Tatonka 12-341

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Profile

Tonka is a 8 month old pure bred Golden Retriever with more red tones in his wavy coat. He is a very good looking puppy. He is neutered, is up to date on his vaccines and tested negative for HW after a trip to the vet. He was released to RAGOM when his owner moved away and couldn’t take Tonka with her. He is very sweet and full of puppy energy. He introduced to our dogs, Tyson and Chance(12-021) very well. Tyson gave him signals early on when he chased, tried to bite and be too playful. Chance hasn’t figured out what this puppy is doing to him! Tonka is constantly chasing Chance, biting his ears, neck, rolling around and being too friendly. Chance runs to me like “protect me” with his slobbered ears and face, he hasn’t figured out how to give signals of enough play, as Chance was not a well socialized puppy.

Tonka is so sweet and will slow down long enough for a few pets and belly scratches. We have him sleep in the kennel at night and during the day, as the owner commented on he likes to chew on wood. I was thinking 2x4s versus my table and railings are more appropriate for his puppy teeth! He kennels up well with a treat for encouragement. He sleeps through the night, hasn’t had an accident or marked in the house.

Tonka: cute as can be, lots of puppy energy, has some obedience training, walks well, takes treats nice and loves to run with another dog.

What he needs from you: big yard to run and play, a playmate of the fur variety, kids ages 8+ (he mouths humans when playing still), daily exercise and a place to relax when he settles down.

He will be in Detroit Lakes area this weekend, if you want to meet him contact your placement advisor.

At a Glance #12-341

Golden Retriever Born: March 2012
Male 50 lbs

Status: Adopted

Profile

Tonka is a 8 month old pure bred Golden Retriever with more red tones in his wavy coat. He is a very good looking puppy. He is neutered, is up to date on his vaccines and tested negative for HW after a trip to the vet. He was released to RAGOM when his owner moved away and couldn’t take Tonka with her. He is very sweet and full of puppy energy. He introduced to our dogs, Tyson and Chance(12-021) very well. Tyson gave him signals early on when he chased, tried to bite and be too playful. Chance hasn’t figured out what this puppy is doing to him! Tonka is constantly chasing Chance, biting his ears, neck, rolling around and being too friendly. Chance runs to me like “protect me” with his slobbered ears and face, he hasn’t figured out how to give signals of enough play, as Chance was not a well socialized puppy.

Tonka is so sweet and will slow down long enough for a few pets and belly scratches. We have him sleep in the kennel at night and during the day, as the owner commented on he likes to chew on wood. I was thinking 2x4s versus my table and railings are more appropriate for his puppy teeth! He kennels up well with a treat for encouragement. He sleeps through the night, hasn’t had an accident or marked in the house.

Tonka: cute as can be, lots of puppy energy, has some obedience training, walks well, takes treats nice and loves to run with another dog.

What he needs from you: big yard to run and play, a playmate of the fur variety, kids ages 8+ (he mouths humans when playing still), daily exercise and a place to relax when he settles down.

He will be in Detroit Lakes area this weekend, if you want to meet him contact your placement advisor.

Updates

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Tonka has already been with us two weeks – time flies by. He has met a few other neighbor dogs without any issues. He is so happy and meets everybody with a wagging tail, lunge and gives a kiss if you are lucky. We are working with him to stay down and not jump up on people. He has been very good on the potty department with just a couple of accidents in the house. He has graduated from the kennel to the gated off hallway during the work day with free roam at night. He does like to get into the garbage and laundry baskets for a tasty treat.

We still find we need to rotate Chance and Tyson to play with Tonka, to give the dogs a break from the ear chewing, chasing and fighting. People ask why does Tonka not come in with wet ears??? Guess who is doing all the slobbering???

We had him around kids ages 4-13, so we would recommend he go to a family with older kids because he is still jumping up on people. He is excited when he meets the kids, but I think he prefers to have fur siblings.

When he is tired enough, he will crawl up on the couch and snuggle in for a little nap.

From time to time, he will find a toy and play by himself, toss it around or lay and chew.

When Tyson and Chance are playing tug, Tonka stands on the sidelines and tries to get a piece of the rope or toy, too. Saturday morning, he chased Chance around in a circle close to 30 times, they ran and ran. At one point, he figured out to stop and wait for Chance to pass him again, then they switched and ran the other way.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Tonka has been with us for over a week now and doing very well. He is settling in nicely and a playing wonderfully with the boys. They run, chase and fight most of the day, he loves having a playmate or two to chase. We went to the cabin this weekend and he had so much fun running and chasing Chance. Tonka followed Tyson right into the water and at one point was leaping over the boys – we never saw him swim but he sure was having fun running around. He came out of the lake a little smelly and dirty, so off to the shower – he did great during his bath time.

He wore down some of his puppy energy and actually crawled up on the couch for some snuggling. Well then Mr Jealous and his side kick – aka Tyson and Chance – also had to crawl up for some kisses and belly scratches. Tyson, Tonka and Chance eyeing the jack.

After the first few nights in the kennel, we have left him to sleep on a dog bed in our room. He sleeps pretty much through the night. When he needs to go potty, he paces side to side to see if FM or FD will wake up to take him outside. He whines a bit when we leave for work, not sure how long that lasts. His last home had given him free roam when gone. I think he could earn this quickly in your family. He has not chewed anything inappropriate while in foster care. This could be because he isn’t bored at all, he loves his foster brothers.

When we keep him separate from Tyson and Chance, he actually slows down and takes a nap. He was drifting in and out of puppy dreamland when I snapped this adorable picture of him.

If he is adopted by a family without another dog, it will be important that he gets regular exercise, playtime and some play dates with other fur butts. Boredom in puppies equals destructive behaviors and his adoptive family will want him tired out to help him be his best.

He is so darn cute and a big lover boy when he is done with playing. He won’t be in foster care long.