Cuddle Monster Black Labrador Retriever Female 5 Years Old ID#3695

We apologize that it has been a while since the last Cuddle Monster update. This sweet girl has definitely gained some of her weight back. Her coat is getting much healthier, and she seems to be competing for an Olympic gold medal in shedding. She’s an absolute champ- not just with shedding, but also with playing fetch.

One of Cuddle Monster’s favorite ways to start her day is going outside to potty and then playing about 10 rounds of fetch before going inside for some breakfast. When Cuddle Monster first came to stay with us, she did not really have a big interest in running and playing, but in the last two weeks we have seen a lot more energy from her. These days, she tries to beat Tiki to the ball, and she often does! Luckily, Brookline sent a big box of treats for the dogs and now Cuddle Monster can always find a ball when she wants to play.

We have found a great solution to help Cuddle Monster pace her eating. She has great success with a slow feeder that she has to “spin” in order for the food to be released. This has helped her slow down between bites. Not only does the slow feeder look like a roulette wheel, but it sounds like a one too. FM and FD joke that the house sounds like Vegas when the dogs are eating.

Cuddle Moster loves her humans, but she has also never met a sock she does not like. In the morning, if FM can’t find the socks she took out to wear, she is 99% sure who the culprit is, but the socks are never too far from where they were left.

As her energy has returned, Cuddle Monster is joining us on our morning walks. At first, she would want to go home after a few blocks, but now she enjoys going out early on a two-mile loop around the neighborhood. She has excellent leash manners.

If we see other people on our walks, Cuddle Monter can show signs of uncertainty. If someone is in front of us and coming our way, she will often tuck her tail and slow down- sometimes she’ll even stop. If we give her some verbal encouragement, she will start walking again but at a slower pace. If someone approaches us to say hi, she sticks close to FM, but she will allow the other person to pet her. We are trying to increase her socialization opportunities while respecting her pacing and comfort. This reaction seems to happen when she is on a leash, as she has a friendly and open reaction when someone new comes over to the house and she meets them. We suspect that continued encouragement along with exposure to meeting people outside of our home will help her to feel more comfortable. She (back dog) and Tiki (front dog) have grown to appreciate the cool tile and like to some water and a rest after our walks.

Cuddle Monster is working on learning commands. Although she has had plenty of opportunity to see the other dogs correctly respond (and get a treat) when told to “sit”, Cuddle Monster is still working on responding to the command. That’s not to say that she never sits down, because she certainly does, just not always on command. We try to “catch her being good” and give her praise along with a treat when she is just sat down, it’s still a work in progress. She has learned “off” and is doing much better responding to that command.

Cuddle Monster still loves her naps~ especially when joined by others.

Cuddle Monster is a gentle, sweet, human-centered girl who will follow her person to the ends of the earth. Despite being through lots of changes in the past month- including a stay at two different foster homes- Cuddle Monster maintains her sweet and loving disposition. She even won over our resident dog, Gracie, who can be a bit selective.

Cuddle Monster’s first foster mom was amazing and loved her very much, but she has to be off of her feet for a while, so Cuddle Monster joined her new foster home. Here she is on the ride to her new foster home.Cuddle Monster arrived at her new foster home and started to check everyone and everything out- most especially the back yard where she got to meet Gracie,

meet TJ,

and be reunited with Tiki!

All of that meeting and greeting was a bit tiring, so Cuddle Monster took a little break.At her new foster home, Cuddle Monster has a Foster Mom (FM) and Foster Dad (FD), multiple human foster siblings, a fur foster sibling (Gracie- 9-year-old yellow lab), AND a fur sibling. That’s right- Cuddle Monster and Tiki are full siblings. We have taken to referring to them as “the twins” since they are practically identical. Just try to tell them apart… That day, Cuddle Monster did all of her potty business outside; and that night, Cuddle Monster slept through the night in her crate. When it was time to wake up, Cuddle Monster ran right outside with Tiki and Gracie for some morning outside fun and then came inside for breakfast. But little did Cuddle Monster know that FM and FD had decided that something had to change…FM and Cuddle Monster took a quick trip to the store to pick out a new harness. Not only does she look fantastic in neon yellow, but now it’s much easier to tell the dogs apart! Cuddle Monster continued her streak of doing all potty business outside and sleeping through the night in her crate. She enjoys mealtimes… so much that we got her a slow feeder. At first, she needed a little encouragement with the stairs.

She is a very quick learner and goes up and down them with ease. If going for a car ride, she prefers to sit in the front seat of the car. If going outside, she loves to fetch a ball. She’s making good progress walking on a leash- no pulling at all! She’s not totally clear on the concept of walking forward most of the time, and if FM or FD stops walking, she stops too. Sometimes, this means she ends up getting a little tangled in the leash, but aren’t we all a work in progress? FM was getting a bit tangled too, so we are trying out a double lead to see if that helps. So far, so good:

And after a walk, everyone likes to cool off on the tile floor.The rest of this week will involve lots of playtime, meeting the neighborhood kids, and of course, everyone is excited about heading to the vet later this week. Stay tuned for more of this sweet girl’s adventures in Jersey!