Grady Black Labrador Retriever Mix Male 2 Years Old ID #2917

April 26, 2021

Grady visits the grounds of National Historic Landmark, Fonthill.

This Boy loves his squeaky duck from his Brookline Welcome Box!

His foster human sister and her boyfriend come for a visit.  #mustlovedogs

Grady is easy to love!

April 22, 2021

Grady getting tired but right in the middle of the group. Perfect behavior!

April 21, 2021

This Boy’s been busy!

After his successful visit to the vet clinic on Sunday, Grady went home for a rest and later that afternoon, he met another Baby Human, our 18-month-old granddaughter and our son and daughter-in-law. We took Grady along for a walk on the Del Val University Campus, knowing it would be quiet, but also to go see the animals out in their pastures. Grady loved the Baby, was sweet, gentle and gave her a kiss. I thought she’d be scared- she doesn’t see too many dogs up close, but she loved it! Grady was friendly and polite when he met his “extended foster family.”

He was a very good boy, but he did not like that the cows were so close and really kept his distance. Fine with the horses, but unfortunately, the sheep were not in their pasture, so I’m not sure what he would have thought. We had a pretty long walk, probably his longest yet, and he did just fine, except for pulling to stay clear of the cows.

Monday, he got to relax most of the day, then it was off to visit more extended family. We went to our daughter’s apartment in a pet friendly community, which has a little dog park. For the first time we got to let him off leash in the park. It took him awhile to finish sniffing every square inch, but then we had a really fun game of fetch with the tennis ball and he got a chance to run. He’s very athletic, this guy! Back to the apartment for the first time, and I’m happy to report, despite all of the scents of other dogs in the building and the fact that he was sleeping on our former Lab’s bed over there, he didn’t try to mark, and was super-good in the apartment and during dinner. He adapted well to being served his dinner in a new place and settled in comfortably while we watched the Sixers. We’re hoping to make him a Sixers/Flyers/Phillies fan before he leaves us! 🙂

Yesterday, it was such a nice day, that Mike and I decided we’d have a short day at work and take him to the dog park. There was some excited pulling, sniffing and marking on the path to the park, but he could have cared less about people eating lunch at the picnic benches along the way and completely ignored the geese nearby in the pond and on the grass. His very good behavior continued once in the park, and he got a chance to run in a big dog park, socialize with about 6-8 other dogs, and play ball some more. He was especially friendly with a gorgeous German Shepherd, which makes us wonder if he is part Shepherd. His beautiful coat has some of the coloring.

A couple of things we’ve been noticing:

He still cries and barks when Mike leaves for work in the morning. They go for a walk, Grady does his business, and then I feed him a little later – closer to 7:30-8. Even though I am home (though I like to sleep a little later, so still in bed), that sound of the door closing, must worry him, considering his circumstances. I was getting up and going downstairs to settle him and then decided to let him work it out on his own. He’s doing much better. Still whining and little howls, but not for very long before he comes back up and falls back asleep until breakfast time. We have left him again for very short periods (30 minutes to an hour) and haven’t tried confining him since he is no match for the gate we put up. So far, so good. We’ve been Grady-proofing the house a bit, so would like to work on stretching that to more time to see what happens.

The separation seems to be his only issue.

He’s doing very well with sleeping through the night (bed on the floor in our room), though sometimes if he’s in the house while I’m at work, I often find him curled up sleeping on one of the sofas. I tell him “off” and he gets right down. Personally, it’s not a big deal for us, since we have been holding off on new furniture with dogs, cats, etc. but I know some people never allow that, so I want him to be ready. Still having a little bit of trouble with him jumping up to greet us, and some of the commands, but he’s getting better.

No counter surfing, no begging while we’re eating, no random barking, and he never barks at other dogs while walking. Just wants to pull and go over and say hi. If they’re barking at him, he just gives them a look and continues on his way.

Grady also doesn’t seem afraid of the vacuum cleaner, the stairs, and loves to sit on his tie-out on the deck or in the yard and just take everything in. I’m curious to see how he does if we do get the severe thunderstorm that are predicted for today. He also does great in the car, never barks, whines, nudges for attention, nothing like that. Hops in and out easily and willingly. He just tries to stand up too much, and sometimes loses his footing, but he’s got the whole back cargo area to himself, so plenty of room.

April 19, 2021

Below: Grady meets our granddaughter and some cows on our long walk at Del Val University.

He loved everyone, but was not thrilled about the cows.

Our Grady is one tired Boy!

April 18, 2021

Grady has now been with us for a full week as of Sunday. He’s getting more and more comfortable and we’re seeing him be more playful. He’s even doing Puppy Zoomies in the evening. And has really enjoyed ball playing, practicing his commands and walking through different areas (parks, neighborhoods, etc.) with other people, other dogs, etc.

He met his first Baby Humans on Sunday, though clearly not his first, because he clearly knew exactly how to act! Our new neighbors walked down the lane in our neighborhood with their little guy 19 months. I was afraid they wouldn’t want Grady to approach, but they were excited to meet him – I just learned that they’d lost their black Lab a year ago. Little Emmett was very excited too and Grady walked politely up to him, wagging his tail and gave him a kiss! Emmett’s Mom and Dad were thrilled and so was Grady’s Foster Mom!

After a mid-morning nap, it was time to head over to the Pet Clinic for his microchipping and fecal follow-up. We’ve been experimenting with different collars/harnesses that we had tried with Nell. He’s a pretty good walker, but if he sees something he’d really like to go investigate, he’s strong and needs a little discipline. Our goal is always treating for good behavior, but we want to make sure we have a backup tool. I ended up taking him in the standard chain collar (not thrilled about the Gentle Leader, though I may try it again) and he seemed uncomfortable in the harness.

I’ll leave everyone with a good report. After walking in to a very crowded PetValu, (people and dogs), passing through the dog food and treat aisle, we got in line and waited nicely while the Vet staff set up shop. Grady had some sweet interactions with a pretty brindle Pittie girl named Roo, in line in front of us. And was a very good boy for his exam and microchip, but the darn needle hurt a bit. He just cried for a second though. And felt better after treats from his new friends at the checkout counter!

April 17, 2021

After all of my rave reviews about Grady’s perfect behavior, I’m sorry to report he knocked an old leather-bound book off of an end table last night while I was downstairs doing laundry and partially chewed the binding off. He left it on the rug where I saw it when I came back up. It’s not a big loss, but I guess I spoke too soon when I said he hasn’t been getting into anything or being destructive in anyway – darn! 🙁

This morning we tested him on his own by leaving him for about an hour. Since we know he escaped from his pen at his Foster Home in MS, and his crate at the vet office, we decided we’d try the baby gate we bought and just leave him in the family room with his bed, a couple of toys, a bowl of water and his Kong filled with a couple of teaspoons of peanut butter.

But…he pushed down the gate and was barking when he heard us pulling in. No damage or mischief, thank goodness but he really doesn’t want to be confined. I think he’ll be able to be trusted but I’m worried about what might have happened if he’d been left longer. He’d had a long morning walk and some extra outdoor time on his tie out, so we thought he’d be OK. I’ll try it again in a day or two. Hopefully he will figure it out, poor guy.

April 16, 2021

Grady is feeling better and more comfortable at our home. He’s been well-behaved and gentle and now his playful “puppy side” is coming out! He loves the goodies sent for him, especially loves playing ball! He gets so excited; he runs around and jumps from sofa to chair and back! We can’t get mad at him, he gets down when told, and overall is perfectly happy sleeping on his own bed or on the floor.

He’s been having two-three walks a day, but since the weather hasn’t been great and our backyard isn’t dry, we haven’t had as much playtime in the backyard tie-out as we would like. Hopefully over the weekend it will be dryer and he’ll get a chance to play ball outside.

Since we’ve been stuck inside with rainy weather, we’ve been working on commands. He seems to be fine with “lay down” and “roll over”…rewarded by belly rubs which he absolutely loves! He’s doing “look” and “sit” pretty consistently now, working with pieces of his kibble as reward. I can’t figure out what to tell him to let him know it’s ok to eat when we put his food down though. It’s not as if he doesn’t want to eat, he just seems hesitant, almost like he doesn’t think it’s for him. Usually, I just leave his food and walk away and within a couple of minutes he’ll approach his bowl and eat heartily.

We’ve also figured out that he comes quickly with we whistle, so I guess that’s how he was trained. Unfortunately, I am a terrible whistler, Mike is much better. But I’m working on it.

This weekend, in addition to his microchipping and fecal sample follow-up, we’re going to take him to meet our little granddaughter for a walk at Del Val College, maybe visit some of the farm animals. He’s doing a bit of pulling when we’re out walking and he sees other dogs, so I think we’re going to try the Gentle Leader Harness that belonged to Nelly.  I’m also going to try leaving him on his own for about an hour tomorrow morning, so we’ll see how that goes. We think he’ll be fine; he seems pretty comfortable and hasn’t been naughty at all (no chewing, counter-surfing, excessive barking). I expect he may take the opportunity to nap on a chair or a sofa, but we’ll just put blankets down, and fill his Kong with peanut butter to keep him entertained. We’ve not been using a crate, but I may put him in the laundry/powder room area and use the baby gate it, though, we don’t think he needs to be confined. Updates on that after the fact!

Love this Guy so much!

April 14, 2021

Hi There Everyone-

What a Good Boy Brookline has rescued!

Grady continues to do very well. He’s been walking on short leads w/no problem. Of course, he spends a lot of time sniffing, but we’re allowing that so he learns his territory. But he doesn’t overdo it (usually) and redirects pretty well!

He’s had no problems with any of the neighborhood dogs, while walking, is interested in squirrels and birds but doesn’t lunge after them, and he and Kawhi (our Kitty) are coexisting just fine!

We took Grady on an adventure walk at Ralph Stover State Park Tuesday afternoon and being so empty, we tried walking him on a Flexi so he could do a little exploring. He’s young, energetic and seems to be recovering very well from his surgery, but again, didn’t go overboard, so we kept the hike shorter than he would have preferred!

There were a couple of interactions – a couple, a family with toddlers and some other folks walking dogs. We asked Grady to wait aside while they passed, and that’s just what he did…smiling and wagging his tail!

Photos: Grady and I having lunch break on the deck. I went in to grab a drink and came out to find him under the deck stairs on a pile of leaves. He napped there for the whole hour. Precious!

A tired Boy enjoying the view after his walk at Ralph Stover.

April 13, 2021

This Gorgeous Guy continues to impress!

We didn’t have the greatest weather for walking yesterday but he did get a few walks in. Don’t want to overdo it until he’s fully healed from his neutering. But we had a little outside time on the deck and three short walks.  He’s eating well, drinking, sleeping through the night in our room and he and our cat are getting friendlier and friendlier, though no snuggling quite yet!

Yesterday he let me give him a good brushing and stood still and behaved perfectly! He hung out with me in my home office and I gave him a little puzzle toy with some of his kibble which he figured out pretty quickly.

I can’t report any bad behavior because he doesn’t seem to have any!

We’re working on a few commands. He doesn’t seem willing to sit, though he will do down (we think his bottom might hurt a little).

On his early morning walk today, he met our neighbor’s dog, who is a male Lab mix, (also a rescue, about the same age). They were both on leash and excited and friendly.

He is great so far!

April 12, 2021

We picked up Grady yesterday and had about an hour ride home. He was sweet and affectionate from the minute he got out of the Transport. (His tail never stopped wagging!) oh, and did I mention how handsome he is! We took him for a short walk before getting him back in the car, we had brought a training collar and a gentle leader, but other than a little pulling, he did beautifully on the leash and once in the car, he was calm and quiet.

The sweetest thing after arriving home, giving him another bathroom break, we said “ok Grady, let’s go inside” and I swear he did a double-take because he was being invited inside. He did a lot of sniffing and did try to pee once inside, but the can of pennies worked great and we took him outside immediately and praised him when he went outside.

This Boy is handsome, sweet, and so relaxed. He doesn’t seem to mind full body massages.

Hasn’t barked or whined AT ALL and seems disinterested in our resident cat. The only thing that concerned us was him licking his surgery site (he just got neutered a few days ago. So, we did put a soft cone on him when he seemed to be overdoing bit.

We had some toys for him, seems to love playing ball and tug the most, but settles quickly.

Ate dinner and drank well – Great night of sleep too! He had an early walk; breakfast and we’re going out for another walk shortly.

So far, he’s a really Good Boy!