Stardust Yellow Labrador Retriever Female 7 Years Old ID #3654
SNovember 29, 2025
Beautiful Stardust is recovering nicely from her spay and gets her stitches out tomorrow.
She is very comfortable in our home and integrated into our routine. She now goes upstairs and sleeps overnight in the bedroom with us and the resident dogs. She prefers to crawl in the crate we have set up in our bedroom and sleeps there for the night with the door open. She has also discovered the joy of dog beds ☺️
We just started walking again (since her surgery) and plan to start increasing the distance with the goal of 1 mile. She needs to lose a little baby weight, but that should melt off with regular walks and a few games of fetch.
Stardust is starting to enjoy getting her leash on and exploring the neighborhood. She doesn’t react to cats, squirrels, or other dogs; she just trots along right beside me. Less is bothering her when we are out walking. She is now ok with passing cars and trash cans too. She stops to sniff on occasion and wags her tail instead of tucking it. Flags flapping in the wind the other day startled her, but I’m sure it was something new. Here is a short video of Stardust on leash. She really is a great little walker!
Stardust loves attention, but she is not a Velcro dog. When we are seated in the living room, she is right beside us looking for pats but is not under foot when I am trying to get things done around the house. She is gentle and quiet except when she comes in from the back yard after going potty – she is so excited to be back inside and to get a treat she becomes all wags and wiggles. It is so cute!
We did have some visitors over the holidays and Stardust was shy at first. Given a little time and space, she quickly warmed up and enjoyed her new friends.
I will be making Stardust available in a few days as long as everything checks out at the vet. She would love to find a home for the holidays!
November 16, 2025
Stardust has had so many “firsts” in the past few days!
Little Miss Stardust is such a superstar! In addition to being the sweetest lovebug, she is now walking around the block on leash – she pancaked on leash when she was evaluated. She sits on command and just started helping herself to her favorite bone in the toy bin. She hasn’t been interested in anything but a ball until this point.
On top of that, she followed me up the stairs to the second floor today and came back down like she had been doing it her whole life. This girl is the total package – sweet, obedient, smart and loving. She came in the most shut down momma we have fostered and is on track to be available as soon as she recovers from her spay. She is going to make some family very lucky. Stardust is hoping to be home for the holidays!
November 12, 2025
Stardust continues to amaze us! Today she showed off her ball fetching skills. We have tried to get her to play with toys and balls since she arrived with no interest at all. I guess she decided today was the day – and once she started, she didn’t want to stop – she was so happy! Please see attached video ☺️
Here are some more pictures from today. She is such a beauty!
All the exercise on this windy day makes for a tired pup. Luckily, foster dad was home to snuggle with 🥰
November 11, 2025
Stardust took several steps forward today!
First, she decided to venture out of the laundry room and spent a good part of the day in the kitchen watching me cook, clean, and do some work on the computer. She was comfortable enough to take a little nap, too.
When foster dad got home from work, Stardust came over to greet him with the resident dogs. This was so unexpected and good to see. I thought that would be the biggest news of the day, but tonight she decided to check out the living room and joined us for the evening. Here she is helping me as I write this: 
We are so proud of this brave girl. She is clearly out of her comfort zone and still very cautious, but she is really trying to figure it all out and seems to want our company now. We have even gotten some small tail wags. 🥰
On another note, we went to the vet today. Stardust was very shy but did a good job. She reluctantly took treats from the vet and held still for her exam and shots. The vet found nothing concerning. We will get Stardust’s blood work back in a few days. If all is good, she will be spayed next week.
November 10, 2025
Stardust is officially retired! She rode very well in the car back to our house. As you can see, she is a beautiful girl, but she is very shut down. People have clearly not treated her kindly. Poor girl is so unsure of us and scampers away when we approach her. We introduced her to the resident dogs and all went well, but there was little interaction. She spent much of her first day outside in our fenced yard keeping her distance from us as we did yard work.
Our daughter was home from school and determined to make friends with Stardust before she went back. Some patience and a few treats worked wonders as you can see from the pictures below.
Around dinnertime, when it started to get dark, we had to coral her to get her inside as she kept sprinting away from us. Once inside, Stardust stayed in the laundry room and we fed her there and put a gate up so the resident dogs left her alone. She slept soundly through the night and went right out and did her business this morning. She didn’t want to come back in again, so we left her outside, laying in the flowerbed until it started raining.
We were able to coral her a little easier this time to get her inside. She hid in the laundry room again, but let me sit with her and pet her. She was stiff at first, but eventually, she relaxed and leaned into me just a little. Stardust still keeps her distance, but now allows us to approach her for pets and we reward her with a treat. We are feeling like this is a big step for her. We will take it slow with her and give her the space and love she needs to gain some confidence.