And it's NOT a vacuum cleaner! Hoover is a 6 mo. old Golden Retreiver! My friend and dog trainer, Susan, originally got him to train as an assistance dog. Her life got in the way of his training for a while and now he's displayed some tiny bit of a lack of self-confidence and a preference to be in a "pack" setting. This means he might not be able to handle some situations that an assistance dog could face. Rather than invest a lot of time in his training, Susan decided to pass him along to us. How lucky can a person get? Yesterday he came to his new home with us and The HairyButt Gang.
When I first got him home, I walked him around the yard- he has very nice leash manners. Then I put the "big" dogs out back and let Hoover explore the house. Then I introduced him to the other dogs thru the chain link fence. Everybody seemed friendly, so I took him inside the fence with the other three dogs. The sniffed each other and wagged their tails, so I knew everything would be okay. Hoover dashed over to Simon's swimming pool and laid down and rolled in the water. When he stopped thrashing about, Simon got in the pool and laid down beside Hoover. Hoover is now a full-fledged member of The HairyButt Gang.
I took one of Susan's crates home with me since I wasn't willing to let Hoover roam the house at night. At bedtime, he went into his crate very willingly and slept like a good boy. When I woke up (early!) I let him out of the crate and immediately said let's go OUTSIDE! He started running around the house going rrrrrr-RRR-rrr-RRRRR (talking) and looking for something to grab and carry in his mouth to go outside. Silly lil guy! That's *such* typical Golden behavior!
He followed me into the garden area and started poking around for a tomato to eat, so I had to plug the electric fence that goes around the raised beds into the electrical outlet- the other dogs recognize the fence for what it is and stay away without it being powered. He gave me the most confused look when he got shocked when he went back to check out the tomatoes again. Now he stays away from the garden beds but looks longingly at them.
He's been laying quietly here beside me while I check my emails and ng. He just sat up and laid his little (???) head on my leg for some petting. Yep, he's the perfect dog for us and The HairyButt Gang!
Sorry no pictures right now. My digi-cam has decided it doesn't like my computer any more and my picture program won't open up. Darnnit!
Leslie & The Chaotic But Happy Furbabies in MO.