17-044 Apollo, a Golden looking Goldendoodle, and 17-045 Luna, a striking silver Goldendoodle, are a bonded pair from the same canine parents, who were originally adopted in 2016. The adopter became very ill recently and had to return the dogs to AGR. He assured us they were “just the best dogs” and was very sad that he had to give them up, but he knew he could no longer care for them. They were first placed in a home with two young children who did not understand how to behave around dogs, even though the family had a couple of small dogs. Apollo was attacking the small dogs over food dropped on the floor by the kids, as well as peeing in the house, and Luna was chewing up the children’s toys, which had not been in evidence during the home evaluation. After consultation with our Behaviorist who tried more than once to work with the family, and with Placement, the Board deemed this situation “an accident waiting to happen” so we reclaimed the dogs.

We then placed the pair with experienced Golden owners where there was another dog in residence but no children. A Meet-and-Greet went well, as did Apollo and Luna’s arrival at the home. The adopter reported: "The first day I had an issue with Apollo and my dog Gus. I was throwing a toy and Gus caught the toy. Apollo attacked Gus. I broke up the fight by pulling up on Apollo’s collar as instructed. There was a second incident later in the day when I gave them biscuits. Apollo again went after Gus when I gave Gus a biscuit. I contacted the Behaviorist, who gave me some instructions on how I needed to behave with the dogs in order to get them to listen to me. I’ve been walking Apollo and Gus together every evening, which is working out very nicely. There have been no fights since implementing her instructions. In fact, this morning Apollo was trying to play with Gus. I am holding off on playing with toys for a while. Luna is just a delightful big sweet lump! Apollo is a fantastic guy as well. Aside from the initial incident on the first day, both dogs are really, really well behaved. I am working on creating a healthy and happy pack."

Apparently, the adopters have worked at implementing the Behaviorist's suggestions, asserting themselves as leaders of this pack. We are confident now that Apollo and Luna have found a home where they can thrive. We thank the adopters for making the effort to help this pair integrate into their household and become canine good citizens.