Beau

Profile

Please welcome Beau to RAGOM! Beau is a purebred male Golden Retriever who is almost 2 years old (born 12/31/14). He is a beautiful boy who is about as sweet as they come! Beau was surrendered by an owner who loved him very much but he was too large for her to handle.

Here is what we know about Beau:

• Beau is neutered, heartworm negative, and up to date on all his vaccinations and does not have any health issues. He is a tall boy and weighed in at 87 lbs. which is a pretty good weight - he isn't really overweight but just a little "thick" and the vet and I would like to see his ideal weight a little closer to the low 80s. Keeping a dog at their ideal weight is important to keep them in optimal health. I think it shouldn't be too hard to drop a few pounds simply by making sure he doesn't overeat.
• He gets along with all dogs, male and female, big and small. He previously lived with a small dog and is currently living with two goldens and a small dog in his foster home. Beau is slightly submissive to other dogs and does not generally challenge them. He isn't crazy about sharing his toys with them though so it's best if any other dogs in the home aren't toy stealers. He does NOT guard from humans at all though. Beau loves to play with the dogs in his foster home and would love a playmate in his adoptive home but I think he would be okay as an only dog as long as he had the opportunity to play with other dogs on a regular basis. I do not know if he is cat friendly since we do not have any cats at our home but we can try to test him with cats if a potential adopter needs to know.
• Beau is good with children. He is currently living with an 8 month old baby in the foster home and he does great with him and is totally at ease around him. He gets excited when he sees other small children on our walks and behaves appropriately. Of course, even though he is kid-friendly, adults should ALWAYS supervise a dog's interactions with children at all times and should never let children tease, pull, climb on, or bother the dog to avoid any negative outcomes.
• Beau knows basic commands and is mostly well behaved but would benefit from an obedience class to polish his skills and bond with his new owner. I am unsure on his level of recall - in our fenced backyard, sometimes he comes running when I call him and other times he looks at me like "yeah I'm good here thanks". We have not had him off leash outside of our fenced yard so I'm not sure, but if I had to guess I would say he is not inclined to bolt for the sake of running but is not necessarily inclined to come right to you if there is something interesting distracting him. For this reason, his owner should expect to spend significant time on recall training before allowing him off leash outside a fenced area. I would love to see him adopted to a home with a fenced yard since he is young and needs space to run off some energy, but he could probably be okay without a fence if his adopter gave him lots of opportunities to run off leash safely in a fenced area and play with other dogs.
• Beau does pull on the leash a bit when walking but you can maintain pretty good control with an Easy Walk harness. He gets excited to go for a walk and spends the first half a block doing occasional "happy circles" around you (it's really cute actually!) but then settles in and walks pretty well. He is strong though so the harness or a head halter is recommended. 
• Beau has a little quirk that could potentially cause some trouble if not watched closely: He likes to pick up landscape rocks and run around the yard with them in his mouth. We are working on teaching him that he cannot do that but he should always be watched closely to make sure he doesn't ever ingest any, whether he does it intentionally or accidentally.
• Beau is fully potty trained and has not had a single accident in his foster home. He will let you know when he needs to go outside by standing at the door and whining, although sometimes I suspect he also does that when he just wants to go outside to play and doesn't actually need to potty! 
• His surrendering owner reported that he does not like kennels and does fine with free roam of the house when home alone. We have not tested him with a kennel but have confined him to one room of the home (with our dogs) when we leave. I am sure he would do fine with full roam of the home. He does fine home alone for the 3-4 hours when we leave for errands and did fine the one day we had to leave him 8 hours. Beau does love to relax on the couch so I am hoping his adoptive family will allow him on the furniture. He sleeps with us in our bedroom, either on the floor or on a dog bed. He will come up to snuggle sometimes as we are going to bed or getting up in the morning but doesn't try to sleep on the bed with you. I don't think he would be happy being forced to sleep elsewhere in the house - he wants to be near you.
• Beau does alert bark occasionally when he sees or hears people or noises outside the house. It is not excessive and he generally stops when you tell him to, but it is something that his adoptive family should be aware of.
• Beau is a bit of a begger. He gets all up in your business when you're eating and he has no shame about it. We're working on that, but it's a bit of a hard habit to break (especially with my husband in the picture!), so don't expect that to be cured before adoption :) He doesn't counter surf though, although I've seen him think about it so I can't say he won't ever do that.
• Beau's personality is sweet, playful, and happy-go-lucky. He has puppy energy and needs walks and playtime with other dogs but he is also happy to settle down and relax. He does not get scared or upset or bothered easily - he's just a happy guy! He really is a pretty good dog, pretty easy, and pretty close to perfect! Of course, keep in mind he's only been here two weeks and issues could arise, so we'll be looking for an adopter committed to keeping him happy, safe, and loved even if something does come up.

Beau is a joy to have around and we love him to pieces. In fact, we would totally keep him if we could (and believe me, I tried to find a way to convince myself we could!), but we are at max dog capacity at our house and really cannot have any more permanent dog members here! My loss is your gain though, so please fill out an application inquiry form if you are interested in adopting Beau!

Snuggling within 2 hours of arrival.

Making himself at home while I vacuum!