Shelbie Yellow Labrador Retriever Female 5 Years Old ID #3259

Shelbie Yellow Labrador Retriever Female 5 Years Old ID #3259

Hi everyone. Shelbie (#3259) here. Today (29 Sep) is my first day with Brookline, and it’s been filled with many firsts. I had my first car ride and first bath all within just a few hours. Foster Mom (FM) says I handled everything like a champ. I come from a farm in PA where I had lots of puppies—so you know I’m a girl. But now that I can’t have pups anymore, I’m retiring to the good life and am looking for my forever home. My daughter, Blondie #3252, also joined Brookline today. We were next to each other while getting a bath at Bubbly Paws. You can read more about Blondie on her blog. Please read the blog from the bottom up.

October 15, 2026

Hi everyone! Today (15 Oct) it’s been 2 weeks and 2 days since I put the farm life behind me and decided that while not New York, I just adore a penthouse view, so give me Park Avenue. So, it’s not exactly a penthouse or Park Avenue, but I sure like living the suburban life so far.

Things here are pretty steady and routine. Each morning, I greet Foster Mom (FM) at the bottom of the steps on my dog bed and request a pre-breakfast belly rub. FM always complies, and then I have my breakfast. Then we take a walk, and I check out all the new smells left overnight.

Although my daily walk stamina has been improving and FM says she sees more pep in my step, when we return to the house, I’m usually tired out and like to take a nap wherever FM is.

When I go in the backyard for potty breaks, sometimes the dogs next door like to bark at me through the fence, so I return the sentiment, although I do it from afar and not at the fence line—that’s too scary. Overall, I’m not much of a barker. When the weather is nice, I like to lie on the patio and take it all in.

That being said, last night I did bark at 2 people and a dog walking behind us—but really all I wanted to do was meet them. Once we all met, all was fine. When we walked ahead of them, I stopped and waited for them to catch up. I do like meeting new people and dog friends, and it was fun walking in a group rather than just my FM, if you know what I mean.

This morning I came so close to a squirrel that it startled both the squirrel and FM. The squirrel must have been really into the nut he was holding or else had his ear buds in but I think his squirrel tail touched my chin. So, I do like thinking about chasing squirrels even though I’m not that fast, and so far, FM has been able to hold me back. I just like to scare off the squirrels.

One of my accomplishments I’m proud of is not barking at the vacuum cleaner the second time I saw it. The first time was scary, and I kept barking, but the second time, I realized it wasn’t going to eat me or FM, so I just stayed out of its way. FM also says she’s proud of how I let her clean my paws. I really don’t mind her touching my paws.

I’m looking forward to getting weighed again next week at my follow-up vaccine appointment to see what progress I’ve made with all our walks and the weight management food. And now that I know my daughter, Blondie (#3252) has lost 3 pounds, I want to lose 4. Haha.

Your friend, Shelbie

October 7, 2026

Yesterday (06 Oct) marked my first full week in my foster home. According to Foster Mom (FM), I’m doing amazing. I continue to be perfect in the house (which I never lived in before) without any accidents, and I sleep all night on the first floor. In fact, Mom slept in a little later this morning, and I didn’t make a sound—just waited patiently downstairs. Then we had breakfast and a walk around the neighborhood while I did my business. We met another neighbor on our walk, and I just sniffed and quietly said hello. FM told me she was very proud.

Over the weekend, my friends Colin and Pepper came over for the weekend. We all got along, and they taught me how comfortable the couch is.

Why have I just been lying on the floor or dog bed when this big and comfy couch is available? The other night when FM and I were watching TV, I started howling along with the siren playing on the TV show. FM thought that was funny.

I do like to follow my FM all around the house—even to the bathroom! But I’m still not interested in going to the second floor. Maybe later, we’ll see.

When FM works at the kitchen table, I like to sleep at her feet or lie on my back. I do love to lie on my back because I’ll probably get a belly rub.

FM tries to take me in the car with her whenever she can on short errands, but when FM is out of the house for a few hours, I’ve been a perfect angel by myself. However, the other day, I was eager to go with her, so I jumped in the front under the steering wheel. But I went back inside and took a nap while she was out.

Like my daughter (Blondie #3252), I like to stop and smell the flowers on our walks. It looks like I’m all set up on the neighborhood p-mail system since I am sending and receiving lots of messages. On tonight’s walk, I happily met some more neighbors, including some little kids—a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old. I was so calm and let them pet me.

This afternoon, I had another playdate with Colin and Pepper. We visited the park in their neighborhood, and it has a creek.

Even though I’ve never been around water before, I put my feet in and wasn’t scared at all. Maybe in the future I’ll be a water dog?

October 2, 2026

Happy Friday, everyone. Today (02 Oct) is officially my third day at my foster home. I’m really settling in and liking it here.

Foster Mom (FM) still walks me twice a day around the neighborhood. I start out strong but get a little tired and slower as we get closer to the end of our walk. She says I need to keep walking to lose some weight. Well, I think she needs to lose some weight too, IMHO.

Last night and today, I met some nice neighbors along the way. FM says I was very friendly while greeting them since I didn’t jump or bark. In fact, after a minute or so, I like to sit down while FM and the neighbors talk about me and how pretty I am, if I do say so myself.

Yesterday, I met two Brookline alum doggies—friends of FM. They came to the house, and we all sniffed each other in the backyard and then moved on to sniff the grass since that’s always more interesting. So much to do about nothing in our meet and greet. They’re coming back this weekend for a sleepover!

Then FM had to go out for 2 hours, and I stayed in the house all by myself. FM was so proud of me for being a good girl—no accidents, and I didn’t touch a thing except for the bone that FM put a small treat in.

And last night I slept downstairs all by myself for the first night while FM slept upstairs in her bed. I slept all night without a peep until about 7:30 this morning, when I barked at something outside on the front porch. FM said I was such a good girl. After breakfast and a walk, I’m now sleeping on the kitchen floor. Have I told you that I love to sit, lie down, and sleep?

Also, I almost forgot—the lawn mower guys cut the grass today. I heard this loud machine and looked out the back door but didn’t bark or growl or anything. I just wanted to see what all the noise was about. Then I laid back down and forgot about them even when they brought out the leaf blower to clean up the patio.

That’s it for now. FM says she’ll post more videos soon.

Your friend, Shelbie

October 1, 2026

Hi everyone, Shelbie here. Yesterday morning, Foster Mom (FM) took me to get some shots and tests. Apparently, I was a very good girl and really liked riding in the car and looking out the window.

We had to wait in the car for our appointment, so I took a nap across the backseat. The vet wasn’t scary at all—they even gave me a belly rub when the doctor wanted to listen to my heart. The vet says I have to lose some weight (the scale said 95 lbs.) before I get spayed, so I’m on a diet of 1.5 cups a day and a very limited amount of treats. I think this upsets FM more than me. But the good news is that I’m heartworm negative.

FM and I have been walking twice a day, and after a nice walk, I’m ready for a nap. In fact, after last night’s walk, I conked out on my dog bed while FM watched some TV.

Didn’t wake up until this morning when it was time for breakfast.

There are lots of squirrels running around on our walks, and I keep my eye on them, but I don’t pull hard on the leash when I see them. FM says it’s easy to walk me—maybe it’s because I’m a slower walker.

I’m getting more comfortable being in the house after just 2 days—check out my spread-eagle position. Sometimes I chew on the Benebone toy.

The big steps to the second floor still intimidate me, but FM said she’s going to work on that with me. When FM goes upstairs, I wait for her at the bottom of the stairs.

That’s it for now. Today, I’m going to meet some Brookline alums for a playdate. Look for pictures and videos of that tomorrow.

September 29, 2026

In July, I turned 5, so I still have lots of life in me, although I do need to lose a few pounds, at least according to my FM. I think I’m full-figured. Tomorrow at the vet, I’ll find out my official weight.

As you can hopefully see from the pictures, my coat is a very light yellow, and FM says I’m a very pretty girl. She also says I’m sweet and give nice, gentle kisses.

On the way to my FM’s home, I rode in the car like I’ve been doing it all my life. I stayed in the back seat and looked out the window—a few times I even stuck my nose out of the window to feel the fresh air on my snout.

At my new foster home, FM says I took the 3 steps from the garage to the kitchen like a pro. Exploring all around the backyard was fun, especially taking in all the new smells. While Mom had lunch, I slept by her feet. After that, we went for a walk in the neighborhood, and I met a neighbor and walked really well on the leash, according to FM.

After all that, I was tired and fell asleep on the family room floor. I think FM also fell asleep on the couch. Then I gobbled up my dinner, and we went for another walk.

Tomorrow, FM says she’s taking me to the vet for some tests and shots. I’ll update you tomorrow evening on how my second day goes, so stay tuned.