| Brookline Labrador Retriever Rescue Helping Labs Find Their Fur-Ever Homes |
| Maggie (now Ella) |
An Open Letter to Maggie's Old Family
Dear [my first human Mommy and Daddy and my doggie sister],
It’s been several weeks since I last saw you and I thought I should write to you to tell you
about my new life and so that you wouldn’t worry about me. I was so overwhelmed when
you dropped me off to start my new life that I couldn’t give you the good-bye that I wanted to
give to you or tell you how much I appreciate everything you did for me.
First of all, I want you to know that I am happy in my new home. Although I still miss all of
you, I am getting used to my new surroundings and am enjoying my new life. My new
mommies shower me with attention and affection. I loved them instantly, and I think they
loved me just as quickly. We have a lot of fun together, playing, going on walks, going over
my obedience lessons, and meeting other people and dogs.
The biggest change is that my mommies don’t call me Maggie. One of my mommies knew
a mean person named Maggie and she didn’t want me to be reminded of the mean girl
when she saw me. They changed my name to Ella, even though they also call me “Bella
Ella,” “Bella,” “puppy,” “fuzzy,” and lots of other silly names.
One of my favorite places to spend time is my yard. There are lots of flowers and other
plants there that attract fun playmates like birds and chipmunks. I keep trying to play with
them, but they just run away from me. A few weeks ago, some chipmunks lived in the yard.
Dear [my first human Mommy and Daddy and my doggie sister],
It’s been several weeks since I last saw you and I thought I should write to you to tell you
about my new life and so that you wouldn’t worry about me. I was so overwhelmed when
you dropped me off to start my new life that I couldn’t give you the good-bye that I wanted to
give to you or tell you how much I appreciate everything you did for me.
First of all, I want you to know that I am happy in my new home. Although I still miss all of
you, I am getting used to my new surroundings and am enjoying my new life. My new
mommies shower me with attention and affection. I loved them instantly, and I think they
loved me just as quickly. We have a lot of fun together, playing, going on walks, going over
my obedience lessons, and meeting other people and dogs.
The biggest change is that my mommies don’t call me Maggie. One of my mommies knew
a mean person named Maggie and she didn’t want me to be reminded of the mean girl
when she saw me. They changed my name to Ella, even though they also call me “Bella
Ella,” “Bella,” “puppy,” “fuzzy,” and lots of other silly names.
One of my favorite places to spend time is my yard. There are lots of flowers and other
plants there that attract fun playmates like birds and chipmunks. I keep trying to play with
them, but they just run away from me. A few weeks ago, some chipmunks lived in the yard.
They ran in the dirt and disappeared despite my frantic digging to greet them. Now I think they are gone. I can’t imagine why they don’t
want to play with me. I will keep checking the yard, just in case they come back for some play time.
My mommies also take me on long walks all of the time. I keep trying to convince them that we are going on hunting expeditions, but
they don’t agree. They keep trying to make me go slower, stop pulling the leash, and to ignore the critters and the great smells. I don’t
love it when they do this, but I love them and try to tolerate it while I figure out a way to teach them the real purpose of the “walk”!
My mommies say I am uncommonly intelligent. You probably know this already, but it makes me feel good when they say it. We started
school as soon as they picked me up and brought me to my new home. In my first 5 days home, I learned to stay, lay down and come
on command. Since then, I have learned a lot of fun new tricks, like sitting and staying for a whole minute. The minute seems like an
eternity, and sometimes I get distracted, but when I get it right, my mommies make a huge fuss, give me treats, and make me feel like a
real Einstein! I also learned that when I am excited and go under a person’s legs (like I used to do with you) it’s called “tunnel.” . If I do
it when one of my mommies says the word “tunnel,” they praise me and give me treats and rub my sides just where I like it. If I walk
around their legs when they say “circle,” they really love this and make a big fuss over me.
I have met a lot of nice people and dogs. Sometimes my mommies take me to the dog park to play. I prefer the little dogs that remind
me of my doggie sister, but I will play with dogs of all shapes and sizes. They also bring me to see their friends who have dogs or have
the dogs come over for dates. The people also give me lots of affection and tell me how smart and pretty I am. I really like that.
When I first got to my new home, I was scared because I didn’t know who was nice and who wasn’t. I knew that people with dogs were
nice, but when they didn’t have a dog, how could I know how to trust them? I barked and growled at people who I now understand are
very nice because I thought they might do something mean to me. The nice people at Brookline knew someone who they said could
help my mommies make me feel less scared. She came over and the whole family talked. Since then, my mommies have done some
new things with me that have really helped. I am learning that if they like someone, then maybe I can trust that person too.
My mommies have a good human friend who is now my vet. She comes over for visits and makes a big fuss over me. I love her
attention, but the main attraction is her little dog. We play for hours and hours. My mommies took me to her office for a check-up. She
took really good care of me. When she examined me, I cringed when she touched certain places, so she took pictures of my bones.
The pictures revealed that I have hip dysplasia. My mommies told me that I shouldn’t worry about it. They said I am a beautiful and
healthy girl and they will do everything they can do make sure I feel well. They started giving me yummy treats that they said contain
medicine for my hips. I don’t believe them because the treats are just so yummy! They also said I need to lose a lot of weight to relieve
the stress on my hips, so they started me in boot camp, which they said is really like going to a spa. I get special food to help me lose
weight, they make sure I get lots of exercise, and when all of this tires me, they give me massages. I have already lost more than 13
pounds! My mommies say I have more to lose, but I’m well on my way to my ideal weight. I am feeling well and have a much easier
time exercising now, so I guess the extra weight loss will be a good thing. My mommies have promised me that when I finish losing
weight, they will change my dog food to something extra yummy which will protect my hips from getting worse.
I sometimes hear my mommies talking about another dog who used to live with them. They said they were sad when that dog died. It’s
confusing because around me they seem so happy. I figured out that I am a rescue dog because I rescued them from their sadness.
I am still sad that you had to give me up. It was really hard to lose each other. But I want to thank you for taking me to Brookline
because they found me a great new home where I get great care, training, and tons of love. Thank you for loving me enough to get the
help of Brookline when you couldn’t keep me.
I will always love you and be grateful for all of the love you showed to me. I hope you are all happy.
Smooch!
Ella (fka Maggie)
want to play with me. I will keep checking the yard, just in case they come back for some play time.
My mommies also take me on long walks all of the time. I keep trying to convince them that we are going on hunting expeditions, but
they don’t agree. They keep trying to make me go slower, stop pulling the leash, and to ignore the critters and the great smells. I don’t
love it when they do this, but I love them and try to tolerate it while I figure out a way to teach them the real purpose of the “walk”!
My mommies say I am uncommonly intelligent. You probably know this already, but it makes me feel good when they say it. We started
school as soon as they picked me up and brought me to my new home. In my first 5 days home, I learned to stay, lay down and come
on command. Since then, I have learned a lot of fun new tricks, like sitting and staying for a whole minute. The minute seems like an
eternity, and sometimes I get distracted, but when I get it right, my mommies make a huge fuss, give me treats, and make me feel like a
real Einstein! I also learned that when I am excited and go under a person’s legs (like I used to do with you) it’s called “tunnel.” . If I do
it when one of my mommies says the word “tunnel,” they praise me and give me treats and rub my sides just where I like it. If I walk
around their legs when they say “circle,” they really love this and make a big fuss over me.
I have met a lot of nice people and dogs. Sometimes my mommies take me to the dog park to play. I prefer the little dogs that remind
me of my doggie sister, but I will play with dogs of all shapes and sizes. They also bring me to see their friends who have dogs or have
the dogs come over for dates. The people also give me lots of affection and tell me how smart and pretty I am. I really like that.
When I first got to my new home, I was scared because I didn’t know who was nice and who wasn’t. I knew that people with dogs were
nice, but when they didn’t have a dog, how could I know how to trust them? I barked and growled at people who I now understand are
very nice because I thought they might do something mean to me. The nice people at Brookline knew someone who they said could
help my mommies make me feel less scared. She came over and the whole family talked. Since then, my mommies have done some
new things with me that have really helped. I am learning that if they like someone, then maybe I can trust that person too.
My mommies have a good human friend who is now my vet. She comes over for visits and makes a big fuss over me. I love her
attention, but the main attraction is her little dog. We play for hours and hours. My mommies took me to her office for a check-up. She
took really good care of me. When she examined me, I cringed when she touched certain places, so she took pictures of my bones.
The pictures revealed that I have hip dysplasia. My mommies told me that I shouldn’t worry about it. They said I am a beautiful and
healthy girl and they will do everything they can do make sure I feel well. They started giving me yummy treats that they said contain
medicine for my hips. I don’t believe them because the treats are just so yummy! They also said I need to lose a lot of weight to relieve
the stress on my hips, so they started me in boot camp, which they said is really like going to a spa. I get special food to help me lose
weight, they make sure I get lots of exercise, and when all of this tires me, they give me massages. I have already lost more than 13
pounds! My mommies say I have more to lose, but I’m well on my way to my ideal weight. I am feeling well and have a much easier
time exercising now, so I guess the extra weight loss will be a good thing. My mommies have promised me that when I finish losing
weight, they will change my dog food to something extra yummy which will protect my hips from getting worse.
I sometimes hear my mommies talking about another dog who used to live with them. They said they were sad when that dog died. It’s
confusing because around me they seem so happy. I figured out that I am a rescue dog because I rescued them from their sadness.
I am still sad that you had to give me up. It was really hard to lose each other. But I want to thank you for taking me to Brookline
because they found me a great new home where I get great care, training, and tons of love. Thank you for loving me enough to get the
help of Brookline when you couldn’t keep me.
I will always love you and be grateful for all of the love you showed to me. I hope you are all happy.
Smooch!
Ella (fka Maggie)