Callie #3 NJ

2/20/11: 

I’m looking for my furrever home readily available for Adoption! 

Hi, my name is Callie. I am an 18 month old yellow Lab, in excellent health now thanks to the great folks at Brookline (more about that in a minute) and in excellent shape at 63 lbs. I am spayed and up to date on all my shots. Everyone says that I am really beautiful, that my coat is an awesome buffy blond and that my face is so expressive, it’s almost as if I can talk. All I do is crinkle my eyebrows, lift my ears, cock my head or bat my eyelashes, it’s so easy any lab could do it. 
I came into Brookline’s care in early December when my original owners weren’t able to manage the care I needed to recover from an injury. You see I needed bed rest so that my fractured pelvis could heal. That meant no playing, no walking except for essential business, no stairs. Let me tell you, it was boring, especially when my foster fur brother Brody had all that snow he could play in and all I could do was watch him from a window. But I have a clean bill of health now and all of my restrictions have been lifted, with just a couple of exceptions. My vet says I have to wait until late March before I can do any intense running or fetching, and that I will never be able to be a working dog for something like hunting. Otherwise, I’m back to playing, tugging, walking, all the things a young lab would want and I am fired up and ready to go to my forever home. 

So, here are the things my Foster Mom and Dad want you to know about me. I love, love, love other dogs, and I am a bit of an alpha, but a friendly one. I love people too – men, women, and little people. My original owners had a cat, so I’m OK with cats. I am very playful, love to tug, fetch, and wrestle with my fur brother. I easily share my toys and my food and I do this thing FM says is too cute, I sleep on my back with all of my legs in the air. I am a good eater, maybe a little slow and sloppy, but I always take my time and clean up all of my crumbs. And I know some basic commands. FM also said to be sure to tell you that I am a work in progress though on some issues, although she’s sure I’ll make quick progress because I really want to please my people. FM is sure too that some of my issues were related to boredom since I didn’t have much action going while on bed rest. So here goes, I counter surf (hey what respectable labbie doesn’t?), I am very vocal and chatter about everything (you know, when I see something in my yard, when I want FM’s attention to play, when I want foster fur brother’s attention to play, you get the idea, right?). Also, I pull quite a bit on the leash and now that I’m allowed to go for walks again, FM has me working on that one. And finally, one last little thing, I occasionally chew things that aren’t mine, mostly its things like newspapers and magazines. I am housebroken but on a very rare occasion have had an accident. My vet says that has to be forgiven though because of my injury. Until I was completely healed, I was more susceptible to urinary tract infections – squatting to pee just hurt too much, so I didn’t completely empty my bladder. So FM keeps an eye out for me to be sure I really empty my bladder. I don’t like to be crated though; FM will keep me in the laundry room if I am going to be left alone for more than a couple of hours. She says it’s for my own good and I really don’t mind it. 

My ideal home just needs to have people to love me and play with me. It would be a bonus if there was a fur brother or fur sister, or at least one that I could visit and play with regularly. 

Welcome to Brookline Callie!    

Callie came to a wonderful Brookline foster home today. She is 2 years and a beautiful sweet pup!    

2/18/2011   
 
 

News flash for my Brookline fans! It’s me, Callie #3 from NJ. I know you’ve been waiting to hear how my vet visit went yesterday. Great news for me, the house arrest has been lifted (oops, sorry I meant bed rest has been lifted). My vet is so happy that my X-rays show I am about 99% recovered from my pelvic fractures. I am raring and ready to go, so look out, I’m fired up to find my furever home. Just to give you some idea of what I can do now, I’m allowed to walk, play, climb stairs, just about everything a young healthy lab would want to do. My only restriction for the next 4 weeks is that I can’t run and play fetch for extended periods of time. But that’s no big deal, right? And after all, a girl has to work up to full day of play and fun gradually after living a life so filled with down time. Foster Mom says it’s OK to remind everyone that I’m in beautiful shape, a buffy blond beauty, 18 months young and very playful, but to also be sure I tell everyone that I have some manners to work on now. Things like walking on a leash without pulling, no more countersurfing (hey every lab worth her salt does that, right? And I always share my bounty with foster fur brother Brody). Oh yea and it seems important to FM that I cut down on my vocal chatter. Apparently FM thinks I “talk” too much, but mostly I’m just trying to chase something from my yard or get FM’s attention for important stuff, like eating and playing. Foster Mom also says though that I am going to learn very quickly and that some of my lax manners are just because I’m a bundle of energy since I’ve been so pent up. So keep your eye out for my posting. 

  

 
 

Callie and Brody

 
 

1/9/11    

Hi everyone.  Its Callie from NJ with an update.  I hope everyone had as good a holiday and New Year as I did.  I got to meet a lot of my foster family’s family and friends.  I don’t mean to brag, but I have to tell you that on Christmas Day, I was the hit of the party.  Everyone loved me and kept saying how friendly and pretty I was.   Well, almost everyone, except for one of my fur cousins.  Foster Mom told me afterwards that that fur cousin thinks she is the queen, so I need to learn how to read signals.   That seemed really important to Foster Mom, so I am going to work on that.  Apparently I need to learn that sometimes you can’t get in another dog’s “space.”  But with the exception of the “queen”, all my foster family’s people loved me and I know my fur brother Brody loves me too.  He plays with me all the time, and always lets me have his favorite toys.  Its been 5 weeks now since I’ve been with my foster family.  I’ve been on bed rest so that my fractured pelvis can completely heal.  It’s still tough not being able to run and play the way I want to, especially in the snow.  It makes me so sad when I watch Brody from the window – he has so much fun in the snow and I know if I could be out with him, we’d have even more fun together.    Foster Mom laughs at me because I am so vocal, I cry and bark at him as if its fault that I have to stay inside and play quietly while he gets to run around in the snow.  But my bed rest is working.  Just five weeks ago, I was a 3-legged dog.  Now, I can put some weight on my fourth leg for short periods.  Foster Mom thinks I need another few weeks of quite time to be sure I’m really strong and ready to run and play again.  Check out my pictures,  I’m the blond and Brody is my tall dark handsome fur brother.    

12/22/2010    

Hi everyone.  It’s me Callie from NJ.  That’s right, I’m originally a Jersey girl, but I’m living in PA now.  Cliff Lee isn’t the only one who knows that good things happen in the Keystone State.  Foster Mom says that even though I am PA girl now, I’ll always be a beach girl because I am such a blond beauty.  She says she wishes she could bottle my buffy blond color. I’m not sure what that means, but FM seems to think it’s a big deal and she wanted me to be sure to tell everyone too.   I’ve been in Brookline foster care for two weeks now, and what a time it has been.  First I’ll have to tell you how I came into Brookline’s care.     

I had a really great family but they weren’t able to manage my care.  I have a fractured pelvis and need to be on “bed rest” for a few weeks. It’s really tough for me to be on “bed rest”, I always thought that was for old dogs and I am a young girl.  Even though I don’t know my real birthday, my vet thinks I’m 15 months old.  I love to run and jump, wrestle with tug toys and play with my foster fur brother Brody.  I must admit, I have a pretty serious crush on him.  He’s really handsome, he’s a Brookline dog too and he is so nice to me.  He shares his toys, his bed, and his family.  I just love living with my Foster family, but I know there is a forever family waiting for me. Because I’m supposed to be on bed rest, FM has to limit my activity so most of the time me and Brody just have to play real calmly, so we nuzzle each other and share some tug toys.  As soon as we start getting rowdy, FM breaks it up.  She’s no fun!     

FM says that as soon as my fractured pelvis is healed, she has some plans for me because I have so much potential.  I know a lot of basic commands and I am housebroken.  I can’t help myself from counter surfing though when I smell good food and sometimes I even sneak something that probably wasn’t meant for me or Brody. But I do share with him, so I’m not that bad am I?  As soon as my fracture is healed, FM is going to start working with me on the leash too.  FM thinks I am going to be a fast learner.     

Well, I’ll keep you posted on my progress because I know I’ll be running and jumping real soon.    

Love Callie
    

     

12/9/2010:    

Well, we are almost on Day 3.   First of all, let me say that she is a beautiful, sweet, affectionate, playful girl, quite full of vim and vigor.  She was wonderful in the 50 mile car ride home. Our recently adopted Brookline rescue, Brody, introduced very nicely to her.  Brody is a very gentle, docile 6 year old male.  There was great positive, playful energy between Callie and Brody on their introduction.   And just that quickly then Callie took control of their interactions, including frequent and intense humping of Brody, which he didn’t correct.  Within the next day, my husband and I stepped in to interrupt Callie’s behavior.  Things have settled down significantly, even though not completely.  We just feel more in control of the situation now to keep it from getting out of hand, both protecting Brody and preventing Callie from developing some bad habits.  Also, our vet has assured us that it will settle down too as Callie becomes more acclimated to her new environment.     

The most significant development to date though has been about Callie’s health.   However, upon evaluation and Xrays today by our vet, the diagnosis indicates that Callie does not have hip dysplasia but has a partially healed pelvic fracture.  For the next 4 weeks we are to limit all but essential physical activity – no stairs, no walks except for basic business, no rough playing.  A pretty tall order for a young, feisty lab but certainly one worth doing to help her with a better prognosis for physical activity in the future.  We consider this good news and are very optimistic that Callie can have a more normal life than any of us involved would have expected.   We’ll keep you posted on her progress.     

12/7/2010    

Thanks Brookline to bringing me in to Foster care.  I had a nice journey to the Keystone State today, whatever that means.  lol  I met my new FM (Foster Mom) and my new Foster Fur Brother (Brody).  He thinks I’m quite easy on the eyes, so I know that he is a smart guy already.  He wanted to share his tug and toys with me too at my new foster home.  I thought that was nice.  We took turns drinking from the water bowl.  I’m quite chipper and I love that I have a new playmate to have fun with.  I can tell you that I like to play, tug, eat, play, have fun, get love and pets and play, oh wait, silly me, said that already huh?  I have a nice shape and like to keep it that way since I have Brody around, gotta look snazzy and strut my stuff.  Catch ya soon, off to play!    

Brody, let me show you how its done..hee hee