Leia GH-1317

Looking for a Forever Home

Meet beautiful and loving Leia. Look up the definition of a Golden Retriever in the dictionary and you’ll see Leia’s picture! A true velcro dog who is just trying to get some love. She came from a family of two smaller dogs and several cats. A divorce prevented her from staying in an apartment that did not allow large animals.  More details follow below.

Gender: Female

Age: 8

Weight: 98 pounds (she needs to drop some weight)

Health: Leia never saw a vet during her life. The first thing we did when we started to foster her was to take her to our vet. Here is the vet report:

Leia’s blood work looks normal. The chemistry screen – where we look at liver and kidney values, blood proteins and blood sugar – was all normal. The electrolytes were all normal, as were the gastrointestinal enzymes. The complete blood count showed one mild increase in one white blood cell out of five, and normal red blood cells and platelets. The urine test showed no signs of infection and was otherwise normal. The thyroid level was normal. The heartworm and tick disease test was all negative, as was the fecal exam. The vet stated that she is in great health. However, she suggested that she lose about 40 pounds.  

Personality: Leia is a very affectionate and loving dog.  When she sits or lies next to you she expects to be pet non stop! It took Leia just a short few days to adjust to her foster family and their three Goldens. She loves to instigate a chasing game, and when they try to get her running, she accepts the challenge. This is all done outside in a fenced in environment. Due to her weight, her stamina is not the best. She can keep up with her foster brothers and sister, but needs to take frequent rests during play time. She rarely barks, but when the others bark at the neighbor dogs, she will give out a gentle bark.  She loves to take naps with the pack and is allowed to rest on the sofa with the other dogs. .

Favorite Toys/Games: Leia loves to chew on soft stuffed toys. Depending upon the quality of the toy, she could destroy it. She has not shown any interest in human shoes or articles of clothing on the floor. She has attempted to play tug, but that usually ends after a short few moments.  

Interaction with other dogs: Leia gets along with all three (two males ages 10 and 5 and one female age 2) of the foster’s Goldens. She respects each of their eating bowls during supper time.  

Interaction with cats: We were told that there were several cats at her previous home and no issues were witnessed.

Interaction with children: There are no children in the foster’s home. Knowing how she kindly treats and responds to guests coming to the home, they believe she would be fine around children too.

Behavior in Car: She needs a little boost to get into a car and comes out of the car with no issues.  While in the car she shows no signs of stress. She just sits and looks out the window as she chills.

People Interactions – home requirements: We have introduced Leia to many of our friends, neighbors and our adult children.  She warms up to all she meets almost instantly. She is able to go up and down stairs without issues. We did not need to crate her, but were told she does like the crate.

Training, Food and Treats: Leia understands the commands sit, stay and come. She has an extremely gentle bite when receiving a treat. She is not a beggar when the family is eating. GoldHeart was advised she is/was a counter surfer, yet this behavior has not been experienced in her foster home. 

Leash manners: She is very easy to handle on a leash. She does not try to pull you. She does fine with a harness or collar for walking. She likes them both.

Housetrained: Leia is house trained and has not had any accidents since arriving at her foster home.   When she has to go, she walks towards the back door and makes a whimpering sound. That’s her way of telling you she needs to go out.

Exercise Requirements: Using a 1-5 rating with 1 being a couch potato, and a 5 a very energetic with high exercise requirements, Leia is a 1. As mentioned, she does enjoy playing with other dogs and will instigate play time, but for the most part she loves to chill. And as said before, she likes to be chased too. Since she loves to run with the dogs in her foster home, we are recommending that Leia’s forever home have another dog. She has always lived with other dogs in her life. We have not taken her on many walks with the leash since our backyard is large and fenced.  

Fence requirements: Leia will do great in a fenced yard.  

Does Leia sound like the dog for you? 

If you are an approved GoldHeart Adopter, and you feel you have a home that meets the requirements included above, please contact availabledog@goldheart.org by email to express your interest to be considered for her forever home. Not yet approved? Please see info at the bottom of this post.

The foster family will learn who is interested in Leia, and approval files will be provided (your GoldHeart home visit report/application/references). In turn, the foster home will be reviewing during the next week or so, and narrowing the field down to the best best-fit home(s) aligned to this requirement’s posting. The family will contact you directly if they have any questions or want to arrange a meeting with you. Leia is being fostered in the southeast Pennsylvania area.

Adoption fee:  $300

If you are not yet approved by Goldheart, and are in our SERVICE AREA, please review our adoption process and then complete an adoption application. There is a $30 non-refundable application fee that must be received before the approval process can start. The approval process can take 6 weeks, or longer, since we rely on an all-volunteer support network to process your application, conduct the home visit, and check references. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEIA, PLEASE NOTE UNDER QUESTION 5 OF YOUR APPLICATION. If approved, you can then inquire about Leia IF STILL AVAILABLE, OR any other available dog that is looking for a forever home. Thank you for your patience and understanding.