Lily Black Labrador Retriever Female 4 Years Old ID #2649

June 16, 2020

Miss Lily– well we call her lots of things, but Lily isn’t one of her names and honestly, she doesn’t respond to it.  So, it’s Lu, LuLu, WooWoo (don’t ask), Luchilla, Sweet Lu…who knows how nicknames start.

Lu is all healed up from her spay surgery and has only a few antibiotics left from her bladder infection.  She is a very good patient and takes her pill easily with some cheese.

Her personality continues to emerge — and her energy levels can flip on a dime.  She can go from racing around the yard to sound asleep in under a minute.  Squirrels continue to be her nemesis, and she will stare up in a tree for a 1/2 hour (or more) looking for one.  Sometimes there actually is a squirrel up there that you can see and sometimes I think she’s just wishing that there was one.  I am kind of believing that the squirrels are purposely tormenting her — they know.

At the beach, she is an early riser — way earlier then when we are home in PA.  The seagulls, birds, rabbits, and squirrels must start their day early too — and with the windows open she knows they are out there and it is too much for her to stand.  I’ve woken up to her just sitting on the edge of the bed staring out the window.  I’ve also woken up to her sitting on me — so mornings are always interesting.

Her developing small critter obsession has also made walks more interesting.  I have to be constantly on the lookout for them myself so that she doesn’t pull my arm out of the socket trying to get to them.  This is something that we are working on.  If there aren’t critters she walks like an angel — sniffing and pretty much staying by your side.

Like any lab — especially the younger ones –she is not perfect (the vet also believes that she is much closer to 2 years old then 4 years old.)  They need a bit of work, but are smart and really just want to please.  She is no exception.

She is only crated when we are out.  With a “cookie” she will go right in and settles down quickly.  She plays (rough, but nicely) with other medium-sized to large dogs — I have not tried her with small dogs or cats.  She’s on the bigger side and sometimes forgets her size.

Overall Sweet Lu is a beautiful, quirky, antler-chewing, wanna-be-by-your side girl.  She has a keen sense of smell, snores like a sailor (sometimes), wears more of her water than she drinks and always takes the best seat on the couch. Such a love!!!

June 4, 2020

Ms. Lu (Lily) has had quite a week —

Ate one Ugg Slipper — my fault entirely…any good lab owner knows that you cannot leave a closet with shoes open. Clearly it has been awhile since I’ve had a young lab in the house.  Also, in her defense the inside of that slipper does look exactly like some of her fleecy toys.

Was spayed last Wednesday.  Spent the night at the Vet and came home a peed right on the carpet — I thought that she was mad at me (and who could blame her?)

Went to Ocean City, NJ again and had a great weekend.  She did wake up really early everyday (like 5 am early) and went right outside to use the lady’s room — also had a couple of accidents in the house.  I kind of thought that maybe we hadn’t completely worked out our signal for needing to go out or that she was still a little mad at me.  In hindsight I should have realized that both getting up early and accidents were really odd.

On Monday, I noticed a pocket of fluid near her spay incision and made an appointment to see the vet again to check it out.  We had to wait until Wednesday to get an appointment.   Good news…the vet thinks this should go away in a week or so on its own, but if it doesn’t, she will need a drain.  (Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen.)

She also has either a UTI or a bladder infection — so will be getting some antibiotics.  I’ll leave the gory details out, but the photo below of Ms. Lu in goldfish underwear is a result of the infection. THIS EXPLAINS THE ACCIDENTS AND THE EARLY RISING!!!  YEAH…she’s probably not still mad at me!!!

Besides all of that Lu continues to be like glue to me and is the goofiest, sweetest dog.  She wants to be with/on you, she wants to play and be loved.  I’m not sure what she is mixed with — but I would guess maybe a Bloodhound — some kind of dog with food and liquid holding jowls.  I just keep a few extra dish towels by her food and water bowl, and wipe her mouth when she’s done eating or drinking.  In a way, I feel like it makes her more lady-like to wipe her mouth when she’s done eating and the floor by her bowl has probably never been so clean. ☺

So even after she’s eaten my slipper, peed on my carpets, and gotten more than a bit of slobber on me…I still must repeat my mantra….I will not fail right out of the gate…I will not fail right out of the gate…I will not….

I also understand now what Foster Allergies are as I get a little teary eyed just thinking of her leaving.  She is a joy and a great first Foster…man this will be hard when the time comes.

May 21, 2020

Lily (she definitely responds more to Lu) had her first trip to Ocean City this weekend, and was an angel in the car — even being in the back of the SUV with my other dog.  Everybody just enjoyed the ride!

Exploring a new house was fun, but she settled in quickly and learned where everything is — especially her food bowl which has become a priority.  Several long walks around the neighborhood, and Lily was convinced that she was the queen of the island.  She really is a good walker and really only get excited if my other dog misbehaves and barks or if she sees a squirrel or rabbit.  She is correctable and stops pulling right away.  I think she is actually teaching my dog better manners instead of the other way around. ☺  She also had nice a play date with another dog to get some additional exercise — they had a great time and everyone played nicely.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this dog is house trained.  No accidents in either house!!  Perhaps being home all day has helped, but I really think that she had it all figured out before she got here.

Lily had her preliminary vet visit yesterday and seems to be super healthy (and only 76 lbs. — this could change given her new lease on eating!)  She has her spay appointment next week, so hopefully we will be able to keep her calm while she heals.  Fingers crossed.  Her teeth are so white that the vet thinks she might be a bit younger than four.  The vet even said that she is the sweetest dog and that her coat is gorgeous — a fantastic report following the mange that she had when she was found.

I still crate her when I’m out of the house, but at night she has graduated to my bed.  As long as she gets outside (and actually goes before bed) she sleeps all night snoring with the best of them.  This week she got up twice to use the restroom at night — which is a good sign too.

She is the most loving mush — just wants to be near or on you all the time. She is the perfect mix — still a puppy at heart without too much mischief and just loves everybody (well not squirrels.)

Still trying to capture a good video of this girl — her fur is so dark and glossy that she comes across as just a blur — I’m still working on the best lighting for her.  More to come on Miss Lily.

May 12, 2020

Lu (Lily) continues to blossom — with each day a little bit more of her silly personality emerges.   She loves to run full speed around the back yard and chase squirrels.  (The squirrels are smartening up and have moved over to my neighbor’s yard — which is another plus!) She also continues to be an excellent leash walker — for the most part staying right by my side.

Her most un-lab-like quality is that she really has to be coaxed to eat her food and she doesn’t eat much of it.  When she is done, she’s done.  I have learned though that there are some smells that are just too irresistible, so she has put her feet up on the counter to check things out (and I’m sure would have eaten my dinner had I not been standing there.)  She sniffs around when we eat dinner, but generally lays down quickly and loses interest.  She responds when you tell her “no,” so overall she has not been any trouble at all.

I haven’t weighed her myself, but I have a hard time believing that this fit lady is 86 lbs.  These pictures seem to make her look bigger than she is — I guess it’s true that the camera puts pounds on. ☺  She’s on the taller side, but very slim and can snuggle into a pretty small spot on the couch. She loves to be by your side and will squish into a chair with you to be close.

Lu is not a huge fan of the crate, but will go in for a treat and settles down quickly for the night.   And bonus, bonus, bonus — still no accidents in the house or in the crate!!!

Except for the occasionally snoring, Lu is a pretty quiet girl.  She sometimes barks when my dog, Belle, barks, but usually she just runs to see what is going on and is a quiet observer of whatever is walking down the sidewalk (people, dogs, kids, etc.)

She does swat her big paw at my leg — which seems to indicate that she wants something — I just haven’t figured out exactly what that something is yet.  So far, a good head scratch has sufficed as the answer — we are still figuring each other out.

This super sweet, happy girl is just a big goofy love!

May 10, 2020

Day 1 was a little rough, but not Lily’s fault at all.   After her long journey to PA — we got home and it was dark and rainy — not an ideal night to make the introduction to the resident dog, Belle.  Let’s just say that it went okay.

Day 2 was a completely different experience — being outside in the sunshine and having room to sniff and get to know one another was what the 2 girls needed to say hello properly.

Lily — well really, we’ve been calling her LuLu or Lu as it just suits her personality better — seems very much at home already and everyone just loves her.    She is beautiful (her coat is a beautiful glossy black), sweet and goofy, good on a leash and doing great with the house training — not 1 accident so far (she had to have been house trained previously.)

She responds to sit and shake (although she needs a little coaxing to go through with the motion.)  She loves to run in the back yard and would love it even more if Belle would chase her around.   She really just wants to play!  She has just the right amount of energy!!!   She seems to share toys and bones well, is not really food motivated and so far, is not a counter surfer (although could easily be given her long legs.)  She sleeps well at night in her crate and so far, has been pretty exhausted by the end of the day.

She has been the perfect house guest; has enjoyed meeting new people and has been a great way to get back into fostering — I can easily see how someone could become a foster fail with this sweet girl.

Her only downfall so far has been her very loud snoring — but I think it just means that she needed a deep snooze and a safe place to rest her head!

More good things to come with this gorgeous lady.