Toby

Toby is a 9yr old male, castrated Golden Retriever. He received his vet checks and inoculations in Ireland before travelling to the UK where he is being fostered by Rob and Di.

HISTORY

Toby was relinquished as his owners emigrated and didn’t think it fair to take him with them at his age.

PERSONALITY

Toby appears to be a sweet, affectionate boy who is quite self confident indoors without being pushy. He settled in very quickly and it seems his basic temperament and personality are those of a sweet, loving dog.

He is very confident and calm indoors and with people and is very inquisitive, always poking his nose into something. He is alert and loves experiencing new things. He’s always happy and ready for a game.He’s quite energetic but only in short bursts.  He loves to play and appears to be happy and content. 

He is perhaps less confident outside especially in the presence of other dogs.We suspect he hasn’t been out and experienced the world very often but he’s keen to go out and is very interested in all he sees. He can be a bit boisterous when excited but that’s usually when he sees other dogs.

Right from the start he has been happy to wander round the house and garden on his own without worrying about where we were.  He loves being in the garden and will lie out there for hours, idly watching the birds bathing in the pond.  

He likes to carry a furry toy and his favourite game is to take them all into the garden and leave them for us to bring in.  When we do, he takes them all outside again, grinning at us in the process.  He seems to have the goldie sense of humour. 

HEALTH

His health seems to be generally very good for his age although, presently,he needs some TLC to get him back to his best.

His hind quarters appear to be a little short on muscle but that should improve with regular walking.  He has no problems with movement and he appears to be comfortable at rest.

SOCIAL LEARNING

TRAVEL:  He is happy and content travelling in a vehicle

HOUSETRAINING: Toby is fully housetrained

BASIC TRAINING:   His basic training seems to have been fairly limited but he behaved well at the vets and was happy to be handled.  Although he was understandably anxious, he happily made friends with a Spaniel. 

Toby is highly intelligent without being neurotic and he loves learning new things so training him is a pleasure. He is just a big puppy at heart and will be a faithful, loving friend.  

He has a tendency towards boisterousness, especially if he is anxious so we suspect he hasn’t really been socialised appropriately either with other dogs or strange places. Now this heatwave appears to be over, we can do more work on that.

He loves to play and go for walks but is equally happy to lie somewhere comfortable and snooze. He does not attempt to get on the sofas or to come upstairs. 

LEADWALKING: and RECALL:  Outside the house, he’s quite strong and pulled on the lead (we use a harness) but he learns quickly and we are working on loose lead walking.  Already, his recall and lead walking much improved.

RESOURCE GUARDING: He eats well started off as something of a counter surfer. Toby is a tall dog and has quite a long body so he can reach things that you might not expect but he is learning not to steal things and he displays absolutely no guarding behaviour.    He loves food and will always be there if he hears the fridge door open but he’s not demanding, just hopeful. When he does have a treat he takes it gently with no snatching.   

SEPARATION ANXIETY: Toby seems to have no signs of separation anxiety but we haven’t left him home alone for long yet. We doubt there would be any problems as Toby is quite confident in the house and doesn’t seem to need to know where we are – he just appears when he thinks something interesting is happening. He doesn’t follow us round the house or keep checking on us and is quite happy to do his own thing. He also settles easily at night and sleeps through. 

ADULTS: Toby is a really lovely boy who is very friendly with adults. He is gentle, affectionate and undemanding and he absolutely adores people, especially those who will give him cuddles.  If they forget, he will ask by barking.  However, he is no guard dog – he’d let anyone in if they gave him a cuddle– he loves cuddles.   

CHILDREN:  He is very friendly with and loves children (say 5 or over as he’s still very clumsy) and he will happily join in any game, especially football. 

CATS:  He seems to be fine with cats although he does sometimes chase squirrels.   DOGS: Toby’s opinion of other dogs was uncertain but we felt he would be fine if properly managed.   Our plan, once temperatures returned to normal, was to seek out other calm dogs for him to walk alongside and watch. 

One day, we met lots of different dogs, all with sensible owners who put them on the lead when they saw his nervous dog lead, and, each time, he sat quietly while we chatted to the owners.  Then, he was able to sit in the shade and observe while three dogs met and interacted quietly and politely with each other.  As he is a very intelligent boy, we hope he will quickly learn his dog manners.

TOBY’S DREAM HOME

This sweet boy would fit in almost anywhere as he loves people so much. He just needs someone who has time to spend with him, who has plenty of love to give him and who would, in his Autumn years, make him the centre of their world.

NOVEMBER 2018

Toby has gone to live in his Forever Home.