GOLDY

Foster dog name: Goldy

AB#: IN 19-082-1

Gender: Female

Age: Estimated 4-6 years old

Size/Weight: 38lbs   

Color: Tri-color

Breed: English Setter

Socialization/training: No formal training, but she knows how to sit and knows her name. She is well socialized with people and other dogs.  

Good with Children: Goldy has been around all of our nieces and nephews (all under the age of 10) and is great, but like any dog she should always be supervised when with kids and the kids should be respectful of her space. She loves to be petted by the kids, but she gets nervous if they try to give her hugs or if too many crowd around her at once. 

Good with Dogs: Yes, with the exception of puppies. She gave birth to a litter of puppies in Greece and was with them for a long time, and I quite frankly think she is just sick of little puppies who bug her. She was not a fan of them anymore when we picked her up, and we had two 10-week-old puppies in our house for an overnight once and she was NOT happy about it! Otherwise she has never had an issue with any dog we’ve introduced her to and is very sweet with our Springer Spaniel. She loves to give other dogs kisses on the face!

Good with Cats: Not tested, but with her prey drive I think she would chase a cat 

House trained: Work in progress. Goldy has an iron bladder and has gone 12-14 hours without an accident. As long as she’s taken outside on a regular schedule she is good. However, despite our best efforts, if she really has to go she hasn’t figured out yet how to ask to go outside and will go in the house. This will be something her forever home will need to continue to work on using positive reinforcement-based training.

Crate trained: Yes. She is also crated at night and willingly goes into her crate at night before we even ask her to. She goes in a crate while we are at work every day with a frozen stuffed Kong. She does sometimes still bark, but she settles fast. However, she does not do well being crated when our other dog is not home in his crate next to her. 

Leash trained: Goldy loves to walk, but she can sometimes pull. She isn’t very big so when she pulls it isn’t hard. It is easier to walk her on a retractable leash so she has some room to explore, and she should be walked in a harness. She tends to cough when walked in just a collar due to the slight pulling.

Activity Level: (ie. Playful? Laid back?, etc.) Goldy loves being outside, but for a setter she is a pretty easy-going girl. She likes to be able to have the freedom to sniff around in the yard or go for walks, but if we are outside for more than 20-30min she is content to just lay in the yard and observe. When she’s in the house she is a pretty serious couch potato. She’s been restricted on activity since we’ve had her because of her heartworms, so we haven’t gotten to see her in full action yet.

Fence: (Please state if a fence IS REQUIRED or if leash walking is sufficient? Hard fence? Height? Invisible trained?) I think a fence is optimal for any setter, but she wouldn’t necessarily NEED one. She doesn’t have so much energy that she needs a big open space to run in on a regular basis. However, if she were provided such a luxury I don’t think she’d object! She comes when called if we just go in our unfenced yard, but if we venture anywhere else where there are lots of new sights and smells she is on a leash. If she saw something she wanted to chase I’m unsure if she would listen or not. We will not consider homes who will train her on an electronic invisible fence.

Behavior: (ie. Cuddler? Independent? Attentive?) I don’t think there are enough amazing things I can say about Goldy. She is probably the sweetest dog I have ever met, despite her rough past as a stray in Greece. She is incredibly affectionate. She loves her people and wants to be close at all times. We haven’t had any behavior issues with her like aggression, anxiety, etc. The only sassiness she has is she is a counter-surfer and she also will chew on things that aren’t hers if she is bored. This is the main reason why we crate her when we are not home. However, once we started giving her things to chew on a regular basis (yak chews, bully sticks, etc.) the chewing on household things decreased dramatically. However, we still do not trust her to be out of a crate while we are away. If she went to a home where there was an open space without odds and ends to chew on that she could be confined to, I think she would be ok. She has never chewed carpet, furniture, etc. Mostly things like shoes, power cords, and my glasses! 

Medical History: Goldy came into rescue heartworm positive and has undergone the full course of treatment. Since it takes a while for the heartworm test to come back negative after undergoing treatment, her adopters would need to agree to get her re-tested for heartworms around March of 2020. Before treatment Goldy had chest X-rays done to evaluate if there had been any damage to her heart and she also had blood work. Everything came back normal, so we caught her disease early and she should not have any long-term effects. She tolerated the treatment extremely well and didn’t show any side-effects from the medication used to kill the worms, which was fantastic. She goes back to the vet for a full physical exam and bloodwork on Sept. 7, after which we anticipate getting the all-clear for adoption. She will still need to be on limited activity (just short walks outside to do her business, no long walks, playing, running, etc.) until the beginning of October.

She is on HWP now, UTD on vaccinations, microchipped and spayed.

Goldy is from Greece where Leishmaniasis is endemic. She has tested negative, but the parasite can remain dormant in the system. Potential adopters must be willing to commit to annual testing for the next 7 years. Your vet can draw the blood and send it to the lab.

Foster Comments: The decision whether or not we should adopt Goldy ourselves or put her up for adoption was quite frankly one of the hardest decisions my husband and I ever had to make. Goldy is a one-of-a-kind, complete gem of a dog. She has a to die for disposition and adores her people. She is one of those once in a lifetime type of dogs without a doubt. The main reason that we are not keeping Goldy is that we feel we can find a home for her better suited for her needs. She deserves nothing but the best of the best. While she doesn’t require a fence, we’d love to see her go to a home with a physical fence where she can run and smell to her hearts content. That is something we could not offer for her. She has a strong hunting instinct and loves to stalk and point at birds and other critters. However, she wouldn’t be a suitable hunting dog as she does not like loud noises. Goldy also does not enjoy being crated for a full work day, and I do not enjoy doing it to her. But as I described earlier, I do not yet trust her being out of a crate while we are away. Her optimal home would be someone who works from home or is retired so she could soak up as much love and affection as she pleases. If we found a home for her that worked full time but was perfect in all other aspects, we could consider adopting her to that home, but only if they had another dog to keep her company for the long day. Right now she requires a mild sedative on the days our own dog goes to daycare, as she gets upset when left totally alone. 

Adoption Fee: $300

Foster Location: Dane, WI (Madison area)

Volunteer transport can be arranged in the Continental US within a 1,000 mile distance between adopters & foster home. Typically, we are able to transport your adopted dog to within 2 hours of your home. *Dogs can be adopted outside the 1000 mile transport distance; however, adopters must be willing to either fly their adopted dog, drive to a location within the 1000 mile transport range, or make independent transport arrangements for their adopted dog. Transports to far West states, from Eastern states, may have additional restrictions.