Checkers

In the second week of December, in the middle of another busy month for GRR, a young red Golden turned up stray at a local shelter. He wasn’t too dirty, his nails were neatly clipped,  his ears were nice & clean, and he even had a microchip – but the chip was a dead end, as it had never been registered to an owner. He  was delighted to meet any and all who visited his kennel—and since no family came looking, he soon became GRR dog #199 for 2009. 

Though Checkers clearly belonged to someone, he missed out on leash training &  car rides (both were brand new to him). Unfortunately, he also missed out on monthly Heartguard, and will be starting heartworm treatment soon. His foster dad says:

Checkers is appropriately named—every time he comes in the house, he checks out each room. Once his “rounds” are done, he settles quickly. He’s doing much better in the car, and though he does pull some on lead, we are working on walking with the Gentle Leader. He’s learning to go into his crate for meals, and when he is hungry, he’ll enter the crate and walk around to make noise until we take the hint. (Smart dog.)

He likes to retrieve—sometimes. He has to decide each time whether to bring the ball back or just keep it to chew on! He plays well with other dogs and passed a “cat test” at the vet’s – he was interested, but showed no inclination to chase down the kitty. He sleeps through the night, but if you get up, he’ll keep you company (checking the premises again!). He doesn’t seem to care about thunderstorms; we had a minor one and he didn’t react to the noise at all.

Checkers has a high energy level but calms down easily.  He’ll lie at my feet while we are watching TV.  He is a clever boy &  quickly learned his name, and he’s also learning to wait at the door and wait for his food. He mastered SIT really fast, because sitting gets him some loving—and he really loves to get attention.  I think this puppy would like a young family, maybe with kids past the toddler stage.

Adoption Procedures