Charlene aka Charlie Chocolate Labrador Retriever Female 5 Years Old ID#3233

Meet Charlene, also called “Charlie”!  Charlie is a sweet, active 5 yo chocolate Labrador who ended up in the Ocean County shelter by no fault of her own.  When her owner fell ill and was brought to the hospital, the police transported Charlie to the shelter.  As this shelter does euthanize for space, Charlie was transferred to safety to a Brookline foster home.  Please read her blog from the bottom up.

January 16, 2025

Today was another banner day for sweet Charlie. After a restful night in her crate, she woke up, played a bit outside, and then enjoyed her breakfast before heading out on her morning walk.

When we attach her long leash to her collar, Charlie knows that she is going on a walk. Once it’s on, she heads to the front door and waits while the rest of us look for our hats and gloves. Once we are geared up, we head out. Charlie is super smart and has figured out that we always turn right out of the driveway. She also seems to know when we have gotten back home and eagerly heads down the driveway and up to the front door. Throughout the walk, she practices “sit” and “come”. She’s definitely been taught commands before, and the more practice she gets, the better she remembers them.

After the walk, Charlie got introduced to a new favorite thing–>telework! She was not at all interested in the computer, but she wanted to be supportive, so she occupied herself by lounging on the bed and making the occasional position change. As the day wore on, she appreciated that a lunch break was offered- lounging is hard work! Charlie is not very food-motivated, so unlike our resident dogs, she does not beg for food! We are hoping this good behavior has a positive impact on our resident dogs. After lunch, Charlie added some new moves to her lounge act- looking out the window and making she sure was available if we needed a snuggle or to de-stress by petting her oh-so-soft fur. She was also very willing to go outside and play fetch or pull with her favorite toy.Around 3:30, Charlie paused her work day in order to enjoy her dinner, and then it was time for her afternoon walk. Once she got back home, she hopped up on the couch to watch the news. It wasn’t really holding her attention, so she worked at perfecting her lab lean, and when her humans did well, she would nuzzle and give cheek kisses.

Charlie is a very loving, trusting, and gentle dog. She loves to communicate and she will sometimes vocalize to let you know if she needs to go outside, wants to play, or would like some pets.

January 14, 2025

Charlene (AKA Charlie) had another successful night sleeping in her crate with no accidents or stress responses. She was very happy when she heard us come downstairs and start the breakfast routine, but she was able to be calm while I attached her leash. We took her right outside to the backyard where she immediately relieved herself. She had a lot of energy, so I tried to get her to run around. This lead to us discovering her favorite toy (we will happily give it to her forever family!).

We came inside for breakfast and some water, and then Charlie spent some time sniffing Max and Gracie (resident dogs), and they returned the favor. Once it was daylight, Charlie and I headed out for her morning walk. During the walk, she practiced “come” and “sit”. She is more responsive to her name, and we noticed she seems to respond/alert if we make a clicking sound with the side of our mouths.We walked about 3 miles this morning. This was Charlie’s third time on this route, so though she was still excited about the smells, she did not pulling the leash as much. When she did pull, we would call her back to us, and she would circle closer for lots of pets and “good girls”.

Near the end of the walk, Charlie saw some deer and a couple of dogs. She was interested but easily redirected to keep walking. Once we passed them, she did not try to turn around and keep them in her sight.

Charlie’s other big event today was a trip to the vet because she had been licking her paws and has some bare spots. She hopped right into the backseat of the car and was easily buckled into the seat. She was a bit anxious at first, but that is understandable considering that the last time she was in the car was her rescue ride. She was probably a bit nervous that she would be going somewhere new, and that is understandable given the number of changes she’s had over the last two months. Charlie did try to chew part of her doggy seatbelt, but she stopped when I told her no. She tried to get into the front seat for some pets, but she compromised by resting her head on the console between the two front seats. It was easy for her to get some love and reassurance with her head there. The ride home from the vet was really good. Charlie got in the car, settled easily, and did not need as many reassurance pets. For the most part, she stretched her body out on the back seat,  propped her head on the arm rest/door handle area, and enjoyed the ride.

While at the appointment, she was her typical curious, interested self and was sure to check out as many new smells as possible with extra long sniffs at the base of every door. She got up on the table lift to get her weight and for her exam. She was her typical friendly self and did not object to any part of the exam- and happily ate a treat. The vet put her on a 2 week course of allergy meds to help with inflammation and this should help stop the paw licking.

When we made it home, she was excited to get out of the car and back inside. After an exciting start to the day, she is happily resting on the couch. Charlie definitely enjoys couch surfing and seems to be demonstrating her trust by showing her belly.

January 13, 2025

Charlene (AKA Charlie), a 5 year old pure bred chocolate lab that weighs 72 pounds. She came to be in Brookline’s care after being seized by the police due to her owner being taken to the hospital. She became shelter property in December. The information that we have about her name and age was given by the owner’s relative, but there is not a lot of information beyond that.Twenty-four hours ago, we made it to the Ocean County Animal Shelter, met Charlie,  and drove her to our home. She enjoyed the car ride, but we think she would have preferred to be in a jeep with the top down and doors off because she loves to stick her snout out of the window when it was rolled down a couple of inches. We buckled her into the backseat of our unglamorous SUV, but she didn’t seem to mind. She LOVED it when we were on the back road and she could look out window at everything.

Charlie is friendly, curious, energetic, and a keen observer- she figured out where all of the outside doors in our house were very quickly!  Yesterday afternoon and evening, she explored her new home and also enjoyed time in the backyard- lots of new scents! Charlie met our two resident labs (Max and Gracie). They were introduced slowly, but Charlie seemed more interested in the yard. The dogs are continuing to get to know each other, seem to be getting along, and are becoming comfortable with spending time together. After our morning walk, Charlie hopped onto the couch where Gracie was sitting and hung out for a bit. Charlie had a good night’s sleep in her crate. It took a couple of minutes to settle down, but she slept through the night with no accidents (even sleeping through my son getting home after the Eagles game!). A few times today, she has gone into her crate and spent a couple of minutes there before coming back to the family room. She is a big fan of furniture and has made herself at home on the couches. We have a two floor home, and while Charlie was happy to go up the stairs, she seemed a little confused about going down them last night. Today is a different story, and she happily goes both up and down the stairs.Charlie can be vocal at times- we are trying to piece together a pattern. It seems to happen when she wants to play or be pet, but it’s not consistent, so we will continue to observe. If we take her into the back yard, she explores some more and when we come back inside, she stops her vocalizing.

Charlie is fed twice a day and enjoyed her meals both last night and this morning. The shelter gave us some food, and we are starting the process of combining it with the food we already feed our dogs. She gets a combination of wet and dry food.We were told that Charlie only got a short (15 minutes) daily walk while at the shelter, so we have made sure that she has gone on two longer walks today. She likes having a leash on, but she does tend to pull when on a walk. We noticed that if you gently tug the leash to either the left or the right, she will “follow” that suggestion. This is great because for every step I took, she took about 5 more and got nice and tired. She also spent some of the morning exploring our fenced in yard and has shown an interest in fetching a ball.The evaluation noted that Charlie did not seem protective over her food, and we have noticed the same. You can remove it from her, and she does not react. The same is true with her water bowl. She does not seem to be food motivated (either that or we have not found a treat flavor she loves). We have barely known her for 24 hours, so time will tell as she continues to settle.Charlie has some bare patches on her legs that she will occasionally lick, so we are off to the vet tomorrow for an evaluation. She also jumps- to look out the window, when excited to see someone, to peek at what is on the counter. It’s a gentle jump, and she will go back to standing when told “no jumping”. When she jumps by a person, we are lifting and bending our knee while saying “no jump” and have had some success. The shelter says she knows some commands, so we are working with her and trying to reinforce them. So far, she has had some success with “sit”, “leave it”, and “no licking”.

We look forward to our time with Charlie and sharing all that we learn on her journey to find her forever home.