Grace #4 Silver Labrador Retriever Female 4.5 Years Old ID #3548

Grace #4 is now available please read her PetFinder post https://www.petfinder.com/dog/grace-6bed6727-8291-4302-8401-26114cf28fab/pa/warrington/brookline-labrador-rescue-pa06/details/

She is a 4.5-years-old owner surrender out of the Ocean County NJ Jackson shelter. Please follow Grace’s progress by reading her blog from the bottom to the top.

January 28, 2026

Gracie is doing impeccably well with her schoolwork! Her new skills include training and distractions, working around other dogs and holding a down-stay (placemat command) next to us with stellar success while we eat. And pizza is pretty hard to resist!

She loves playing with toys but her favorite thing is really to be with anyone who will pet her and love on her… She gets excited when she plays but keeps her feet on the ground.

Her personality is sparkling and what appeared before to be anxiety was an imbalance that is easily treated with fluoxetine to quell her hyperactivity. She is now mindful yet playful, focused yet jubilant…

Gracie is also able to collect herself and be under control when asked to (the rough training cues)  if she gets too vibrant. But boy, do we love her vibrance and the “I love life” sparkle in her eye!

She is an all-around wonderful girl ready to be someone’s best pal!

And 7 private lessons from Tall Tails round out her package to help ensure family bonding and Gracie‘s growth as she goes forward!

January 12, 2026

This week Grace is working diligently (and successfully!) on her self-control and distractions!  Training walks outside and object and noise distractions inside create a grounding and centering for mindfulness in all situations.

The fluoxetine is helping her mind keep focused in a beautiful way and she’s doing better and better each day.

The Team has been able to take her to the Speed Zone which is an enclosed 40×40 area for running and ball play and they said quote: “she is absolutely PERFECT and so much fun!”.

January 8, 2026

Grace is one of the sweetest hearts I’ve ever met in a puppy… I say puppy because her 4 years don’t match the innocence of the heart that she has.

She has the heart of a youngster that wants to learn what it’s like to bond with a human and wants to understand what it is that pleases us. Her heart wants to be someone’s best friend and wants more than anything to be treated with gentleness & kindness.

Her personality is both sweet and exuberant. Her “hyperactivity” was due to an anxiety disorder that is becoming quite regulated by a small daily dose of fluoxetine. Her mind is more focused and she is able to calm with cues much faster. This “smoothing out” of kinetic energy also allows her to re-see how to interact with humans and trust again…

Somewhere in her past her hyperactivity was possibly misunderstood as she shows signs of being over-handled. She receives petting and gentleness with eagerness and then sighs of relief for being handled gently, offering her paw as a white flag and resting her head in your hand oh-so-quietly, eyes closed & content, dreaming of her forever home. Her heart is pure.

She is extremely attentive during training, wagging her tail at all times and eager to learn the next thing that brings a smile to our face and praise in her direction.

This girl is one of a kind and is looking for the very person or family who will understand her past wounds, her future dreams and her current status of trying really hard to be the best companion dog she can be.

November 20, 2025

Little Miss Grace had her broken tooth removed on Tuesday. She also had her teeth cleaned and she did really well. She’s really good going to the Vet. Grace has been with us almost 3 weeks and while she needed to be crated on her rescue ride, she was good in a seatbelt for the 20-minute ride there. Grace walks right into the office to greeted everyone. She is a little too excited to be there and it’s hard to weigh her but we could see that she’s maintaining her weight -she’s a good 61/62 lb.

While Grace recovers, we continue to work on obedience. Last week we worked on “Mat”. This week we’re giving our attention to ” Off “. She really loves everyone but that means that she can be jumpy. We have dog savvy visitors so they know what to do but we want to  start guiding her away from this rude greeting . We know she does this because she wants to play.

Grace is just super happy. And while she waits patiently for the wake-up alarm, as soon as she hears it, she’s ready to greet the day! We think Grace was over crated and a full month in the shelter added to that. So, she sleeps out of her crate in the bedroom with us. Occasionally she gets over stimulated and she does need to go into her crate to rest and reset.

Grace is super curious and likes to investigate everything with her mouth. We think it’s safer for her to be crated when unattended. She’s been left home alone but in her crate for up to 4 hours. Grace has a Kong and a lick mat and they’re part of her daily mental stimulation and a distraction if she gets mouthy.

One of the other things that gets Grace excited is her desire to play with our cat. Jones is elderly and he isn’t as interested. Grace continues to try but has become less insistent. She now just approaches and waits to be thumped by him!

We’re very close for Grace becoming available for her new home. We’re very excited for her to continue to flourish the way that she has with us this past few weeks.

November 15, 2025

Today marks two weeks since Miss Gracie joined our home.

While four and a half years old she’s still very much a puppy. She does cute things like tilt her head and chase her tail. She’s also snuggly and loves to play.

But we also have some puppy challenges like counter surfing and chasing the kitty. In addition to starting basic obedience, this week we worked on ‘mat’ because she wants to enjoy her frozen Kong and her kibble toy on furniture.

Now she knows to take her belongings to her mat.

We continue to work on her physical health as well.

She’s completed her Giardia treatment however she also came with a broken tooth and will have that treated on Tuesday. She’ll then be in tip top shape.

Grace has had several baths while here and she’s excellent in the shower. She doesn’t mind getting washed and rinsed and dried. We can touch her everywhere.

We are also feeding Grace the sensitive skin formula from Annamaet along with fresh dairy, fruits and vegetables.

Her fur is soft and shiny and her eyes are bright and clear. She really is a stunner!

We see Grace bringing lots of beauty. Joy and energy into her forever home.

Stay tuned for more updates on Grace’s journey towards her forever family!

November 9, 2025

We’re already seeing real improvement in Grace’s manners.

She no longer demand barks and waits patiently for her meals and other things.

While she turns into a wiggly  puppy when her harness and leash come out, Grace is learning to stay left and not zig zag so much on her walks. She ignores other animals and focuses on sniffing.

She was also super wiggly for the vet who confirmed her good weight  (60 lbs. ) and overall health. She did bring a worm with her from the shelter but she finished her meds for that this morning.

Unfortunately, that meant that she could not start training on Saturday but there’s another class starting on Wednesday and Grace will join that class.

It’s s ok because she’s responding well to home training.

We play ball several times a day. Grace retrieves them and now drops them at our feet.

We’re really pleased with how far Grace has come in just over a week.

She’s a sweet little beauty who is just beginning to enjoy her new Brookline life.

November 6, 2025

Today is nearly one week since Grace joined our foster home. We’ve all learned a lot about each other since then. While Grace is four and a half years old, she has the personality and energy of a much younger dog. She likes to play ball; she likes to chase bubbles.

She loves food and attention and going for walks. Grace knows how ‘sit’ and she knows ‘come’ and does both well. She knows her name well however when she gets very excited and distracted it requires a few attempts to recall. This includes a bad habit of chasing the kitty. Grace’s shelter intake form stated that she lived with a cat named Stitch. Stitch was likely a younger and more engaging cat. Our cat is elderly and is accustomed to elderly dogs so he is not interested in playing with Grace. But Grace continues to try! Except at meal time- the cat is invisible when food is on offer. Grace sits before receiving her meals, her Kong and the Kibble puzzle. She also likes squeaky stuffies and will sometimes chew on her new Nyla bone.

A big development is that, while Grace is crate trained and will sleep in her crate, she now reliably spend the night outside of her crate in the bedroom. She finds a spot at the bottom of the bed and she stays there until early morning.

Tonight, Grace goes to the vet and then on Saturday she goes for her first training class.

We look forward to sharing those experiences with everyone.

November 2, 2025

Today is Grace’s 2nd full day in foster care.

She is a 4.5-year-old owner surrender out of the Ocean County NJ Jackson shelter.

While she is younger and smaller than our last 2 house guests, she makes up for that with her huge personality.

Grace is physically fit and active. She has a great appetite, and is now drinking normally too.

Grace had a single pee accident indoors on Friday when she first saw the resident cat.

We have a secured, physical fence yard and she quickly learned the doggy door out.

While it took her a few tries to master ‘in’, she’s now a pro.

Grace is incredibly smart. We showed her the bells last night and this morning she signaled to go out.

She also easily goes into the crate to rest and sleep.

While full of energy, she does OK on a leash.

She zig zags a bit but has not pulled much at all.

Grace will visit the Vet this week and will then start training classes soon afterwards.