Blake, Black Labrador Retriever Male, 5 Month Old Puppy

Blake

Meet Blake, one of the new Brookline youngins on the block, having just turned 5 months old two days ago.  Blake came to us from an Amish family and is one of our youngest surrenders.

April 11, 2018

Just two days shy of his six month birthday, this growing lad is doing well.  Totally house trained with free roam of the entire house (well maybe not the 18 year old son’s room that is all dirty socks, retainers and soccer cleats).  Really he’s doing quite well but his forever family will need a nice supply of a variety of toys for him to keep him entertained with the right things in his mouth. The baby teeth are gone (yup, must have swallowed them as we never saw a one), and he is growing and we’re feeding him more accordingly.  Blake did his first 5K with said teenager last weekend and it’s reported that he did better than our resident dogs would have done with so many people to meet.  The dog was brought so teenager didn’t have to run so fast and would have excuses to stop (since it’s been winter forever here).  Blake was quite calm waiting for the race to start.  I would have loved to have been there because apparently when the gun went off and everyone sprinted at the start, he was SO excited and spent most the time sprinting to catch up to one person, would try to stop and say hello, but then would excitedly more forward to the next runner in front of him.  There was no rest for the teenager until a mandatory potty break.  Luckily there was a bag attached to the leash.

Blake is still crated at night although I think in a picked-up room he could probably be on a dog bed (and I know he’d love to snuggle with a human if it were allowed), but he seems happy enough in the crate, so we’ve kept with it.  He’s only crated a few hours during the day- usually just one two to three hour period- and he’s OK with it although he whines a bit since no one else has to go in the crate.  He settles quickly as we’re sure to give him a good walk or play session beforehand.

Blake still loves other dogs and I can’t quite picture him as an only dog, but with the right hands-on person at home ready to be his best buddy for life (and someone willing to play, play , play), it could happen.

Blake’s biggest challenge is trying to stay calm when he sees anyone or anything on the walking trails we frequent every day.  He doesn’t understand why we won’t run as fast as we can to allow him to meet that person sooner, and he sounds a bit like a chimpanzee when he complains.  Slowly but surely we’re making progress-  emphasis on slow because when he does it I have him stop, sit and be quiet before we start walking towards who he wants to see (and repeat as necessary), so it can take a LONG time but he’s catching on.  He is a smart boy.  Note that the resident dogs do go ahead and say hello, so Blake is spot on that it’s not really fair, but because we know he will jump full force on the unsuspecting walker/runner, he still needs to be on leash.

March 20, 2018

Things continue to go very well with Blake.  He’s been doing great with the night time crating and only whimpers a few minutes.  And while he has his crazy moments, particularly when he is let out of the crate, he’s fairly calm for a pup in my opinion.  He’s having no problem keeping up on the walks, and seems to really enjoy them. We took a long one around a lake, and while he did not go in, he had a lot of fun wading.

I do believe he takes a lot of comfort in the presence of the other dogs.  If given a choice he chooses to be right next to one of them.  It makes sense considering until last week he was always with his two siblings that were left from the litter.  Accordingly he will probably will do best placed with another dog.  He loves his people too so he might be OK with a person who is around a lot or who can take him to work.

No accidents in two days, and he’s doing better about not getting excited when the cat makes an appearance.  She’s not taking any chances with a young dog like that though and she hisses and acts tough when he is around.   Two more days until his vet appointment.  For more info, contact maggiewp21@gmail.com.

March 17, 2018

Has it really only been two days that he has been with us?  Those of you who have had a puppy remember how much of a time suck they are, both because they are so much fun to be with but also because they require a lot of attention and care.  This boy is as sweet as can be, but let’s just say he’s not a fan of the crate.  He won the battle the first night (and ending up spooning his foster mom all night who got very little sleep).  Last night we’ll call a truce because while Blake stayed in his crate all night, he let his family know for the first 30 minutes that he was not keen on the idea.  Finally he drifted off to sleep but had occasional bouts of vocal wakefulness during the night.

Blaze has never lived in a house, but he is catching on very quickly;  he still needs to be followed constantly while he learns what is OK to put in his mouth (elk antlers, kongs, tough squeaky toys) and what is not (he’s a fan of the corners of the area rug, the couch and any paper he can find.  Already I feel like he is learning “leave it” however.  He also quickly learned to use the stairs when he didn’t want to be left behind.  Good thing because at a hefty 62 pounds, it’s no picnic to carry him down the stairs.  It was cute watching his fur sisters and brother show him how.

If you were reading carefully you might have put two and two together – 5 months and 65 pounds is a big pup, and Blaze still got some growing to do.  He has a gorgeous thick and wavy coat, and it’s hard to tell if he might be a little chunky or if it’s his fur.  And how much of it he will shed now that he will be living indoors remains to be seen, but let’s just say that we’ll be keeping the Dyson cordless charged at all times.

House training is going pretty well.  He definitely doesn’t have trouble holding it.  Again he just needs to learn where it is and isn’t OK to go.  He has been caught in the act twice inside and startled to stop at which point he is whisked outside to finish and be praised. Good boy Blake!   He doesn’t get the appeal of dog cookies so his high value reward is stinky liverwurst.  He’s a big fan.  Likewise he’s not too interested in high quality kibble but he’ll come around once he gets hungry.

Blake goes to the vet next week for a full checkup at which point we’ll learn if his hernia is anything more than cosmetic-  hey maybe outies will come back in style.  One of his fur sisters has one and it’s no big deal.  In the meantime we’ll keep cuddling with him and teaching him and following him around and taking him for walks.  Check back for updates.  Any questions, contact maggiewp21@gmail.com.

March 15, 2018

Meet Blaze, one of the new Brookline youngins on the block, having just turned 5 months old two days ago.  Blake came to us from an Amish family and is one of your youngest surrenders  They usually either sell them as pups or surrender them to us when they’re done using them for breeding.  Blaze has a small umbilical hernia which is probably why he wasn’t sold with most of his litter mate.  Anyway there is no looking back, and here he is on his first ride in a car- crated for the long drive to keep everyone safe and then later harnessed in the back seat on his way back from his first bath.  The word “stinky” doesn’t begin to do justice to how bad he smelled.  Now this fluffer ball is soft and beautiful.  Check back for updates.