Sawyer 13-115

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Profile

6-26-13

Meet Sawyer, a 5-year-old PB English crème golden. This gorgeous boy weighs 70 lbs and has a crème colored coat that is soft as silk, and his gentle sweet temperament makes him as beautiful on the inside as he is on the outside. Sawyer is neutered and up to date on his vaccinations and on heartworm and flea/tick preventives.  

Sawyer is an absolute doll. His previous owner adopted him when he was one, and they just made the heart wrenching decision to surrender him due to his anxiety level around small children. His anxiety started several years ago when his owner was walking him and they were attacked by the neighbor's recently adopted dog. After that Sawyer was fearful when meeting dogs on walks, but that has gotten much better over time. The surrendering owner felt that he changed after that attack and became  more touchy, especially around younger children. What I am seeing is an incredible dog--it is so evident that he was loved beyond words. 

Sawyer has a steady mellow temperament. He is really well-behaved and is all about his people. He wants love, more love, and more love! He has these huge mitts for paws and he is especially talented in that he is ambidextrous and can alternate with the other paw to ask for attention if he has not quite had enough. He is a complete love bug. We have had some different people come to the house and he greets them politely with a wagging tail and there is no jumping or getting into their space. He has been really comfortable and appropriate meeting strangers. When he first got to our house, he met our two resident dogs easily and immediately settled in. There have been no issues. We have not walked in a public place ie a walking trail where he’ll meet other dogs, so I have yet to test him with that. He does just fine with cats. 

Sawyer has excellent recall and is responsive to my directions. He will not need a fence if he is trained to the boundaries of his new yard. He has lived with another dog his whole life, and he will do best in a home with another dog companion. He is REALLY food motivated and loves to do training exercises for a treat. He does have a stubborn side, and a training treat works really well to redirect him. If we are walking and we turn around to go home, sometimes he will plant his feet and morph into an immovable object. I find that humor, kindness, and clear leadership help him stay in synch with me. He does have a side that is insecure, probably from the attack a few years back, and he will need a confident, positive owner who will let him know, without a doubt, that he is safe.

Sawyer has never been crated and has always had free roam of the house (in previous home and at our house). At bedtime, he starts out at night sleeping in my bed, and after a bit he will jump down and go into his own bed. He needs a quieter home without a lot of coming and going, and because of his anxiety around younger children, no children under 10 years old. He is also used to being left at home for only a few hours at a time.

 

Sawyer is such a joy to foster. He has such quiet energy—when you bend over to give him a kiss or pet him you get sucked in. My favorite thing though, I have to admit, is seeing his playful side come out. He is a total goofball when he gets wound up.  I was throwing the Frisbee for Annie (resident dog) the other day and when she was returning it, rather than running to intercept her he bounced over to her like he was on a pogo stick (remember those?). He looked like a big fluff ball bouncing through the field. It was too adorable. He LOVES running around full throttle, and although it doesn’t last longer than a minute, it is so fun to see. If you are looking for a training/running partner for a 5K run—this is not the dog for you—he is more of a lollygag walker. He gets a spurt of energy after supper and wants to play. He’ll bring his tuggy over or start playing with a stuffed toy, and if I am sitting on the couch he’ll jump up to join me and I feel like I'm being pounced on by a great big Beanie Baby.  

That is a start introducing this wonderful gentle beauty. He is totally ready to find his forever family, so please contact your placement advisor if you are interested.

At a Glance #13-115

Golden Retriever Born: October 2008
Male 70 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

6-26-13

Meet Sawyer, a 5-year-old PB English crème golden. This gorgeous boy weighs 70 lbs and has a crème colored coat that is soft as silk, and his gentle sweet temperament makes him as beautiful on the inside as he is on the outside. Sawyer is neutered and up to date on his vaccinations and on heartworm and flea/tick preventives.  

Sawyer is an absolute doll. His previous owner adopted him when he was one, and they just made the heart wrenching decision to surrender him due to his anxiety level around small children. His anxiety started several years ago when his owner was walking him and they were attacked by the neighbor's recently adopted dog. After that Sawyer was fearful when meeting dogs on walks, but that has gotten much better over time. The surrendering owner felt that he changed after that attack and became  more touchy, especially around younger children. What I am seeing is an incredible dog--it is so evident that he was loved beyond words. 

Sawyer has a steady mellow temperament. He is really well-behaved and is all about his people. He wants love, more love, and more love! He has these huge mitts for paws and he is especially talented in that he is ambidextrous and can alternate with the other paw to ask for attention if he has not quite had enough. He is a complete love bug. We have had some different people come to the house and he greets them politely with a wagging tail and there is no jumping or getting into their space. He has been really comfortable and appropriate meeting strangers. When he first got to our house, he met our two resident dogs easily and immediately settled in. There have been no issues. We have not walked in a public place ie a walking trail where he’ll meet other dogs, so I have yet to test him with that. He does just fine with cats. 

Sawyer has excellent recall and is responsive to my directions. He will not need a fence if he is trained to the boundaries of his new yard. He has lived with another dog his whole life, and he will do best in a home with another dog companion. He is REALLY food motivated and loves to do training exercises for a treat. He does have a stubborn side, and a training treat works really well to redirect him. If we are walking and we turn around to go home, sometimes he will plant his feet and morph into an immovable object. I find that humor, kindness, and clear leadership help him stay in synch with me. He does have a side that is insecure, probably from the attack a few years back, and he will need a confident, positive owner who will let him know, without a doubt, that he is safe.

Sawyer has never been crated and has always had free roam of the house (in previous home and at our house). At bedtime, he starts out at night sleeping in my bed, and after a bit he will jump down and go into his own bed. He needs a quieter home without a lot of coming and going, and because of his anxiety around younger children, no children under 10 years old. He is also used to being left at home for only a few hours at a time.

 

Sawyer is such a joy to foster. He has such quiet energy—when you bend over to give him a kiss or pet him you get sucked in. My favorite thing though, I have to admit, is seeing his playful side come out. He is a total goofball when he gets wound up.  I was throwing the Frisbee for Annie (resident dog) the other day and when she was returning it, rather than running to intercept her he bounced over to her like he was on a pogo stick (remember those?). He looked like a big fluff ball bouncing through the field. It was too adorable. He LOVES running around full throttle, and although it doesn’t last longer than a minute, it is so fun to see. If you are looking for a training/running partner for a 5K run—this is not the dog for you—he is more of a lollygag walker. He gets a spurt of energy after supper and wants to play. He’ll bring his tuggy over or start playing with a stuffed toy, and if I am sitting on the couch he’ll jump up to join me and I feel like I'm being pounced on by a great big Beanie Baby.  

That is a start introducing this wonderful gentle beauty. He is totally ready to find his forever family, so please contact your placement advisor if you are interested.

Updates

Thursday, July 11, 2013

    

Sawyer had a great week in spite of the heat. His favorite place to be was inside in the air conditioning, and preferably in front of a fan.   

 

Sitting so nice with his new brother Hunter and foster sister Angel !

 

Sawyer was adopted by the terrific “B” family and is now at his new home. The family adopted one of my previous fosters, and both boys are sweet mellow dudes and they get along like two peas in a pod.  Please join me in wishing him and the family all the best.  Sawyer is truly one in a million.       

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

This has been a week of seeing Sawyer in many new situations. To start, a few days ago my niece stopped by with her 2-year-old daughter who loves all animals with a passion, especially large dogs.  I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to see how Sawyer would respond to a gentle child. We were extremely cautious, keeping in mind his history of being snarky with a few kids in the past. When Sawyer first saw her his tail couldn’t have wagged any faster. They became fast friends—she even took him for a little walk. I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures because it was so adorable.

    

When it was time to go, she started to cry because she didn’t want to leave. Sawyer went over to her and gave her a big sloppy kiss in the middle of her face. His interactions with her were excellent, but I would still keep a very close eye on him in the future when he is around children, to be on the safe side, and to determine what triggers that occasional snarky behavior. 

On Saturday, Sawyer helped represent RAGOM at the Pride Festival in Minneapolis. He was his usual laid-back self, greeting people and dogs with a wag and a smile. He did really well with all of the commotion—way better than me! Although his interactions seemed effortless, he slept in the backseat for the entire ride home.

Today my niece and a group of other relatives stopped by to say hi, and of course the little one wanted to walk Sawyer again. He went right over to her when he saw that she had the leash, and quickly fell into step with her. Here they are:

 

We got to see Sawyer interact with a group of people who were seated and visiting. He was great—friendly and eager for pets, but quickly laid down by my feet when everyone else sat down. He is a perfect gentleman and appears to be very well socialized in a group of people. 

 

"All the buds: Annie, Angel, Sawyer, and RAGOM alum Hunter."

Something else we learned about him is that he does not like the heat! When he first arrived at our house Olivia (our cat that believes she is superior to dogs) took one look at Sawyer and asked if we were now going to be fostering Polar Bears. There must have been something to that, because he always seeks a breezy spot in the shade. If it gets too hot when we are working in the yard, he goes to the patio door and whines or barks to go in. The previous owner told me that he loves to swim, so I better get him to the lake one of these hot July days!

I have some good news: A previous RAGOM adopter is interested in Sawyer. We are going to see how their dog and Sawyer do together, so keep your fingers crossed that it is a good fit!