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It's Decision Time.

2K views 20 replies 18 participants last post by  Shalva 
#1 ·
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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#4 ·
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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#8 ·
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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#9 ·
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.
 
#14 ·
Beautifu



He is a beautiful boy and maybe the people would let you bring your two dogs to meet him, you can only ask. They would need to meet on neutral territory.
 
#10 ·
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!.
 
#11 ·
We show and breed Flat Coats and Personally I find my flat coats to be not at all like goldens... they are higher energy... they want something to do all the time... they need a job and if they don't hae a job they can get very high strung... I think about them more as "border collies without the work ethic" ... they are silly... my goldens are much more serious, they are much more biddable and easier to train.. my flats are smart sometimes to smart.

they are not at all like black goldens... temperaments are very different.

As for that boy, I am not seeing alot of golden in him I am seeing flat coat... and a whole lot of it... Flats are wonderful dogs... they are sweet and adventurous and they want to go go go so just be warned... He is quite handsome... I woiuld go for it
 
#13 ·
Aww he so cute. I would say go for it. It's great that your not being selfish about the puppy and you think about the puppy's happiness rather than your own. My boyfriend is the same way when it comes to color on a dog he doesn't like them too "dark" I don't get it because I love all dogs, as long as they don't attack me of course lol
 
#15 ·
When I adopted my black lab mix from a kill shelter, the shelter people were also saying that black dogs don't get adopted. Thunder had been there for 2 weeks and his time was up. Well, we adopted Thunder and could not have been happier and that was close to 11 years ago. He is a wonderful dog.
I would also say, if you are really sure about getting your dog a buddy at this point, then go for it if it is a good match.
 
#16 ·
he is beautiful. I like that you are going to go meet him first. Being that he is a mix you may end up with some of each traits, but then you know that already. As much as I would like to see this guy rescued, it needs to be a good fit.

As for passing on the Gordon to give him a home with his sister. I think I might have made the same decision as it just seems to be a good fit for this boy.

Whatever you decide, I think you will make the right decision as you do seem to take your time and not just jump in. I did that with my Sage, this was to important a decision for not just us, but for any dog we add to our family as well...Look forward to hearing about your visit!
 
#17 ·
I've never really understood the thing about black dogs either. Weird to me. At my SPCA we have occasional themed "sales" which play the problem up in a humorous way. We offer black dogs and cats at a lower adoption fee right before Halloween. Etc. When the Sf Giants are in playoffs, we do a special on all animals with orange and/or black in them. :D
 
#18 ·
Well we have been trying to choose a name for him .....we have to start early on names as neither of us can ever agree on a name we both like. I settled on Teon ...I like ancient Celtic or Norse names, as uncommon. I think it is an elegant name for an elegant boy. My DH hates it ....says he could not live with it ...thank goodness ours is a second marriage & we don't have any children with one another, as I think choosing their names would have seen us in a divorce court LOL. My DH has chosen Sultan. I prefer Teon, but ok with Sultan, si if this lovely boy does join our family, I think he will be called Sultan. The lady at the pound called him Bill ...each week they name incoming dogs with a different letter of the alphabet ...I guess it makes it easy for them to know how long they have been with them.

Re the breed of this boy .....Flat- Coated Retrievers are very rare in NZ. There is just one breeder in the country. I have looked at her boys & yes, this boy is virtually identical, in build & looks. Seems in temperament also, as the Rescue people said he was very affectionate, very playful, cuddly & goofy. I am guessing they are not familiar with the FCR, but can see he is a retriever & that is why they are saying he is a mix. I will take my camera on Monday. The Rescue people have suggested we visit initially without Loki, so that we can spend time getting to know him without distractions & take him for a walk. Then if we bond with him, we could visit a few days later with Loki. The shelter is an hour drive from where we live. My DH now seems quite keen!
 
#20 ·
He is beautiful and I hope you adopt him. It feels like it's meant to be. As you can tell from my pictures we have both black and golden in our family and love all colours. I think if your DH says yes I'd let him choose the name. I think that's a good first step for them bonding.
 
#21 ·
He looks like a flat coat to me... good luck with him... you might try contacting that breeder and let her know and see what her thoughts are ...she could be a good resource...

i agree ... let hubby choose the name
 
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