Violet

Hi! I am Pilot, aka Violet, a retired breeder girl who is slowly coming out of my shell. There’s a lot to learn in this big new world, and it’s taking me some time to adapt but I am making lots of progress!

I live in a house with two other golden retrievers, a male and a female. We all get along well, and I’ve learned a lot by following them around in the house, in the yard and especially in and out of the house and up and down stairs. You see, doors and stairs aren’t something I knew about until I moved here. I especially like hanging out with the other female. I will need a canine companion in my new home to help me continue to adjust to life with humans in a house, but I have to say this is the life! I am warm and loved, and it’s great!

In the past I growled at my dog friends when they got too close to toys that are near me; they just walked away and everything was fine. But now that I’ve discovered the toy basket, I haven’t growled about toys because I can always go get another toy! My new home should be aware in case I regress while learning a new home and routine. I am housetrained; my foster parents have not tried to crate me, so I don’t know whether I’d like being in one. And they haven’t restricted me to any small areas, so I don’t know how I feel about that either. But aside from chewing on rug fringe I have not been destructive at all.

My foster parents say I’m a low-medium energy girl. I like running around with my pals in the fenced yard (I’ll need one of those too) – chasing leaves is tons of fun! – but after I come in, I just pace a little bit and then settle. I am good about being handled for brushing, vetting, etc.

Walking on leash was a challenge for me initially but foster mom says I am a champ at it now! I do not pull. And I went on a field trip to a pet store with my foster sibs and had a grand time. We had our nails trimmed (OK, I was bit nervous about that but I was good) and ears cleaned (no problems there). Then I walked around the store with one of my buddies and if she said hello to someone, so did I! I even met some young kids recently and was very gentle with them. And when mom and dad went on a trip, I went to stay with a nice lady who has four dogs (four!) and I did great.

In fact, foster mom says I’m becoming much more social: I now want to sleep where everyone else sleeps and if my foster siblings are getting petted, I want to be petted too!

Everybody thinks I’m ready for my forever home, so I’m willing to give it a try. Are you willing to give me a try?