Zoey #11 Yellow Labrador Retriever Female 6 Years Old ID#3302

Meet Zoey!  She is a 6 year old former breeder Mama who is looking forward to living the good life.  Please read her blog from the bottom up to learn about her adventures in foster care.

June 10, 2023

Hi All Zoey here!! Just a quick update…

I get these pesky spay sutures out this upcoming Thursday.  FM put a pretty pink suit on me and I have left them completely alone. But not gonna lie…I’ll be happy to be out of this suit. Also, FM says to be watching out for around Tuesday or so when I’ll be made “available “.  Not sure what that means but FM says those reading this will know.

…and this is exciting….on Friday a special girl is coming to the house to give me a bit of a Spa day to get me all spiffy for the Meet and Greet at Bark Ave in Harleysville on Saturday.   We’ll be going there from 11 – 1 pm.  I can’t wait to meet everyone and give lots of sweet little kisses.

That’s it for today…just wanted to say Hi and tell you about my upcoming week!!

June 3, 2023

Hi All, Zoey here!! Wow it’s been quite a few days!  FM said I should take a few minutes and update you on all the happenings.

Thursday I went to a place FM called the Vet and spent the day there.  I now have stitches in my belly that I’m told was from being spay and also they removed a yucky tumor that was near one of my mammary glands.  I think they also removed that Mammary gland as well.  But all this means, and I can officially say, I’m done being a breeder Momma!!  Six years is long enough to be producing babies and I’m looking forward to learning how to be a spoiled pet.After we got home, FM & FD put this awful thing around my head and boy did I hate that.  I hung my head down to the ground, bumped into everything and more often than not wouldn’t even move with it on.  Then ALL night long while FM “tried” to sleep on the sofa next to me….I took that thing off my head!!  She then put this inflated donut pillow thing on..which was a bit more comfortable but I used the end of the chaise sofa to pry that off my head too.  Aren’t I so smart??  I think I did a great job, but FM wasn’t so happy as I was very interested in the spots that had the stitches in them.

Another FM recommended something called an after surgery suit and FM ordered one of them.  At bedtime last night they put it on for the first time and they seem pretty happy with how well it is generally working.  I’m still being watched like a hawk as FM says…but we all slept much better.  You can see a picture of me wearing my new suit below 🙂Yesterday was a beautiful day outside but I wasn’t allowed to be out there very much as I love to lay in the grass and dirt, but FM & FD say that’s just not a good idea with stitches.  Don’t want to get the area dirty or infected from it, she said.  However, “our” brand new 7.5 week old grandson came to visit and I was over the moon about him!!  I really do love kids and am just so very gentle with them.  I like to sniff and give little gentle “kisses”.  FM was able to get a few pictures (below) of how great I was with him. I completely forgot to mention that the night before the surgery….we went on a wonderful walk and FM took a bit of a video showing how well I do walking on leash.

Also…more big news….FM says I’m going to something called a “Meet & Greet” at a place called Bark Ave in Harleysville, PA.  I am so very hoping that just maybe I might meet a family who would like to make me theirs for ever and ever….to spoil and love on!!  FM says that I’m such a sweet, gentle girl and so very loving she just knows I’m gonna be loved by everyone who meets me….after all…all the staff at the Vet fell in love with me 😉

May 30, 2023

Zoey is making really great progress after her 1st week off the farm!!  She is SUCH a sweet, gentle lovebug!!  She is so undemanding but absolutely loves if you are willing to pet her and scratch her back or head.  She does almost seem sad or “down” and I wonder if she’s missing her doggie friends from the farm?  She has had some sort of stomach upset so we switched her to a bland diet for now.  We believe that is helping her. She still is not a great eater and often just seems uninteresed.  She does really like the Pupperoni training treats and will eat her meal if we add a few to it.

Zoey’s favorite activity continues to be sleeping lol.  She is completely content to snooze the day away 🙂Last Wednesday we dog sat for our son…a little “diva” french bulldog…who seriously weighs only about 28 lbs.  She has a huge Napoleon complex and really had an issue with our Emma while inside the house.  Outside she got along just fine with the bigger dogs.  Zoey did amazing with her and thankfully Mischa generally left her alone as well.
On Sunday, our daughter & son in law came over with our 2 1/2 yo granddaughter and 7 week old grandson.  Zoey just adored our granddaughter and wanted to constantly give her gentle kisses and was leaning into her to gain her attention.  Sadly my granddaughter is in constant motion so I didn’t get any pictures of them together lol.Zoey, who was very afraid of stairs when she got here, now will venture up AND down the stairs all on her own.  She has started to explore more and, while cautious and slower, willingly goes up and down the long flight of stairs to our upstairs.

Zoey walks really well on leash.  We use a halter style leash and while she does pull a bit when excited to sniff a good smell, she generally walks very nicely and loves going on walks.This Thursday…June 1st….Zoey will have her spay and mass removal surgery.  Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers that all goes well and that the mass shows no evidence of spreading.  It will be good to get it removed.  Hopefully her low red blood cell count will return to normal once it’s removed.

So far…..Zoey is the perfect house guest!!  She show’s no interest in chewing anything, hasn’t tried to “surf” counters, she knows to go to the kitchen sliders to signal that she needs to go outside for potty.  She has literally not made a sound…except when we tried to crate her lol….not even when our Emma barks crazy due to someone walking past the house.  I can’t stress enough just how wonderful and gentle and lovable Zoey is.  She still doesn’t answer to her name and we continue to work on her learning it.  How incredibly fortunate some family will be to have her as theirs!!After Zoey’s spay on Thursday….we’ll have her send an update to everyone 😉

May 25, 2023

Hi All,  Zoey here.  Another wonderful day in this new place I find myself.  I can sleep inside on my favorite place on the floor any time I want.  It’s truly my favorite place even though FM can’t understand why I wouldn’t rather be in a soft bed or on the sofa.  She put a doggie blanket down with me and made a very comfy pillow for my head.

Last night at bedtime, I was put into this crate thing and enjoyed a few treats.  I gave them a whole 15 minutes before I started barking and barking and barking. I think they may have forgot I was stuck in that thing!!  Anyway, finally FD came down and got me and got me up those scary stairs where I was shown a really soft and wonderful doggie bed.  I curled up in that and slept the whole night through.  It was a wonderful sleep 🙂

Then today I was out back enjoying the lovely day for a bit with resident dog Emma and I somehow accidentally fell in the pool…onto something they called a solar cover.  FD was rushing to get this shoes & socks off to come get me but I was able to do an “army crawl” type maneuver to get to the plain water then took a nice swim over to the sun shelf where I was able to then get out.  I was a very good girl just standing still while FM rubbed me all over with towels and then I enjoyed sunning myself while I dried.  What fun!

Also today….Foster Brother & Sister in Law’s little French Bulldog came to stay for a 5 night visit while they travel.  I was really curious about her and then batted my paw all at her wanting to play.  She didn’t like that and FD said NO.  I was a pretty good girl at obeying that.  Later, this little dog kept giving me a stink-eye look but I ignored her until I got up from a nap on the floor and went to walk away.  She was on the sofa and decided to jump at my back and landed a bit on me.  I just startled and ran away a bit.  Boy oh boy did she get in trouble!!  Apparently we will figure things out and learn to live together.  FM says she’s quite the Diva and needs to learn to be nice 🙂

I’m really enjoying my meals….I eat at breakfast & dinner time.  I get some treats thru the day and I think I’ll be getting even more when learning to walk the stairs.  They really kinda scare me right now.  That’s all from me…see FM’s notes below….she said they are important health updates….

We are so completely loving Zoey!!! She is honestly the sweetest, gentlest & softest girl.  She is so laid back and calm.  She continues to give the sweetest gentle kisses.  She is really gonna be an amazing pet for a very lucky family!!

We heard from the Vet today.  Chest x-rays looked clear so far…good news!!  Heartworm negative, stool sample is all negative for everything they test, bloodwork looks good….except her Red Blood Cell count is low.  Dr. Mekam thinks this is from the tumor she has.  They seem quite worried about it and want her to be spayed ASAP and have the tumor removed and then sent out for biopsy.  They don’t want any more time to pass for it to start spreading.  The Vet should be calling within a day or so to get her scheduled.

She definitely does NOT like the crate.  She’s much happier sleeping in the room with us, which is fine with us but it’s up a long flight of stairs, so we need to work on teaching her steps.

Also, she has still not had a single accident!!  She seems to know that we go outside to go potty.  We praise her each time but she truly seems to understand we go outside for that.

That’s all for tonight….as if that wasn’t enough 😉

May 23, 2023

Zoey here!!  My FM & FD decided to change my name from Sugar to Zoey.  Makes no nevermind to me as I didn’t know who Sugar was anyway.  Don’t really know who Zoey is…but FM says I’ll soon know that is my name.  Also apparently big news…..I haven’t had one single accident in the house so far.  FM & FD are so very proud of me!!
It’s been a fun, new day in this place I’m staying.  First of all….the Roosters must have had a problem today as they forgot to crow for wake-up.  Not a problem….at 4:30 sharp I started to bark and bark and bark.  FM said it was the very first noise I made since arriving haha.  Well FD came downstairs to my crate and let me out an we went out back where I ran around for a short bit and went pee & poo.  He then told me what a good girl I was and we went back inside.  I must say…..those steps out the kitchen slider to the backyard are really kinda scary to go down.  I don’t like them at all and need help getting out.  Coming back in….much easier so doing pretty good going up them thankfully.  FD gave me a few treats and then told me I had to go back into my crate.  I apparently made them happy by only barking for 5 minutes then was quiet & slept till 7:30.
Then…later in the morning, a man showed up that FM said was coming to install new carpet on the stairs & upper hallway. No big deal to me as I don’t go up those stairs yet.  I was very happy to sleep by FM in the family room or by FD’s side in his office.  It was really very noisy but didn’t bother me one bit.  I can sleep thru anything 🙂
Then tonight we took a walk around the block.  I like to zig and zag and pull a bit on occasion…but what fun that was to smell all the smells.  Afterwards we hung out in the back yard while FM and FD chatted with the neighbor.

Notes from foster Mom…
1.  Zoey is absolutely the sweetest girl…always happily wagging her tail. Loves to give kisses and get pets….unless it’s a rub on her back….she crouches low and unsure when you go to pet her there.  Face, head and kisses on her nose are just fine though.
2)  She seems to either have trouble or not prefer hard food items.  For dinner I added water to soften her kibble and added some yummy food on top and she ate it all up.
3)  She seems to have a limp or maybe stiffness in her right front leg.  Most notable after she’s been laying for a while.
4)  4:30 am is waaayyyy to early lol.  Please someone tell me we can work on that and it will improve 🙏🙏, but thankful she goes back to sleep no problem.
5)  She definitely loves to be with people.  She will happily lay by you all day long.  See below pic for one of her favorite places to lay ❤️

I think that’s it for today.  We’ll check back in again tomorrow!

May 22, 2023

It’s been quite the day for Zoey.  After a long car ride with Katie, we met up at Pet Supplies Plus and went in and got a nice bath.  She was such a good girl for bath time. We then went to the Vet, where we got all our shots and also had blood work and chest x-rays taken (she was a star patient!) Not five minutes into the exam room, and she was spread out sleeping on the floor.  Then home we went and met resident dog Emma.  That went so well…it was truly a non event.  She likes to follow Emma around the yard a bit but then just lays and rests and enjoys belly rubs.She ate her food great and has been enjoying training treats.  We’ve gone potty outside a few times.  Steps are a bit scary so in and out needs to be helped along.  She absolute loves laying and sleeping on the carpet by my husband’s side of sofa.Hoping for a good night.  She’s incredibly sweet and very chill.  Doesn’t know her name but sure loves belly rubs.  She’s a gorgeous white….so very soft.  Can’t wait to learn more about this beautiful love bug!