Zeek #3430 Black Labrador Retriever Male 7.5 Years Old #3430

Meet Zeek!  Zeek is a energetic, ball obsessed, handsome black Lab who unfortunately found himself at a shelter because of life changes with his family and they just didn’t have the time for this him.  Luckily, Zeek was pulled from the shelter and is now living his best life in his Brookline Foster home.  Please read his blog from the bottom up to learn more about him.

April 8, 2025

The tale of Zeek’s tail!

Oh boy, this poor pup has been through the windmill these past few days. He first came into my home with a “happy tail“. He’d had some minor surgery on it, and as it turns out, he needed a little bit more. He kept going after the tail, especially when he would wag it and hit it on something. Even bumping into something soft, he would jump as if he’d been shot with an electric probe. I suspected that maybe it wasn’t healing, and as it turns out the tailbone was clipped, but no sutures had closed the wound. I think because it was at the distal end of the tail, the thought process was it would heal up without suturing. Wrapping and re-wrapping and re-wrapping the tail over the weekend only to have him get at it around the E collar continually was a source of frustration for both of us. We ended up at Blue Pearl here in Langhorne yesterday and the doctor agreed that more surgery was needed. So now sweet Zeek has a tail a little bit shorter but hopefully is healing very well. The doctor and technicians just raved at what a very special dog he was in spite of the injury, kissing everybody within reach. I now have lots and lots of medication help to keep him quietly sedated. He walks outside on the leash to relieve himself quietly when I ask him to “wait” if he starts to pull at all, and is taking treats much more gently each day. He really wants to be good.

In 10 to 14 days, the large tail bandage and sutures will come off. Interesting note, the doctor wrapped a large plastic syringe around the tail to protect it. She said she had heard about it to protect a happy tail, but had never done it, so took the time to watch a video and learn how to do it before she brought him into surgery. Really amazing dedication!

Raven was pretty upset yesterday with Zeek gone and was absolutely delighted to see him walk back in the house late last night. She keeps trying to engage him to play, but unfortunately, he’s not really interested.  They peacefully co-exist in the house, and will lay next to each other, but is more interested in his people or a ball so I think he would do fine as the only dog in a household as he doesn’t really seem interested in a game of doggie chase or need another dog for companionship.  He definitely gets along well with the cats, totally ignoring them as you can see in one of the pictures where Jeremiah is walking behind him. And he prefers to drink out of the cat’s water fountain, ignoring the two bowls of water provided!

April 2, 2025

You can tell Zeek is used to a crate as he now goes to lay down in it whenever he is bored or just needs a nap. He especially heads to the crate when Jeremiah, pictured here, decides to take over his bed! And I think Zeek has given up hoping this cat is going to play with him. It’s all good, they have a nice mutual respect for each other.Zeek started to pull his bandage off the tail last night, but I scolded him and he must’ve realized I meant business because he immediately laid down submissively. With very little challenging on his part, he did allow me to quickly re-wrap it to his tail hair and reapply the bitter apple. Bonus that I did not have to call Claire for help!He is a very inquisitive dog and is constantly looking for some sort of stimulation, sniffing at every piece of furniture, corners of rooms, the cats ,or really anything within reach of his nose. He also has a voice! Not just barking which he does at anything that walks by the backyard, but he talks! It’s really adorable!

Bones hollowed out, filled with peanut butter and frozen are a great diversion for him. He carries them around proudly like a trophy he has earned, and I now have a vast collection in the backyard that he decided was a better place for them.

Zeek tries very hard to please, and just asks for belly rubs and hugs and food. Lots of food! He is truly a big joy to have around.

March 31, 2025

Let me start off by saying Zeek is an amazing dog, very sweet disposition, knows lots of commands and is eager to please. But the past 24 hours have been a comedy here at his foster home. Zeek came with a bandaged “happy tail”  injury and yesterday the bandage managed to come off and he immediately started to lick the wound. I had already had issues trying to get him to keep the e-collar in place.  When my friend Betty came to help me put the bandage back on, the comic routine started. He ran to the door to greet her, happy tail whacking all down the hallway, past the kitchen, the closet and the French doors leading to another room. Suffice it to say after cleaning up all the spatter, I will not have to do any spring cleaning. The spatter was like a hose with a tiny leak, it was literally everywhere! And poor Zeek could not understand why he needed to go into the crate, though when directed he went in easily. To top it all off, picture two 70 + year old ladies ( in pretty good condition for their age) trying to wrestle a 100+ pound wiggly lab as we attempted to analyze the wound and re-bandage. In the end I called on Claire for decision making and we ended up at Pets Furst Urgent Care, in Langhorne. Several hours later I brought a very sedated rebandaged pup back to the house. As he does not like his nails clipped, they also trimmed them while he was sedated. The quality of care there is amazing and the staff are extremely helpful and compassionate. He slept most of the afternoon but heartily ate a good supper, took his Rx of meds for inflammation, and again slept all night in my bedroom uneventfully with Raven.Letting the pups out this morning to go potty, they ran back and forth for a bit to Raven’s delight. Zeek started to show a bit more interest in her, until he found the mud hole for a good roll. As I was watching him get up and shake himself off, the tail bandage came flying off like a rocket, landing about 10 feet away. The doctor had made sort of a bulb on the end with so much bandage material that it looked like he was launching a lawn dart. Another” I need HELP” message to Claire and she came. Peanut butter on inside edge of the e-collar to keep him busy , a bit of wrestling, and we were able to re-bandage! I think I could have sold tickets to this comedy show.All jokes aside, Zeek is a very happy boy, full of love and really wants to be good. He will do anything for a tennis ball, or treats. He is learning a few more commands such as “wait” for his food and when walking in a harness, but he learns very quickly. If I could keep him out of the toilet for drinking water, I will be very happy.  He has the classic Lab-lean, pushing up against me for lots of love and a hug. And he, like Raven, likes a clean face. After eating or drinking they both will either go outside and rub their face back and forth on grass to wipe off anything, or they seem to find a part of the sofa to rub on. I have now placed a large towel on the end of the sofa for them to use and it works!He is now resting in the crate quietly, and I need to rewash my floor and hall. The picture of his green and white bandage is the one he launched this morning.

March 30, 2025

Zeek and our first day and night together:
This is my first time with a foster dog, so please bear with my lengthy note on Zeek this morning! It was wonderful to put Katie’s ‘s face with her name, to meet her very nice husband, and I so appreciate all their help yesterday. Zeek was so good on the 40 minute ride back to the house here, though he did an exhibit a nervous pant quite a bit. I had forgotten that there was a squeaky toy in the back of my car and he found that with great delight, as well as an oversized tennis ball. When I asked him to lay down, he did so readily, though a few minutes later, he would bounce back up.

Thank goodness Claire met me at the house to do introductions with Raven. That seemed to go very smoothly though I think she was much more excited to see him than the other way around. Chalk it up to a new environment and a lot of changes this week for him. They are slowly getting to know each other.

Watching the dynamics between these two dogs and the three cats in the house is really fun. Raven has been sulking because I’m putting so much energy into Zeek right now, so I had to take some extra time with her telling her what a good girl she was, extra brushing and a few extra treats. He decided that maybe he needed to make up with her and actually laid down beside her bed for a while, staring at her with those big brown bedroom eyes of his!The cats think he is the greatest thing since fresh fish! Raven has been very respectful of the cats, but really doesn’t engage with them and sort of looks bored when they come near. (She always gives me a look as if to say what do you want me to do with this thing? ) Zeek however took a shine to all three of them, and they all joined him in the backyard for a nice romp before dinner last night. I even noticed him take a swipe with his tongue on Camo’s face while he was lying on the sofa with me. He does seem to jump towards Jeremiah, my biggest Maine coon, as if to play and I have to stop that because it’s been a little scary for Jeremiah. When I tell him to “leave it” when he is looking to make a jump, you can see him thinking about it, but he does obey very well.He ate really good dinner and I added some extra Bernie‘s perfect poop digestion support supplement to his food. He has made quite a few frequent trips out to the back of the yard since he’s been home and his stool seems pretty soft. So hopefully with the food and supplement I’m giving him it will help firm things up so that won’t be an issue going forward.

He let me check his ears out, and I didn’t see any issues there. And I did rub down his legs, though I haven’t attempted to touch his feet yet but he doesn’t seem to be having any issues when he walks or runs.

He loves tennis balls! He has already destroyed two and found three others in the house which he hoards. Zeek is ball obsessed!

Someone has trained him pretty well as he will sit and lay down very quickly with a quiet command. He does have a very loud bark and expressed that with every passing neighbor and dog.

We spent quite a bit of time outside yesterday afternoon while he chased down any ball or toy he could find for me to toss. When I would ask him to “bring it“ indicating I wanted the tennis ball he was carrying around in his mouth, Zeek would bring it right to me and with the command “drop it “ he would drop it right at my feet only to have me throw it again, and again, and again, and again.I had debated sleeping on the sofa downstairs last night, but then thought that might throw Raven‘s routine totally off. So when I announced “let’s go to bed”, both dogs jumped up and readily followed me upstairs.Zeek settled down quickly and slept the whole night through! We were up at 6:15 for his potty break and Raven stayed in bed as she is a late riser. He ate a good breakfast this morning, asked to go outside to potty and came right back in to crash on one of the dog beds with another tennis ball he discovered outside. He is a very sweet dog and is easily food motivated. We are working on taking treats and snacks more gently and he’s coming around quickly in only a few hours! He wants to please, has lots of good energy, likes to be hugged, and when you tell him he is a good boy, or just petting him, he rewards with lots of wet kisses. I’m very much looking forward to working with this sweet dog and hopefully he’s going to make a great companion for someone or some family. More tomorrow!