Otto arrived at our house on Wednesday (10-12-05). After spending the past week with him, this guy is a keeper!
Otto is a very lean, athletic Golden, about 35 lbs. His coat is a medium-red color and he has the cutest, square face. Otto is a very happy boy and loves to be wherever we are. He'll follow us up and down the stairs, even if we make 4 trips because we forgot something. I made a few extra trips last night to see how long it would take him to catch on :) As smart as he is, I thought he would figure it out...I guess not. He just wants to be wherever we are. He's a total Velcro dog!
He's learning to walk on a Gentle Leader. He doesn't fight it; he just doesn't like it on his nose. He'll stop (sometimes in the middle of an intersection) and try to paw at it. Once we get down the road a few blocks, he doesn't seem to mind it. Without the Gentle Leader, he tends to pull quit a bit. The Gentle Leader is a must until he gets some obedience training. Speaking of obedience training, he knows "sit" and he comes when you call his name. We're working on teaching him "stay" and "lay down". He's unbelievably smart and I don't see it taking too long for him to catch on.
Otto's mostly house-trained (if not completely). We've had 3 accidents in the last week which I believe is because of his change in surroundings. We kennel him during the day and at night when we go to bed. He takes a little coaxing to get in his kennel, but once inside, he settles down. He usually sleeps through the night without a peep.
He does not have any food or toy-guarding issues. You can take away toys, nylabones, and his food dish with no problems. I've never seen a dog eat so fast. He literally inhales his food in a matter of seconds.
Otto is also getting along great with our 9-year-old Golden (Sandy). Otto's favorite past-time (besides eating) is wrestling. He likes to nibble at Sandy's neck and ears to get her to wrestle. She's had to remind him who wears the pants in the family a few times. Since then, he's been a perfect gentleman and waits for her to start the festivities. Although Sandy can hold her own, it doesn't take long before she's pooped. We were getting a little worried that Sandy was getting too much "exercise" so we decided to call in reinforcements in the shape of our neighbor's 95 lb. Irish Wolfhound mix. It's been a match made in heaven! Sandy gets to rest and Klaus and Otto wrestle until they're both ready for a nap. Otto definitely needs to go to home where he can get lots of exercise and/or play with other dogs.
Otto needs a forever family that has a fence. He tends to run out towards people when they walk by the fence...I guess he likes to verbally greet them. J Until he gets better at coming when called, the fence is a must. He also should go to a house without small animals (rabbits, guinea pigs, etc). He has a strong retriever instinct and might confuse them with something inappropriate.
Otto has a wonderful Golden personality and will make someone a great forever friend. If interested, please email Placement
ragom [dot] org.
