Gracie #12 Black Labrador Retriever Female 7 Years Old ID#3557

Meet Gracie!  Gracie is a 7yo purebred English style Labrador who was a breeder Mama.  She was surrendered due to the breeder having too many dogs and due to the fact that her last litter were all stillborn.  Please read her blog from the bottom up to learn more about this pretty girl while in foster care.

June 20, 2025

Gracie is experiencing many milestones over the last few weeks.She visited the home of a friend of ours who has cats.  We had been told that Gracie may not be cat-copacetic by her breeder, but she was perfectly polite and relaxed around both cats.  We now know that she can live in a home with feline friends without issue!She is also showing us more and more of her playful side.  Her younger foster sister Sandy is always up for mischief and goofing around, so Gracie has learned to join in the fun and instigate when she’s feeling playful.  Here’s a cute video of them together:

We also took a trip to our local park and went to the dog run.  Gracie enjoyed sniffing the freshly-rained-on grass and did some running (slowly!) with the other dogs.  She eventually tuckered herself out but was still up for some rolling (which seems to be one of her go-to moves).

This week she got a box in the mailed filled with new toys and treats courtesy of the wonderful Brookline volunteers!  She got a new stuffed animal, tennis balls, a frisbee, some chew toys and tugs, a treat tumbler ball and a cute 4th Of July bandana for the upcoming holiday!Gracie is always happy to share so we think a few of the gifts will be for her foster sister Sandy when she goes to her new forever home and Gracie will keep her faves, like the chew bones and the greenie alligator-shaped chew which she loves!

Keep your eye on this blog for more updates on this beautiful, sweet, loving former breeder mama.  She is going to be a wonderful addition to an adoptive home!

June 09, 2025

Gracie has been doing so well with us here in her foster home.  She has mastered house training, learned how to go up and down the stairs (sometimes with the help of her leash, sometimes without), walks further and further on the leash to get exercise, eats her meals politely, and is even learning some commands.  Gracie can now do both “sit” and “shake” and will gladly accept pets and ear scratches as her reward (but she likes treats too… even though her diet means the pets and ear scratches are the smarter reward).We also tested her out on a few hours with no people home in the house.  She had her two foster siblings with her and we set up doggy gates to keep them all together in one room (with a webcam to watch from afar) and we’re so happy to report that Gracie showed no signs of nervousness or anxiety.  She settled right down and relaxed with Sandy and Ruby until we returned. We were greeted by wags and happiness and she seems to take new experiences like that in stride, showing us that she’s likely to be an easy family member for her forever family. We have been testing Gracie out with different sleeping arrangements with her dog siblings.  She is pretty content to settle down on a nice dog bed wherever you direct her but does do a little bit of moving about and nocturnal exploration.  One of her routines is to find the floor-level air conditioning vent where she lies down next to it for some soothing cool air.  We assume central air is a lovely new discovery for her which she didn’t have in her old surroundings, so who could blame her for seeking out one of modern life’s creature comforts?

Her bed will now also be adorned with a her new lavender fleece blanket which was sewn by one of Brookline’s wonderful volunteers and provided to her so she can use it here in her foster home and take along to her adoptive home so she will have some familiar smells to comfort her.  It’s such a truly lovely gift and Gracie wants to thank the BLR family for being so thoughtful!We’re seeing more and more personality coming through including requests for pets and attention by nudging her FM or FD with her head to tell us she wants pets.  She is also showing more and more cute playfulness with her fosters siblings and asking to initiate play.   Here’s a video of Gracie trying to entice Sandy to play with her:

Gracie made her public debut this last weekend at the Warminster Arts & Barks festival.  She was a bit more reserved than she is here at home, but she politely met lots of new people and sat for love and pets, even in the drizzly rain.  She met many new dogs and got along easily with everyone she encountered.  We had a nice time meeting potential adopters who came out to meet her and we think everyone enjoyed the chance to get to know her.  Thanks again to everyone who came out and to the BLRR volunteers who work hard to make these events happen!

May 29, 2025

Our sweet gentle soul Gracie has now been off the farm for a week and fitting into her new life seamlessly.She has been taking her medications to address the ear infections and UTI which have helped her feel much better and improved her general comfort.  We’re not sure if those meds are 100% behind the new pep in her step or if she’s also just happily adjusting to the new surroundings, but her current non-stop wagging tail, bright eyes and increased energy are so nice to see!

Any time you say her name, Gracie’s tail wags and she gives you happy eyes.  She loves attention from her people including pets, brushing, even ear cleaning!  She is bonding quickly with the other two dogs and has begun to push little Sandy for playtime.She is learning what to do with balls and toys, perhaps showing that she never really had any exposure to those type of diversions in her former situation.  We’re looking forward to teaching her how to play fetch once we can get a few days in a row without rain.Gracie has been doing very well with house training – no accidents since her first few days – and goes in and out of the house without any challenges.  She also charges up the stairs to our second story and safely back down, so she’ll be able to navigate multi-story homes.

Walks on the leash are more wandering or meandering than actual walking, but she is a good companion on the sidewalk and has shown no signs of anxiety about passing cars, people or dogs.  As she gets used to leash time we expect that she’ll be easy for her new owners.  Here’s a video of her wandering ways to show you how she’s doing:

Gracie also received the happy news that her screenings for parasites and blood borne infections all came back clear.  So she began her flea and tick preventatives and will begin heartworm preventatives too so that she remains healthy and happy.

We’re hoping to bring her to the Warminster Arts & Barks festival on 6/7 so if anyone reading would like to meet Gracie and the other Brookline foster dogs, she looks forward to showing you her best tail wags!

May 25, 2025

Former breeder mama Gracie has been acclimating to life as a house pet with all the grace her name suggests. Her foster family has been enjoying getting to know her and she’s showing us that she is a sweet, happy, curious and confident girl.In addition to the ear infection which was diagnosed the other day, Gracie unfortunately also has a UTI which is a common issue with a lot of the farm girls who come into Brookline.  She’s now a few days into a course antibiotics and seems to be feeling better.  We’re so happy that she’s now here with us and able to get proper medical care for her ailments so she can be her healthiest self without daily pain.

While she spent a lot of her first days with us snoozing, a few days of meds has made her much more active and happy.  Check out the relaxed happiness you can see in this video:

Now that she’s feeling healthier Gracie has been showing us more of a playful side.  Each evening around 7 or 8 she seems to get a second wind and wants to romp around a bit with her foster sister Sandy. She is also getting excited and energized when it’s time to eat a meal. It’s nice to see some typical Labrador goofiness shining through.

Gracie enjoys walks on the leash and especially loves to hang out in the fresh air of our yard.  Yesterday FM and FD were busy with some yard work and Gracie kept us company all afternoon lounging in the grass, coming over to check out what we were doing, and sniffing around the corners of her new backyard. She is doing very well with house training, eating her meals, building bonds with her people and her dog siblings, and making herself at home.  We can tell that she is very confident in her curiosity including a moment where she was ready to go down the stairs to our basement (a place neither resident dog Ruby or foster sibling Sandy are willing to explore LOL).  She wanted to charge right down and we had to put a bit of effort into hauling her back from the top step (she’s heavy!) but we were able to keep her on the first floor since we’re not sure she could get back upstairs again. We’ll be working on that and see if she’s good with stairs in the days ahead.

We’ll update again soon with more news on this big lovable sweetheart!

May 22, 2025

Join us in welcoming Gracie to Brookline! She is a beautiful 7 year old black lab who spent her life giving birth to puppies.  Now that she is retired from breeding, her owner surrendered her to Brookline where she will learn how to be a house pet and find a forever home.After leaving her breeder’s kennel yesterday she met her new Foster Dad (FD) and Foster Mom (FM) and calmly climbed into their car to continue her journey.  As usual with these breeder dogs, she was in desperate need of a bath, so we made a stop at the pet wash station where she stood calmly and let us lather her up (three times!).She rode in the car without any issues and when we arrived home she explored the yard and was introduced to her new pals Ruby (our resident dog) and Sandy (her fellow Brookline foster dog).  Gracie sat quietly and allowed both dogs to say hi.  There was zero drama and the three of them seemed to welcome each other right away.Sandy is a bouncy 2 years old so she wasn’t shy about showering her new friend with puppy-style energy and Gracie watched her put on a show while wagging her tail in amusement.  At one point Sandy wanted to show Gracie how fast she can run so she did some zoomie laps around the yard.  FD managed to catch Sandy in the frame of this shot as she raced by and Gracie observed.Gracie then went inside, climbing the 5 steps up to the house with ease, and explored the house with a calm curiosity.  She ate a bowl of kibble for us and then impressed by choosing the yard to relieve herself and not any of the carpets.  (She did have one small accident the next day but we are off to a great start with house training).

FD slept on the couch next to Gracie to keep her company on her first night.  She slept well (snoring a bit) and made it through the night without any issues. Sandy joined us because she is already infatuated with her new best friend.  The feeling might be mutual as Gracie seems to enjoy Sandy’s vibes too.In the morning we hopped back into the car and went to the vet for an exam, parasite screenings and vaccinations.  She has an ear infection so we came home with some ear drops but otherwise there were no immediate health concerns.  Gracie is overweight after having many litters and she likely wasn’t given much exercise in her former life, so we wondered what the scale would tell us about her weight.  She managed to avoid the embarrassment of tipping over three digits, weighing in at 99 pounds.Given her short frame, she will be healthiest long term at 70-75 pounds and the doctor wants her to get down to 85 pounds before she undergoes her spay surgery, so calorie counting and a new exercise program are in order.  Luckily she walks very well on the leash so we are looking forward to lots of nice walks in the neighborhood to help jump start her weight loss.

Let’s hope that someday soon we look at this picture as “before” and marvel at how much slimmer she is.

She has already begun to show us a goofy playful side that compliments her calm sweetness. We’ll keep you posted here on her blog as we learn all about her and get her ready for adoption.