Moe 09-436 [1]

Welcome one of RAGOM’S newest puppies – Moe (a slightly silly name for this guy, but it really does seem to fit him now).  We’ve had Moe for a little over a week now.  Usually we would have had him posted earlier, but we really are just now beginning to see who he is.  This big guy had a pretty lonely life, even though he is only 9 months old.  He was surrendered to a local shelter when he was only 6 months old.  There he remained for the last 3 months – absolutely not the place any dog, much less a puppy, would want to be.  Why he was never adopted, I have no idea since he is so incredibly cute (big, but very cute).  Moe is a golden/lab/collie mix and he looks all lab, except for the shape of his head which is all golden.  He is a big boy at 64 pounds, but the vet says he is probably as tall as he will be (which is pretty tall), but he still has some filling out to do.  We expect he’ll gain another 10-20 pounds to reach his full size.  The funny thing about him is that he doesn’t seem to realize how big he is and he bounds around just like the puppy he is.  Outside, we laugh that he looks like a deer as he runs and leaps around the yard.

The puppy behavior and his personality have just begun to shine in the last few days.  He spent the first 4-5 days with us very scared, shy and unsure.  He found a safe place to lie and stayed there for the most part for the whole day.  We would try to entice him out, but he didn’t want any part of it.  Each day, he would move out a little bit more and while he has come so far in the last week (and has now stolen the “couch” place from our two resident goldens), he still has a ways to go.  He does not seek out us humans (he loves the dogs!) all the time, but is now wagging his tail when we come to him and give kisses.  In fact, in the morning, he comes down with FM and sits on the couch with his head on her lap until everyone else wakes up.  He is so sweet, but still seems unsure that this is really his life now and that he won’t be losing it soon.  It’s like he’s afraid to love it too much for fear that it will all go away.

Because we have spent so much time just trying to acclimate him, we haven’t been able to spend much time trying to teach him basic commands.  As a puppy, he is a blank slate when it comes to commands.  He is just beginning to “come” on occasion, but doesn’t know anything else.  We will continue to work with him. 

For his forever home, Moe will most likely need the following:

• A very patient family with at least one other dog.  He is a puppy who has never lived in a home and needs lots of training.  Another dog can help him learn and show him the ropes.  Also, he’s not really food motivated, so training can be a little more time-consuming.
• A fenced in yard (we have him on a tie out and he does fine, but he needs lots of room to run).
• He gets along great with kids, cats, and dogs.  No aggression of any kind and he is really starting to love getting attention. 
• No crating.  He does absolutely fine with free roam of our house.  We have left him for short periods of time and he is fine.

If you are interested in this incredibly sweet puppy, please contact your placement advisor.  We’ll post more as he continues to come out of his shell.