Scout 10-249

Profile

I am so excited to introduce Scout to you all! This big puppy came to our family one week ago. He came from a family with smaller children and while he was cute as a bug when he was a baby, he quickly grew to a 70 pound adolescent, who still played like he was a baby, and the family didn't appreciate his interaction with the children. So since humans protect their baby humans, he had to go. He may not have fit very well in that family, but he has made himself a very welcome addition to our family for a season. We have not seen any behavior red flags except a little bit of "mouthing", which may have been the problem with the small children in his last family. He seems to us to be a typical male adolescent dog. So... let me tell you about him...

He is 1 yr, 5 months old and.....BLOND!....but don't hate him because he is beautiful. He welcomes you to pet his gloriously soft, thick fur and will reward you with a thorough face washing. He is a surprise a minute in the smarts category too. He lives up to his name...always curious about his surroundings and there is nothing wrong with his sniffer except it sometimes leads the rest of his head to....you know....those parts that humans don't enjoy being investigated. But I can't think of anything that can't be fixed with a little attention, training and positive strokes. He is already ahead in the game. He plays nicely with others and shares his toys and treats with his dog friend, Sydney. He walks like a charm on the leash, without any of those dog aids (gentle leader etc....). He has already had some training in sit, stay, down, shake and NO. Don't think he did much riding in the car because GETTING IN the car is an emerging skill, but riding in the car is a definite enjoyment for him. He behaves like a gentleman. He is house trained and crate trained, but no crate is really needed for him. He sleeps wherever he pleases in our house and behaves very nicely in our mud room while we are gone from the house. He loves water, tennis balls and chewing on bones and squishy toys. But mostly, he loves YOU! Cuddly to the nth degree, he loves to lay down with you and nap. He has ventured into the land of the waste baskets, but is easily redirected with a firm "NO". If there are bones and toys laying around, he is happy to put his energy into them instead. He loves to play with other dogs and he and our resident dog, Sydney wear themselves out playing and then both collapse in a heap.

On the medical side, he came to RAGOM with a kidney problem that has been resolved with surgery. Having only one kidney has not held him back in the plant watering contest. He has just revved up production on the other side.

Scout is ready to go and is young enough to adjust to your family. Not sure if he should go to a young family though. Your kids' peanut butter sandwiches may disappear out of their hands. He does LOVE that peanut butter!

At a Glance #10-249

Golden Retriever	Born: May 2009
Male	70 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

I am so excited to introduce Scout to you all! This big puppy came to our family one week ago. He came from a family with smaller children and while he was cute as a bug when he was a baby, he quickly grew to a 70 pound adolescent, who still played like he was a baby, and the family didn't appreciate his interaction with the children. So since humans protect their baby humans, he had to go. He may not have fit very well in that family, but he has made himself a very welcome addition to our family for a season. We have not seen any behavior red flags except a little bit of "mouthing", which may have been the problem with the small children in his last family. He seems to us to be a typical male adolescent dog. So... let me tell you about him...

He is 1 yr, 5 months old and.....BLOND!....but don't hate him because he is beautiful. He welcomes you to pet his gloriously soft, thick fur and will reward you with a thorough face washing. He is a surprise a minute in the smarts category too. He lives up to his name...always curious about his surroundings and there is nothing wrong with his sniffer except it sometimes leads the rest of his head to....you know....those parts that humans don't enjoy being investigated. But I can't think of anything that can't be fixed with a little attention, training and positive strokes. He is already ahead in the game. He plays nicely with others and shares his toys and treats with his dog friend, Sydney. He walks like a charm on the leash, without any of those dog aids (gentle leader etc....). He has already had some training in sit, stay, down, shake and NO. Don't think he did much riding in the car because GETTING IN the car is an emerging skill, but riding in the car is a definite enjoyment for him. He behaves like a gentleman. He is house trained and crate trained, but no crate is really needed for him. He sleeps wherever he pleases in our house and behaves very nicely in our mud room while we are gone from the house. He loves water, tennis balls and chewing on bones and squishy toys. But mostly, he loves YOU! Cuddly to the nth degree, he loves to lay down with you and nap. He has ventured into the land of the waste baskets, but is easily redirected with a firm "NO". If there are bones and toys laying around, he is happy to put his energy into them instead. He loves to play with other dogs and he and our resident dog, Sydney wear themselves out playing and then both collapse in a heap.

On the medical side, he came to RAGOM with a kidney problem that has been resolved with surgery. Having only one kidney has not held him back in the plant watering contest. He has just revved up production on the other side.

Scout is ready to go and is young enough to adjust to your family. Not sure if he should go to a young family though. Your kids' peanut butter sandwiches may disappear out of their hands. He does LOVE that peanut butter!

Updates

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Scout is doing great! He's half way through level 1 obedience classes and seems to be showing greater self-restraint as he gets farther through. He still loves to play tug and chase with Kevin. With the addition of booties to protect his paws from the cold weather and salt, he also accompanies me on morning runs 3-4 times a week.

For Christmas we traveled home to see parents in Illinois and Iowa. We still struggle to coax him into the car, but with lots of treats we are usually able to get him in. Kevin's family has two malteses that Scout perpetually wanted to play with, but they didn't seem to have any interest in him. At my parents house he faired better with Smokey and another RAGOM dog Rufus (Ramsey 09-350) that my mom adopted last winter. The 3 of them got to go running in a local park together and play in the back yard. Young Scout wore Smokey and Rufus out while taking turns playing with them. Scout even learned that tug was not just a game to play with humans, but with his fur "uncles" as well.

We continue to enjoy the love that Scout brings into our house. We get lots of cuddles and kisses everyday. In addition, I think my favorite part right now is extra warm toes as he loves to lay on my feet below the sofa.

The attached photos are:

1) Scout and Rufus (Ramsey 09-350) pictured on our recent trip to my parents' house. You can see that Scout wore Rufus out.

2) Kevin, Kristen and Scout in front of the Christmas tree.

3) Scout won the wrestling match that ensued after the Christmas tree photo.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Sorry for the delay in updating our progress here at Scout-ville. We have been very busy since there has been a lot of interest in Scout since he was first introduced. Thought for a while that there wouldn't BE an update, but no one seemed to be the right match. Could it be that we have gotten selfish and want him for ourselves for a little while longer? Maybe...No... We would love to see him comfortably settled in his forever home, but have been struggling with people's perception that he isn't a healthy dog. You see, Scout was born with one non-functioning kidney and ureter and hip dysplasia. He has had surgery to correct the kidney problem and his prognosis is very good, since the other kidney just takes over where the other kidney failed. He has been living with one functioning kidney his whole life. There are no special diets or changes in anyone's schedule due to this. He is just living his life in the normal dog fashion. And his hips? It is more of a wiggle than a struggle. He has no complaints and as long as he gets his exercise and remains at a healthy weight, he will age like any other dog. He may experience more arthritis than some other dog, but I have not had any dog without that malady once they achieve senior status. Believe me, his beauty and lovely disposition makes up for any inconvenience we may encounter at the other end of his lifespan.

So....let's talk about those other qualities, now that we have had him long enough to appreciate them.

Scout is an energetic, puppy/dog. He always has time to play and my dog, Syd has thanked us many times for bringing him into her life. Her life has been so much more fun with him in it. When they are not playing, he settles down and is happy to just chew his bones and rest for the next round. He is a very oral dog and will tear up anything he is allowed chew, but so far, he has not chewed anything inappropriate..except for one ball of yarn that he thought I was throwing for him. He has plenty to chew on in the toybox and I try not to tempt him with other stuff, but he really hasn't had an interest in anything other than his toys and bones. He is happy to take every toy out of the toybox before he settles on the one at the bottom. He has not learned yet to put them back in though....an emerging skill? I think not...sigh. He loves tennis balls and tug o war with whatever he can tug on. He does find things in the waste basket though so they have had to be put up.

He is great on the leash and is happy to oblige when I ask him to "go potty". He has a real curiosity about just anything his nose leads him to, but he also respects the word, "NO"......well, most of the time. He is learning to sit and be a good boy when we put on the leash. He wants so badly to play with any dog we encounter on our walks so will try to get to them which has led to me building up my arm muscles. But mostly, he is happy to walk and sniff and is great on walks.

He sleeps in our bedroom on the floor, or in a bed we have provided for him. We say, "Time for night night", and off he goes to the bedroom like a trouper. He jumped up on the bed once and we made such a commotion, he has never tried THAT again. He is a fast learner.

He loves to be loved most of all. He will lie on the floor and let me do just about anything to him. He rewards the attention with a thorough face washing. He is just the typical young dog that needs to be trained for good citizenship. And Scout DOES need some time put into him. He would benefit from obedience training to tame his tendency to want to be the "boss". He is responding to the little bit of training we are putting into him already, but he needs to know that you are the alpha in this relationship. But he learns quickly and most times, wants to please. He has learned much from our dog, and I am optimistic that he, with some training is going to be a great member of someone's family. We are looking for a family willing to put that time into him...so....do you have time to create a diamond from the rough? We would prefer that he goes into a home with a well trained dog to learn from, or a family that is not too busy with other things in their life, that would want to put the time into making him into the dog citizen he is capable of being.

Are you that family?

The buddies