Cheyenne #7 Charcoal Labrador Retriever Female 7 Years Old ID # 3709

Meet Cheynne! This sweet girl is a former breeder momma with a beautiful charcoal coat. She has had 2-3 litters of puppies in her life, but has not had any in the last 3 years. The farmer was hopeful she would be a good companion for his children, but she is shy around them so he surrendered her to Brookline. She is good with the other dogs on the farm but unknown with cats. Please read starting from the bottom to follow Cheyenne’s journey in her foster home.

March 26, 2026

Cheyenne has been with us for 3 weeks now. She is the sweetest girl and is slowly making progress. She is doing very well with potty training and we often leave her with free roam of the downstairs when we are gone. At night, she is most comfortable in her crate and she sleeps soundly until morning. We are working on the small things like taking treats from our hand instead of the floor, approaching us for pets instead of going to her, going into new rooms, and getting comfortable with the leash.Cheyenne is not a fan of the leash. She pancakes if we try to take her somewhere, so we took a break from the leash for 2 weeks and are now starting over. We reward her when we clip the leash on her collar then we take it off right away. She does seem interested when we leash the resident dogs up to take them for a walk, so hopefully she will be willing to venture outside with them one day soon.

Cheyenne now gets excited about mealtime – she knows when I open the closet door where the food is kept and will approach with a wagging tail and then run to her crate (which is where she is fed) and wait for her bowl. She is also learning “sit” and doing it pretty consistently.

Every day she takes one step forward – yesterday she came into the bathroom for the first time. Today, she ran to the laundry room with the resident dogs to meet me when I got home. She is definitely more comfortable with FM than FD but FM is also home most of the day with her while FD works.

She is progressing at her own pace and we are happy to give her the time and space she needs and plenty of love when she wants it.

March 10, 2026

Sweet Cheyenne has made some progress over the past week. On top of adjusting to a new home, new people, new dogs and a new routine, Cheyenne is in heat. This means she will need to wait 6-8 weeks after her heat ends to be spayed so she will likely be adopted with a spay contract. She has been very interested in our male dog, but he is uncomfortable with the attention and has not returned her affection. On the positive side, we discovered that she can do steps! Much to our surprise she went up the stairs to the second floor one day when following our male pup and had no problem coming back down. She is a pro now and will periodically go up to look for him when he is hiding from her.

Cheyenne is crated when we go away and at night. The crate has been her safe space since she arrived and she spends quite a bit of the day hanging out inside with the door open. Since Cheyenne likes her crate, we were shocked the first night she was here when she started howling shortly after we went up to bed. Foster Mom (FM) slept on the sofa beside her crate for a few nights and now she is quiet overnight and FM is getting much better sleep in her own bed.

Today, Cheyenne approached FM for the first time while FM was doing work on the computer and the resident dogs were sleeping under foot. Cheyenne let FM pat her and she stood beside FM for a while. She never laid down but did come back a few times throughout the day when FM was sitting and working. She would scamper away if FM stood, but getting out of her crate and approaching someone is a big step for Cheyenne. What a brave girl!

Cheyenne spent a little time lying down outside in the grass with the female resident dog but as soon as FM stood to get a better shot, Cheyenne got up and walked away. This was another first, however, as she usually just paces around the yard and then comes back inside. I guess she wanted to enjoy this nice weather with her new friend.

Beautiful Cheyenne

Best Friends (Cheyenne is the dog furthest away)

March 7, 2026

Cheyenne is beginning to settle in at our home. Yesterday, she started to venture out of her crate to check out the house when I was seated doing work. Each time I got up, she would scurry back to her crate where she likes to hang out and observe. The first day she was here, she would not come out of the crate at all, so this is an improvement.

We went for her baseline vet visit yesterday. It was a bit of a challenge to get her to come out of the crate and get into the car. Once in the car, she rode quietly in the backseat. She was shy but very agreeable with handling by the vet and tech. She got her vaccinations updated and blood drawn. Physically, the vet says that she looks great – her coat, ears, and weight are good, she will just need some extra time and TLC to decompress and adjust to life in a home.

Cheyenne warmed up quickly to our dogs and there was a little game of chase yesterday morning. Cheyenne is the one with the leash dragging in the video. I had been leaving the leash on her when she went outside because she would hide in the trees and it was difficult to get her back inside. Well, that changed yesterday as the day went on – luckily it was warm enough to leave the door to the backyard open and she went in and out on her own with the resident dogs several times. Later that night, we let the dogs out to potty before bed and she came right back in when she was done. These small steps are very encouraging as she begins to trust us a little more each day. Slow and steady wins the race and Cheyenne is on her way!

March 4, 2026

Shy, sweet Cheyenne came into foster care with us last night. She is a 7 yo breeder momma with a gorgeous charcoal coat and a quiet disposition. She did fine meeting our dogs, but is very shut down and not ready to interact with them yet. (She was reported to do well with other dogs on the farm.)

Last evening, Cheyenne found a safe corner in our dining room where she could quietly observe. She moved to the laundry room around bedtime so we just gated her there. She slept through the night without a sound. She did have an accident, but that is to be expected.

She ate a little cheese last night, but not really dinner. She wasn’t interested in any breakfast this morning. We will try again later. She pancakes on leash so I haven’t been able to get her outside to try to potty. We will be working on that today. She found the open crate in our living room a few minutes ago and is content to hang out in there for now. The resident dogs are experienced foster siblings and happy to take their morning naps and give her the space she needs. Everyone is peacefully coexisting as Cheyenne decompresses and settles in.

My husband and I took turns sitting with her last evening after dinner. She doesn’t shy away and accepts our pats but we kept our visits short so as not to overwhelm her. Stay tuned as she blossoms into the dog she was meant to be!