ADOPTED
“Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches, Peaches….I love you!!!!! Peach is a female 5 year old golden retriever and she loves you too, even though she hasn’t met you yet! She is about 60 lbs and is a smaller Golden Retriever.
Peach found her way into Pound Dog Rescue from a for-profit puppy mill situation, but you would never know based on her personality. She has never hesitated to meet a new person, and has the most gentle manner about her. She will approach strangers and without prompting, sit very nicely, and if the confused stranger needs guidance on the next steps she will gently lick their fingers to help them realize that she should be receiving pats at this time. How helpful! Peach has not shown any fear of people, and would love to live with a forever family where she can remain social, as it makes her very happy to meet new people. She absolutely loves people! Peach has met a wide range of people, and is not afraid of men, people with assistive devices or the happy squeals of younger children.
The one thing you can tell about Peach in regards to her origins is her coat–she does have some filling out to do in terms of her hair coat, as it was a little sparse in the feathering department when she came to us. She had a few bald patches on her legs and staining on her feet, and may still lick at these areas (loudly, a princess must announce herself). With continued care and a high quality, balanced diet, Peach will continue her beautification, just as a princess deserves! Peach handles all grooming very well so far, including bathing, nail trims and brushing. She will be a higher shedding dog, especially as her coat continues to fill out.
Peach does tend to be a picky eater. She is still adjusting to eating kibble, and does not always finish her meals. Coming from a puppy mill with irregular feeding and types of food, she is not always sure that her regular diet is edible. She may appreciate the opportunity to be a “grazer” with her portion of food measured out for her to nibble at, as she does tend to eat the best in the evening. She does love treats though and takes them very gently.
Housetraining is progressing well for Peach. In the first few days she had some accidents on the carpet, but once we learned her routine (she likes to pee twice in the morning!) she has been much better. She will need to be watched to continue to have success as she transitions into your home, as she does not alert at this time. Peach has not soiled her kennel.
While generally non-destructive in the home, Peach cannot have blankets in her crate. While she initially appreciated her soft bed, the mood
struck her and she consumed a large strip of her bedding. Thankfully she did not have any medical complications from this as she vomited it out, it will always be a risk to have blankets, socks, hand towels and similar items in her reach. Any children must be careful with their toys, as Peach would likely take them too. Being a retriever who has not been able to express certain breed traits like retrieving, she loves to collect soft items in her kennel, which must be taken from her if she is not supervised. She has not tried to consume or destroy soft plush toys…but we would not put it past her to try if the mood struck. Sturdy, reinforced, size-appropriate toys are a must! It is her favourite thing to transport each toy one by one to her kennel and sit down with all of them. She has not displayed any resource guarding with her toys, and will happily accept petting as payment for a job well done.
When she is not gathering toys, Peach loves to lay down near you in the house. She relaxes very easily in the home, and prefers to be one room away at most. She is fairly content to nap most of the time, but does have moments of activity and curiosity where she can get into trouble. She absolutely will attempt to counter-surf and inspect items on tabletops if she is not corrected. Peach is mostly interested if there are food items on the table, and must be watched and her training to not touch these items will need to be continued.
As Peach loves people so much, she does have some separation anxiety. She is generally crated for varied periods throughout the day to practice independence, and generally does well as long as she doesn’t feel she is missing out, which is typically when she sees her family going out with the other dogs specifically. If she becomes anxious in her crate, she tends to bark loudly with her odd bark, and has also attempted to bite the bars of her kennel. Her forever home must invest in a plastic kennel with a bite-resistant design to keep her safe. It is very uncommon for her to bite at the bars, but it has happened. She does settle after some time (sometimes 30 mins or more), but we would not 
recommend apartment living due to her royal disagreement with being alone. Peach will always go into her kennel when asked, and is often napping in the kennel with the door open (as long as the mandatory one room away rule is in effect!). Although she does kennel well the majority of the time, she will prefer a home where her family either has the ability to work from home, or has some measures in place for a dog walker or something similar to break up a typical workday. Continuing to provide kennel training for her is good for her overall well-being, as dogs often experience crating in the wider world at the groomer, veterinarian or in vehicles. Practice makes perfect!
Peach enjoys other dogs, but it is not mandatory for her to live in a multi-dog household, as she is always more interested in the people if she had to choose. She is excited when our two dogs are playing, and will run around with them outside. Peach has met both small and larger dogs easily. She does tend to be intrusive with her sniffing sometimes, and does not always read cues when other dogs need space, so her new home will need to help her break an overly-long sniff if needed. She is usually content to sniff and meet another dog, then coexists with them peacefully and does not pester them further. Peach has not displayed resource guarding around our dogs and is generally well-mannered.
Peach is also cat friendly! She is not excited by our cats playing, and our cats love to show her affection. She calmly accepts their praise, and respects their space. She does not sniff at or pursue our cats in any way.
On walks, Peach is generally well-behaved. She is not reactive to other dogs or wildlife. Peach is walked on a martingale to prevent her from slipping her collar by accident, but she has not really been startled or a strong flight risk compared to some other puppy mill dogs. She needs continued work learning how to walk well, and must only be walked by adult or older teenage family members. She takes a moment to get her bearings and understand that walking forward is what you want her to do. Peach is the type of dog to try to anticipate your needs, so if she sees a car she assumes she must go into the car! If you seem like you would like to go in this door, she must go there BRISKLY. She will pull when she thinks she has figured out what you want from her, but will stop as soon as you do, trying to figure out where she went wrong. With some consistency and guidance, Peach settles in well and loves to stroll along, meet human friends, and sniff at the grass and foliage. She will mature into a lovely walking partner with more training. She is a medium energy level dog, and will likely love longer walks as she becomes more accustomed to walking next to you. She is not bothered by higher traffic flows, but we would not recommend walking her right beside a busy street as she loves to tiptoe in the gutter on her way to what must be her royal chariot…right?!
As you can probably tell from her willingness to get into each and every car, Peach is a fairly good traveller. She has been nauseous a few
times, but generally climbs in on her own, lays down, and is quiet and content for the ride. If she is nauseous it is usually during the “parking” phase where multiple short turns and backing up can upset her stomach. She travels in the backseat of the car, but would also likely travel well in an appropriately sized crate to be more secure if needed.
Peach has a very strong desire to please, and thrives on physical affection and verbal praise. She is a big suck and is often squeaking softly when you give her attention. She loves to roll over for belly rubs, and would let you dote on her for hours if you wanted to. She can live most home and family settings well, but we don’t recommend her living with very young children due to her tendency to counter-surf and collect and potentially destroy or consume cloth items…that is a lot to manage! Will Princess Peach be yours? She would love to meet you. Thank you for reading her story and considering a rescue dog.”