Donovan and his brother, Dooley, originally came to us from a high kill shelter. Donovan was adopted in September but was returned due to the family finding that a puppy was more than they were ready for. He is very friendly and needs a family that will understand his high energy and needs for exercise and activity.

The name "Donovan" is Irish meaning Black-Brown.  Also, Donovan Bailey, was the first man to run the 100 meters in less than 10 seconds (without steroids). DONOVAN is very friendly; jump in your arms; tail wagging, kind of pup.  He will be a great companion to any family! He is a very fun-loving, active, and happy-go-lucky little guy!

Foster Update:  I was going to wait until we’d had Donovan for a full week before I prepared a Foster Update, but I just can’t resist “bragging” about him.  Anyone who has ever known or owned a Black Lab, knows that this breed is highly energetic, extremely intelligent, bubbling over with love and loyalty, and needs plenty of exercise and playtime to release all that energy.  Well, Donovan is no exception!  He might be a Black Lab MIX, but he fully fits the description of a pure-bred Black Lab.  Not only is Donovan a beautiful puppy, but he has the sweetest, most loving soul of any of our previous fosters.  He wants nothing more than to please you … to be loved by you … and to shower you with all the love he has in his great big heart.  Unfortunately, Donovan’s previous owners spent NO time training him, so he has a number of habits which need correction, and one of them is housetraining.  However, we have only had Donovan for 3 days, and he is doing GREAT … better than we ever expected.  Although he still has the habits of a much younger puppy, we know that Donovan is going to excel in the days/weeks ahead, because he has learned that “good boy” means you get lots of atta-boy pats and hugs, and those are his favorite things in life … other than being able to sleep sprawled out across your lap.  Another of Donovan’s favorite things is playtime, which is pretty much all the time.  Since Donovan has obviously never been around cats, he is a bit rough with them.  However, he is not in the least bit mean to them … rather he pounces on them because he is trying to entice them to play with him.  Of course they run, which in Donovan’s mind means they want to be chased and played with.  Donovan would make a WONDERFUL addition to any family, especially a family with other dogs and/or children.

Foster Update:  We’ve now had Donovan for a little over a week.  Donovan is a sweet, loving puppy, however, due to his lack of prior training, he is behind in his development.  We take him outside every 15-30 minutes to reinforce the housetraining but he has yet to fully get it.  He is, however, fully crate trained and will not go in his crate.  Donovan is highly energetic and the majority of his behavior issues seem to surface when he is tired.  Donovan can play rough and be dominant with other dogs, so he will need some work with his social skills.  In his current state of maturity, I would recommend that Donovan be the only animal in the house … definitely no cats, and I would highly recommend that someone with previous dog handling experience adopt Donovan.  Also, it’s important that Donovan have a large, fenced in yard … definitely, no apartment living for Donovan.  We also discovered that Donovan is also a counter cruiser -- we catch him with his front feet on the kitchen counters, so he’s learning “off.”  Donovan is a bit of a digger, which means that he's highly intelligent and needs a lot of mental stimulation as well as exercise.  All this said, Donovan is a wonderful puppy and any effort put into him will help him to realize his true potential in becoming a wonderful dog.

*** According to www.dogbreedinfo.com, the Labrador Retriever is a loving, affectionate, lovable, patient dog. Once known as the "St John's Dogs," the Labrador Retriever is one of the most popular breeds in the United States. Originally from Newfoundland, Canada the Labrador was trained to jump overboard into the icy waters to haul fisherman's nets to shore. Specimens were brought to England in the 1800's by English ships coming from Labrador, where the dog's fine retrieving instincts were honed and developed. One of the best family dogs and canine companions because of their gentle, loving disposition, the highly trainable Labrador also excels in drug detection, as a guide for the blind, and service dog for the disabled. The breed is also an outstanding obedience and field trial competitor. Highly intelligent, loyal, willing, and high-spirited. Lively and good-natured, they love to play, especially in water - for they love to swim. They have an excellent, reliable, temperament and are friendly, superb with children and equable with other dogs. They crave human attention and need to feel as though they are part of the family. Labs are easily trained. These dogs are watchdogs, not guard dogs, although some have been known to guard. They have a life expectancy of 10-12 years.