Sierra is a 4-year-old female Golden Retriever from Turkey. She arrived in the United States late Sunday night on April 28th.  She then made the trip from Minnesota to Iowa on Monday the 29th. She has been a very sweet and calm girl since the first day she arrived in our home about a week ago.

Sierra has been a very easy foster as she is so sweet and easy going! She’s a model foster dog!

We did not receive much information about her from Turkey, but do know she was found in a shelter there. They were unsure how she ended up there, but when a rescuer took her in, she was so happy to get a collar and be part of a home. 

During the past week with Sierra, she could be described as low energy. She loves to lounge around the house or yard and take naps.

She does get excited to go for a walk when we get the leash out for her. She also perks up when playing with our Golden, Buddy. They have wrestled and played several times together, and she seems to enjoy this.

She’s not usually the one to initiate play, but she will oblige when she wants to and ignore our dog when she doesn’t want to play. She hasn’t been interested in fetch so far, so I’m not sure if she knows how to fetch.

According to the rescue in Turkey, Sierra gets along great with other dogs and hasn’t had any issues. We would agree with this. She has shown no signs of resource guarding or aggression.

She hasn’t played with toys too much, so maybe she isn’t used to them. She would be great in a home with other dogs or she would be fine as an only dog too.

I have had to leave her home alone a couple times while taking my dog on therapy dog visits and she has done great! I watched her via video to see her reaction while we were gone and she laid down and went to sleep while we were gone.

Sierra is also fine with children of all ages, according to the rescue in Turkey. We have an 8-year-old daughter and she has been great with her and her friends who come over to visit. The kids range in age from 5 to 11. She seems to enjoy attention wherever she can get it. She may even make a good therapy dog.

She seems to be house trained, as she has had no accidents in our home. She has even gone to the door we use to go outside, on her own, when she needs to go out.

She seems very smart and willing to please.  She knows sit, down, and shake. She doesn’t necessarily know her name (as I’m not sure how long she has been named Sierra), but she will come to you when clapping or making kissing noises and calling her. 

When going for walks, she will maybe pull a little at first, but it’s not too hard and she doesn’t do it long. She seems tired by the end of a half hour walk. She has greeted several neighbors on our walks and enjoys their pets and scratches. They have all commented what a docile, sweet girl she is, and that someone is going to get a great dog!

Sierra likes to be near you, especially when food is involved, but she hasn’t tried to snatch anything from us and just hangs out patiently to see if anything falls on the floor.  Although, she has given a little bark a few times when we’re preparing food, like she’s trying to tell us not to forget about her. 

Sierra did great at the vet. They were impressed how calm she was as well. She did not like getting her blood drawn or her ears looked at, but overall, she did great and is in good health. She is spayed, microchipped, and doesn’t appear to have any health issues besides some itchy skin that the vet thinks should clear up and not be an ongoing problem.

On the first night, we had Sierra sleep in our laundry room, which is basically connected to our bedroom. We had a baby gate up so she would stay in there. She does great with a baby gate and that is what we use to keep her and our dog in the entryway and laundry room when we are gone.

On the second night, she came in our room and crawled up on our dog’s bed and laid down. She looked too comfy to move, and our dog usually sleeps with us most of the time anyway. She did great and didn’t bother us at all. The dogs didn’t bother each other either.  And now she sleeps in our room every night!  She hasn’t made a peep any night; not even the 1st night. 

Sierra seems to enjoy being groomed, as she fell asleep while I was combing and brushing her. She’s also fine with me wiping her paws with a towel after she’s been outside and they are wet.  I haven’t clipped any of her nails yet, so I’m not sure how she is with that. 

She’s not a huge fan of getting a bath, but she tolerated it fine once she was in the bath. She was nice and clean afterwards. When she drinks water, she tends to get more on the floor than in her mouth.

She doesn’t seem to be a fan of vacuums, but just went downstairs while I vacuumed upstairs. Sometimes she takes treats too hard and gets your finger too, but those are her worst traits. I’m not sure you could get a better dog!

I don’t think I can express just how great a dog she has been. She is sweet, loves to lean in to you for pets and will gently nudge your hand if you stop before she wants you to, and is so calm and easy going. I have told several people that if I were wanting a 2nd dog, I would definitely keep her! She would make a great addition to the right home.