Toby #10 Black Labrador Retriever Mix Male 3 Months Old ID #3073

January 23, 2023

Toby has officially been with us a week now!

Toby is still sleeping overnight in the crate and is doing wonderful with it, he doesn’t whine/cry anymore. He’s even been enjoying naps in there! He’s stretching out his overnight bathroom trips anywhere from 4-8 hours. He has never had an accident in his crate either. He still does have an accident every once in a while, (always pee, one accident every few days, usually on rug) but he’s still doing so well with his potty training!

Toby is very good at entertaining himself. He absolutely loves toys of any kind (bonus if they make noise)! He has even figured out how to get the toys out of the toy bin and enjoys taking them all out! Toby also has learned tug and loves his Brookline fleece braided tug he got in his foster box. He’s learned that playing with the big dogs isn’t that scary too! Toby has very much been enjoying learning to play with his bigger foster siblings. He no longer holds back when playing with them! He has almost perfected his fetch, but as of right now, he only plays inside and chases his stuffed animals. We’ve showed him tennis balls, but he’s not quite interested in them yet.

When Toby first got here, he was really scared of our chickens. He has since realized, that they’re more scared of him than he is of them. He now enjoys walking next to them and even attempts playing with them (they don’t play back haha). He can be very fearful of new unknown things, but we have been able to work through it with using toys as a distraction/lore/reward. Since he’s not very food motivated right now, his toys and lots of praise are the best reward for him.

Toby continues to impress us every day! He is so smart, sweet, sassy and very loving! He has a big personality that anyone would fall in love with, I know we have!

January 16, 2023

Toby has officially been with us a week now!

Toby is still sleeping overnight in the crate and is doing wonderful with it, he doesn’t whine/cry anymore. He’s even been enjoying naps in there! He’s stretching out his overnight bathroom trips anywhere from 4-8 hours. He has never had an accident in his crate either. He still does have an accident every once in a while, (always pee, one accident every few days, usually on rug) but he’s still doing so well with his potty training!

Toby is very good at entertaining himself. He absolutely loves toys of any kind (bonus if they make noise)! He has even figured out how to get the toys out of the toy bin and enjoys taking them all out! Toby also has learned tug and loves his Brookline fleece braided tug he got in his foster box. He’s learned that playing with the big dogs isn’t that scary too! Toby has very much been enjoying learning to play with his bigger foster siblings. He no longer holds back when playing with them! He has almost perfected his fetch, but as of right now, he only plays inside and chases his stuffed animals. We’ve showed him tennis balls, but he’s not quite interested in them yet.

When Toby first got here, he was really scared of our chickens. He has since realized, that they’re more scared of him than he is of them. He now enjoys walking next to them and even attempts playing with them (they don’t play back ha-ha). He can be very fearful of new unknown things, but we have been able to work through it with using toys as a distraction/lore/reward. Since he’s not very food motivated right now, his toys and lots of praise are the best reward for him.

Toby continues to impress us every day! He is so smart, sweet, sassy and very loving! He has a big personality that anyone would fall in love with, I know we have!

January 9, 2023

Sweet Toby has settled in a lot over the past two days! He is learning so much from his three foster siblings! He loves following them around and watching what they do. He’s still pretty timid about playing with them, he initiates it but backs away as soon as they try to play back. He does love running around the yard with them!

Yesterday, Toby had a big adventure! He got to go to the farm with his foster brother, Bean. We had Toby on a long line leash so he could explore a little better. We walked trails and Toby stuck by closely, despite having 50 feet of leash. Toby very much enjoyed himself in the tall grass and loved romping through it. He even explored water a little bit and was playing in a shallow puddle with Bean.  He seemed to want to go in the pond, but we discouraged that since it was pretty cold. He definitely enjoys the outdoors!

Despite being a puppy, Toby doesn’t ‘play’ bite much to our surprise. He does have the typical puppy antics, mostly chewing on things he shouldn’t. He is easily redirected to a toy though. His favorite toys are stuffies that are as big as he is! He loves retrieving them, and we’re working on perfecting his fetch.

Toby isn’t super food motivated right now but will still listen to direction and loves getting told he’s a good boy! He has mastered “Sit” and we’re working on “Down” and “Release”. He is very receptive to a stern “No” when he’s doing something he shouldn’t.

Toby is getting better with his crate. He does still cry initially when he gets put in (we’re working on him going in himself) but the crying/whining gets better each day. We’re also super impressed how great he’s been with potty training. At night, he will go between 3-4.5 hours before he wants to go out. As soon as he hits the grass, he does his business and wants to go right back in. During the day, he’ll go to our back door and paw at it if he wants to go out. He’s great at telling us what he wants!

Toby absolutely loves to cuddle. He is really good with holding you hostage as he naps on you, whether it’s using your arm as a pillow, or climbing in your lap. He’s always looking for somewhere comfy to curl up and take a nap.

January 8, 2023

Hi,

Toby is a 13-week-old, male weighting in at 19.5lbs.

Toby is settling into our home nicely after his big adventure from Mississippi (thank you to everyone who helped get these pups here!). He is a 13-week-old black lab, who is also the biggest of the litter at 19.5lbs! He certainly misses his siblings, but is learning to be independent already. He’s especially interested in his foster brothers and is so excited to get to know them better.

Toby is loving all of his new toys and played constantly for the first few hours of being here yesterday. He has a lot of energy! He loves to be close to people and throws a small fit when someone leaves a room, but settles down quickly. He’s been loving having a big yard to run around, but is a little leery of being on a leash. I’m sure he’ll learn to love it quickly!

He slept in the crate overnight and did cry at times, but was also good at telling us when he needed to go to the bathroom. He hasn’t had any accidents yet and goes right to the back door when he needs to go to the bathroom.

We’re excited to learn more about Toby and watch him grow over the next couple of weeks!