Troy

Troy, age 6

AVAILABLE SOON HW POSITIVE

Troy received his first Heartworm treatment on 8/1. If all goes well, he'll get his second on 9/1 and will be available around 10/1.

Updated 10/14/11

Updated 8/25/11

Where to begin, where to begin? There are so many positives to list about Troy that we hardly know where to start!

Let’s begin  with the outside… He is gaining weight, up to 74 lbs now! Still needs another ten  pounds or so. His skin & fur are much better and his eyes are clear and bright.

And moving along to all the rest…

He loves other animals of all kinds, and is usually very gentle. He’d like to play harder with Sonia, but of course he’s not allowed to get too wound up because of his heartworm treatment.

Troy mostly ignores the cats—barely even  noses them, sleeps right next to them on the floor.  The other day, though, we caught him playing with Archie, our young tom cat.  Archie loves to lie on the floor with his tummy showing, and Troy crawled over and started licking the cat’s tummy and head.  This turned into some gentle play, until finally Troy had the cat pinned, with one foreleg across the kitten’s chest.  Archie noticed us watching at this point and gave the most plaintive look and small meow, like “What do I do now?”  Troy started to get a bit rougher at this point, so the cat “redirected” him very neatly and they broke their wrestling hold and went to their corners. Archie didn’t run away, though; he hopped onto a chair so he could be face-to-face with Troy, and they touched noses.  Finally Troy lost interest and lay down.

Troy is crate-trained and goes in when told, even when he doesn't want to. At feeding time, though, he’ll zip in eagerly. He actually attempts to manipulate us at times by going into the crate to signal it’s time (in his opinion, that is) to feed him. It’s actually a bit humorous to watch! Smart dog. He’s still an inveterate counter cruiser and once scored a nice new loaf of bread before we caught him. And lately, he’s moved beyond counter-cruising to good old-fashioned B & E! Last evening I was tied to the shoulder-icing machine in my office.  We were mostly ignoring the pups, who are usually sound asleep somewhere.  Well, not Troy!  He was being industrious. The door to the pantry was open, and he went in.  We have a roller-bin of dog food there, and it is fairly large; can easily hold a 44-lb bag of kibbles.  He pushed the cart out of the pantry, down the hall, and into the kitchen.  I think he would have gotten it all the way to his crate except it hit a floor mat and spilled over.  Which was an okay turn of events at first, as far as Troy was concerned.  I heard the crash but couldn’t get free quickly.  Paula Jo was there in a flash, though, and caught a very sheepish Troy trying to decide how to best capitalize on his success. We've now put the doggie food under lock and key.  If he gets into that, he can have it all...

Much as he loves food, Troy takes treats more gently than any pup we’ve ever had.  I think he might be trained to hold the treat on his nose.

One of Troy’s best traits is his car behavior. He loves to travel, loads right up,  and settles down promptly to enjoy the ride and the view. He’s excellent to take out on leash, too: he doesn’t pull and pays close attention to what you are doing. 

We’ve  found out Troy likes Frisbees,  but fetching will have to wait until the HW exercise restriction is completed. With balls, though, he drops them or  releases easily to your hand on command.  He doesn't tease humans or other dogs with toys, and he knows the difference between his toys and things he shouldn't have.  If he makes a mistake (new item he shouldn't have), clever Troy learns in one session to leave it alone.   He has a green “feeder toy” we put kibble in regularly—he loves that thing, but it means he gets confused now with empty green Perrier water bottles. He's learning to tell them apart, though! For one thing, you can’t get food from an empty bottle…

At first, grooming made Troy a little nervous.  However, we play with and touch him a lot (ears, feet, tummy, etc.), and he's gotten quite used to being handled.  Even likes you rubbing your feet on him now.  (Before, I think he was worried he was going to get kicked.)  Not much brushing yet, that will have to wait until he has more fur.

We continue to be amazed at Troy's directability and his skills and commands.  He truly anticipates you!  He does what you tell him to, even if he really doesn't want to.  (Exception: coming away from somebody who's petting him on the head.  His goes completely deaf in that situation.) He’s a very loving, great Golden.  Patient, smart, outgoing but not pushy about it.  Activity level is low-to-moderate at this point, but we think he'll get more active and strong once he's medically fine—and when this endless summer finally does end. We’d say that he’s gotta have a house where folks are around a lot.  He’s clearly not a one-person dog, or an absent-family dog.  Apartments are likely out, since he does still tend to bark  when left alone.  He's gentle and directable, wants to please; so small kids, elderly likely just fine.  Acreage or a country home would be wonderful for Troy! He just wants to be an active part of a big, loving family, I think.

Updated 8/2/11

Troy has been in foster care for nearly a month now and we’re getting to know him a lot better. He’s sweet and affectionate, with medium to low energy—gentle enough that elderly family members would be okay, and small-framed or lightweight owners ditto, since he’s so nice on leash. (We don't know about kids yet.) Cats would be fine, too—our kitties trained him to leave them alone when they say so! But he loves to nose them if they’ll let him. He enjoys other dogs, and though he doesn’t play much with our Golden Sonia, he does like to keep her company.

At first, Troy barked incessantly inside—but that’s so much better now. We think he was just anxious. Now, he only barks when we first put him to “bed” in his crate, just testing to see if we'll come get him. He’ll also bark when he’s excited, but stops on command. Good dog! He’s a fine car rider and loads up right away, though he does take a bit of time to settle; and he always checks when you stop to see what’s going on. 

Troy loves his groceries! He does counter surf if he can. But he’s not at all protective of his food and doesn’t even mind if the cats or Sonia come up to check his bowl.

Troy is outgoing and friendly. He can be a little shy in certain situations, but mostly he’s a confident boy (and getting better). He loves attention and will wait very patiently for you to notice him, although sometimes he bumps your arm if he really wants to you pet him. He just loves to be touched and rubbed, especially on his head around the eyes, and  he’ll put his head right on your lap for rubbing. He’s attentive, learns quickly, and knows more commands than any foster we’ve had! His repertoire includes Sit, Stay, Wait, Lay Down, No, Off, Enh-Enh (our alert to quit whatever he's doing), Fetch, Drop it, Hush—and we’re still finding more commands he knows.

Troy still doesn’t have much coat; he had such bad skin allergies it will just take time. He’ll be beautiful in a few months, though—and he’ll be through his heartworm treatment, too, and ready to go home with a family looking for a mellow and loving companion.

Troy and his friend Isis were surrendered to GRR by a caring owner who realized the six-year-old duo needed more medical care than she could provide… and on top of that, when the dogs were out in the yard, she was having a real problem with neighbors opening the gate and letting them out to wander. It was time to find them somewhere safe and secure.

Both Troy and Isis have heartworms, so they’ll soon start treatment. Troy has some other issues to address, too; he’s underweight (a full twelve pounds lighter than his girlfriend!), he’s being treated for hookworms, and he has a lot of hair loss. The good news is that he DOESN’T have mange; the vet attributes the bare, darkened skin to fleabite allergies, the heartworms (which can have a bad effect on skin & coat), and nutritional deficiency. With high-quality food & heartworm treatment, he should be looking beautiful by fall. 

Watch this space for more on Troy as we get to know him better. We can already tell you he’s a nice guy with a Golden personality—and he’s on the “talkative” side!