Scout, 1-1/2 year old Yellow Labrador Retriever, Male

May 11, 2018:

Well, Scout has been with us a week now.  We have learned a lot more about Scout in the last couple days, as he is more relaxed and comfortable with us and our resident dog, Ozzie.  Some of the most notable things we’ve learned Scout loves to do are:

– play CATCH — he will fetch the ball to, but the boy loves to jump and catch the ball mid air;

– counter surf — we’ve included a picture of just what lengths he will go to reach the goodies;

– hang out with his people, whether it’s indoors or out, he sticks close, especially to his FD

For the first 5 days he was with us, it was very hard for him to lay down & chill.  He would open his eyes or lift his head every minute or so, checking to make sure everything was ok.  Now, he can lay down and just nap.  

He likes to keep busy though, so the naps aren’t very long.  He is not a chewer (yet?), doesn’t really enjoy playing tug, but loved to take the sofa pillows and get them all slimy and toss them around.  FM made him his very own pillow and he has had a lot of fun with that, shaking it, mouthing it and throwing it around.  His most favorite by far is a ball, any ball really.  He could play catch for hours.

As far as his manners, most often he is a perfect gentleman.  He continues to be great on the leash, but he does have a fairly high prey drive.  We notice we have to be aware of birds and small animals on our walks so we can stop any attempt at running after them.  He does love to counter surf and was caught red handed twice.  We have gotten wiser and have kept the counters clear. He is calm on car rides, but prefers to be touching at least one of us at all times.  He will reluctantly lay down in the extended cab if the ride is longer than 20 minutes.  He has had no accidents in the house and has shown no resource gaurding of any sort.  He is very sweet and trusting and has let us groom him, including clipping his nails.  He is coexisting with our resident dog nicely, although there is little interaction between them. They will sniff each other as dogs do and play chase in the back yard for a short time, but that has been the extent of it.  Although he will crate easily, he whines and does not really settle in it, so far.  We will try a stuffed King the next time we go out and see if he reacts any better.

We have found that he is happiest when he can be with his people, especially his FD.  He is a real sweetheart!

May 4, 2018

Scout is an owner surrender who came into Brookline Friday 5/4.  He is a handsome yellow lab.

Scout is settling in nicely after a pretty stressful start.  He didn’t sleep or rest much in the first 24 hours he was with us, but he has finely started making himself at home.  We have had no issues with eating, walking or being destructive.  He has been running around in the back yard with our resident dog Ozzie and taking walks around the neighborhood too.

Scout knows Sit, Come Here and No, so we will try to work on Down and Stay.  He has decent leash manners, but can pull sometimes.  He likes to stay near his people, so the chance of his running off is pretty slim.  He did not do steps at first, but we have been able to coax him up and down the steps of our second floor.  Outside steps still present a challenge, so we will work with him on that as well.