Sweet Louie is having a rough time. One of his owners has suffered a stroke leaving the other owner very little time to love and care for him. He is a super sweet boy that has some anxiety along with the typical Golden Retriever hyperactivity. In addition to all of this, he was recently diagnosed with hip dysplasia in both hips. I have a feeling this is going to make it very difficult to re-home him.
He came to me with his sister. Many of you will remember Lacy. She has already found another home, but is here just for a refresher in her training and to build a little more confidence before she goes to that home. The suspicion is that once she is gone, Louie is going to go through some separation anxiety.
I have had to order another crate for Louie, so he is currently in the same room as Lacy. As soon as the crate arrives (in a couple of days), Louie will be moved to the common area of the house to get used to being away from Lacy.
Due to his hip problems, Louie is also going to be going on a diet and begin taking some supplements. I have switched him over to the Victor name brand of dog food. He is getting half active dog and puppy formula and half Hero formula. The Hero formula has a high amount of glucosamine. I will be monitoring how much he eats in order to get any unneeded weight off of his hips. He is also going to begin taking 1/2 to 1 tsp. of golden paste per day, the proper dosage of collagen by Modere, CBD oil, and Endurance by Volhard Nutrition.
This guy had his first session today. We did a little prong collar dancing to get him used to directions cues, and we did a little clicker conditioning. During the clicker conditioning I was able to lure him very easily between the sitting and lying down positions. He catches on very quickly and is eager to please.