Petzlover
We call him “Howie” like from Big Bang Theory. But before this, he didn’t have a name at all. We were told he was 10 months old. He has spent all his life in a pen on dirt flooring. The man we got him from said that he wanted to get rid of him because he only wanted breeding females. He came to us in pretty bad shape. We were told he is an F2 golden doodle. approximately 35 lb. but will likely be around 45 at proper weight. He was underweight when we got him. Howie was so badly matted in the rear end that excrement had crusted to the feathers on his back legs his tail hair was matted to the leg hair so that when he would go to the bathroom he could no longer cock his tail causing the excrement to cake further up into his fur. We got him at the height of the coronavirus quarantine & our vet is currently doing only emergency calls. We decided that the best option would be to try to shave him entirely. We had 3 different people helping in this process & it took us 2 days just to shave his back end. He had some superficial sores & impacted anal sacs but he is now all fixed up. Through 2 days of shaving & clipping, he never once growled or snapped. After all of this change & drama in his life, one of the trainers came in one morning and said, “Howie actually wagged and came up to me today.” This was big news for us since we had all feared that he might want nothing to do with us after the hours he spent on the grooming table. And none of us would have blamed him! Though he still needs more trimming &a professional bath & groom job, we wanted to move on to what we are more used to, working on some very basic obedience. We started with walking on a leash. When we got him the previous owner said he had never had a collar on or been walked. He became very frantic & started chewing on the leash as though it was attacking him. He would race out, then thrash & drop to the ground. After only a few lessons He now walks calmly with no panic. We also have started some basic crate training. We put him in a crate to bring him home, again something he had never experienced, but he was great all the way home (about an hour drive). He never barked or whined or scratched at the crate. He will need continued positive reinforcement in both of these areas, but we are pleased with how well he has done in such a short time. (we have short video clips if you want to see them, text me.) When we got home & got him out he was afraid to go into the barn because of the cement. We think it likely that he had never been on any other footing that grass or dirt. The same was true for taking him into the house, he did not seem to understand the change from hardwood floor to carpet and spent quite a bit of time sniffing it before committing to stepping on it. For all of this, Howie seems to really want to connect to someone and just doesn’t know how. He is not nasty, is not loud, has never guarded food or even seemed like he would. He doesn’t understand toys so we don’t know if he would guard a toy but it seems very unlikely at this point. He is intact & will need to be neutered after the quarantine. We gave him his vaccines including Bordetella. We wormed him with Pyrantel. He is sweet & quiet, but he is a work in progress. I do not want to misrepresent who he is. He is emotionally and mentally immature and stunted. When we got him, he was practically feral. Humans meant nothing to him as they did not really even represent food. His kennel was equipped with an auto feeder that could be loaded with a whole bag of food that just dispenses food as it is eaten, much like an auto waterer. So he did not initially even equate being fed with a human coming to see him. When we initially would come into the kennel he would cower in the back of the kennel hiding his face. He now bounces at the front of the kennel waiting for us to open the door. But when we open the door, he seems to somewhat unsure. He will require patience, love, compassion and consistency. If you would like to give him a chance at a real life, please contact us at xxx-xxx-xxxx
