Princess #8 Yellow Labrador Retriever Female 5 Years Old ID #3528

January 19, 2025

Princess has been with us for two weeks and continues to do great.  I’m sure this will come as quite a shock to all of you (NOT!), but we have decided that our little Princess is home. ❤

We were in love with Princess the moment we met her, but we needed to give Princess and Rubble time to get to know each other so we could be sure they would be happy living together.  I’m pleased to report they are doing great.  They respect each other’s space and have figured out how to share the couch with Mary.  😊 Mary doesn’t even mind giving up her usual spot! Princess still steals Rubble’s toys, but we’re working on that. 😉

Thanks to Maija for evaluating this sweet girl and to Katie for selecting us to foster her!  We promise to take great care of Princess, who will now be known as Lucy (or Princess Lucy).  Princess is our 108th foster dog and our 8th foster flunkie.  We are so grateful to be able to foster for Brookline and we look forward to many more fosters!

January 16, 2025

Princess continues to do well and to steal the hearts of everyone she meets!  Things have been pretty low-key for her since she injured her.  She spends a lot of time chillin’ with Rubble.

And relaxing with FM.

But today was a very exciting day because Princess’ foster care package arrived!

Why carry one toy when you can carry TWO??

Princess was so excited to have her very own toys for the first time in her life!

Of course, she still wants whatever toy Rubble has!  😉

Princess and Rubble played some tug-of-war with her new toys!

The tug games don’t last long because Rubble always lets her win.  But it was fun while it lasted!

Thanks to Brookline for all the goodies and to Taylor and Theresa for sending out the foster care packages!

January 11, 2025

Princess had an exciting day yesterday – and not the kind of excitement we like!  We noticed she was licking her paw and that it was bleeding.  Then we saw a tear in her paw pad.

By the time we got to see the vet, the bleeding had stopped.  The vet recommended bandaging her paw for 24 hours and letting it heal on its own.  He didn’t want to stitch it because that would require anesthetizing Princess. He said if it starts bleeding again or gets worse, he can do that.  But we opted to take her home with a bandaged paw.  Of course, with the snow outside, that also meant wearing a boot to keep it dry.  She wasn’t fond of the boot!

We took the bandage off today.  Now we just have to keep her from licking or chewing her paw.  You know what that means – the Cone of Shame!

But doesn’t she wear it well?  She looks like a little flower!

Luckily, Princess is happy as long as she has a stuffed carrot (or stuffed anything) in her mouth!  😉

January 10, 2025

It’s really a shame that Princess is so uncomfortable here.  😂

As you can see, Princess continues to do very well.  This week we had a repair man here to work on the heater.  Princess greeted him at the door and was not phased having a “stranger” in the house.  She loves when we have company.  It’s someone else that may rub her belly!

Princess likes to be wherever we are.  We had gates up to keep her in the living room with us, but learned we didn’t need those.  She chooses to hang out in whatever room we’re in.  She has claimed the big dog bed in the living room.  Every so often, she gets up and comes over to one of us to request some pets or a belly rub.  She’s a great snuggler.  And who could resist that smooshy face?

Princess gets very excited when we give the dogs special treats like a carrot or green bean.  But she doesn’t always “get” that she is supposed to eat them!  She carries them around for a while, wagging her tail and wiggling her whole body.  Eventually, she drops them and Rubble enjoys a second treat.  Rubble is really enjoying Princess being here!  🤪

Princess’ spay surgery was rescheduled for 1/31 because we had a conflict.  Here’s hoping she doesn’t go into heat before then!

January 7, 2025

Meet Princess – a beautiful 5-year-old girl former “farm dog”.   Princess and her buddy, Everest, were surrounded to the rescue because the farmer is no longer breeding Labs.

Princess left the farm and headed to her foster home on January 3rd.  She rode beautifully in the car and enjoyed looking out the window. If it weren’t for the very strong “farm smell”, we could have forgotten she was back there! 😉

Princess did great meeting her foster brother, Rubble (8-year-old Lab).  She also met the neighbor’s doodle through the fence and her tail was wagging non-stop.  After some play time in the yard, we went inside and let her explore the house.  She had no problem going up the deck steps or going through doorways.  She does not seem to have any of the anxieties that many of the farm dogs have.  She’s very social with people and dogs.  Her evaluator told us that Princess had run of the farm during the day and was kept in a heated barn overnight.  As farm dogs go, she was one of the “lucky” ones.

Princess has spent short periods in the crate and done fairly well.  The first night we put her in the crate in the living room when we went to bed.  She was not happy and let us know.  Normally we have a crate set up in one of the bedrooms, but hadn’t gotten that set up yet.  Mary didn’t want her to be stressed being all alone, so she brought Princess into her room.  Princess slept through the night in Mary’s bed.  We still crate Princess when we go out, but we decided she doesn’t need to be crated at night.  So far, she has been really good about going potty outside and has not had any accidents.

Princess loves toys, especially stuffies.  She loves to carry them around and has even fallen asleep with one in her mouth.

Luckily, Rubble is very good about sharing his toys.  😊

Princess likes to chase tennis balls and is good about bringing the ball back and dropping it at your feet.  She had Rubble have wrestled and had zoomies a few times – only lasting a few minutes each time.  That may increase as they get more comfortable with each other.

Princess enjoyed the snow today – with a toy in her mouth, of course!  She gets so excited about having a toy that she doesn’t even like to drop it for a treat.  One time she managed to grab the treat while keeping the toy in her mouth!

Princess can be “sharky” when taking treats, especially when she is excited.  We’re working on that.  So far, it’s the only ‘flaw’ we’ve found so we can’t complain!  😉

Princess has a vet appointment on Thursday to get her vaccinations, heartworm test, and all that good stuff.  Her spay surgery is scheduled for January 24th.  The farmer did not know when her last heat cycle was,

So, we are crossing our fingers that she doesn’t go into heat before the 24th!