Last weekend, I posted up pics of our five month old GR boy playing with the seven month old Gordon Setter boy we were very interested in adding to our family. We let the breeder know that we wanted this beautiful boy & she was happy to keep him over the Christmas period or us. However, yesterday we heard from her, saying that she has someone really keen to take the brother & sister together, & he has a ten acre Lifestyle Block in the country, so heaps of room for the two of them to run crazily about in safety, as Gordons love to do. She said she had already promised the boy to us, & would stand by that, but would let us know.

We talked about it at length last night, & as disappointed as we will both be not to add this beautiful boy to our family, we feel it would be wonderful for him to have all that space to run about in with his sister. We can only offer him a quarter acre back garden. We told the breeder that we would think about it over the weekend, & then let her know, & she was happy with that. The interested family have had Irish Setters in the past, so are familiar with Setters, which we are not.

So today I have been looking at some Rescue places & have found a beautiful boy who is a Flat-coated Retriever x Golden Retriever. He is between 18-24 months old & the shelter people caring for him, say that he has a wonderful, very loving & playful temperament & is great with other animals. He does need training, but they say he is a very smart boy & will pick things up quickly. One lady's description of him was that "he does not have a mean bone in his body". They say he is stunning to look at. He very sadly has spent nine months in the Pound in a small concrete cell, as the Rescue shelter did not have room to take in any more dogs, & no-one to foster him in their own home. The lady in charge of the Pound thought he was such a lovely dog, that she would not allow him to be euthanised, & at last two weeks ago, the Rescue Shelter was able to take him, so he is now safe.

My DH says he does not like black dogs, so I may have to work on him a bit, but I think this boy is lovely & after all that time in a small cell in the Pound, is well deserving of a loving home. So I am hoping I can persuade my DH to visit with him on Monday ( Christmas Eve). It would be a win-win situation ...the Gordon Setter would go to a place where he had total freedom & space & remain with his sister .....this beautiful boy would get to be part of a family who loved him .....& perhaps best of all, another poor dog with an uncertain future will take his place in the Rescue shelter, which is run totally on public donations & the goodwill of companies such as Royal Canin, who just last week sent a surprise gift of a truckload of their dog kibble. Below is the photo the shelter took of this boy last week.

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How awesome to adopt a "black dog" - they have such a hard time getting adopted.
They don't photograph that well, so ......
Any chance you could get your husband to at least meet him?

He's adorable!

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"In life, the best walks are always too brief."


Gallagher(went to the Rainbow Bridge 08/02/02), and Fozzie's Mom forever!(Fozzie went to the Rainbow Bridge 07/14/12)

Why not wait until your young pup is a bit older? He's just about to hit the teenage phase where you really will want to double up on training and commands & classes. Having two young dogs is not ideal, IMO or course. Adopting an older dog sounds like a better idea. However, he may have no training either. You just never know!!

Best of luck with your decision! It will all work out!!!


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He is a beautiful boy. Hope you are able to give him a home.

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Dave

Go for it. He's one handsome dude and he'll bring joy to your family.

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I for one don't understand the aversion to black dogs. I think he's beautiful.

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**Fraulein "Maggie" Louise 8/2/95 - 7/20/09**
*At Rainbow Bridge but Forever in Our Hearts*

We had a flat coat/golden for 6 wonderful years. I found him to be a wonderful mix and his coat was so shiney. He was a great rescue and I only wish we had found him when he was a puppy so could have loved him his whole life. Plus the golden part of him kept his personality mellow yet fun. Really loved that boy.

What is the thing with black dogs? Guess color has never meant a lot to me, cause I thought Rover was just stunning. I would sure go visit this new boy and see if is personality is one which might mesh with your family. You are doing a good thing

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Thank you for that advice Carolina. We already have two dogs ...a six year old papillon as well as our five month old GR. Our young Goldie has actually never given us much trouble. He's really easy-going & good-natured & has all basic commands now under his belt. We won't be going for the younger Gordon Setter, as have now made the decision that it would be better for him to go to this other family, where he will have more space & be able to remain with his sister. Amazingly, my DH is happy to visit with this older boy in three days, so we will go & meet up with him, but we are under no obligation & would certainly not be bringing him home with us, as he still has to be neutered & the Rescue people have to do a property check on us, before agreeing we can adopt him, if that is what we want to do after meeting him. This boy is approaching two years old & has very good recall, according to the people caring for him. We would need to do training with him of course, & are prepared to do that ....he would start attending the same CGC Foundation classes that young Loki has attended these passed few weeks. With regard to the teenager phase, we have raised two Maremmas, bother & sister, through that & actually found it easier with two than we have in the more distant past with just one. Of course Loki is our first GR, so I don't know how he will behave as a teenager. Right now he is mainly very well behaved, & we were thinking it might be nice for him to have a playmate of a similar size to what he will grow into, as he desperately wants to play with our papillon, but sadly the papillon has never been a playful dog & is just not interested. We have certainly not made a decision yet & will think it through very carefully before doing so. Will let everyone know how our meeting goes on Monday.

He is beautiful and I hope you can adopt her!.
FCR are just as wonderful as GR but in Black!.
You can't go wrong,with this breed as they are very close to the Golden,in character but a lot more active!.

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My Golden's slideshow:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3cQhJc2LDM
My Hovawart's slideshow:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh_1toD6xtc
If you don't like a wet,shedding dog,don't get a golden or a Hovawart!.
RIP,My Beloved Priska!.