Ariel Yellow Labrador Retriever Mix Female 6-7 Months Old ID#2922

Ariel, a 6-7 month old, yellow Labrador retriever mix was found abandoned with her sister in MS, and was luckily taken in by a good samaritan who got them preliminary medical care.  Both were under weight, and really in need of help.  Ariel and her sister are lucky to have landed in their new Brookline foster homes.  Please read Ariel’s blog from the bottom up.

Ariel is now available:https://www.petfinder.com/dog/ariel-53340635/pa/warrington/brookline-labrador-rescue-pa06/

October 20, 2021

Ariel made her first trip to Tyler State Park, and did great on our four mile loop.  We passed by lots of different people, some with dogs and some without, and I am happy to report that she is over her stranger danger.  Tyler park was busy, so she had lots of opportunity to have very positive experiences with people.  Several stopped and showered lots of love on this pretty little princess and she was happy to get so many pets and kisses from friendly strangers.  Ariel happily trotted along past walking dogs, learning to pass without stopping. Ariel now gets excited for our long morning walk, and happily trots along without stopping past other walkers and the always busy landscapers.  She seems relaxed, and enjoys sniffing along.

Ariel is on free roam when we are home, and has not had any accidents during the day or night. She usually settles in the same room with her people, either on a dog bed or the floor, and more recently in a laundry basket in my room that was filled with some dog blankets after a laundry session!  Even though she is on free roam, we always keep an eye or ear out to see what this curious pup is investigating as sometimes she chooses to hang out in the other room with my resident labs or stretch out in the sunshine.Ariel discovered the laundry basket one night after she jumped down from the bed when we were asleep.  Instead of barking to get back in, she made herself comfortable in the basket.  We didn’t find her until the next morning when we woke up.  I think she would have stayed in the basket past our 6:30am wake up time if we let her!  She was also a very good girl with no accidents that so she would probably be fine sleeping alone on a dog bed/laundry basket all night if we let her.  She would also sleep soundly with my resident labs in their room, if they would let her.  Max, however would like his bedtime routine to remain the same as usual. We are getting our puppy snuggles in while we can so she sleeps in the bed with us.    The laundry basket seems to be her go to place when I’ve been vacuuming lately, or anytime she is waiting for us while we are upstairs.Over the weekend, Ariel met my mother’s 10 year old terrier mix.  She was excited to meet a friend who was smaller than her, but learned quickly when Jessie was done playing, and gave her space.

Ariel is great with my resident labs and likes to play licky face, wrestle, and play tug both inside and outside. She always listens to my dog’s cues when they have had enough.  Ariel also loves to play fetch with me inside, and has learned “drop it” for a kibble.  When she is outside, she doesn’t always bring it back because she loves to flop in the grass, and have a chew in the sun instead!  I think Ariel would do well either living with other easy going furry friends, or as an only dog, since she plays great with furry friends but also alone or with just her people.

I have been leaving her this week in her crate for about two hours in the morning while I do errands.  I always give her a frozen stuffed bone to keep her busy (no soft toys).  She goes in without issue, and when I get home she is sitting quietly with a nearly empty bone.  She’s always super happy to get out, but doesn’t seemed stressed at all.  She will go in, and take a sniff around the open crate on her own during the day, which is a good thing.Ariel is growing and adapting in leaps and bounds!  It’s hard to believe that less than two weeks ago, she hadn’t really lived inside a home.  “Princess” Ariel is a resilient little pup who is full of love and eager to please.  She is a quick learner, a lover of playtime, walks, cuddle time and nap time, and just a very happy little girl.  Ariel is so ready to find her forever home! Look for her to be available shortly!

October 17, 2021

Ariel has now been with us for a week.  She is such a happy and playful puppy, and very easy to have in the house.  She is adjusting wonderfully, and hasn’t had an accident in the house since the first few hours of Day 1.  She is reliable in the house for longer periods of time everyday.Ariel joined us for the weekend in New Hampshire.  She is a great travel companion and was relaxed, and slept for most of the 5 hour trip North, and then the return trip home. When we arrived in NH, she loved exploring our yard, and the trail around the lake.  She has a nose for chipmunks and was checking out every hole in the yard in hopes of finding one. Ariel also seems to be a fan of exploring in the water.  She hopped right into the water and was sticking her nose underneath to try and grab leaves on the bottom.  She was happily splashing around and exploring outside for hours.

During the day, she likes to be in on the action, and watches what’s going on.Ariel was very interested in helping us rake leaves.  Once we had a pile, she’d jumped right in and made herself comfortable to chew on a stick.  She didn’t mind relaxing while we did our clean up work outside. After a long day of work, (and play) It was nap time!  Ariel isn’t picky when it comes to naps.  Any soft spot will do. When we got back to PA, Ariel was happy to see her furry friends, Jet and Max who stayed home with their Grandma.

Ariel has been an easy addition, and I think she’ll easily adapt in her forever home!!

October 13, 2021

We are a full three days in with this adorable, and happy little “Princess,” Ariel, and I am so pleased with her progress.  She has easily adjusted to indoor life and is enjoying getting lots of carefree playtime, training and snuggles. Ariel is a really easy puppy to have around the house.  She plays nicely with people and other dogs, is easy to please with squeaky stuffies, balls, rope toys, bones, enjoys lap sitting and kisses, and settles really easily and sleeps well in many different locations through out the day and through the night.Today, Ariel and my resident labs joined me on a ride to drop off a sample at the vet.  She was super relaxed, and enjoyed hanging out with the big boys in the back. We tried again for the perfect Fall/Halloween pose on the front porch and I think I “nailed it” this time! After sitting pretty, it was time to join Jet and Max on a hunt for vermin in the bushes.  She likes to follow their lead when it comes to sniffing around looking for “treats” that appear overnight in the yard. Daily walks are becoming more routine for Ariel and there was a lot less sniffing and looking around this morning.  Noisy trucks don’t seem to be as scary as Day 1 now.  She is still working on her stranger danger but is quicker to settle on correction.  We have plenty of walkers in our neighborhood so we can practice this a lot.

The landscapers came by yesterday, and we went and sat out on the front porch.  She didn’t seem scared, and only let out one bark so I thought she did pretty good considering the noise those mowers make.  We have seen landscapers out in the neighborhood every day so far, and she’s never had any issues walking by after checking them out for a minute or two.Yesterday, and today, Ariel met different contractors that were doing work in the house.  She hasn’t had any problems meeting different men of all shapes, sizes and ages.  She cautiously approached everyone wagging her tail and happily sat for their pets.

Ariel is doing really well on free roam, and we have extended our times for going out to potty to every 1-2 hours when she is awake.  I am really happy with her reliability!  This morning, when Ariel woke up instead of me carrying her down to the front door, she walked to my labs room, greeted them and walked downstairs and to the front door, waited to get leashed and then went outside!  After not having gone for a full 8+ hours overnight, I was impressed that she could hold it until we got outside.  This really shows me that she understands the potty training, and that her reliability in the house is improving!She still will occasionally run over to the shoe rack to grab an interesting shoe, but drops it for a replacement toy or a piece of kibble and she is easily redirected to a doggie appropriate toy.  Yesterday, she entertained herself for a while by completely emptying out every toy from one of our two dog toy boxes so she is definitely learning which are things in the house are okay for her to take and things that are not okay to take.

Although Ariel has only been with us a short time, I can already tell she will make a great companion for any family!

October 12, 2021

We have had another very good 24hrs + with Ariel!  She is happily settling in and getting along great with my resident labs.Yesterday afternoon, Ariel went to the vet to have a wellness exam, and to get microchipped.  Ariel did great at the vet, and they all said she was a good girl.  She now weighs in at 28lbs.  When she was found about three weeks ago in MS, she was only about 17lbs.  We also discovered at the vet that the little lump on the side of her head near her ear is an embedded BB.  I can only imagine what Ariel and his sister went through before they were saved by a great volunteer in MS! She really started these girls on their road to recovery.  Despite a rough start to this little lady’s life, Ariel has so much love to share, and she is such a happy and playful little puppy.

Ariel has been doing great on the house training front!  I am pleased to report there have been no accidents in the house since I last reported in, and she is now going pee on command in the grass!  She has easily adapted to our morning, afternoon, and evening routines in only 48 hours. She likes her playtime in the morning after breakfast and piles up her toys after I toss something for her to fetch.  Afterwards, she settles while we are having breakfast and waits patiently to go on her morning walk.I’m trying to get her used to having a time in the crate, but she really prefers to be out and about with her people.  She is on free roam under supervision, now that she is doing her business outside, and can entertain herself with toys and chews.  I can even work for several hours at home, and she’ll happily entertain herself or nap on the dog bed next to my desk.

Ariel enjoys going on walks with my two resident labs and will also go for walks alone.  Probably because of her rough start, she is weary of strangers approaching when we walk the neighborhood.  With reassurance from me and my labs, and of course kibble, she will keep walking and is such a brave girl.  She’s learning quickly that strangers don’t mean harm, and I’m sure she’ll be happily ignoring a passerby in no time.

Ariel is a typical puppy: playfully active but settles easily, loving, cuddly, cautiously inquisitive, and of course a shoe and pumpkin thief.  She can entertain herself with plenty of dog appropriate toys and chews also, and learns new things quickly.  Though she’s still has some learning to do and gets into some mischief, she is one great puppy to have around!

October 11, 2021

Ariel has been with us for over 24 hours now.  She arrived at 8am on October 10, along with her sister Merida, on a transport packed full of puppies, kittens and dogs from Mississippi, and Texas.  They were happy to be out, and did great on the hour ride to our home but boy were they stinky!

When we arrived home, Ariel and Merida met my resident labs, had breakfast, did their business and then headed straight to the bath!After the bath, they had a little play time with toys, and then it was time for Merida to head out on her long journey to her own wonderful Brookline foster home!  Ariel, Max, my resident dog, and I went out for her first walk, and she did great but would stop every once in a while to look around.After the walk, it was time to settle down for a bit.  I had to cook breakfast so I couldn’t watch her so we tried her out in the crate for nap time.  She settled right down after some kibble treats and napped until we were done cooking and eating.  She was rewarded with a little piece of bacon from breakfast. She spent the rest of the day, playing with all the new squeaky toys, and potty training, and snuggling on the couch with me, then my husband, and then my daughter while we watched Sunday football.  She is not picky, she loves lap sitting, and getting scratches. She also gives out lots of kisses to both humans and my resident dogs.  She’s definitely not stingy with affection.  Working on potty training was a must.  Early in the morning when the two girls first arrived, I was distracted with paperwork, and getting Merida ready for her trip so Ariel had a couple of pee accidents in the house.  When she had my undivided attention the rest of the day, Ariel did all her business outside!Ariel did great overnight.  She slept at the end of our bed all night and didn’t make a peep until she was woken up by me at 5:45am.  She eats at a great pace.  Not too fast and not too slow and she finishes her whole meal when she is given it.  When her sister was here, she let her sister bump her out of her bowl and Ariel would just walk away, and wait for her to be moved from her bowl, or go to the other bowl.

Today, after breakfast, she went out and did her business and then came in and played for a while with me and the resident labs.  We went for a 45 minute walk in the neighborhood around 7:30am with my two resident labs.  She followed their lead, and trotted right along with them.  Occasionally, when she saw something new, like the geese, some chickens, a school bus and a neighbor out crushing lantern flies, she would stop and sit down.  I could get her going again by saying “El” (short for Ariel) and giving her a piece of kibble. After the walk, we did a bit more playing, lap sitting and she gave kisses to everyone who would take them.  Ariel likes to play fetch a for a couple of tosses, but then brings all the retrieved toys to one spot.  Usually on the dog bed or the couch if we are in the family room. Ariel has no qualms about indulging herself and has tried every soft sitting spot she can find. Ariel loves the indoor life! Later in the morning, Ariel settled down in my office, played with toys on the dog bed and then took a nap while I worked on the computer for a couple of hours. So far today, Ariel has been accident free on free roam under a watchful eye, so we are off to a good start.  My daughter had the day off work today so she has been working on “sit” with her.  Ariel picked it up pretty quick so I think we have another smart one!  Ariel is also pretty darn cute so it was hard to pick what pictures I wanted to add to the blog. We are seeing a lot of smiles so I think this little girl is happily settling in.