Happy

In early November, one of our volunteers got a photo and e-mail from a friend: “This is Happy the Golden Retriever. He lives in this garage and gets no attention so he isn’t very happy anymore. Plus he gets out every day and goes running around near busy streets. The family has no experience with dogs and needs to find him a good home. He is very sweet and wants to please someone very badly. Just needs a yard to run in and someone to make happy.”

When Happy arrived in GRR care, he was quite the wild child! He was so excited finally to be getting attention that he just didn’t know what to do. Six weeks down the road, though, he is doing SO well—just read the report below:

Happy is appropriately named.  I don’t think he knows of any other state than being happy—well, he is curious also.  Every day is an adventure holding something new and exciting.  He has really come a long way very quickly.  When we took him in, he had the manners of a 3-month-old puppy in a big 2-year-old body. Nobody had ever taught him any manners.  All he knew was how to be thrilled that someone was paying attention to him, or to be so in your face that you HAD to pay attention!  But in just one week he learned:

* Not to pester the old, sick dog in the family (he got this one down in a weekend)

* To be in the same room with people and not have to be ON the people

* To wait for treats and meals

* To come in calmly from the backyard and how to just hang out—that may not sound like much, but for Happy was a lesson all on its own!  He was getting overly excited so easily that we’d gate him in the kitchen by himself to let him “cool off.” He could have easily jumped the baby gate but he never even tried.  When he was calm, he got to join the rest of the family again.  This has been a very effective training method for him.

Right now we’re working on “wait your turn for petting” -- he tries to wiggle his way between you and any other dog you are petting.   We just ignore the bad behavior and continue to pet the other dog—and then give Happy just a little (calm) attention. 

His buddy Buckley, another GRR dog, has been here with Happy, too. The two boys wrestle a lot, usually at Happy’s suggestion!  Buckley is teaching him more gentlemanly rules to this sport. He’s also done a good job of teaching the youngster doggie cues and signals. Happy is even taking very subtle instruction from our old dog now—she is not very patient with this young whippersnapper, doesn’t want to deal with him, and gives him “the look” to let him know.

He likes to be groomed, but so far he has a lower-maintenance coat than some Goldens—that may change as he gets older and grows his true adult coat. He hasn’t needed a nail trim, so I don’t know how he reacts to that, but he lets you touch his feet with just a curious look. 

Happy eats every meal like it is his first and last, but he is NOT food possessive.  He will hover nearby while the other dogs eat and when they walk away he swoops in and gobbles up what he can before you can get the bowl taken up, but he lets you take it away with no more than a sad look.  He lets other dogs chew on toys and bone around him while he is just chilling out, and so has shown no toy possessiveness either. 

I have been leaving him out to roam the kitchen when we are gone.  He has been great! While the Christmas tree was up, I didn’t let him loose in the house -- had visions of wrestling dogs and tree collisions, shattering ornaments, etc.! But now that the tree is down, we’ve left the dogs loose for up to 6 hours home alone, and (wonderful news) NO problems!

Happy chooses to sleep on the couch at night. He likes to go potty early in the morning and will wake you for that. 

He pulls on a leash so I have him on a harness when walking. He knows cats like to hide under parked cars and remembers which houses are likely to have kitties. So you need to stay alert when entering a PKZ (Potential Kitty Zone), because he certainly will.   We also had him run along with the bike the other day.  He really liked that.  When he noticed a cat I accelerated to go just fast enough that he couldn’t both pay attention to the cat and maintain speed with me.  It worked well and we had a quieter Happy that evening.

He is VERY curious about sounds.  He stops and listens to speakers as he walks by the TV or iPod.  He came prancing in at dog toy commercial that had squeakers going & looked expectantly at the TV waiting for it to play with him. Too  cute!  If I have the iPod plugged into some speakers sitting on a low windowsill, he stops to listen every time he passes by. 

Of course, his acute hearing means he also listens when going for walks. He often hears squirrels before he (or you!) can see them, which can mean you have no idea what direction he is going to go.  The good news is that he pays attention to verbal commands too.  When he sees cats or squirrels on walks, we can tell him “leave it” to redirect his attention.  We are working on leash manners still.

Last night he hung out in the kitchen while I made dinner, so I found out he likes fresh veggies—he helpfully cleaned up anything I dropped! Then he snoozed on the couch with me while I watched TV.  Such calm behavior would have been unimaginable the first night we had him!

Happy is high energy and curious.  He needs consistent leadership and is very trainable, and with his listening skills he could have a very large vocabulary.   He really wants to be a part of whatever is going on.   Happy needs an active family who shares his “life is an adventure” outlook on life.  

View Pictures Here