Oakley 05-127

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8/14/05: Oakley is believed to be between 1 and 3 years old, so we chose him to be 2 years old. He is a young, neutered boy with a big, blocky head, slim body and red wavy coat. Oakley came from a shelter in northern Minnesota. He was an owner surrender but did not come with any information about him. Oakley has had some training, as he knows the basic commands of sit, down, off and come (although he's not always good at that one!). He is a rambunctious and playful guy with lots of energy. Oakley has a two inch cowlick on his face which gives him that distinctive dark line by his nose. More to come later......

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At a Glance #05-127

Breed not specified Born: September 2004
Male Weight not specified

Status: Adopted

Profile

8/14/05: Oakley is believed to be between 1 and 3 years old, so we chose him to be 2 years old. He is a young, neutered boy with a big, blocky head, slim body and red wavy coat. Oakley came from a shelter in northern Minnesota. He was an owner surrender but did not come with any information about him. Oakley has had some training, as he knows the basic commands of sit, down, off and come (although he's not always good at that one!). He is a rambunctious and playful guy with lots of energy. Oakley has a two inch cowlick on his face which gives him that distinctive dark line by his nose. More to come later......

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Updates

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Oakley has been doing very good these days, enjoying all the new snow we have gotten recently. Just this last week I read all of Oakley's updates, he has been with me a long time now! Oakley is definitely a different dog than he was when he first came here from the shelter. I think it is time to start over with him and give him a "do over".

Oakley is believed to be between 2 and 3 years old, leaning more towards three years old, but we are only guessing. He is neutered, up to date on all of shots, micro chipped and housebroken. Oakley is taller than the average Golden, slim and in very good shape, the vet even commented on Oakley, that he was a nice looking, lean dog that was in very good health. He has a big, blocky head and wavy red hair. Not having a thick coat makes it a breeze to brush him, and he will gladly lay down for you to brush him anytime! He loves bones and chewing on rawhides. One of Oakley's weird little quirks, he plays with rocks and has couple of favorite ones. When outside and excited about something, he well go and get his favorite big rock (looks like a brick) lay down and roll on it!!! Oakley has been to obedience class; knows sit, down, come and stay (sometimes) and mostly walks nice on a gentle leader. He would benefit with another obedience class with his forever family. Oakley's past is unknown but I believe he probably lived his life outside tied up. When he first came here he did not like other male dogs and was territorial but most of that has disappeared - I think getting him out of the shelter and getting him neutered changed his attitude. He will still give other dogs the attitude that he is territorial when ever they walk by the house with his barking and posturing but he is good at meeting other dogs. When we went to obedience class, he had an attitude with a Husky dog, so I would not recommend that he be around other Husky type dogs - but with all other dogs he did the usual, just wanted to meet them all and sniff.

Oakley's major fault is that he likes to run and given the opportunity he will chase cars. He can jump my 4 foot fence and well do it if given the opportunity, so I tie him out on a cable. Oakley has gotten away from me on several occasions, what I have found to work in catching him is to get into my van, find him and he will follow me. I drive to a safe place away from traffic and get him to get into the van with me. It is important though to keep him secured because of him chasing vehicles. Before the snow got too deep we would go for walks on the trails up here in northern Minnesota. Once away from the road, I let the dogs run - it's a great way to exercise them and to let them do the things they love - sniff and explore. Oakley does great with these kind of walks, he gets to run, run, run and go explore. He always knows where I am and checks where I am. I can go for a 2 mile walk and Oakley well end up with a 5 mile run. Oakley also loves to swim, I'll take him to a secluded mine pit that I know of so he can swim and run around and explore.

What does OAKLEY need in a forever home? A fence is not required but if not, he will need a place to be tied out or a cable run, he likes to be outside except in the really cold winter weather. He will need to be exercised daily, someone to run with would be great for him. He has no history with cats, so cats would be questionable, as he has a strong curiosity towards them and I don't know if it would be friendly. He would do good in a home as the only dog or in a home with another dog, he likes to play with other dogs. I would recommend children over 10 years of age because of his size and his excitability. When excited he does get bouncy, sometimes jumping up on people even though he knows that is not supposed to happen, mostly he just jumps around though. He would like to get brushed once a week, but if you decided to do it more often, he would love that even more. He would also love to sleep with you but can sleep on the floor next to the bed too. He has been crated and will go into a crate if needed but he is no longer crated at my home. He has run of the kitchen, den and upstairs bedrooms and I can tell by the indents on my bed that he occasionally takes naps on the bed while I'm at work.

All in all, Oakley is a great dog, that just needs a little extra attention given to keep him safe!!!!!!!

Enjoying a new rawhide

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Oakley was adopted by the W. family but he was not used to being around cats and their older cat was having a hard time accepting him into the family. It was thought to be better to find Oakley a new home rather than stress out their family cat.

Oakley is now back in his foster home, still looking for that forever home. I hope to introduce Oakley to cats, to find out if his attraction is obsession or merely curiosity.

Oakley was great on the trip home, sleeping most of the way - then occasionally checking on Chester 06-017 to make sure he was OK. Oakley seems to have a gentleness about him when it comes to puppies - as long as they don't mess with his food, that is!!!!

More on Oakley next week, as he settles back into our routine.....

Friday, December 9, 2005

Sorry to have taken so long to update you on Oakley. Not a lot of new news to report - Oakley is doing wonderfully. Since our obedience class things have really blossomed for us. He is so much more loving and obedient. Oakley is not the usual attention hound that most Goldens are, but now he does come up often to get a hug or a couple of pets, just to say "I love you". I think Oakley would do good in a home as an only dog, he would love all the attention but yet would not keep bugging you to get pets any time your hand wasn't doing anything! He would do well with another dog also, as he does play nice with other dogs, but I think he deserves someone's undivided attention. He would do well in a home with older children, say 10 or older - I think he would really blossom with kids to play with him. Don't pass up Oakley just because he is a runner, I tie him up to a long cable when outside and he gets to play with the other dogs and just enjoy the outside. You would just have to exercise some extra caution when taking him outside. Inside the house, he is wonderful companion!!!

Oakley (right) with foster brother Joshua 05-257Oakley playing with puppy, JoJo (resident foster brother)

Friday, September 30, 2005

Our Oakley boy is doing great, but is really wanting a forever home. He is continuing his obedience class and is doing well - but we have been a little lax with practicing these lessons at home, which is important so he becomes very consistent with the commands.

Now that Oakley has been here for a while, most of his bad habits have disappeared - there is only one bad habit that his forever home will have to deal with. Oakley likes to run, a very dangerous habit. This bad habit was learned before he came into RAGOM and usually once they learn to run, it is very hard to break them of this bad habit. Oakley will need a fence taller than 4 feet or will need to be tied out when he is outside. Here at his foster home, Oakley is tied out on a 15 foot cable. I feel bad for having to tie him out - he loves to be outside but he can't have run of all the yard, and I have to do my best to keep him safe.