Archives: Success Stories

Joe adopted Zeke from Brookline and you might remember him as the boy with the constant injured tail that took several surgeries to heal. Joe writes: Zeke is living his bet life ever, still! He has made a lot of friends and even little kids knock on my door on weekends to see Zeke. He is still very obsessed with food or anything that resembles a ball. My neighbors leave balls outside for Zeke to find. Zeke will remember where each one was left and often goes back to those spots to hope to find another ball. And, because he is so smart, he remembers each spot! I think Zeke may be much younger than was reported, because he acts like a teenager most times.
Thank you, Brookline… Joe

 

     

We contacted Brookline because we wanted a rescue lab to add to our family.
Our only criteria was an adult dog who would be safe around our daughter.
Rather than picking a dog from the website, we told them what we were
looking for and asked them to match us with a dog. They recommended we meet
Scooby (known then as Stallion/Scooter). When we met him, he immediately
took to our daughter. We knew then we definitely wanted to bring him home
for the trial period. Once home, we knew within a day he was the dog for us!

Once the adoption  was finalized, we enrolled Scooby in a basic obedience
class right away. He was a receptive and eager student, and passed his basic
obedience class with flying colors. He did so well that the dog trainer
suggested we enroll him in the next class, the AKC Canine Good Citizen test
prep class.  Scooby (and his human dad) put in a lot of hard work and
practice and it paid off! Scooby not only passed his Canine Good Citizen
test on the first try but he also passed his AKC Novice Level Trick Dog
test, too! We are so proud of him! He is a wonderful love of a dog, who is a
goofy, loyal friend. He’s a great cuddler, too! We’re so grateful to
Brookline for taking a chance on this amazing pound puppy because he’s the
most perfect dog for our family.

 

 

In January 2025, we had to say goodbye to our Chocolate Lab Charlie (a Brookline alumni). We applied to Brookline to adopt another Lab. We met with our coordinator Joe, and after a couple of tries, we were matched with Cooper, a large (104 lb.) charcoal Lab in March of 2025. Despite his size, Cooper was listed as a coach potato which seemed to fit with our life style.

 

Cooper has more than lived up to his evaluation; he is a big teddy bear. He loves meeting
people so we take him with us whenever we can (he loves car rides too!). Wherever we go, people are amazed at how happy and gentle he is despite his size (he is now down to 100 lbs.).

 

Cooper was raised in a home with four other Labs, so he was already house trained and knew most of the basic commands when we got him. After a few weeks, he started to realize he was home again and his lovable personality continues coming out. He loves his walks and lounging on the deck. He also loves to be with his people and sleeps in the bedroom with us. His favorite game is to pick up a sock or shoe and walk around the house with them (he doesn’t destroy them, just walks off with them), so you never know where your second shoe will be.

 

We want to thank Brookline and our coordinator Joe for matching us up with our gentle giant.

 

 

      

Champ is a blessing from heaven. After losing Maggie, one of my three Labs, in November 2024, I was ready to adopt another Lab shortly after the new year 2025. I currently have my other two Brookline girls, Halo and Nestle. I had my home evaluation, was approved, and began my search. I was open to male or female, but leaned more towards the former farm/breeder dogs, like my Maggie.

I saw and read Champ’s foster blog from the beginning, but didn’t realize that he was “the one” right away. I was looking at the age range of 2 – 5, and Champ was 7. Time and time again my choices were not working out, and after five, I became frustrated and sad. I knew Maggie was working on selecting the perfect match and I needed to be patient. All the while, I continued reading Champs blog.

The day he was posted as available, I had an instant feeling that he was “the one”. I applied, was
selected and got Champ all in a week’s time. Due to his former life on the farm, he was very scared of people until earning their trust. I was prepared for him to take a couple weeks to warm up. Nestle and Champ became BFF’s almost immediately, but it took a bit longer for Halo. She is the oldest and set the rules that she is the alpha, and Champ respected her space.

 

To everyone’s surprise, Champ gave me his belly within 24 hours and became my velcro boy. Every day our bond grew stronger and he opened up more and more. It took a few days for him to do the same with my roommate, Kim, since she worked the day after he arrived. I took a couple days off from work to help him adjust. When I went back to work, Kim took a couple days off. This was their bonding period, which was successful.

 

Champ joined us on February 22 nd , and I’m writing this on March 27 th. Each week more and more of Champ’s personality shines through. He discovered that he loves balls and it’s hard to take it away from him. He is quite athletic jumping in the air and chasing the ball when I throw it. He is such a happy boy. We are working on getting him out to meet people, which will take some time. I took him to work with me one afternoon on his fourth week. He did well and seemed to be relaxed under my desk on his dog bed. My coworkers gave him his space and did not force contact. I will continue this once a week in the hopes that eventually he will learn that most people are good.

During his third week, Halo initiated play with him, which made me so happy. She has now let him in the pack. There were no issues with Champ adjusting in the house while no one is home. His day is broken up by me coming home for lunch and he has free run of the house with the girls. In time, I will wean off of coming home at lunch. He does great living with three cats, and never chases them.They adjusted to him pretty much immediately. Champ is respectful of everything in the house and is not a barker. He loves being outside or anywhere that I am. We are working on playing with toys, but he likes to pull the stuffy ones apart.

I could not be happier with Champ and his progress these last 5 weeks. He is the sweetest boy, and I love his morning snuggles when my alarm goes off. He is great walking on a leash with no pulling and does great in the car. It could not be more clear to me that the others didn’t work out because Champ was the perfect fit. Thank you to my Maggie and Brookline Lab Rescue.

Heather S