Rowen Fox Red Labrador Retriever Male 6 Months Old ID #3019

June 23, 2022

Rowen has a great temperament and is an incredibly affectionate, playful, and super energetic 7-month-old fox red English Lab. Rowen was surrendered by a first-time farm breeder who was unable to sell him and his sibling, Rudy. Given lots of exercise and love, Rowen will make a tremendous fun-loving companion for an active family who will include him in their everyday activities.

June 12, 2022

Rowen is getting more brazen as he is settling in. He now jumps up on me when I’m standing and also jumps up into my lap when I’m seated. We’re working on “off” but it isn’t sinking in yet. I switched him to my dogs’ adult food since he was refusing to eat the puppy food I bought for him. I have a feeling the farmer probably just put food in a bowl and let them graze since Rowen still doesn’t eat his entire meal in one sitting. I top it with lean protein (usually chicken or hard-boiled eggs) to entice him, but he manages to eat that and leave the kibble.

The first two nights he was with me, he slept through the night, but since then he has been waking me for a 2:30 to 4:00 AM walk and he does have to go when I take him out. Perhaps I need to adjust my feeding times. Or, pay more attention to the dogs on their 11 PM walk through the woods to make sure each of them is doing what they need to do. That’s difficult with 3 dogs though as we are walking off-leash in my fenced yard with a flashlight and they all seem to go off in different directions!

Rowen is an Irish name that means “little redhead.” What an appropriate name for a fox red Lab! He is incredibly affectionate and loves to snuggle, although his snuggles usually only last for a couple of minutes. Although not terribly food motivated, he does enjoy treats which will make training him easier. He knows his name, come, crate (meaning time to get in your crate), EH-EH (instead of no), and we are working on sit and off. He loves to run through my wooded lot and is a pure joy to watch when he gets a case of the zoomies!  He’s really enjoying the freedom of having a fenced yard. He starts off the day with an excess of energy that he needs to burn off, but slowly throughout the day that energy winds down until after dinner when he is comfortable just hanging with us and chilling. He has seen one of the foxes in our woods a few times and didn’t really have much of a reaction and he doesn’t chase the squirrels (or perhaps he just hasn’t seen them).

Rowen visited my primary Vet for a thorough wellness exam since there was some concern about the bunny hopping witnessed during his evaluation. My Vet indicated his knees and hips are great, he has good muscle tone, and has a good sense of where his feet are. The bunny hopping is likely due to a congenital lumbar spine issue for which there are probably 50 different diagnoses to pinpoint the exact cause. Unlike a human for which a spinal specialist might be consulted for certain issues, spine issues would not be treatable in a dog as they might be in a human. Rowen is not in any pain, and my Vet indicated the condition would not likely impact his quality of life; however, he will continue to bunny hop which certainly doesn’t stop him from getting around at full speed!

June 5, 2022

Rowen certainly has a boatload of personality. He has the cutest play bow I’ve ever seen; it’s an entire act that takes a minute to play out. I’ll try to get a video so everyone can enjoy his cuteness. He is a master thief, stealing just about anything he can get his teeth onto (toys are fine, but he also steals rugs, blankets, dog beds, clothing, pillows, shoes, anything that isn’t nailed down), and he even tried to rearrange my dining room chairs. His zoomies in the yard are over the top! He’s not the most coordinated pup yet, often taking slides in the yard when he loses control during one of his wild runs. He cried when I put him in his crate last night, but it’s right next to my bed and I just rolled over and ignored him and he quieted down and slept through the night again. I thought his humping had gotten better yesterday, but this morning he was back to being a master humper again. Buzzy has corrected him a few times and Gracie even corrected him once.  I don’t think he’s ever been corrected by an adult dog because when it happens he pancakes to the ground. Unlike my dogs, Rowen doesn’t jump up on people, which is a plus. He is very affectionate and jumped up on the couch to sit next to Steve last night and then later next to me. He loves it when you just put your arms around him and hold him close. He still isn’t eating much, and even with treats or people’s food, he doesn’t recognize most food items. He’ll smell whatever it is, put in on the floor and push it around, and then eventually eat it (or not). He does enjoy chewing on ice cubes but had zero interest in the Whimzees chew bones I give my dogs! He’s had no experience walking on a leash. When I put on his harness and leash to take him for a walk on our street today, I learned he is only over his threshold fear as it relates to my back door. Now, I’ll need to get him used to going through the other doors and through the yard gates on our property. However, once out in the street he walked fairly well – zig-zagging somewhat but staying close and not pulling. It’s a start. He does startle easily at every new noise he hears but he seems to be adjusting quickly.

The current plan is to get him seen by my primary vet for a thorough wellness check to determine whether he may need to be seen by a specialist for his reported hind end lameness. Autumn noticed some redness in his eyes at the farm, and we’ve seen the same thing, so we will ask about that as well.

June 4, 2022

Rowen is a very friendly, VERY active puppy. He gets along well with my resident dogs although he is a bit too in your face for them and they will correct him, which he responds to well.

His first night went much better than expected. He wasn’t thrilled with going into the crate, but once in, he settled down and slept soundly through the night. As with many farm dogs, he has had limited exposure to everything associated with being in a house. He was afraid of doorways when he first arrived but is improving and will now come through the back door on his own. So far at least, he is doing his business outside and will go to the back door if he needs to go out. He doesn’t have much interest in eating, but I’m sure he will start eating when he gets hungry enough. He is somewhat okay with a leash which is surprising since he’s probably never had one on before, but he really puts on the brakes when he doesn’t want to go somewhere. He is loving the freedom of being able to run through my fenced wooded yard. If he gets too rambunctious and I need to get something done, I just tether him to my waist and that helps to keep him in my sight. I’m sure it will take him some time to settle in and get comfortable living in a house since all he is used to is a kennel in the barn. One day at a time….

He has not yet figured out that the dog pool isn’t an oversized water bowl, but he should eventually follow my dogs into the pool to wade which I have a feeling he will enjoy once he gets in. We found he will chase a ball and sometimes retrieve it and bring it back to be thrown again. Everything is new to him but he is learning very quickly. Today when I heard him crunching something in the other room and found him chewing on the seal he had pulled off my patio door, I introduced him to the toybox so he could choose some more appropriate toys! He had a ball pulling out toys and playing with them.

Not only did he pull a bunch of toys out of the toybox, but he decided he liked my dog’s blankets better than his own.  Shortly after I took this photo of the stash he was collecting, I found him dragging my dog’s dog bed into the other room.  LOL! He is quite the character.

June 3, 2022

Today, Rowen and Rudy got their rescue ride off the farm.  We stopped during transport to get them UTD on all vaccines, microchipped, heartworm and Lyme disease tested, and perhaps most importantly, baths which all farm dogs usually need. They are absolutely gorgeous six-month-old fox red English Labrador puppies with great temperaments. Rowen is the smaller of the two at 57 lbs. and Rudy is 68 lbs. They don’t realize it yet, but they are on their way to a great life. More to follow…