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My basic info
Breed
Golden Retriever
Color
Tan/Yellow/Fawn
Age
Adult
Size
Large 61-100 lbs (28-45 kg) (when grown)
Weight
–
Sex
Female
Pet ID
–
My details
Purebred
My story
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Here's what the humans have to say about me:
Cleo is a very special dog, and a special case, and she needs very special people. This beautiful 4 year old golden has a past that has finally caught up to her. The beginning of her life was spent with a family who filled her first 2 years with abuse and neglect, and left her with deep psychological scars. She was crated for up to 16 hours a day and hit often by the children. She was rarely if ever walked and given little to no attention. Her behavior is consistent with a dog who knew she was not part of a pack - she developed nervous behaviors such as pica and self-injurious behaviors. She was rescued at 2 years old by a couple who care deeply for her. They took a broken dog with no self-esteem who had given up, and nurtured and loved her. Slowly, Cleo blossomed - she began to have self-confidence for the first time and to feel safe. Her stress behaviours became very manageable and she enjoyed life as a cherished pet, enjoying the dog park and getting along with her dogbrother and all people she met. Her scars would not go away, but she became able to live a new life with and around them.
Bad fortune has hit this beautiful girl twice. Unaware of how it would affect Cleo, her family became pregnant with their first child. She began to display odd behavior around the time of the pregnancy - she seemed stressed, and tension between her and her dogbrother, with whom she'd always gotten along, developed. While the fights were not serious, she became increasingly possessive of her people and on occasion would go after him. I've been working with Cleo and her owners for some time and it's been far from a straighforward case. Our working hypothesis is that the addition of children to her family and her new "safe" life has put her back into a psychological place where she is very conflicted - she has not shown any aggression towards the baby or the other frequent visitors in the home and is very tolerant, but her body language indicates that she becomes anxious when children are around, but she deals with this anxiety by redirecting and becoming sporadically aggressive towards other dogs in the home. Her owners are extremely dedicated and have done a lot of soul searching, but have reached a difficult decision and are looking to find a special home for Cleo where she will not have to live with the anxiety she experiences living with children.
Cleo is an amazing dog with a lot of love and kisses to offer. Please note that Cleo has not shown any aggression towards children. She just appears to be unable at this time to live with them without experiencing high anxiety, and she appears to be dealing with this anxiety by becoming unpredictable with other dogs in her home environment. While Cleo could probably do well with the right dog in the right home, ideally she would be better suited as a single dog in a home without kids. She is untested with cats. Please note that her dog-on-dog issues have been exclusive to other dogs mainly in her home, and she goes to the dog park regularly without issue. We feel that her anxiety around children is too great for her to live a happy life with them. She is an intelligent, medium-energy Golden Retriever whose pica symptoms are minimal (but not absent) and easily managed. She is a well-behaved dog in general, very affectionate and craves attention from her people, and she has so much to offer the special people who will be lucky enough to share their lives with her.
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