Taken in: 2014-10-19

The Exuberance of Youth

Hello, all you wonderful people out there! My name is Jessica, and I'm a young chocolate Lab. I'm staying here at my foster dad's place while I wait for a kind family to take me into their home and embrace me as their own. Let me tell you about myself so you can get to know me a little bit more:

A. BACKGROUND

Before I arrived here at my foster home, I was stuck inside some shelter for almost a month. It was a scary place!!! I didn't like it there at all. I was housed in this tiny area for so long that I lost all track of time.

And then one morning, this really nice lady arrived and rescued me. While I was in the midst of marveling at the sight of the blue sky and enjoying the fresh, outside air once again, she introduced me to my foster dad who told me that I was going to be staying with him for a while. He seemed like a nice guy so I said okay, and gave him a kiss. The nice lady confided to my dad that it was my final day at the shelter, and he became quiet for a while. I didn't know what that meant and so on our drive home I looked up at him and asked what this ''final day'' is supposed to mean. He gave me a warm smile, and in a kind voice replied:

''It means you're a very special girl,'' and then patted me softly on the head.

''Oh, I like that,'' I said to him.

After that, I just stayed quiet the rest of the way and enjoyed the ride.

Anyway, that's all I know about my past. And besides, I'd much rather live for the present, focus on the now, and dream about the future - with hopeful anticipation and optimism for all the potential and promise it entails.

B. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

The folks at the shelter think that I'm two years old and so that's what they wrote down on my paperwork, but the kind lady that rescued me thinks I'm actually more like four, though. To resolve the issue, my foster dad pulled me aside and told me he's going to split the difference and tell everyone that I'm approximately three years old. I think that's a neat idea!

My fur is a medium-shade of brown, just like that of a fudge brownie. But I don't have the same color everywhere. You can see a light, vertical stripe going down on both sides of my cheeks (with one side more noticeable than the other), and another lighter shade of brown on the lower portion of the back of my rear legs. There's also a tiny hairless spot at the back of each of my ear flaps - I like to think of them as ear studs! But the most pronounced feature about me that you'll notice is that three-quarters of my tail is lighter than the rest of my body.

Here is what my two-tone ''otter'' tail looks like:

When I first arrived at my foster home, I was super-thin; you can see my ribs sticking out from my skin, and my waist was very, very small. My foster dad suspects that I have not had a decent meal for quite a while, so he made sure to take care of that by giving me an extra helping of food during every meal and so now I'm starting to fill out quite nicely. He took me to the vet the other day so that we could borrow their scale since he was curious about my current weight. The lady at the clinic says that I now weigh 62 pounds!

As far as my size is concerned, I'm short, but stocky. I'm still young though, and so it's possible I may eventually get taller. In any case, here are my measurements:

C. TEMPERAMENT

If there's one thing you can say about me, it's that I'm still all puppy when it comes to behavior: I run around all the time - you'll see me do the ''puppy gallop'' when I run, where the back legs are always both in step - and I'm always looking to play. I enjoy carrying toys around in my mouth and move them around from place to place. But my absolute, most favorite activity of all is that I love nothing more than to be next to you. I'm a cuddle-bug, I'll follow you around from room to room to keep you company, and then will start playing with my toys if you're busy with stuff. Every once in a while, I'll come over and quietly tap you on the leg with my paw if you seem to be getting tired with what you're doing.

It's my way of saying,
''Would you like to pet me for a bit? If you have time, maybe we can even play a few rounds of fetch for a while. You can help me brush up on my retrieval skills. Or we can head on over to the living room so you can take a break for a few minutes so I can snuggle next to you, and then I can tell you all about my day!''

Anyway, I'm the friendly type, I have no mean bone in my body. I look forward to meeting new people and doggies all the time. My foster dad took me to a pet store the other day to buy some supplies, and boy, was I the star of the place! At first he thought that the people next to us were lining up to pay for their purchases too because we ourselves were already waiting at the checkout line. But as it turns out, the reason various folks were congregating around us was because they wanted to say hi to me because I looked so friendly and pretty! I was so thrilled, even the ones that were busy walking by while talking on their cell phones would pause for a few seconds to pet me before moving on. The grownups even let their little kids come up and pet me on the head because they could tell how friendly I was. I made sure I stood very still and wagged my tail softly when the young-uns approached, and then I gave them my best smile! I had such a wonderful time there!

My foster dad is a little concerned about my overt friendliness, though. He's worried that it might get me into trouble someday because not all folks necessarily like dogs, and not all dogs are friendly. Right now I really can't tell the difference because I'm too focused on saying hi to all of them that I just automatically want to come up and greet every single person and doggie that we come across regardless of how they react to me. He's hoping that as I get more mature, and with help and guidance from my future owners, my enthusiasm will temper down a bit, while still retaining my basic friendliness towards everyone.

Here's a picture of me greeting my foster brother the very first day that I arrived here at his home. I introduced myself to him and then gave him a quick peck on the cheeks. But he just stuck out his tongue, cried out, ''Bleagh! Yuck!'', and then left the room! Hehehe, he's the loner type and refuses to interact with me at all (I call him ''Mr. Grumpy'' because he's annoyed all the time). But that's okay, I still like him anyway.

D. BACKYARD + PLAYTIME

I try to spend as little time as possible in the backyard. I have no problem going out there to do my business whenever need to, but once I'm done I'll immediately run back inside as fast as I can. Even when I'm out playing and having fun, I always want to run back inside so I can feel the relative safety of the indoors. My foster dad suspects that in my previous life I may have perhaps been left outside all the time to live strictly as an outdoor dog, and so now he thinks that maybe I worry about the possibility of getting stuck with having to start living outdoors again, and so I seem to always want to rush back inside every chance I get.

Here's a video of me playing fetch! You'll see my foster brother sabotage my game by stealing the ball and then you'll see him snicker because I have trouble finding it afterwards. Hehehe, how embarrassing! You'll also notice in here my tendency to constantly want to head back inside:

Look, I can even stuff two balls in my mouth! I saw on teh interwebs pictures of other doggies that can simultaneously carry three balls in their mouth, and so I wanted to try it as well. But my foster dad doesn't want me to. In fact, he even discourages me from trying to put two at the same time to begin with (but not before taking this picture to document my accomplishment, of course). He says he's worried that the balls might get stuck, especially when there's no one around, and I would be in trouble.

E. SLEEPING ARRANGEMENT

My very first night here at my foster dad's home, he told me I need to stay downstairs and sleep by myself while he and my foster brother will be sleeping in the bedroom upstairs. But I didn't like that at all! I started crying the moment he closed the bedroom door. I cried so hard that I'm pretty sure I woke up the entire neighborhood because I have such a loud voice.

So my foster dad came back down to reassure me that everything's going to be okay. He explained to me that he does it this way because he isn't sure how my future owner's sleeping arrangement would be like and so he said that it's probably better if I get used to sleeping by myself for now. But I was inconsolable, I cried and cried and cried! He commented later that it was like the worst kind of separation anxiety that he's ever encountered. He tried many different things to try and appease me - he let me go upstairs and stay by the hallway; he placed me inside a crate; he restricted me to one small area; he let me roam free -- but none of it mattered. I kept on crying the moment I hear the upstairs bedroom door closing behind him. Eventually, my foster dad simply left the bedroom door open just to see what I would do: I walked up to the bedroom door and took a quick peek inside. That's when I saw that behind the bedroom door was just a tiny room and that they're still both inside the house and are simply going to bed. I was so relieved! At first I was afraid they were abandoning me in this house here on my very first night out of the shelter, but it turns out that wasn't the case. With my mind finally at ease I immediately quieted down, walked back down the stairs and went to sleep all by myself the rest of the night with nary a peep.

And so it's been like that from that point on. With the exception of that very first night when I was a bit confused and wasn't sure what was going on, every night after that I would say good night to my foster dad and brother as they went to bed upstairs. Even if they close the door behind them, I remain completely quiet. On some nights my foster dad will forget to close the bedroom door and so I just wait a while and then once I'm sure everyone's fast asleep I'll quietly sneak upstairs. When morning comes he will wake up and see me comfortably snuggled right next to my foster brother.

F. OUTDOOR WALKS

My foster dad took me out for my very first walk a few hours after I had left the shelter. Naturally, I had a lot of coiled-up energy that's been accumulating from my almost month-long incarceration, and so I let it all loose the moment we left his house: I was pulling and yanking and swerving and backtracking, and all the while sniffing at everything that we encounter. I was all over the place! It was so great to be able to experience the outdoors once more.

Below is my foster dad's recollection of what happened during that joyous event (greatly exaggerated for comedic effect!):

Here's a short video of me on one of my walks around the neighborhood during my calm moments (I like to have dramatic music playing while I commune with nature!):

Whenever we pass by some noisy neighborhood dogs that are barking at me from behind their fences or gates, I'll merely whine a little but will generally ignore them and keep walking.

I've encountered some of the neighborhood cats from time to time during our daily walks around area. They like to hang out in the front yard of their property and so they tend to be fairly close to me when we pass by. I usually stop and stare at them, but since my foster dad doesn't know if I will be friendly to them or if I'll instead end up chasing them, he always encourages me to keep moving and to not bother the kitties, just to be on the safe side.

G. MEAL TIME

As far as my dining habits are concerned, I'm not greedy at all. Even though I have a voracious appetite just like any other typical Lab, I'm perfectly happy with whatever you give me and am satisfied with that. And just to show you how good I am: the doggie kibbles that I eat for my meals are stored in a large tin can sitting in a corner of the kitchen floor. It's simply covered by a loose lid that I can easily nudge open if I wanted to, but I never show any interest in trying to open it (not even when me and my foster brother are left home alone!) even though I can see that that's where all my food comes from.

Pretty much the only time I ever show any sort of interest in people food is if the humans start to bring snacks with them into the living room and start munching on them while they're there sitting around on the sofa or start placing them on the coffee table and such. When that happens, I will sit on the floor in front of you and start waving at you with my front paw, trying to grab your attention. It's my way of letting you know I'm also interested in whatever it is you're having. My foster dad keeps telling me that begging for food is not an acceptable behavior, but so far I haven't figured out what he's trying to say and so I still keep doing this ''waving-at-people'' routine during these types of situations.

H. BATH TIME

There's no swimming pool here, and so my foster dad doesn't know if I like to swim. He knows that I don't mind getting wet at all though, because he's had a chance to give me a bath twice already and on both times, all he needed to do was call my name and I will happily run outside to the backyard and come up to him. I'll stand still and wait patiently while he pours water all over me, and then lathers, and then finally rinses me off. Of course it doesn't hurt that the water he uses to bathe me with is right in the middle of what I like to call the ''Goldilocks Zone'' -- not too hot, not too cold, but just right! In any case, my most favorite part of the entire process is towards the end, when it's time to bring out the towels and he starts to dry me off with them. I'm just one happy camper at that point!

I. INDOOR HABITS

I'm quite disciplined and very well-behaved indoors. I never counter-surf (in other words, I don't rear up to place my front paws on top of the table or countertop), and I show no interest in messing around with people's shoes or slippers. The only things I ever really busy myself with all day are the numerous toys that are scattered all over the floor on all the rooms here. But I never touch anything that doesn't belong to me. Technically speaking, the toys themselves aren't mine; they belong to my foster brother. But he doesn't mind it at all when I play with them.

...well, he normally doesn't mind it, except when it comes to his soft toys. Unfortunately, I don't really know how to play with stuffed toys, and so after a while I ended up destroying all of my foster brother's squeaky stuffed animals. I'm curious by nature, and so I always wanted to see what makes them ''tick''. So I rip a hole in the fabric and then take out all the stuffing to find out what sort of gadget is inside that makes it squeak. My foster dad scolds me and tells me that's not how one's supposed to play with them, and in the meantime my foster brother is in the back of the room looking downcast and despondently shaking his head because all his squeaky toys are gone. But so far I still couldn't figure out how to properly play with them and so at least for now no soft or squeaky toys for me in this household. But as long as the toys are strong and are made of durable materials, especially ones that can easily fit in my mouth, then I should do quite well with them, and in fact I quite enjoy playing with those types of toys, and I really like moving them around from one room to another.

I'm a quiet girl by nature and you normally won't hear a peep from me when I'm at home. It's usually nice and quiet here with the exception of the times when my foster brother will occasionally dash out to the backyard barking up a storm because he notices some squirrels as they quietly go about their business of gathering up some supplies for the coming winter months. Once he realizes what's going on, he will rush out as fast as he can towards the foraging little critters: ''Hey, you! Get off my lawn!'' he screams at them as he chases them away. Whenever he does that, I will drop whatever I happen to be doing at the time and will also rush out the door directly behind him. But I don't bark. I merely wanted to watch the whole commotion unfold, and so you'll see me standing there in the middle of the yard with my mouth wide open as I gaze in wonder at the spectacle of my foster brother chasing away birds and squirrels, along with any other interlopers that may happen to be trespassing on his property at the time.

Now that being said, there's no guarantee that I'll never develop any sort of territorial instinct and start barking at any animals and/or strangers in the future. Perhaps the only reason I'm quiet now is because I know I'm only staying here temporarily and that once I stay with you and feel comfortable enough to know that's where I belong, that perhaps my behavior will change. But suffice it to say that for now, you almost never hear me make any noise or sound of any sort.

J. COMMANDS

I know how to ''sit''! Here, take a look:

As you can see from the video, I do have a tendency to rear up and ''hug'' people. I tend to do it when I'm particularly happy or excited about something. My foster dad has been trying to convince me that this is a bad habit because not all humans like it when doggies do this. He is hoping that by the time I get adopted I will have stopped doing this, fingers crossed (my foster brother also chimes in with his best wishes for me as well, and he says ''Paws crossed'' )!

My foster dad has also been trying to teach me how to ''shake'', but it's not going so well at this point. Sometimes, I'll give him my left paw, other times I'll give him my right paw, and still yet at other times I'll lay my entire head and ''shake'' his hand with my head! Hehe! In any case, I'll be more than happy to try and learn even more things and try new tricks if you happen to have the inclination to do so. I love to interact with humans and I aim to please and so I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun together if you ever decide to try and teach me some new stuff.

K. MEDICAL

There's nothing written in my paperwork about any known medical conditions about me, and as far as my foster dad can tell I seem to be in good health. I'm up-to-date with all my shots and I have already been spayed. In any case, all the specifics as far as the dates of my vaccinations along with the rest of the other paperwork will be provided to you once you finalize the adoption process, at which point I'll be yours to keep forever! Yaay!

L. CAR RIDES

Car rides are an odd experience for me. During the very first time I rode in my foster dad's vehicle (the day that I got rescued from the shelter) I was mostly quiet, with the occasional soft whimpering every now and then because I was getting tired of just sitting around for a long time inside the vehicle doing nothing. But now whenever he would take me out for a field trip I would constantly be making all sorts of noises and will be incredibly fussy the entire time while I'm inside the vehicle because I'm so excited to see where I'm going.

He says I sound like an old 1970s diesel engine with my slow-paced, heavy breathing interspersed with little yelps every now and then:
[ Yelp! ] [ THRUM-THRUM-THRUM-THRUM-THRUM! ] [ Yelp! ]

He says that it's a such hassle to take me out for field trips because of this. He's hoping that with continued exposure to car rides, that the novelty will eventually wear off and that I'll start to quiet down and be a model passenger once more, just like during the first time that I rode in his vehicle.

M. TRANSITION TIME

My foster dad thinks I'll be fine either as a lone pet (so that I can get all the love and attention all to myself!) but also will do well as one that joins other pets that you may happen to already have. I'm adaptable and can coexist with pets that have different temperaments and behaviors. He's not sure how I'll react to living with cats though, and so if you happen to have them, it may be a matter of needing to have to do a ''dry run'' to see how that will all turn out.

I really enjoy exploring and absolutely love seeing the outdoors, and so my foster dad prefers that I go to a home that will be willing to take me out for a walk at least once a day, and also be open to playing with me on occasions in order to satisfy my desire to have someone available to play games with. For this reason, he says he's going to note my energy level as ''high'' on my files - not because I'm bouncing off the walls and running around inside the house as if someone that's on a sugar high (I'm actually quite mellow indoors), but because I'm young and have a lot of energy to spend on a lot of things, and getting me to use up my energy constructively is one of the best ways to prevent young doggies like me from developing bad habits due to boredom and having too much pent-up energy accumulating with no outlet with which to use them on.

With that said, he also would like my future family to be willing to continue to train and nurture me and that I be encouraged to develop positive behaviors as I mature, and to patiently guide me towards interacting with humans in ways that are acceptable to them. I'm still quite young, and in a lot of ways I'm still pretty much a blank slate that will need to be molded and shaped by your guidance and understanding so that I end up becoming the absolute best that I can be once I reach full adulthood.

And last but not least, he also prefers that I go to a home that currently does not have toddlers, not because he doesn't think I'll do well with them - even now I'm actually very good in dealing with people of all ages - but because I'm still a ''little kid'' myself but with a relatively large body. And because of which, from time to time I may accidentally end up bumping into things (such as people's legs, for example) whenever I wander around the house because I'm still too young and impulsively playful to immediately notice things that are next to me and so it may cause difficulties in places where extra caution might be warranted.

He says it doesn't matter if you're a previous dog owner that has had experience with raising young dogs before, or if this happens to be your first time taking in a dog, or even if this is your very first time dealing with a Labrador breed for that matter. As long as you'll allow me to share my devotion with you and let me experience the joys and comfort of living in a home where I'll feel welcome, safe, and loved, then that's good enough for him.

As I transition towards this next chapter in my life, if you do decide to take me in and make me become a part of your family, you may want to keep in mind that there might be a certain period of adjustment involved. My foster dad says I'm actually one of the easier fosters to take care of as far as adapting to a new environment is concerned: when I arrived at his home from the shelter, the very, very first thing that I did was to run towards the toys that were there at his house and to start playing with them. He told me that the first thing that every single other foster doggie that he's had before would do is to either cry, or be hesitant, or would want to explore and be cautious, or would want to relieve themselves before eventually settling down (with some taking a much longer time than others). But not me! I immediately wanted to play and cuddle, first and foremost. But you may also want to take note that later on, during that same night, I also had quite a bit of difficulty adjusting when it was time to go to bed. He asked me to tell you that as long as you're kind enough to be patient and supportive of me as I try to resolve what will undoubtedly be another confusing and perhaps a little scary situation of being in a strange house and surrounded by a different set of people I've never seen before, that eventually I will also be just as relaxed and quite happy to be with you just as I currently am here at my foster home.

I'm eagerly looking forward to meeting you. Hope to see you soon!!!

Love and kisses,

- Jessica