Charlotte #3 Black Labrador Retriever Mix Female 4 Years Old ID #3501

Meet Charlotte! Charlotte was found tied up to a fence at ACCT in Philly. The shelter said she had  bite wounds on her face and lower back. She also had hot spots on her neck and hip.  She was very timid when she first arrived and was scared.  Please read her blog from the bottom up to learn more about her while in foster care.

November 12, 2025

Since Charlotte is all healed from her spay surgery it’s time to do some training. Charlotte wants to come to you when she feels like it. She also doesn’t want to give up her toys or back to her kennel. Starting Monday we began to work on all of these things.

I am pleased to say working with her for the past 3 days has yielded great results. We are working with string cheese and a squeaker. She checks in with us all the time. When we call her she comes 95% of the time. She runs to us and sits immediately. If she tries to ignore us we use squeaker and that captures her attention.

She is solid on her sits now, she knows stand from a sit, we are working on stay. She is doing well. She is really connecting with us. If we play ball, which she loves, she brings it back and drops. She is learning the rules. She is very smart and sweet but she is definitely a goofus. She is all puppy. You see it when she runs. She is very slobbery but so cute.

Charlotte is going to a board and train facility. She is very strong and can easily pull you. Since she can be reactive, it’s best that she learns to listen better.

November 5, 2025

Charlotte got her stitches out today from he spay and is feeling great. She has been enjoying playtime in the yard. Her favorite activity is biting the water from the hose.  10 out of 10 paws and would definitely do it again.

Charlotte loves people. She is so sweet and loving. But Charlotte is not a fan of other dogs. She can be very reactive when she sees them. It’s not all the time though. It tends to be at the vet’s office, at least from what I have seen. Brookline wants to help Charlotte with her reactivity.  The plan is to send her to a board and train facility to help her feel less stressed around dogs. I think it could really benefit her. She is really beautiful and sweet. She needs to be able to pass dogs without barking and be able to go for walks. That’s the goal for Miss Charlotte.

October 14, 2025

BCK just welcomed Charlotte into their care. Charlotte was in a foster home but prefers to be the only dog hence the move.

I am just getting to know her. Charlotte is beautiful and sweet. She loves to play fetch.

We have been have fun out in the yard. I think she is a lab mastiff mix. She is very strong and a fast runner. She is really joyful when she chases the ball. She had a solid sit and mostly comes when you call her. She is very quiet doesn’t seem to bark. We have only been hanging out of a few days so we are still learning about each other. Once she is settled we can start going for walks and work on basic obedience. She is not super food motivated so I need to use the high value treats.

Stay tuned while Charlotte and I get to know each other.

September 17, 2025

Over two weeks with Charlotte in Philly! This big girl makes us laugh every day with her antics and strong desire to love and be loved.

Charlotte reminds me of a puppy because she’s just so excited about life! She finds everything interesting and always wants to know what you’re doing since there’s a good chance she’ll have fun, too. She’s still our shadow around the house, happily waking from a nap to trot behind us. She’s still working on being completely housebroken, but she’s almost there! She’s only had a small handful of accidents.

Despite that, in the last 2.5 weeks, we’ve seen some great growth from this girl:

She’s walking MUCH better with the help of a Petsafe Easy Walk Harness that goes across her chest and clips in the front

Charlotte seems pretty neutral about dogs when out and about. We have LOTS of dogs in this neighborhood, and most are rescues with sensitivities. Several will bark and lunge towards Charlotte, but she never reciprocates this behavior. She’ll stand and watch, and is then easily pulled away

She loves attention from people! She’ll happily take scratches from anyone who speaks to her in a friendly, sweet voice. She does bark when people come inside the house, but recovers

She can be left alone in the house with limited free roam in the living room and kitchen for up to 5 hours without accidents or destruction

Charlotte is so good about being handled. We went to the vet and she was easily examined. We’ve had to wipe her nose and eyes a thousand times during her doggy cold, and she’s never minded. We also touch her paws frequently to apply balm on her rough pads, and she doesn’t care

This girl is OBSESSED with water, in any delivery system: pouring rain, puddles, streams of rain down the street, the garden hose, coming down the drain pipe. Not sure exactly what she’s mixed with, but there’s definitely a big percentage of lab in there!

Speaking of lab behaviors, she loves her food! She easily takes pills when thrown into her kibble, enjoys a yak chew, and loves all types of berries

Charlotte is a giant love bug who wants to lay on your lap and be your best friend. Now that her cold is just about cleared up, she’ll head to her permanent foster home soon, and we can’t wait to hear how she does in a suburban setting with more room to play and dog friends to teach her the ropes!

September 9, 2025

Miss Charlotte came to us in pretty rough shape from ACCT: incredibly anxious, overly stimulated, hyper, itchy hot spots on her flank and head, and a bad URI (doggy cold).

A week later, Charlotte has really started to decompress, but we’d say she’s like a needy toddler. I think this may be the first time she’s has a calm place with kind humans, and she desperately soaks it up. She’s probably the most Velcro-y dog I’ve ever encountered, and would like to walk everywhere at the exact same time as us. If you look in her direction, her tail starts wagging and she’ll trot over for some love.

Charlotte can be handled all over, which is great, since we’ve been wiping her nose and eyes constantly, spraying her hot spots with a soothing formula, and giving her lots of scratches and pets. We’re through the worst of the cold, thank goodness. And hair is starting to grow back on her flank! She now readily takes pets and attention from strangers (though we haven’t tried with any children); my dog-loving friend came over, and Charlotte happily took lots of scratches and face smooshes.

Now for the toddler parts: Charlotte is having so much fun, that she really wants to be entertained all day. She LOVES to play, LOVES to fetch, and LOVES attention. She wants to do EVERYTHING at the SAME time, and has a lot of energy to expend. If she’s feeling bored, she’ll bark at you for attention. We’ve taken to turning our back and ignoring until she settles, which can take about a minute. She’s getting better, though! She’ll also fight through nap times because she doesn’t want to miss anything. That’s getting better, too. As she continues to decompress, she relaxes more, and so napping and settling becomes easier.

Charlotte is still learning how to walk on a leash. She’s a puller, but clipping a leash on the front of her harness helps a lot. She now goes potty like a champ on the leash, and will occasionally chomp on some dry leaves. When we pass dogs, her reactions range from indifference to very much wanting to check them out and pulling towards them. She has never barked at another dog, even when they are angrily barking at her. Things with the cats have improved slightly, but Charlotte doesn’t mind her manners, and tries to sniff to hard, for too long, making the them upset. When they run, she’ll follow.

We had two peeing accidents in the house last week, but things have been pretty smooth sailing since. She gets a walk at 6:30 AM, a potty break out back around 1:00 PM, a walk at 5:30 PM, and a potty break out back before bed time around 10:00 PM. This schedule has been enough for her!

Charlotte hasn’t been left alone for longer than an hour at this point, and we’re pretty sure she just laid at the door the whole time.

September 2, 2025

As Charlotte settled into a quiet home, this giant sure found her voice! It’s funny that she was observed as reserved and quiet at the shelter, as her true personality seems to be exuberant, energetic, and quite smart.

Charlotte’s first night was a battle of getting her to sleep on her dog bed by foster dad’s side–she VERY much wanted to be on the bed in between us! But she slept fine in between my offering her a potty break at 1:30 AM that she likely didn’t really need.

Everyone woke up around 6:30 AM, and Charlotte immediately went potty in the backyard before her 1-mile walk. She doesn’t love taking her daily pills, but we’ve been getting it done with some wet cat food. She then eats her kibble with gusto, now that she knows there’s no hidden pills.

She was pretty sleepy and quiet in the morning as I got going on my WFH job. I let her out around lunch time, and it seemed to activate her playful side for the rest of the afternoon. She began chatting with me from there on out, barking for attention and pets. We spent about 30 minutes playing fetch until foster dad came home, and we all went for our evening walk where she pulled towards dogs, wanting to say hi. As it turns out, this girl has some energy to burn, and she likes to be stimulated. She especially loves chewing on toys, and you can see the gears turning as she tries to figure how out to take them apart!

The shelter noted that Charlotte is not housebroken, but she hasn’t had any accidents thus far, and knows to go potty out back. She’d still rather not go during walks.

We played a little before and after dinner, and as of 8 PM, Charlotte has seemingly settled for the evening, phew! As typical for a dog her size, she’s not fully aware of how big she is, so I would not recommend her for a home with small children. The resident cats have also chosen to steer clear.

Charlotte is a sweetheart, but she is a complex girl! Now that she feels safe and comfortable, she has things to say and do. But she’ll make up for it by leaning her entire 80 lbs. into your chest for a bear hug!

September 1, 2025

Another rescue ride from ACCT for us today! Charlotte was in danger of being placed on the euthanasia list due to developing a doggy cold at the shelter. She also has several patches of dry, painful skin areas that are bothering her. Her report says she was tied up to the front of the shelter and then the person ran away. It looks like she has fur missing where a collar used to be, there are possible bite marks on her head, and she flinches when a hand is raised near her face. Despite this, she is such a lover and just wants affection. We were able to scoop her up just in time, and bring her to East Falls in Philly before being transferred to her permanent foster next weekend.

Charlotte was excellent in the car, opting to stick her whole head out and feel the wind on her BIG noggin She looks like a giant Labrador, but is definitely mixed with a large breed–we suspect Great Dane? Girl has massive webbed paws!

Once home, Charlotte couldn’t get enough of playing fetch. The games quickly ended when she destroyed both balls kindly sent to us from Brookline! She also chewed through a squeaky toy, so we’ll have to quickly order some hardier supplies.

We placed our more outgoing cat Rosie in the bathroom (dubbed the cat condo) for the day, and let our more cautious, chill cat Howie free to come and go with a gate to his basement area. Charlotte spotted Howie at various points through the afternoon and was very interested, but I don’t believe in a prey-drive way. More like extreme interest.

We gave Charlotte a bath outside which she took incredibly well! She can be handled all over.

ACCT said she is not housebroken, but she knew to go pee and poop out back. We’ll see how her overnight goes.

We all went for a walk a little earlier than the busiest dog walking time, and she did very well. Moderate amount of pulling as expected for a dog this size, but I’d say she has a nice medium energy with a healthy interest in squirrels. I don’t think Charlotte knows that she can go to the bathroom on these longer walks, yet. We ran into the cookie lady, and while Charlotte didn’t want any treats, she did solicit pets from adult female strangers. What a sweetheart. We also chatted with our adult male next-door neighbor through the chain link fence, and she had no reaction.

She has lots of pills to take, and we had to bribe her with some wet cat food. She’s not particularly treat motivated, and wasn’t interested in her kibble for the time being.

We’re now all on the couch, and her big head is shoved up against me while she fights sleep because this new life is so exciting! Looking forward to a sweet little week with Princess Charlotte!