9/2/26:
Murphy is ready to find his forever home! He is a 9-year-old Golden Retriever.
CHILDREN: May live with children, age 5 and above. Murphy is a big dog, who does not know his own size (approx 95 lb) and would tend to knock down smaller children or not be able to get up from a lying position to get out of the way of toddler walking walkers/rompers, etc. Murphy’s surrendering family had a small toddler learning to walk with a bouncy device. Murphy could not get out of the way of the child and would become frustrated and growl. It never went further than this and is a reason for slightly older children.
OTHER DOGS: Murphy would be a great only dog. Not ruling out living with another dog, but Murphy loves being the center of attention. Any living with other dogs would need proper introduction. Murphy gets along with his foster dog brother, by mostly ignoring each other (coexisting), except for walking parallel during walks.
CATS: In his previous home, his best friend was their cat, and he helped raise two foster kittens. Would need proper introductions.
FENCE: Murphy loves to play ball, but is not off leash trained and should have a fenced yard, along with regular walks to help him in losing weight. He is about 20lbs over weight and with regular play in a yard and walking, he could lose at least some of it and help his joints. Murphy does not have a high prey drive and does not tend to chase animals on walks.
ACTIVITY LEVEL: Moderate activity level
HEALTH: Murphy has arthritis in his hind legs. At this time, it does not seem to be slowing him down. With some weight loss and just started taking supplements (Cosequin) recommended by vet, he can continue with normal activity.
Murphy does not do well with loud noises, like thunderstorms and fireworks. He has a prescription for Trazadone which can be given and would be ideal to have his humans there to soothe him. It would be ideal to not have him outside during the loud noises as he would be a risk for running away, if not leashed.
Murphy does need regular grooming of his coat to keep it tangle free, Ideal would be at least every other day brushing and regular cleaning of his ears, trimming his nails and tending to any hotspots.
BEHAVIOR: Murphy takes treats nicely and allows foster to take toys from him with no growling or guarding behaviors. He does like to play keep away sometime and will run away with the toy versus giving it up and thinks it is a game.
WALKS: Murphy would benefit from someone who loves to take walks and would take him along. For a dog of his size he walks amazingly well on the leash.
Sometimes in the morning he has this hoppy dance he does as we’re starting out on the walk and can pull a bit, but it is really his excitement and not trying to pull the human. A couple of times he did pull to explore a tempting smell or to get to another human he thought would pet him. Murphy has a harness and leash built for his size. He willingly goes into it and has not issues walking with it on. He also has a Martingale collar on and has gone outside for the last potty trip out with leash attached to the collar and does fine. Would recommend harness for regular walks.
ADOPTER: Because Murphy is a big golden and already a bit over 9 years old, he is looking for a family to live out his golden years. No specific age of the adopter, but someone used to handling a big dog.
OBEDIENCE TRAINING: Murphy does know basics such as sit, down and is working on “wait” with his foster, otherwise he tends to just barge ahead whether that it to get the food in his bowl or to go out the front door. With regular practice on this skill he is learning.
HOUSETRAINING: Murphy is fully potty trained, and sleeps all night on the floor in his foster mom’s room. No issues when being gone for periods of time, though does need to go out when humans return.
TRICK TRAINING: Murphy knows how to “shake” and does seem interested in learning. He’s a smart boy.
PLAY: He likes playing with foster mom when she gets on the floor with him. He likes a couple toys which came from his surrendering family and will carry them in his mouth. Though there are plenty of chew toys, he is not very interested in chewing on them.
BARKING: Murphy does not bark excessively but will bark when excited or anxious. He will sometimes growl or bark with his toys in his mouth, but the growl is not meant aggressively. He also whines especially as walks start out or when anxious. If removed from the place causing anxiety or continues on walk, the vocalizing reduces. It is kind of cute, but could be distressing if you’re not aware of his quirks.
FOOD/WATER: Murphy is currently on Purina Pro Plan sensitive stomach, no fish oil base dog food. He eats a cup in the morning and a cup at suppertime. He is not super messy with water when drinking, but he does drink a fair amount of water, so needs to have the water bowl filled regularly.
CAR RIDES: The only car ride was to the foster’s home and Murphy laid on the back seat of the car and seemed to travel well.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
*Murphy has growled and snapped at another older dog in his home prior surrender. In his foster home, he has growled a couple times at his foster dog brother, but there have been no issues and with a very firm “knock it off,” there were no further issues.
*Not mouthy, but can be jumpy when very excited.
*Murphy shows no resource guarding of his toys, food, water or people.
*Murphy has never been crated, but has worked well gating him off in the kitchen, when leaving the home. Murphy does not counter surf (he’s not ever had people food) and does well with a Kong stuffed with dog treats; sealed with plain Greek yogurt then frozen. It would be ideal for his new family to not be gone for long stretches every day. Longest left so far was 7 hours.
*Murphy does exhibit anxious behavior such as whining, pawing at the door and panting and pacing at times. Not always related to leaving of the humans. With Foster human we have worked on the pawing at the door when we went to the vet and Murphy exhibited the behavior. Foster was able to offer a correction and a reward of touch when he ceased the behavior.
If you are interested in this awesome guy, submit your application today!
