Bodhi Chocolate Labrador Retriever Male 8 Months Old

2/24/19

Bodhi is now 8 months old and still growing.  He recently grew out of his size large harness.  He’s now in an XL harness.  We transitioned him onto regular large breed puppy kibble and he’s doing great on it.  I commented that his coat is shinier. I think it’s from the change in food.

He’s just about healed from his neuter procedure.  He had some pretty major swelling down there post neuter.  This isn’t uncommon for a large breed neuter.  Poor Bodhi was walking kind of funny for a while.  The swelling has almost completely subsided and we’re all happy about that!

Since he’s settled into foster care here, we tried transitioning him into a regular crate.  He did fine, until he wanted to get out when we went out the door.  Then he just busted out of the crate.  This was with his “cone of shame” on too.  Impressive!  So we’re back to the Empire crate, aka lion cage.  He does really well in the Empire crate.  I often find him napping in it with the door open.  He still gets stressed when we leave, but it’s only for about 10 minutes.  Then he just lays down and sleeps with just a periodic whimper from the crate. He sleeps in the crate at night without any issues.

He is still a puppy, even though he’s a large puppy.  As such, he does need to be crated when he isn’t supervised.  He has a fondness for pens and we recently discovered eye glasses.  Uh-oh!  The training of foster dad is taking longer than expected, but he’s learning too!

Bodhi needs daily exercise and continued training to help him be the best dog he can be. He is working on self control and learning how to self soothe.  He is a giant goofy teddy bear of a dog. He runs and doesn’t have brakes so he skids and crashes to stop. It always cracks me up!  Bodhi is going to make some family very happy with loads of love and devotion.  He’s a heart stealer for sure!

Bodhi will be available for adoption soon. 

February 12, 2009

Bodhi had his neutering done today.  It was an uneventful procedure, which is always nice to hear.  He must wear the dreaded cone of shame when he can’t be directly supervised.  That is never fun, but it’s just temporary. He’s still doped up from his surgery.  Tonight’s plan is a quiet, restful night in with all the dogs.  Lots of gates and crates here, but it works.

February 7, 2019

Bodhi spent some more time in the crate without human companionship yesterday.  The good news is that he only cried and fussed for 10 minutes.  That’s great news!  Again, he’s not thrilled about it, but he did settle and mostly slept while I was out of the house for a few hours.

He continues to enjoy playing with the other dogs.  He has no idea how big he is so I monitor the play, but they all enjoy it.  When I think everyone needs a little down time, Bodhi gets some time behind the gate.  Again, not his favorite, but it’s good practice for him.  He is learning that he can be “separated”  and it’s ok.  He usually hangs out right next to the gate.  Sometimes laying next to it, sometimes leaning over it to see where everyone is.  I took a picture of Bodhi checking to see where everyone was.  He is learning to respond to “OFF”, but I had to grab a quick picture before correcting him because he was just too cute!

Bodhi is scheduled to be neutered next week.  Poor guy!  He is not going to enjoy the cone of shame and the restrictions, and neither is his foster family.  It’s a necessary evil though, and a temporary one at that.

February 6, 2019

Bodhi will be able to attend the meet and greet  at Pet Valu this Saturday 2/9/19 at 3801 Kennett Pike, Suite A100, Greenville, DE from 1-3 pm.

Just a quick update about Bodhi and his progress.  Yesterday I had to go out for a few hours.  This was the first time Bodhi had been left without a human companion in the house since coming into foster care this weekend. He got a nice walk before I left. I crated him in the “lion cage”, he went in very well as usual.  He got a yummy frozen kong too.  Foster Mandy was in her crate in the same room; they could see each other.  The resident dogs have free roam but no access to the foster dogs when we leave.  That room is gated off.  I monitored Bodhi with my in-home camera monitoring system.  He was very stressed.  Scratching, panting, pacing in his crate, whimpering and periodically barking.  This went on for about 30 minutes.  He did eventually settle, but he was stressed.

I was wondering if this would affect his crating at night, which had been going so well.  It did not.  He went into his crate for bed and settled right away.  That tells me it’s not the crate that’s causing the anxiety, it’s being left.  It seems our boy has some separation anxiety.  This is probably the reason he had broken out of the crate with the previous family.  That is not an option with the lion cage.

We will work on this and it is far from the most severe case I’ve seen.  The fact that he settled after 30 minutes is a positive sign.  He’s a good boy who just likes to be with his people.  Stay tuned for updates, We hope to see some families on Saturday.

February 5, 2019

Bodhi gave his foster family a pleasant surprise last night.  He went into his crate for a small treat. FM closed the door and said good night.  Bodhi settled right down and snoozed the night away quietly.  Yay for Bodhi (and his foster family)!

The morning was great.  He was thrilled to see his foster fur siblings again.  He continues to eat and drink without and hesitation.  Just like a good lab!  He and foster Mandy love to play together.  They are both puppies, Mandy at 3 months and Bodhi at just 7 months.  I have to remind myself that he is still so young, because at 80lbs, he looks like a full grown lab.  There’s about a 55lb size difference between them!  It does not intimidate little, feisty Mandy one bit though.

Today we went to the pet store to pick up some food.  Bodhi happily greeted everyone and even did a “trick” where he practically stood on his head to get his butt scratched by one of the employees at the store.  What a goof!

Bodhi is the best car dog.  He jumps right in, and quickly settles for the ride.  Way to go Bodhi!  He’s doing really well walking on a front clip harness.  The only time he pulls is when he wants to see someone.  Everyone is a friend as far as Bodhi is concerned!

February 4, 2019

Bodhi, the 80 lb, 7 month old puppy had a change of plans today.  He was moved to his original foster home.  It seems the resident dog in his initial foster home did not like Bodhi’s puppy energy and large dog size. That’s ok, because Pepper and Colin welcomed him back. He also got to meet foster Mandy. They loved each other immediately. I’m giving Bodhi some time to decompress on the other side of the gate currently. They are like long lost lovers kissing through the gate! Mandy and Bodhi! 💕🐾😊

He’s got your typical young lab behaviors.  He’s mouthy, and will jump up, he likes to check out the counters, those types of things.  We are already working on some boundaries and he’s doing so well.  He really wants to please!

Pressure gates don’t stand a  chance with this big guy, but the permanent dog gate we have is working just fine.  We have already done some crate training too.  He went into the crate easily for a treat.  Good boy Bodhi!  He had a little time in there with only some minor whimpers.  He even went into the crate on his own, just to relax, with the door open.  That bodes very well too!

Bodhi will need to be neutered before being adopted, but he is an awesome dog with a fantastic temperament.  He deserves his true furever family who will commit to giving him the time, patience, training and exercise that he needs.  He will surely repay you with lots of lab love!!!