Sadie Yellow Labrador Retriever Female 5 months old

June 6, 2019

Sadie has been a busy girl, and in the month that she has been in foster care she has made great strides.  As the last blog suggested, Sadie was having some issues being left in the crate. It seems like the issue wasn’t so much that she was in the crate, but more that she wanted to be where the other dogs were. With the help of our video camera, this has been verified as we have seen that she is much calmer if one of the dogs is lying down near her crate.  It’s when they moved out of sight that she started to fuss.  In fact one time she pushed so much at the top of the crate that she rubbed her nose raw until it bled:(  So we’ve been working on that.  But what we have discovered is that Sadie is doing very well outside of the crate.  We tested her by leaving her out for very short periods and have increased it up to several hours.  With the help of our video camera, we’ve seen that she is either snuggled up with one of the resident dog, chewing on a nylabone, or sitting by the door that she expects we’ll come back home through.   In general she is very good about knowing which are her toys- but yes she has a lot of them.  She enjoys every one of them!

Sadie loves going on her walks and she loves playing ball.  I am so impressed about how quickly she has learned to bring the ball back and drop it, and sometimes even drop it right into your hand.  And she she gets distracted and loses the ball, she has a great nose for following her trail until she finds it.

Sadie respects the cat (leaves her alone) and is good with all three resident dogs even though they all have different personalities and energy levels.  She is fully house trained and  often pees on command (go potty) but occasionally she  has trouble holding it when we get up in the morning and go downstairs to let the dogs out. So we’ve learned to be efficient and get her out the door quickly.

For an almost 6 month old, Sadie is a very calm dog.  Of course she still has her mouthy or jumping up moments- she’s still a pup, but really she is pretty amazing, and if her foster home had room for another dog, she wouldn’t be going anywhere.  She is the sweetest girl and some family is going to be very lucky to add her to their family.

May 20, 2019

My time flies when you’re having fun, and Sadie thinks life is good!  Sadie continues to do well in her foster home.  She is starting to take more comfort in having other dogs around, but still it’s her people that get her the most excited.  She loves our hikes;  She was at the head of the pack for the entire 3 miles this morning.  So she’s napping well now.  She has been crated when we’re not here for a couple of hours (or at night as long as she can see us) but she is starting to resist going in more when we’re home and the dogs are around.  So if she isn’t napping, she needs to be watched carefully.

Her future family should be early risers and as a bonus they won’t need an alarm clock as Sadie wakes up by 5:30 am every morning, no matter how late we try to keep her up the night before.  

Sadie still really loves to play fetch and she’s better at catching a ball if it bounces first.  And she is starting to learn to drop it into the thrower’s hand if she wants the game to continue.

Sadie is a great cuddler and is very affectionate.  We’re working on her not jumping up in excitement and making some progress, but like I said, she’s a very happy girl.

 

May 12, 2019

Sadie wants to wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day.  She also wants to let you know that she is really enjoying life and has got this pottying outside down pat.  Before she must have had to hold her pee a long time, so it took her a few days to realize that every time she goes out, she might as well do her business.  Good girl Sadie!

Sadie’s foster mom reports that Sadie has been accident free for the last few days so it’s easier to give her free reign in the home when her people are home.  Still one has to be mindful that she is still learning what she can and cannot chew.  But it hasn’t been bad at all and she is easily directed to what’s hers.

She takes correction from the older dogs but still sometimes barks at them when they have  toy she wants.  They know to hold their ground though so she learns patience.

She still needs some work on crating- she’s not happy to be in there when she can’t see her person, but she’ll get there. After all , she is still getting used to being able to be count on people to spend quality time for her.

She’s a sweet, sweet girl who loves to cuddle when she’s done playing.

May 9, 2019

Sadie is settling well into her foster home.  Her foster mom was a little worried she was going to be fostering the Tasmanian devil since the family who had her returned her after only a few days, but she’s a real sweetie.  Sure she is learning what she can chew, where to go the bathroom, and not to jump up or play with her teeth, but her behavior is totally age appropriate.  And she really wants to please.

There are three resident dogs in the home and she is doing fine with them, although overall she is more interested in following her people around.  She’s working on being in a crate and doing pretty well, although she prefers if she can see you (so we have a crate in our bedroom next to the bed).  When she’s not happy in our crate, she is blessing Next week there will be fewer people home during the day so we’ll begin experimenting with crating her for short periods while we’re not here.

Sadie is loving the woods walks we take and is determined to keep up with the big dogs.  She is equally happy running after balls and is already bringing them back.  She doesn’t get the idea of dropping the toy to continue the game, but I bet it won’t be long before she figures it out.

Sadie is eating well, and is always hungry.  She is 41 pounds and growing!

All is all she is a pleasure to foster (what’s a little sleep deprivation), and she’s giving us good reason to de-clutter as she is very interested in everything, and she thinks it’s great fun to grab something (dish towels and socks are her favorite so far) and run off with it.

First walk:

First hike:

Getting used to the crate

May 6, 2019

Meet Sadie.  Sadie was returned to the breeder shortly after she was adopted, and instead of selling her again, the breeder called Brookline and asked if we could help.  Who could resist this pretty face?!  She was not a fan of the long car ride, but I’m quite certain if I had had someone in the back with her, she would have been much happier.

Stay tuned for updates.