Meet Doppler, the delightful, adorable dog! He is a 9 year old male golden retriever being fostered in Andover, Minnesota. This terrific dog has been in foster care with us for two weeks now, and I have to say, he's a dreamboat! His fur is a beautiful rich dark red color, and I would guess his weight to be about 80 pounds - that's just a guess, though, and I'm not good at guessing, so we'll have to see what the vet says.

I know that some of you will want to start looking at other dogs because many of you are looking for a young, healthy dog with no significant behavior issues. And if that's all that you will accept, then, OK, feel free to move on. However, young-and-no-issues is not an easy combination to find, which is why I hope you'll rethink your position and consider a healthy older dog who, so far, has absolutely no behavior issues! I'm sure that part of the reason Doppler is so dapper and dreamy is because he is wise! He learns quickly and is eager to please and want to play - all the things that a younger dog would do, but with no learning curve required. He's also handsome, kind, loving, and he'll take all the petting and attention you are willing to give. Yet, when you tell him "enough", he does not pester or mope, he just goes and lays down. He is truly wonderful, to the point where my daughter thought perhaps I should consider delaying submission of this initial update, just so we could keep him for a while! But no, there are lots of dogs that need foster care, and I want to do a good job for RAGOM. Plus I like meeting and getting to know new dogs. I know that the perfect home for Doppler is out there somewhere, just waiting to find this almost perfect dog.

Here's what we know so far about Doppler:

• This is a dog who loves people and getting attention
• Doppler is completely house trained
• Before he arrived at our house, he was reportedly never around cats. So we've tested him with the resident fraidy-cat and he passed with flying colors! There were a couple sniffs, and that's it. For the past few nights they have both been sleeping in the same room by mutual choice, and we've had no issues whatsoever.
• Doppler loves car rides; I think he would go along with anyone who invited him into their vehicle. And he's not a pest while driving. He checks in occasionally with one of those patented golden retriever nudges, but is mostly content to just watch and wait and snooze.
• He loves to go for walks. He doesn't really like the gentle leader, but I'd rather be certain that he can't pull me around (did I mention that he is healthy and strong?) He is a good walker, and he keeps pace almost perfectly, whether I walk fast or slow.
• We don't know how Doppler is with kids yet, but he was with a 9 month old baby for about 10 minutes, and had no reaction to getting his ears pulled and having little fingers digging into the fur around his snout.
• Doppler might be the rare kind of Golden Retriever who does not need a fenced-in yard. We need to test him more to be certain, but we've purposely let go of the leash a few times in our unfenced front yard, (so it was dragging on the ground, ready for us to grab it if he should take off) and he was like the best kind of companion, content to just walk alongside us, with a few moseys here and there to check out interesting smells.
• He doesn't counter surf! Two days ago a hamburger patty was left on a plate right on the edge of the counter. He could have easily reached it, and it was there for a couple hours with no one watching. When I got home, I watched him walk right past it more than once, but he paid it no mind.

The only caution I have so far, and it's not a big one, is that Doppler is just a tiny bit stubborn, so his forever family will need to know or learn about alpha canine behavior so that Doppler doesn't start to believe he is the boss. I've only seen the stubbornness a few times, such as when I was fitting the Gentle Leader to him -- he does not like the feel of it on his nose, and so he was slow about complying with my requests to come closer. And the first time we took a walk, he kept trying to get out front into the alpha position, and again, was a bit slow about getting into line. All our walks after that first one have been fine, though, so I think he was just testing me.

In my opinion, Doppler was surrendered because he was acting like a puppy, not a nine year old dog. In his exuberance, he knocked the surrendering owner (SO) over more than once. She has had both knees and a hip replaced, and Doppler's excited behavior was a medical issue for her. The SO had Doppler for about a year; she had gotten him from a family who had to move and could not take Doppler with them. She said she would be heartbroken if Doppler had to be put down, and I understand that sentiment completely! I think Doppler has been in loving families his whole life, and it shows, because he has a lot of love to give.

Please give this adorable, delightful dog a chance to show you how wonderful a RAGOM dog can be!