Chauncey/Happy

Profile

Happy is in the house! The RAGOM community welcomes back Happy (fka Chauncey) 10-226 after 6 wonderful years with his adoptive mom. Happy was tearfully surrendered back to RAGOM after his mom needed to change her living arrangements in order to care for a family member. Happy is a very timid dog and the new arrangements were just not a good fit.

Happy is a 6 year old, male Goldendoodle. He is neutered, UTD, and on heartworm and flea/tick preventative. He's fully housetrained, although his signal is to pace the house, which foster mom sometimes confuses with his general uneasiness with his new surroundings and that's led to a couple of accidents through no fault of his own. He is slender, weighing 35.5 lbs. at his recent vet visit, and is a picky eater. We've had good luck getting him to eat when wet food is involved and have started mixing some with grain-free kibble. He's not much interested in dry treats or partaking in vegetables for snacks with the resident dogs. He will take meat nibbles for a snack and we are using that for training and medications.

He has and is currently living with other dogs and has new foster siblings of the feline variety. He generally leaves the cats alone although he will on occasion give chase, in curiosity and play rather than prey mode. Our cats are dog savvy and don't put up with doggy nonsense and Happy is easily redirected, particularly if a cat takes a swipe at him.

As mentioned, Happy is very timid, which leads him to be quite skittish and fearful of most things. Noises can startle him and cause him growl and bark. He is fearful of humans, particularly men, and shows both "flight" and "fight" behavior in expressing his fear, including lunging and barking in hopes of scaring the "stranger" away. He exhibits this latter behavior quite aggressively in the car, especially at a drive-thru window. We are also noticing that his choice to "fight" may be influenced by his attachment to foster mom and him perceiving a need to protect her. Foster dad is working to earn his trust and Happy will approach him and offer a paw (his preferred greeting) and look for pets, but we have a long way to go on this front. If his forever family includes a male human, they will need to be patient and understanding while he continues to learn that good things come from both male and female humans. Happy's not yet completely comfortable in his new environment and has a difficult time relaxing and napping much during the day. He is good with free roam in the house day and night. If he has the option, he prefers to sleep on the bed with foster mom and doesn't seem to mind that foster dad is there too.

We have seen some resource guarding resulting from the other animals being a little too interested in Happy's food and nosing their way into his bowl while he's eating. His previous owner did not report this as an issue with his canine housemate, so it is likely due to the rudeness of the resident dogs and one of the cats. We've resolved the issue by feeding Happy separately of the three resident "pigs", who all wish they could get wet food, so he can eat in peace. He has no issue with the others cleaning out his bowl once he's had his fill.

Happy can be very affectionate and will even give "hugs", standing on his hind legs with his front paws hugging your shoulders. This isn't a "jump", it is truly a gentle lift off the floor to offer you a hug. He does try to initiate play with the resident Golden and has earned the nickname "Tigger" since he bounces around while wrestling. He does bark and nip to instigate play with the other dog and is "mouthy" with foster mom when she's part of the fun. Due to this and his timid nature, young kids are not a good fit for Happy.

Overall, Happy is a wonderful dog who just needs some extra time and attention while settling in to a new home and a family who will love him and his timid personality traits.