Duke 07-418

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Profile

07/18/2007:

Allow us to introduce you to Duke, a handsome 4 year old deep red golden boy.  He is such a sweetheart and seems to be very intelligent.  He loves to follow scents and check every thing out with his nose, so we have affectionately referred to him as “Sir Duke the Golden Explorer”.  Duke also loves, loves, loves to go for car rides and playing with his toys, retrieving balls, getting belly scratches, and following us around the house.

He has been to the vet and outside of needing to lose a few pounds and some allergies, he is a healthy guy.  He weighed 84 pounds when we got him a week ago and already has lost 2 pounds, so he is off to a great start getting to his goal weight of about 70 pounds.  We have been taking at least 2 short walks every day in this hot weather, and even though he gets warm, he is a trooper and keeps on going until we get back home.  He walks wonderfully with his gentle leader on…no pulling at all, and so he is a joy to have as a walking companion.

Duke has been very good in the house.  He sleeps very nicely all night long on his dog bed, is fully potty trained, willingly goes in his crate when asked, and does not counter-surf or chew on anything inappropriate.  He knows a few basic obedience commands such as sit, stay, come, and no as well as shake and speak.  We are working on a couple of things such as jumping up on people and not barking at the neighborhood activity and although he has only been here a week, he is really catching on and making great progress with both of these things.

We think Duke would do great in a home where someone is around most of the time so he doesn’t get too bored or lonely.  A fenced yard would be great so he can safely run and explore to his hearts content.  Also, Duke absolutely adores men…he just really likes to be with them.  Not that he doesn’t like women, but he especially loves hanging out with a guy.  He has been in a home with a cat before and been reported to get along with them.  Although he loves kids, he can get a little too excited sometimes (accidentally knocking them over with his tail wagging) and so would probably do best in a house without young children.

 

At a Glance #07-418

Golden Retriever Born: June 2003
Male Weight not specified

Status: Adopted

Profile

07/18/2007:

Allow us to introduce you to Duke, a handsome 4 year old deep red golden boy.  He is such a sweetheart and seems to be very intelligent.  He loves to follow scents and check every thing out with his nose, so we have affectionately referred to him as “Sir Duke the Golden Explorer”.  Duke also loves, loves, loves to go for car rides and playing with his toys, retrieving balls, getting belly scratches, and following us around the house.

He has been to the vet and outside of needing to lose a few pounds and some allergies, he is a healthy guy.  He weighed 84 pounds when we got him a week ago and already has lost 2 pounds, so he is off to a great start getting to his goal weight of about 70 pounds.  We have been taking at least 2 short walks every day in this hot weather, and even though he gets warm, he is a trooper and keeps on going until we get back home.  He walks wonderfully with his gentle leader on…no pulling at all, and so he is a joy to have as a walking companion.

Duke has been very good in the house.  He sleeps very nicely all night long on his dog bed, is fully potty trained, willingly goes in his crate when asked, and does not counter-surf or chew on anything inappropriate.  He knows a few basic obedience commands such as sit, stay, come, and no as well as shake and speak.  We are working on a couple of things such as jumping up on people and not barking at the neighborhood activity and although he has only been here a week, he is really catching on and making great progress with both of these things.

We think Duke would do great in a home where someone is around most of the time so he doesn’t get too bored or lonely.  A fenced yard would be great so he can safely run and explore to his hearts content.  Also, Duke absolutely adores men…he just really likes to be with them.  Not that he doesn’t like women, but he especially loves hanging out with a guy.  He has been in a home with a cat before and been reported to get along with them.  Although he loves kids, he can get a little too excited sometimes (accidentally knocking them over with his tail wagging) and so would probably do best in a house without young children.

 

Updates

Sunday, July 5, 2009

From Duke's forever family...

We adopted Duke in August, 2007, shortly after the deaths of our two goldens, Delilah & Zoe, who were 14 and 12 years old. Duke had to fill a huge empty spot in our hearts and our house, and he has been very successful in both.

In this photo Duke is retrieving a tennis ball in our back yard while Heidi the dachshund (my mother-in-law's dog) watches.

We enjoy Duke's enthusiasm, his affectionate nature, his intelligence and his fine good looks. We are often asked "how could anyone give up a good dog like Duke ", and it is hard to believe that he had three owners before he came to live with us!

Duke is a wonderful companion, a great walking buddy, and our whole family's "love puppy!"

  

Sunday, August 12, 2007

“Hello, everyone!  This is Duke checking in again, and I hope you all had a great week and survived the storms.  They were mighty strong and I am so thankful to have been safe and snug inside with my foster family.  We didn’t have any trees fall on us like I heard happened to some, which must have been awful and very scary.  I hope you all are okay and recover real soon if that did happen to you.

  

Foster mom and dad continue to treat me really great here but I am still looking for a family of my own.  I would love a fenced yard to play fetch in and some kids to play with would be great (as long as they can handle my tail wagging…as I have a strong tail and am a happy guy so it is in motion a lot!).  I also am told I need to exercise and keep taking my medication, so if you can help me with that, we would do great together.  I am really an easy guy to live with and take care of so please consider me to be your next new family member.  I promise to reward you with many tail wags and lots of loving.”

 

From Duke’s foster mom:  Duke really is a great dog and has been getting along very well with our resident dog.  The jostling for “top dog” has settled down, and they play quite well together.  He is very easy to take care of and superb in his patience with ear cleaning, brushing, bathing, etc.  He also has a very gentle mouth when taking treats.    This week we met a couple of horses in a nearby pasture when we were out walking.  I don’t think Duke has ever seen a horse before let alone one that was neighing, and he was fascinated watching them.  He did not bark but sure was taking it all in.  He is a great observer of his environment, which seems to be a part of how intelligent he is.    

 

Duke has been doing great with his thyroid medication thus far.  He takes the pill so easily along with some generic Benadryl.  He has started to lose weight now and is down to 80 pounds.  He was a finicky eater with his surrendering owner and with us at first.  He does not seem to like dry dog food…at least not the 3 brands that we tried.  Thus, due to some apparent although not severe allergies and his seeming dislike of dry dog food, we started him on a brand of raw frozen dog food (which we have been feeding our resident dog for over a year…and yes, we do thaw it first!).  He absolutely loves this food, and it has agreed with his system right from the start.  It is more costly than dry dog food, but is readily available at a pet food outlet, and is very easy to feed.  Probably, he would like to stay on this food but certainly wouldn’t have to if you can find something else that he likes and is good for him.

  If you would like to meet this handsome guy, just let your placement advisor know. 

 

Sunday, July 29, 2007

“Hi, everyone! This is Duke checking in to let you all know I survived the heat this past week and am very much looking for my forever home yet. Could you be the one? 

This past week we had storms from all the hot weather and they did not bother me one bit. Neither do other loud noises such as fire crackers or train whistles. I am a very brave guy. 

I got started on some medication this week for my thyroid. The vet said it is a little low and that may be why I have a hard time losing weight and have some problems with allergies. The pills are very tiny and I just stick my tongue out for it and swallow it right down. Foster mom is very impressed with how well I take medication. Of course, she sounds so happy when she gives it to me that I think it must be something really great! I heard they are very cheap, too. In any case, even though the scale says I did not lose weight this past week, I am getting in much better shape. We are still going on walks every day, which I love. We only skipped our long walk one day this week when it was just too hot for everyone.

Other than that, nothing else is new. I just want to let you know that I am a very good boy in the house, and I will be in yours, too. I don’t jump on the furniture or chew on anything I shouldn’t, and I will go lay on my bed all on my own at bedtime. And even though I would rather go with you when you leave, I will go in my crate while you are gone when I am asked. At my last home, I was not asked to go in a crate and was very good in the house when left alone. Of course, I don’t like being left alone for too long because, like all Goldens, I love to be around my family. 

If you are looking for a great companion to live and play with, then please email placementatragom [dot] org so we can meet and begin our life together very soon!

Love, Duke.”

Sunday, July 22, 2007

“Hello to everyone in Ragom land.I am sure enjoying being a Ragom boy.  All this attention and loving is fantastic.  I can tell foster mom and dad are falling hard for me, and I think they are pretty terrific, too.  I am so happy when we are all together.  We go for lots of walks.  With this cooler weather, I walked a whole 3 miles at one time both yesterday and today.  I am getting more and more physically fit.  Foster sister better watch out or I might catch up to her one of these days!!  She loves to tease me and try to get me to chase her.  I am always a perfect gentleman about it, and never get too rough, but boy would I like to surprise her just once.

The other day I got to do something fun that I really enjoyed.  We all went to the A&W carhop!!  They actually bring a whole tray of food right to the car window.  Wow!!  It smelled so good that I couldn’t help but drool.  However, I maintained my self-control and did not try to grab anything.  Foster mom must have been impressed because she broke down and gave me a cheese curd.  Mmmmm…those are so yummy! This weekend we met two young children on our walk, and they wanted to know if they could pet me.  Silly kids, don’t they know I never turn down loving pets and attention?  I sat very nicely while they petted me and asked foster mom and dad questions about me.  After a little bit, I decided to lie down while they talked.  When I did, the little guy came and laid his head right on my back which was just fine with me.  I love affection!!  My foster sister and I were so wonderful with the kids that foster mom said we were the perfect Golden Retriever Ambassadors.  She was so proud of me!!  

Yesterday we went to Chuck & Don’s and boy was that ever a neat place!!  Such nice people and, again, soooo many wonderful smells.  Foster mom and dad sure are testing my will power this weekend.  But I was very good and did not grab anything in the store.  When we walked by the crates, I checked them all over because they looked so familiar.  I thought maybe we were picking out a new one for me, and I was going to test them out.  But we just kept going…I guess I do already have one at home that I sleep in (with the door open because I am a trustworthy guy), so I probably don’t need another one.

Indoors, I have been trying real hard to remember to not jump up on people, and now I hardly jump on them at all.  It sure is hard when I am so happy and excited, but I get lots more praise and petting when I sit nicely.  I am also learning to not bark at the neighbors when they are outside, as foster mom and dad say that is not good manners.  But how am I to know?  At my last home, the neighbor lady came out and gave me treats when I barked at her!!  Oh well, I guess not everyone is like her so I am being good and stop barking as soon as I am told.  Well it is about supper time now, so I better get going.  I don’t want foster sister to get my food!  See you all later!  Have a great week and stay cool!

Love, Duke"