Sandy

Sandy stayed briefly with Sandie in Ireland who said. “Sandy is a lovely slim framed Golden Retriever who is just over 3 and a half years old. She gets on very well with other dogs, cats and horses. Whilst in my house, she was absolutely fine with my 8 dogs and the 2 other house guests.”

FOSTERERS REPORT

Sandy was fostered in the UK by Caroline and said “Sandy was a little shy at first, but she settled in well quite quickly. She ate her dinner with no problems and showed no sign of food aggression. She has not had any accidents in the house. She settled down and slept through the night. She has not tried to go upstairs or get on any furniture so we can assume she was trained not to. Sandy can sit and walk to heel on command, she knows how to give paw (sometimes does it unprompted) but doesn’t respond or show recognition to any of the usual commands for that. She also responds to the visual (tapping the floor) command for lie down, but not the words. It will not take long at all for her to learn the new words for these commands. She will always wait for you to go through doors first, and waits to be asked before entering the house (which could be useful for getting towelled after a muddy walk!).

Sandy has been out for a walk around the area where she met several other dogs, ageing from 4 months to 6 years, all of which she interacted with perfectly. She is quiet in the house, but she looks to be very lively when it comes to playing with other dogs (in a good way). She walks to heel very nicely and has no trouble walking with someone who is pushing a buggy. We happened to be out at school closing time and she welcomed all attention from the children (without insisting on getting it or jumping up) and did not react to any of the noise from the children (or anything else while we were out). She welcomed attention from people of all ages and both genders and did not display a dislike for anyone. She loves her walks, especially green areas with ‘sniffs’.

She likes to be brushed and is used to being groomed. If you are giving a proper full body grooming she will stand completely still while you do it, which will make it so much easier to keep her looking lovely.

Sandy is very loving. She always welcomes attention and has a very sweet nature. She is a pleasure to have around and is eager to please. So far she has not shown any interest in toys, but this may change as she plays with other dogs and her confidence grows. She is fine sleeping away from people and although she would always rather be in a room with a person in it rather than in one alone she doesn’t mind being left alone when Caroline goes upstairs for a few minutes – she’ll just go and lie down somewhere until Caroline comes back.

Sandy is incredibly easy to live with and shows a willingness to learn. She will bring her new owner bundles of happiness.”

SANDY HAS GONE TO HER FOREVER HOME

Caroline said. “! was visited by my parents on the 24th of Feb and they met Sandy. We took the dogs on a 7 mile walk, and as she had to stay on the lead my parents took turns walking Sandy. They fell in love with her, and after talking it through they called me the next day saying that they would like to adopt her. My parents had lost their last dog a few years ago and felt ready for a new dog, they have a large house with a large secure garden, someone would be at home all the time and Sandy would be an only dog (which I had felt may be preferable for her). Fortunately my parents were approved to adopt Sandy and they came to collect her on Friday 4th March.

It has been less than a week but i can tell you that Sandy has been on LOADS of walks and has also gone swimming. She has met and played with several of the local dogs and has behaved very well. My parents have been working on her recall but it is too early to tell how it is going. She really seems to be settling in well. She has no problem with staying in her room over night and has had no accidents in the house. She has been a little shy, but I am sure that will go soon enough.

After my parents collected her my Mom told me something that surprised me. We had always had black dogs when I was growing up which I assumed was my parents preferred colour (it is mine). It turns out that they had always wanted a yellow dog, but every time they went to look they fell in love with a black one, and as they go for personality over looks – that is what they always ended up with. This time they finally fell in love with a dog that was the colour they had always wanted, so this match is just as lucky for them as it is for her!

The pictures show Sandy’s first day in her new house. In the first picture she is looking unsure – mainly because she was wondering why they were asking her to sit near them but look at someone else (she is not one of natures posers). The second picture is of Sandy getting brushed. As soon as the brushes came out her shyness diappeared and her inner cuddlebum reasserted itself! With fur like hers it is such a good job she likes to be brushed and combed.”

NEW HOME UPDATE

Sandy has been with us for 4 weeks now and is settling really well. From the start, she was always well-behaved and had obviously been well trained. She always waits politely before being invited indoors, or into a room and even to start eating her food.

I wasn’t sure how well she was bonding with us, for a while, because she was affectionate to everybody she met; however, after she’d been with us 10 days, I started back at work and she stayed at home with Robin all day. When I returned home, she bounced out to me, quite excited to see me home again. She always treats us as rather special people, now!

Last week, when the weather was lovely, we took her to the beach. We didn’t know whether she’d ever played on a beach before, but the way she dragged us excitedly to the sea left us in no doubt that this is a real ‘bathing belle’.

She’s rather scatty when it comes to rabbits; just one sniff of a rabbit and she dashes off in chase, but we’re working very hard on her recall training and we’re seeing improvements.

She’s much admired by all who meet her, not only as a great beauty but also because of her cheery outgoing temperament. She’s such a happy little soul and we can’t imagine life without her.