He is turning into quite a handsome guy. Sammy-boy came to us thin, almost emaciated, but we have been feeding him double rations -- happy dog! -- and he is rapidly filling out. After a bath and a bit of grooming his fur is long and silky, a beautiful tan color with light, almost white, feathering. A lot of people have commented on his good looks.

Sammy loves people, including children, follows us from room to room during the day, and sleeps on the floor at the side of our bed at night. He is irrepressibly happy. For him the world is forever new, forever interesting, forever exciting, forever worth a tail wag. Nothing fazes him and all setbacks are temporary; life is just a goofy game. He is the most enthusiastic dog we have fostered so far. How enthusiastic? Saturday morning I took him swimming in Lake Austin (he loves to retrieve tennis balls from water); Saturday afternoon we jogged for a mile; Saturday evening I loaded him down with 2+ cups of food and then took him for a mile walk; Saturday night our dog took over and rough-housed with him for half an hour. Whew! Our first attempt to photograph Sammy was a total failure: The images had nothing but brown blurs, ends of tails, and empty(!) frames. We will try again now that he is learning to stay.

Sammy is fully house trained, stays off furniture, and is completely non-destructive. We have been leaving him free to roam the house while we are gone, including one long day when he was alone for 10 hours. We have been working on heeling, sit/stay, come, and other basic training. It took Sammy a while to get the idea but he has become much better behaved in the last week. He is not yet a complete gentleman -- after all, in dog terms he is still a teenager -- but the prospects are good, especially as he matures and mellows.

Sammy will be a good family pet and should be especially good in an active family. He will continue to need consistency until he grows up, and when he does grow up, he will be one of those wonderful dogs that give Goldens their great reputations.

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