Missy is a medium-size healthy golden retriever/lab mix, about one year old, with a playful, sweet and fairly calm personality.  She was found as a stray in a parking lot in mid-September.   The vet said she is in excellent health, weighs 56 pounds, and commented on her nice temperament.  He asked Missy how she got the two small scars on her chin and by her nose, but she wasn’t talking.  She has been spayed, microchipped, is up to date on vaccinations, tested heart-worm negative, has been frontlined and is taking heartworm preventative tabs.

The temporary foster said that Missy is good with cats and kids; I have yet to test this, although we did walk by two kids waiting for the schoolbus and she wagged her tail enjoying the attention.   Missy gets along fine with our resident dogs.  I will let you know more as we have a chance for her to meet more people, kids, dogs and cats.

For a one-year old dog, I have found Missy to be fairly calm so far, but ready to go with gusto when it is time for a walk or to play with our resident dogs.  As a young dog, Missy will need moderate daily exercise.  She walks fine on the leash and has jogged with Foster Dad with no problems.  She rides fine in the car and stays in the back seat.  She does not run-off when we are in the yard outside with her, so will probably not need a fence.

Missy is housetrained and crate-trained, knows how to sit and is learning to come when you say her name.  She is not a velcro dog, and is content to sit alone, but will come around for attention first thing in the morning and periodically throughout the day.  She likes to snuggle on the couch when we watch television.  She leaves things alone around the house for the most part; we are working on this.  She does not resource-guard her food, but is overly interested in people food and needs training to mind her manners during family meal-time.  She has a loud and clear bark, which she uses when there is a strange noise or she wants to go out; she likely would make a good watchdog.

We’ll let you know more about Missy next week.  So far, she seems like a great dog for either a single person or a family.