Milo #8 Black Labrador Retriever Male 17 Months Old ID #3614

Meet Milo!

Milo is a 76 lb, 17-month-old purebred black lab who came to us this week from a canine training center in New Jersey.

He spent most of his early life in Texas (details unknown), and was brought to the area for consideration for training as a police sniffer dog.  However, once he arrived at the trainer’s, it became clear that his background was not as advertised – he had not had any immunizations and was both heartworm and hookworm positive when tested.  Additionally, he did not have the best skill set to become a police dog.  So, the trainer began his medical treatments and asked Brookline for help in finding him a new home. Please read the blog from the bottom up.

May 9, 2026

Milo is now in week 3 of his foster experience.

He continues to do incredibly well!  He has mostly transitioned into becoming a “house” dog with increasing comfort in his safe spaces (particularly his crate and bed), and is more open to exploring other (potentially scary) areas of our home.  And he is almost fully housebroken.  He is also making great progress in calming down when eating or getting treats, and has almost completely learned “sit,” “stay,” and “down.”

He says “thank you” for the foster care package he received this week.  He absolutely loves the toys and treats, and it has made his welcome to his new life much happier!

He remains one of the gentlest and most loving dogs we have ever had, with amazingly few undesirable habits.  He interacts well with virtually everyone, including adults and children and most other dogs (although he tends to become very submissive with larger, more aggressive dogs).  He loves attention and is a real “leaner,” although his want for affection is not intrusive at all.  His leash manners are improving daily, and his curiosity and comfort about different places and things is expanding steadily.  The quiet and stability of his current living situation has let him relax and unwind from his previous (unknown) life experiences and allowed him to be much more of the puppy he still is!

His most significant issue is with his health.  When he arrived here from Texas, he was initially diagnosed as being both hookworm and heartworm positive.  He was treated initially for both, but was given a non-standard course of doxycycline for the heartworms, and to further complicate things, a confirmatory test for heartworms at his initial local vet visit was negative.  So, he was restarted on a full course of doxycycline and had repeated heartworm testing done last week.  We found out today that this advanced testing was positive, so his heartworm infection has been confirmed.  Therefore, the current plan is to complete the new course of doxycycline and begin melarsomine injections a month after that.  Because he is so young, otherwise healthy, and asymptomatic, we suspect he has an early, mild infection, and this will hopefully help him tolerate the treatment well.  One of the biggest challenges will be keeping this active boy quiet as is needed during heartworm therapy, but a lot of slow, short walks are in his future.

Because of his medical issues, he will need to be with us for a while, but this is a great thing for us as he is such a sweet guy and an absolute joy to have in our home!

May 2, 2026

Milo continues to do remarkably well on his journey to a new life!

He has spent much of the last week “decompressing” from the transitions he has experienced over the past several months and seems to truly appreciate the calmness and quietness of his current setting, particularly enjoying the safety and security of his crate and bed.

He is increasingly comfortable living in a non-kennel/home setting and has managed the courage to venture up the steps to the second floor of our home which he had initially been hesitant to do (although unfortunately decided to mark his territory while there!).  However, his curiosity and eagerness to explore his new world has steadily expanded, and his “accidents” in-house have been few and far between.

He remains an incredibly sweet dog with very few bad habits and generally good manners.  He is one of the gentlest animals we have ever encountered, craving attention (but not overly so), and expressing friendliness to others, both human and animal alike.  Despite being a genuine lab with a huge focus on food, he is remarkably calm in taking treats and has done well with a slow-feeder bowl. He comes to the table when we start eating a meal, but he quickly loses interest if ignored.  He continues to not jump, chew, get onto the furniture, or even bark (we’ve only heard him bark twice, and those were only when he was excited to meet another dog or eat!).  He clearly recognizes his new name and is continuing to learn to sit and stay.  He loves our many walks, and although still needing to learn some additional leash manners, he does extremely well for a pup who clearly has not had a lot of experience walking on a leash. He does startle at times to loud noises, and he was clearly uncomfortable when we took a walk on a busy, noisy street, but quickly calmed when in a quieter area.

Unfortunately, Milo’s medical issues remain in flux.  We are continuing discussions with the vets regarding his heartworm diagnosis and treatment.  He is continuing on doxycycline and preventative and tolerating them well.  However, the need and timing of additional treatment is less clear, and we will hopefully have a better idea of what is needed in the next week or so.  He will also require neutering, and this will also be highly dependent on his heartworm status.

Milo has been a great addition to our home, and it has been wonderful, over just several days, to see him becoming more comfortable and confident in still being the puppy that he is.  We are sure he will continue to make great progress over the next several weeks and months!   

April 24, 2026

Following a somewhat nervous ride home (he’s not a fan of being in a car), he settled into our home marvelously!  He clearly has not lived in a house before and was initially hesitant, but quickly became comfortable with the main room in our home (but hasn’t worked up the courage yet to explore beyond the first floor of the house).  And he absolutely loves his crate!

He increasingly recognizes his new name, is starting to learn how to sit and stay, and is showing increasing interest in different toys. He is also getting used to walking on leash and taking lots and lots of slow walks around the neighborhood. He has not had any accidents in the house with his many walks, but will need to learn to let us know when he needs to go outside.

He is the only animal in our house, but is welcoming to all the dogs we meet on our walks.  His response to cats is unknown.  He will periodically pay attention to squirrels and bunnies, but is not obsessed with them.

He loves meeting others and is a real “people magnet” on our walks.  He loves attention and has interacted extremely well with others, including children.  He does not jump.

Although he is very food-motivated, he takes treats gently and shows no interest in counter-surfing or trash-diving. He is also comfortable in his crate, on his dog bed, and on the floor, and not that interested in getting on the furniture.  He has not shown significant chewing behavior with minimal attention to objects other than his toys.

His medical issues are unfortunately in flux.  He came to us heartworm positive and was given a non-standard course of doxycycline, but never had a confirmatory test until his vet visit on Tuesday.  This test was negative, so his heartworm status and need for treatment is unclear.  He will need additional testing before we have a more definitive plan in place.

Milo is an amazingly gentle soul who has been wonderful to welcome into our home.  He is extremely well-mannered and eager to learn.  He has a lot of confidence to build, but has had an incredibly good start to his new life!