Shadow has been in my home for a week now. When he first arrived, he had so much energy; he was always in motion and wanted to play fetch constantly. He has since calmed down quite a bit. He does well with Dexter, my resident 3.5yo Golden Retriever. They are pretty independent of each other but do wrestle and play tug-of-war with a rope on occasion.
House-broken: He has not had any accidents in the house, but he has marked things on three occasions. He marked something twice on Monday evening and once on Wednesday morning, but hasn't marked anything else. He will let you know if he needs to go outside by coming to you and "whining." I ask him if he has to "Go potty" or tell him to "Go Potty" when he's outside.
Food: He had his initial visit to the vet on Tuesday morning. She said he could fare well with gaining a few pounds since you can clearly feel his bones. So I have been giving him 4cups of food every day to try and get his weight up. When feeding him, I am commanding him "Sit" and "Wait" until I tell him it is "OK" to eat his food. He is started to catch on after watching Dexter do those motions. I have taken his food bowl away while he eats and he does not growl or nip. I have done the same thing for giving him treats, I will command him to "Sit" as well as "Lay Down," he does ok but needs some guidance with the commands. Again, he does not growl or nip if you take away food items from him. My only concern is that he tends to over extended his mouth onto your fingers when grabbing a treat from your hand, in that instance I pulled my hand away and tell him "No biting" and give it back to him until he takes it away gently.
Alone Time: He has 100% free roam of the house. I'm not entirely sure what or where he goes when no one is home. Dexter always goes to his kennel inside our bedroom when we leave but waits until he's called downstairs before he comes down after we get home. However, since Shadow has been here, both of them have been at the door waiting for us to walk inside. The sound of the garage door chain might be triggering him to let him know that we're home, and he meets us there.
Social Skills: He is a snuggler! I don't necessarily want to call him a lap dog because we have tried, but he doesn't want to seem to stay put there long. At bedtime he will get in the bed and lay against you for a little while but then he'll either move off the bed completely or move to the foot of the bed. This morning, however, when I woke up he was laying against my legs and I called him up towards my head and he inched his way up there and stayed snuggled against my chest for a good 30 minutes or so. He is good with kids according to the SO, and confirmed by RAGOM transport/foster volunteer, Shadow spent the night in her home on two different occasions and he did well around her 5 year old son.
Toys: He loves playing fetch and almost always runs around the house with a tennis ball in his mouth. He is great at retrieving and I have a feeling he would make an excellent Fly Ball dog. His biggest problem is that he doesn't always "Drop it" when told. He's also very aware of which ball he wants to play with. I have tried to swap out tennis balls when one gets soaked in drool, but he wants to continue with the same ball. I have taken away stuffed animals for the time being, I caught him ripping the stuffing out of one and he swallowed a huge glob of it, (it is no longer in him). He enjoys bones of varying types, but I think he likes compressed rawhide the most.
Shadow needs a home that can give him lots of attention, one with kids who can run him ragged and play fetch with him in an enclosed/fenced yard would be optimal. He needs someone who can be there for him for reassurance that he has a safe and happy home. He also needs a home that either has a resident dog who he can learn from, someone who understand obedience training, or both! He also needs a home where he is not crated/kenneled for long periods of time.
