Size
(when grown) Large 61-100 lbs (28-45 kg)
Details
Good with dogs,
House-trained,
Spayed or Neutered,
Shots are up-to-date,
Story
For more information, visit www.goldenretrieverfreedom.org and review GRFR's adoption requirements and fill out an online application.
Please note that GRFR does not adopt out of state.
Chrissy must have another large confident dog in her adoptive home and she must have a 6ft fence.
Chrissy is a Golden Retriever breeder release, 6 years old, had lots of puppies, and has been taught to avoid humans at all costs, especially while eating. She was terrified of humans. She would either go rigid or shake uncontrollably when touched by a human.'She is the cutest looking little girl ever, sweet natured, and she has made a whole lot of progress since then.
I think she's ready now for a calm loving home of her own. She gets along great with other dogs, and would love a home with one or more gentle friendly dogs to hang out with in the fenced yard when she's not in the house, and one or more calm patient humans to work with her on making further progress so she can put her fears behind her.
She probably would not progress well in a noisy environment with tons of activity, but could do well with older children.'
Here is some of what she's overcome on her journey towards living the life of a normal happy Golden:
She had a terrible ear infection that probably affected her hearing, so walking up to her while she was sleeping had the unfortunate effect of her thinking the scary human was creeping up on her; she would panic. Her ears are much better now, and her hearing seems to be fine.
At first she would want to stay outside, doing laps around the house until she wore herself out; then she'd curl up in the gazebo or other protected area and take a nap. She would not come for treats or for dinner time.'
Once the weather turned cold and she was on medication for the ear problem, I only let her outside on leash. She is still terrified of the leash, but no longer runs away when she sees it; she just backs up into her corner while I clip it to her collar. Then we go outside, and she's sort of a different dog once we get outside.'She immediately does her potty business. Lately, if the other dogs are outside, she greets them and wags her tail at them. It took several weeks to get one single little tentative tag wag out of Chrissy. Now it's more common, and it's a joy to see it. At first it only happened when she was outside. Now she wags when we all wake up in the morning and are having our doggy love fest.
She has only two places in the house where she feels safe. This is actually an improvement over the two weeks she spent in the workroom at the far end of the house. She saw one of the resident dogs jump up on the couch one day, jumped up there with him, and that's been one of her safe places ever since. Her other safe place is a dog bed on the floor on the far side of Foster Mom's bed. That used to be the resident male's favorite sleeping place, but he graciously gave it up to Chrissy after several nights of her snuggling up in the same bed with him.
At first, I had to shut the bedroom door in the morning or she would spend the entire day squirreled away in the bedroom, and I would take her food and water to her there. If I did not take provisions to her bed area, she would only sneak out in the wee hours to eat and drink while the rest of us slept. Now she pretty much stays out on the couch where she can watch the activity in the kitchen/living area. She hops down to eat and drink. True, she then hops back up on the couch once feeding time is over, but every day she gets a tiny bit more exploratory. Sometimes looking at other dogs' empty food bowls or sometimes testing someone else's dog bed.
I have 5 acres, and it's not a good place to let a dog like this go free. Too many places to hide, and not a safe place at night when the wild creatures come out. Chrissy really needs a smaller fenced yard where she can act like a dog instead of depending on a leash in order to be allowed outside. It's good to know, though, that she is excellent on leash walks. Someone taught her to heel and to always stay on the left side. And she squats to pee or poop after about 30 strides outdoors. Very easy. I take her outside about 4 times a day to be sure she has the opportunity to relieve herself and be comfortable, but I cannot let her go free. It's obvious to me that she wants more outdoor time with the other dogs. She would follow them around the field if allowed to.
Originally Chrissy hated being petted. She now sometimes asks for pettings, especially when the other dogs are nearby and getting their due share of attentions. She now takes treats directly from my hand.
She still scares easily - much like a skittish colt.'If another dog bounds up and gets wrapped up in her leash, she doesn't know how to handle that. She's still frightened of doors. While on leash she will tend to bolt through the door just to get that part over with. Then she's fine again. Sometimes she's afraid of my hat, and I have to take it off. Doesn't like my down coat or big clunky boots either. She definitely acts freer outside, but bear in mind we're in semi-country territory, so there are not a whole lot of scary outdoor noises for her to deal with. She's very afraid of car rides - needs some short 1- minute trips to get her past that.
She's been on a yeast control pill and a steroid to handle the ear infection, and the Vet thinks she's doing much much better. At first she could not get the scope in the right ear far enough to see the canal. That swelling is gone. We're tapering her off the steroids.'She may need at-home ear cleanings and ear drops for a long time, and she MAY need a special diet if it turns out that the ear problem is caused by a food allergy.
Currently we have her eating a duck-and-sweet-potato limited ingredient kibble - which she loves. Loves some plain unsweetened kefir or yogurt on her kibble or as a treat. And she LOVES having a nice fresh marrow bone to chew on; she really goes to town on those. She now likes gentle face massages.'She'll let you sit next to her on the couch, and once in a while she'll sit close to you. One very special time she rested her head on my knee.'There is all kinds of wonderful inside her, just needing continued encouragement to come out and be expressed.
