11/26/2024
Oaken is a 6-month-old puppy I have been training for service work. He is half show Golden and half field Labrador, with an excellent pedigree and excellent health-testing on both sides. He was bred as part of a charity litter with the goal of producing service dogs, and he has 5 siblings in a guide dog program. He was the pick of the litter; I chose him at 8 weeks and brought him home shortly after.
Oaken has a fantastic temperament. He is very friendly and likes meeting new people, but he's not obsessive about it the way many friendly dogs are. He's very tolerant of annoying strangers, which was one of the reasons I picked him (working SD teams know, you need a dog that can be harassed and move on, lol). He's ridiculously food-motivated and primarily works for kibble, and he's that perfect level of 'intelligent enough to learn quickly, but not smart enough to get neurotic and easily bored.' He has fantastic self-control for 7 months, and I've worked hard to continue refining that.
His absolute best feature is that he's stupidly environmentally stable. This dog is not afraid of ANYTHING. Loud sudden bangs, barking dogs, weird new surfaces, you name it he doesn't care about it. I once dropped a glass pitcher of cocoa powder right in front of him, and instead of being startled by the crash and the shatter, he immediately jumped in there and grabbed a shard of chocolate-covered glass (puppies, man). He has handled a variety of very intense training situations with ease, and he's fundamentally a curious little guy. This dog could absolutely be a Disney World dog someday, if that's what you want him to be.
We've done plenty of basic obedience and manners, as well as crate-training and of course toilet-training. Socialization is the primary thing I've focused on while he's been here with me, though. Since the goal was always to place him with another handler in need, I felt that prioritizing him being comfortable and exposed to as many different stimuli, environments, and strangers as possible during those critical first 6 months was going to be the best thing I could do to set him up for success long-term. He DOES have those puppy basics, of course, but more than that, he has a ridiculously bombproof temperament for a 7-month-old puppy, and the ability to handle just about anything you'll ever need to throw at him.
Oaken has been raised with other dogs and rabbits and has met a variety of cats and done well. His energy level is on the low-medium side for a working dog and he's just as happy to spend a few quiet days hanging out with you on the couch as he is to go out adventuring. He's a lovebug through and through, and wants to be near to or touching his person 22 hours a day. He really enjoys car rides and will happily tuck under the dash at your feet and stare at you with love eyes until he falls asleep (the longest trip we've ever taken that way was an hour and a half). He's very quiet, and as long as he'll be going out reasonably often and not trapped in a small space all day, I think he'd do great in an apartment if needed.
Because Oaken has a very calm, laidback presence, I would love to find a place for him as an autism or PTSD dog. However, there's not much that this dog couldn't do, to be honest. He'd also make a great mobility dog if you need wheelchair pull or item retrieval (he LOVES grabbing things and trading them for a treat), seems to have a decent nose for scent detection (although we haven't formally started training that), and frankly would be overjoyed to help with ANYTHING that requires deep pressure therapy, lol. He really is going to be a great all-arounder, and I'm excited to see where he goes!
Oaken's price will depend on when he goes home, but he is not free. Raising and training him has been my full-time job since he came home and I have taken very reduced hours at my actual job in order to maximize the time and energy I can put into setting him up for success down the road. His fee will be as low as I can make it, but he is far from free.
That said, I'm very open to discussing a payment plan if that would be helpful, and I'd be more willing to be flexible on the placement fee if you're willing to continue to work with me semi/regularly as he goes through training. Ultimately, after ensuring that my time (and rent) is covered, my main goal is not to make the highest possible profit, but to find the right placement for him.
More information about my professional credentials and what Redd Working Dogs is all about can be found at https://reddworkingdogs.org/ -- or for other questions, please reach out to (678) 725-9163, [email protected], or PM this page. You can also comment on this post!
