Austin

Update 4/9/10:

Wow-ee, what a dreamboat! Check out Austin’s new photos! He is continuing to do well at his foster home, plus, as those hormones subside, there’s a lot less “fresh” behavior with  his foster sister Libby. His tactics have changed… instead of romancing her, he occasionally gets her to join him in misdemeanor mischief! While she is far more well-trained than he (Libby tries to walk Austin by taking his leash in her mouth), she can still be persuaded to help him do things like snitching an orange from the kitchen or taking pillows off the sofa. But really, we have had far less “replacement expense”  with Austin than with Libby.

Austin plays hard with Libby, but he doesn’t pay attention to our old girl, Emma, unless she has an antler chew he would like to have. Of course we have plenty to go around, but in Austin’s world what they have is better.  He is never aggressive with them but will ignore their snarly faces and warning growls & starts to bark.  I can’t tell you how much I wish one of the girls would nail him just once, but they indulge pesky boy dogs! I’d say he just needs to be matched up with a very even-tempered buddy dog.

We’ve had no problems at all leaving him loose in the house when we’re gone. We don’t crate him – he really is crate phobic. If put in with door shut, he will chew up the bedding, bite and scratch at the bars, push the plastic crate pan out.  It may be result of over crating when younger? It’s not a training issue or a behavior modification issue. It’s  a management issue—we give him plenty of exercise to tire him out, and we’ve found non-crate ways to keep him “contained” (that is, the kitchen is baby-gated off to keep the youngsters from “shopping” off the counters).

This is an average to high-energy guy. Like any young Golden, he needs activity and  stimulation—lots to do and see! Other dogs to play with, cats going through the front yard, squirrels in the trees, people walking & jogging past our house—it all keeps him occupied. For the most part he wants to do what you want him to do IF he knows what that is! He is a sweet, silly, sometimes independent  fellow  who needs a family who will take him to positive training classes, take him out walking, and just have a good time guiding a youngster along the path of becoming a good canine citizen.

Update:02/24/10:

Austin is getting a great report from his new foster home! He started out with a super foster family who, however,  needed to keep him crated quite a bit, & who couldn’t give him as much activity as he needed. The confinement  and lack of vigorous exercise were making him feel stressed, and so it was on to Plan B—a move to a home where he could be babygated and where he has a “girlfriend” just a year or so older than he is who is more than willing to be a play-pal. Says his foster mom:

Austin is a normal, lively 12- to 18-month-old who needs lots of exercise, lots of play and basic obedience training. He mingles freely with our three Goldens when one of us is here, and there have been no problems. Libby and Austin love to play & they have the same style—lots of bitey head, bitey leg, rough-and-tumble action—they wear each other out! Emma likes to observe from afar and Casey likes to stay out of the action all together. (:

Austin does better baby-gated than crated, loves attention but is learning to take it in stride if we ignore him while we are busy. On Saturday we left him  baby-gated in the den for 7 hours, and other than typical young dog mischief (a bag of onions and a bag of potatoes pilfered from the counter were found on the floor),  nothing was mauled, chewed or destroyed.

Austin needs a home with another compatible dog friend to play and tear around the yard with, a house with a non-isolated room that can be sturdily baby-gated, an active person/persons who like to walk, run, hike. He would be an agility dream dog with training! He is fast, agile and a quick study, one the brightest dogs we've fostered. My husband had tied a baby gate to one already mounted to the framing. When done he was very proud of  his “guarantee” that Austin would not be able to clamber over the baby gate. Apparently, Austin felt this setup gave the humans an unfair advantage and proceeded to untie the rope knots with his teeth. Clever dog! He had one undone when discovered.  Bill redid the knots, this time on the oppose side of the gate to deny Austin the challenge of taking apart rope knots with his teeth.

So to recap:  smart dog who needs exercise both physical and mental. He's a natural for future advanced training. The right family will be thrilled with this dog!

Stray hold was up, no owner had shown, the shelter was full – it was a hurry-up intake for happy blond Austin. He doesn’t seem to have been on his own for long—he was pretty clean, with nice clean ears and short nails. “Absolutely beautiful!  And nice. I can't believe no one is looking for him,” said our evaluator. “Pretty calm for a dog as young as  he is… he did not jump up at all, even when invited. He seems to know SIT, too.” 

Austin is heartworm negative and should be available for adoption  soon. More information as his foster family gets to know him better!

Adoption Procedures