Tammy Yellow Labrador Retriever Female 5 Months Old ID #3456

November 26, 2024

Tammy has settled into home life well. She’s still learning what is and isn’t a toy, but she’s redirected easily. Her crate training has gone well, and she sleeps soundly through the night. She does not appreciate being left in the crate without people nearby, so we’ve had to move it into the bedroom. She really is just a Velcro dog and loves having companionship. She loves resting her head on our laps and getting pets for what seems like hours on end.

Her housebreaking has been going well. As with any puppy her age, she still needs frequent visits outdoors to solidify the routine of when and where to go. She doesn’t want to be left alone outside, wondering why you’re not following her out. She will stand at the back door and try to look for us, but will eventually go out and do her business.

Tammy’s favorite activity is fetch, followed closely with a game of chase. She doesn’t seem to mind walks, but isn’t overly thrilled about them so we’ve prioritized free roam play in the backyard with her. She’s a tennis ball fanatic and will run after them all day long. Indoors she will curl up with a toy to chew on and go to town on it. She spends a lot of time on the dog bed next to me while I work, rotating between chewing on toys and napping.

She gets along great with the other dogs, and even has met the cats face to face without an issue. She was curious and not hostile, and may do well in a house with cats. It’s unknown how she would react to a running cat, she may think it’s trying to play and join in on the fun.

She’s been a great pup for us, and with some continued reinforcement of the rules will continue to be.

November 20, 2024

This pup definitely enjoys company. She’s been such a wonderful Velcro dog, keeping my feet warm as I work. She seems to be acknowledging her name now too. I don’t think she lives the way our house is decorated, because she decided at one point to pull out the toy basket and spread the love around the room. followed by promptly laying down and napping as a way of enjoying her artistry.

We’ve had a quieter day for day 3, now that Tammy is starting to ease into the regular life of a spoiled dog. She has been getting along so well with Bear and Echo, watching them and taking their cues on how to act. She’s tried cuddling up on Bear a couple times for some mid-afternoon naps, but eventually his snoring causes her to move away to somewhere quieter.

We had a late-night walk which was a big improvement from our first one. She pulled at first, but she seemed to be trying to keep up with Echo in front of her. Once we separated the dogs and it was just me and her, she actually finished the second half of the walk in a very calm, loose leash manner at my heel. It was dark, so some of the passing cars with bright lights and houses with bright decorations were quite distracting for her. She seems a bit timid when it comes to these new experiences, unsure of how to react. Still no noticeable prey drive towards smaller animals, but maybe we just haven’t found the squirrel that drops acorns on Foster Dad’s truck yet. We’ll keep an eye out for him, and keep working on our leash manners to keep up this progress.

Crate training has been improving, but she’s still a bit envious of other dogs having overnight freedom while she doesn’t. She was unsettled at first, but eventually slept for a good 8 hours. She’s been such a good girl, always enjoying attention or even just being close to people when she doesn’t have it. She’s quite the love bug.

November 17, 2024

Tammy’s big adventure continues into Day 2.

Our first overnight went pretty well in the crate. Our little bit of crate training yesterday certainly helped as she was a lot calmer when we put her in for the night, though she did start to whine a bit after an hour or so. No accidents overnight, or at all during the day!This girl is a fetch MONSTER. Don’t you miss the days of seemingly unlimited energy? We need to find a way to harness that energy for us adults. We spent a couple hours throughout the day playing fetch in the backyard, and she never tired. Always determined to chase that ball or sniff it out of its hiding spot when she overshoots it in the leaves and loses it. However, she is learning the concept of momentum when she’s in a full sprint back to me with the tennis ball and uses my leg as a brake. Maybe that’s wishful thinking though, or I’ve just been better about stepping out of the way. After a bit of play this morning, Bear couldn’t keep up so we brought our traveling family dog Echo over to visit. She’s a bit more her size and speed. Tammy has been fantastic with meeting other dogs so far, which doesn’t come as a surprise as she’s been with her littermates until a couple days ago. She’s also been great about not nibbling on hands, which was a pleasant surprise.We had a surprise guest appearance from one of the cats upstairs, gracing us with her presence on the staircase. Tammy made eye contact but didn’t seem too interested. Definitely a good sign! We’ve had her gated off from the stairs so far, but we let her check them out to see how she would do with them. She was a little unsure at first but seemed to do well enough with a little confidence boost. We’ll check back in on the stairs and the cats once she’s a little more comfortable in a few days.We’re working on name recognition and some basic training. She has been incredibly food motivated so far. She does seem to jump up in excitement (as any puppy does), but she’s already improving from yesterday. She’s still quite a lovebug and as I sit here typing this out, she is laying on my feet relaxing after a long day of zipping around the back yard. Tammy has been such a good girl for us and we’re very happy to have her in our home during this transition to her forever home!

November 16, 2024

Today we had the pleasure of meeting the wonderful Tammy. She’s completed her 2-day trek along with 4 other siblings from the south and has begun to settle into her foster home.

She’s a beautiful 5-month-old yellow lab who already seems like she’s going to be a very loving Velcro dog. So far, she hasn’t left my side. We spent the first few hours in the backyard exploring, playing fetch and meeting the resident Brookline foster dog mentor, Bear. She has given that gentle giant quite an exercise as she darted around and snatched tennis balls quickly off the ground. This girl has some speed to her, but she’s still adjusting to these goofball long legs. She likes to run and hop like a kangaroo as she gets close to the tennis balls. She discovered a love of catching falling leaves from the backyard tree and the fun of dashing around in the sand.

She was hesitant at first to be inside the house, but quickly learned that’s where the food is kept. She is not currently housebroken, and we’ve had one accident so far. Can’t blame her, as this is her first dose of what “the good life” is going to be like. It’s still all new to her, and we will be working diligently on getting her housebroken.

We had our first walk today, which actually went better than expected for a dog who has maybe seen a leash once before. She pulled, but the bungee leash helped remind her of her limitation of freedom. She’s still very manageable at her current size, so we will continue to work on leash manners and public confidence. For the most part, she kept pace with Bear and was very curious about the new neighborhood sounds of people minding their own business and barking dogs not minding theirs.

We also worked on some crate training, with some short introductions with food and some quiet alone time. After a long day of fun and some exhausting time in vans, she’s finally settling down and relaxing for a bit.