Mitch has been in our house for over 24 hours now and he is a perfect gentleman!  Not much is known about his past, just that he was a stray in SD so we weren't quite sure what to expect when he showed up.  Boy were we pleasantly surprised!  Mitch has a long poky, almost collie-like nose that he does lots of sniffing with.  He did a lot of exploring from room to room when he first got here but now he tends to stay in whatever room we're in.  He LOVES affection, especially belly rubs and he'll flop down on his back at any chance he gets.  Mitch has a youthful spring to his step, we think he's between 1 and 2 years old but he doesn't have that wild puppy energy that lots of Goldens still have at his age.  His fur is a little coarse, more like a German Sheppard and he sheds quite a bit, that's how we know there must be golden in him!
 
We have two resident dogs in our house and Mitch has gotten along great with them so far.  He does some wrestle type playing and he likes to play ball and is very good at catching tennis balls in mid-air.  Mitch seems to know some basic commands like sit and lie down but we're working with him on consistency.  When it comes to treats, Mitch is SO gentle about taking them from your hand! 
 
At night we crate him in our room, we originally had him in a crate in our living room and he whined.  Once we brought the crate into our bedroom he quieted right down and slept through until the morning.  Mitch is house broken but when he goes outside he loves to mark trees.  It's hard to imagine that someone let this wonderful dog go.  We'll post another update soon as we get to spend more time with this sweet, lovable guy.