Happy #2 Chocolate Labrador Retriever Mix 3 Years Old ID #3583

June 15, 2025

Happy has been with us for one week now. He has really opened up, and we’re getting to see his personality more clearly. In the past couple of days, he has actively been engaging in play with us. He still doesn’t have a lot of interest in toys, but when he gets excited, he enjoys a vigorous game of “not it” or “you can’t touch me”. It’s silly, and fun to see him like this–especially knowing he spent 5 months in a shelter.

Like all Labs I’ve had, he also enjoys a bit of a wrestle. He gets mouthy at times, but is very gentle. Although, because of his energy, I would be careful with children around because they could easily be knocked over. He tends to have one big burst of energy for about 5-10 minutes each day.

We’ve been giving him multiple walks a day, generally totaling between 1 and 2 hours of exercise. Seeing his activity level, and how often he naps, I think 1 hour of exercise would be his minimum requirement.

We’ve also been doing short training exercises with him a few times a day. The main one is basically an obedience recall, where he is directed to sit and stay, then after we back away we call “Happy, HERE!” When he comes, he’s told to sit, and then rewarded with a “Good boy” and a treat. This has been going well–he is reliably performing this exercise. We’ve also taken the “Happy HERE” out of context, calling him at random in the house, and he stops what he’s doing and comes running. We’re very pleased he picked this up so quickly, and I think it indicates Happy’s training potential.

Over the last week, we took Happy on a bunch of short car trips to the park, to prepare for a 3-hour trip to our cabin this past weekend. We’re happy to report he travelled really well, laying down to nap once we hit the highway.

We took him on a couple of hikes in the woods, which he seemed to really enjoy. He would occasionally pull a little on downhills, or when something smelled particularly interesting. He generally doesn’t pull hard–our 10-year-old son can take him for his bathroom business walks. But we’ve been working with him on the pulling, and he’s becoming more responsive to our calls to “WAIT!”, slowing to allow slack in his leash.

While we haven’t seen a strong prey drive in Happy, we have noted he has an interest in birds. He hasn’t chased any, but he definitely notices them. It’s something to be aware of and ready for, in case he decides to go for one. He is strong enough to pull you over if you are not prepared.

Most of the time, he just wants to be near us, wherever we are, around the house. He is pretty calm and mellow, and will go to check on people elsewhere in the house. He is occasionally startled by loud or unfamiliar sounds, but quickly resets once he realizes it’s nothing.

The other day, for the first time, Happy gave us an alert bark when I was coming up to the door, but he couldn’t see who it was. He doesn’t bark a lot, in fact, so far, it’s pretty seldom. So, if he does bark, it’s likely about something to check out.

Happy’s short story: He’s very trainable, affectionate, alert, energetic, and occasionally a handful.

June 10, 2025

This AM we got to experience full-on zoomies, so I think he’s getting pretty comfortable here. He got a walk again right after breakfast, but we all had to go to work this morning, so he had to spend a couple of hours in the crate. We don’t really know how long he was in the crate, though, because when my wife got home at 11:00 AM, he was roaming freely. He’s apparently a Houdini. It appears he managed to bang the door enough to pop the lower latch and then bent the door out to escape. The good news is that he didn’t get into any trouble other than that. He got another walk in the park with her at lunchtime.

My wife took him to a dog-friendly, outdoor mall this afternoon. Happy met a few other dogs, and while excited and was easily controllable on the leash. He gently took treats from folks at the stores she visited and was generally very well-behaved. She noted, though, his continued tendency to bump into her while walking. We’re going to start working on heeling–this is probably the biggest issue we’ve seen so far, we need to work on it with him.

When they got home, they spent about an hour on the patio in the late afternoon. Happy really seems content to just be around people–he laid at her feet. All the exercise and new experiences sufficiently tired him out. In the evening, let him just hang out in our bedroom, without a formal “bedtime, get in the crate”, and he eventually went in on his own.

He seems to be settling in, and it’s good to see him interact positively with children, other dogs, and strangers. While it’s still early, we’re not seeing any concerns with his behavior.

June 9, 2025

Day 2 for us, with Happy started with a mile walk at a park just down the road from our house. Once again, we had to lift him into the car, but coming back, he figured it out and jumped right in. Today was our son’s first day of summer vacation, and since I was working from home, Happy shadowed him for most of the day. They spent an hour on the bed this morning reading together. My son tried playing with him, tossing squeak toys and Happy was somewhat interested, but not invested in the play–my son is not giving up though.

Happy has continued to be calm and sweet. We’re starting to work on some basic manners training with him. He did jump up to inspect the counter today, as well as the kitchen table. He got down quickly when directed–he just needs to learn the rules and boundaries here. He still hasn’t been pulling on the leash, but he does have a tendency to just bump into us when walking. He knows how to “sit” and we started to work on “stay” and “down”.

He got another walk in the park and spent about 45 minutes out in the yard with the family in the evening. He seems to enjoy going outside with all the sights, sounds, and smells. He goes and sits by the door when he wants to go out, which is great. While he didn’t really want to go in the crate again, he went in with a gentle push and then settled right down for the night.

We’re thoroughly enjoying him and are perplexed why he spent so much time in the shelter—I think he’s going to be a wonderful dog.

June 8, 2025

We met Happy today, after another Brookline foster picked him up from the shelter yesterday. Our understanding is that he was picked up as a stray, with his brothers, and was there for a number of months. He is about 2.5 years old, and considering his long stay at the shelter, he seemed to be calm and friendly. He greeted us with a wag of the tail and kisses. As we sat in the grass with him, he sat and leaned into us–and was gentle with our 10-year-old son.

Happy is a big-ish boy–his paperwork says 100 pounds, but he is a little smaller and lighter than our last lab, which was 105. We had to lift him into the car as he didn’t seem to understand how to get in. We’re assuming he hasn’t had much experience riding in cars, or at least not good experiences. It took about 20 minutes driving before he would sit down, but he was well-behaved.

Once we got him home, he was understandably restless, pacing through the rooms, checking everything out. We let him explore and get used to the sounds of the house, and he eventually settled a bit and tended to lie down on the floor in the room we were in. Not knowing his bathroom schedule, we took him out every hour or so. We were warned he might be a puller on the leash, but we have not experienced that yet.

Happy gently takes treats, and was not protective of his food when we put it down for him. He doesn’t quite seem to know what to do with toys, but we’ll keep trying. Not knowing him well, we crated him in our bedroom for the first night. While he didn’t want to go in, he went in willingly with a little persuasion, then fussed just a little for 5-10 minutes before settling down.

Happy seems like a sweet boy, and we’re anxious to see how he develops as he becomes more familiar with us and our home.