unsure if he has any fears or anxieties. We haven’t had any storms since he has been here, so unsure how he does with them. He seems a little leery of the ice maker on the refrigerator and other loud noises. He backs up and watches and then seems fine.

Hawkeye has a lot of great qualities! He takes treats nicely, he does well riding in the car and seems to like it, gets along great with other dogs, and is just a happy dog overall who wags his tail a lot. I just know he will make some family very happy, and that he would make a great addition to the right home.