Sandy #10 Yellow Labrador Retriever Female 2 Years Old ID #3556

Meet Sandy, an adorable 2 year old female yellow lab who is making her journey from life on a farm to a new future as a house pet. Even though Sandy is fully grown, she’s very petite at 56 pounds and will be the perfect companion looking for a lab on the small side. Please read her blog from the bottom up and stay tuned for updates on her new adventures as she prepares for her forever home.

April 22, 2025

Sandy has now been here for a week and is doing very well!  I might be jinxing myself, but she has not had any accidents inside since the very first day here, so we are possibly looking at successful house training!  She gets praise and pets and a small treat or two each time she does her business outside and that seems to have done the trick.  Sandy may be small but she has the typical oversized lab appetite, so using food rewards for training should work very well with her.  We are starting to try a slow feeder with her since she will race to gobble up everything from a normal bowl at meal time. She has to work at it, which she doesn’t love, but it’s better for her to slow it down.We have been getting her plenty of time for zooming around the yard and also taking her on the leash with her foster siblings.  She is very easy on walks, sniffing out good smells and seeing the neighborhood.  Passing cars don’t phase her at all, but when she sees or hears another dog she really wants to meet them, and has also shown too much enthusiasm for squirrels.  So she has a bit of manners to learn, but it’s a good start.

Sandy took a short car ride (not a fan of climbing in, but rides well and hops out well) to our local garden center where she was perfectly behaved as we walked around looking at plants.  She met a few people and started each interaction with some caution, but accepted gentle pets calmly.She isn’t ready to climb the stairs up to our second floor yet, but we carried her up to see what’s up these.  We’ll be working up her confidence over the days ahead on that front.In between all these new experiences she is getting comfortable interacting with the two bigger dogs and initiating play with them.

She especially seems to love her big brother Finn and the two of them are getting up to some hi jinx more and more each day. We are also getting a glimpse of her taste for some puppy mischief.  When she has an opening, she likes to pick up a personal item and get her people to chase her.  So far we have chased an iPhone, and Apple Watch, and a sandal.  We’re starting to refer to this more devilish personality of hers as “Cheevus”… as in, when she is polite, her name is Miss Sandy, but when she starts getting into trouble she turns into Miss Cheevus (say it out loud).

Cheevus seems to show up a few times a day and so far there has been no permanent damage to anything Cheevus decides to play with, so we’ll humor her and correct her gently as needed without dampening her adorable playfulness.

Just so we’re not ending on a negative note about misbehavior, here’s a picture of Miss Sandy (not Miss Cheevus) resting after a little romp:

April 17, 2025

Sandy has now been off the farm for a week and here in our house for 3 days.

We have some lovely updates to share including positive news on the house training front!  After the first 24 hours had us worried about her willingness to even try to go to the bathroom outside, Sandy has been impressing us on days 2 and 3 by avoiding all accidents and seemingly grasping that we want her to relieve herself out in the open air.  We’re carrying a bag of treats with us and showering her with praise and pets and treats each time she pees or poops in the yard.  These things aren’t normally a linear journey, so of course we expect some slip ups might happen, but she’s doing very, very well!

Speaking of outside, this girl loves to stretch her legs and race around the yard whether chasing a tennis ball, fetching a stick or just trying to get Finn or Ruby to chase her.  She’s 100% puppy powered!  She also has pretty good leash manners on her harness so far. She also has impressed us with her comfort in the crate.  We are having no issues getting her to hop in at bedtime and with one of her people sleeping on the couch for company she settles down and sleeps well.

She is also going into the crate to chill out and nap with the door open so it’s nice to know that any potential adopter who prefers to crate train their dogs should be able to condition her to that approach smoothly.  Once we are confident in her house training, we’ll work on going upstairs and maybe sleeping in a dog bed next to Ruby.She’s very inquisitive although things like her own reflection and the sights and sounds of the TV do get her worried and a bit “barky”.  We’ll work on all that!

She was brave enough to confront the reflections and hang out in our front window to watch the neighborhood pass by, though!More updates soon!

April 15, 2025

Well today another big day arrived for tiny teacup Labrador Sandy.  This morning we went to meet this gorgeous petite princess and moved her to her new foster home.  She was a little shy but not too scared but we scooped her up into our car and she did very well in the backseat.Upon arrival Sandy explored her new yard and then got to meet resident golden retriever Ruby and her fellow foster pup Finn.  Everyone behaved themselves well and got some curious sniffs out of the way before coming inside to check out the house.Sandy made her way through the first floor (full sets of stairs aren’t in the cards for her just yet) and helped herself to the toy baskets.

We fed her breakfast (which she happily chomped right up) and then spent the day letting her settle in.  We understand from her first foster mom that Sandy has yet to relieve herself while outside or on the leash.  Today was no different and even though we organized many trips out into the fresh air to inspire her to do her business, she chose to bless us with a few indoor accidents instead.  We expect it will take us a bit of time to teach her some good bathroom habits and in the meantime the can of carpet cleaner is ready for action.

She is nervous about new sounds, seeing her reflection and the TV is a source of wonder for her.  So many new experiences!

We’ve had her with us for just one day and can confirm that she is as cute as can be.  Photos make it hard to really see her size, but she is an adorably tiny girl.  I suspect that whomever becomes Sandy’s forever family will spend many years being asked “how old is your puppy?”.   She is two years old so has reached her full (adorable) size.Her foster brother Finn is something of an opposite at his enormous size… so we thought this photo shows the contrast pretty well.We’ll be working with Sandy in the weeks ahead to acclimate her to life in a house (especially the bathroom part), help her release her nervousness with new things, get her through her ear infections and then get her spayed and ready for a new home.

Anyone who has ever wanted a permanent-puppy should stay tuned and consider adopting her when she’s ready!

April 12, 2025

It’s Sandy’s foster mom here. Sandy came home yesterday and is starting to adjust to her new life. Yesterday was a big day: leaving the farm, meeting strangers, getting a bath, getting poked and prodded by the vet, and riding in the car. She was frightened, which makes a lot of sense. She has ear infections in both ears, which I will be treating, but otherwise got a good bill of health.

When she arrived home, Sandy perked up. She liked seeing and smelling the grass and meeting her foster sister, Cleo (a recent Brookline adoptee). Sandy quickly started playing with a ball and looked joyful, like a puppy.  At 2 years old, she is an adult, a small one at just 56 lbs.

After coming in the house, Sandy sniffed around before vacuuming up her dinner. She wasn’t interested in taking food from me yet, but she was very excited when I put the bowl down for her. She has a healthy appetite and even tried to eat her sister’s food. She definitely needs a slow-feeder bowl! I walked her for well over an hour to try to get her to do her business, but she had other ideas in mind. I finally gave up from exhaustion, and Sandy spent the night with her foster sister. It was remarkable that she did not have to go until this morning. What a bladder!

Sandy is shy with people and needs time to warm up, but she is gentle and offers kisses. She is playful and likes to chase, pounce, and chew on a ball.  She will need to learn how to climb stairs and to get used to her shadow in the window, but already her progress is remarkable. Everything is new, and it will take time. I suspect Sandy will soon find her own voice and start communicating directly with her adoring fans. Until then, please join me in giving Little Ms. Sandy a huge welcome to Brookline and a new, wonderful life.