Sacha is a 6-7 year old Golden Retriever who recently came to his foster home from Turkey. Sacha is neutered, up to date on vaccines and microchipped. Sacha was found wondering in a cemetery in Turkey so nothing is known about his previous life. Sacha has not been cat or small child tested.

Foster mom believes Sacha must have been in a home at some point during his previous life. He has had no issues with house training, does not counter surf, walks great on a leash (although some leash etiquette is needed), shows great respect for our resident dog and loves to have foster mom and dad rub his tummy.  

House training has gone very well with no accidents. Sacha knows to go to the door to signal he wants to go out sometimes just to explore in the backyard. Sacha will walk the fence line in the backyard smelling all the smells, rolling in the grass, chewing on a rawhide, do his business, visit the huskies next door, lay in the sun and then circle back to let foster mom know he is ready to go back inside.

On walks Sacha likes to walk nicely beside you while periodically stopping to smell the roses, leaves, grass, tar, mailboxes, trees and anything else that seems interesting. He really is a pleasure to take on a walk.  

In the house Sacha enjoys sleeping on a variety of dog beds available to him (he really likes his naptime), keeping an eye on foster mom while she is in the kitchen making meals, ignoring his foster brother and letting foster mom and dad know when he is in need of some love and attention by putting his head in our laps.

Sacha is starting to show interest in toys but is mostly content to watch his foster brother throw the ropes around the house. To date Sacha has not been destructive with anything he manages to find laying around (shoes, toys, gloves, hats).

Having come from Turkey we are working through the language barrier. This past week we have been working on teaching him his name, sit and come, he is definitely treat motivated as he has picked up on those things quickly.

Over the last few weeks Sacha has become more affectionate towards us as well, tail wags and excited hops are becoming a daily thing.

He went to the vet a couple of times and the groomer for a bath and a trim. He did great at both, the groomer said he LOVED his bath. The vet tested him for hypothyroidism which came back negative (based on his coat which a good bath fixed), x-rayed his joints and knees which also look great and biopsied a lump on his gum. Results of the biopsy are due in the next week but the lump is believed to be a non-cancerous epulis. The vet did put Sacha on anti-inflammatory meds to help with inflamed ligaments in his ankles.

They believe the inflammation may be what is causing the periodic limping, stumbling and slowness getting up after laying down for a while and slowness going up and down steps. If no improvement next steps are advanced imaging. Sacha enjoys car rides quite a bit and cannot wait to hop in the car (he needs a boost with his hind end). The most excited he gets is when the leashes come out as he knows he is going on a car ride or a walk.  

Areas that Sacha will continue to need his new forever family to work with him on are leash etiquette (does he really need to stop and smell EVERYTHING), getting out of the car (sometimes he hops out no problem and sometimes he decides he would much rather stay in the car), commands and some resource guarding. Foster mom has not seen a lot of resource guarding but there has been a couple episodes (food dish and a rawhide outside). Sacha has been easily redirected with treats. Remembering to redirect Sacha versus just taking something from him is going to be key.

Foster mom sees Sacha’s forever family consisting of children 10+ or older, a resident dog is not needed as he will be happy with or without one, a fenced yard is not needed but he will need to be on a long leash if no fence is available and have someone outside with him. Foster mom would also recommend a limited number to steps for him to have to go up and down.

His forever family will need to continue to work with him on leash etiquette and basic commands (remember English is his second language).  They will need to be happy with a laid back boy who is content to sit back and watch what is going on and go on lazy walks versus fast paced jogs.  Sacha’s forever family should be up to showering this wonderful boy with lots of love, attention and treats.