Shadow

Profile

Shadow found his way into RAGOM by way of a humane society in northern Minnesota. His original owners had to move and were unable to take this sweet boy with them. We feel very fortunate he was able to come and stay with us. We have a soft spot for black dogs.

Shadow is 7 years old, but acts like he’s still a young boy. We’re not really sure what he is, but we think he’s stunning. He needs to be brought up-to-date on a few things, including his neuter procedure. The paperwork says he is 64 pounds, but next to our resident boy who is 64 pounds, he is definitely smaller. It will be interesting to see what he really weighs. Foster dad is guessing he’s 60 pounds, and foster mom’s guess is 53 pounds. It’s become a contest with our last several foster dogs, so we’ll see who wins this time. Shadow knows how to coexist with our resident boys, but doesn’t seem to understand them completely. Our boys like to grumble when they talk and Shadow takes this to mean they are angry so he needs to be angry too. There has been no aggression, but he will get overly excited and get in our boys’ faces. He is easily redirected with a firm NO and the issue will pass. This not understanding has gotten better as he’s been with us. I get the impression Shadow did not spend a lot of time with other dogs. I firmly believe this is a small issue and will get better the more exposure he has to other dogs. Otherwise, he is a very happy boy and loves attention and praise. Every night, he will snuggle with foster dad by putting his front legs and head on his chest. Shadow does not get on furniture or our bed, even if he’s invited. He will share the popular dog bed, though.

Shadow knows many basic commands, “sit,” “shake,” “down,” “stay,” but he needs work on “come.” I think he just gets so excited it’s hard to listen to “come” when there are so many things to look at and explore. He is great when he’s in the fenced yard, but we haven’t tried him on a tie-out yet, so for now, I would say it would be best if he’s in a fenced yard. As we get to know him better, this may change. Even though he may not always come to the command, he is very good at coming to a whistle or when the rest of the pack comes running.

On one of our warmer cold days, we took everyone for a much needed walk. I used a Gentle Leader on Shadow and quickly realized this whole experience was not something he was used to. It wasn’t just the Gentle Leader that seemed strange to him; it was actually going for a walk. We would walk a short distance and Shadow would completely stop. I thought maybe it would be easier if one of the resident boys walked next to him, but that didn’t seem to make a difference. I would have to hold his collar and move him forward for the walk to continue. We could walk a short distance before the process would begin again. Luckily, the really cold weather is holding off, so we’ll get more practice. Again, this is not a difficult thing to learn, it just takes time and patience. I can tell you that Shadow is very smart and very willing to please. It is rare he doesn’t have a smile on his face.

We don’t have small children in our household, so we’ll have to see how he reacts to kids at an event. My grown children will be coming home soon, so I’m excited to see how he handles the excitement that’s generated in our house. We also don’t have cats, so that will be an experiment when we go to a pet store. Shadow doesn’t seem especially interested in the squirrels outside the sliding glass door, but does like to sniff around the yard where the bunnies usually come through the fence.

If you’d like to know more about this fantastic boy, please contact your Placement Advisor.