Poor Lizzie! She's suffering form some sort of skin condition. Our brilliant vet Gwen who works at Peter Burgess's surgery isn't sure what's wrong so we're trying daily baths in Melasab - a medical shampoo. Unfortunately Lizzie doesn't seem to enjoy the baths. Neither am I when I see the state of the bathroom after one bath! The amount of hair in the drain, the muddy paw prints etc. And Dorrie (who hates baths) won't go near me for the next two hours thinking I'm going to somehow trick her into the bath too!

Lizzie has to have the shampoo in for about 15 minutes which leaves me enough time to wash my hair or shave my legs. So she sits in the bath with me, looking with those big black eyes Why do you do this to me?  Thankfully it's all forgiven with a towel rub. She LOVES towel rubs. She knows she has to stand between my legs, so she keeps standing there begging for just one more rub down!

I feel really conscious of Lizzie's fur thinning! People who know me will be aware that I'm quite casual about how I look, figuring people will judge me on my personality  rather than looks, but when it comes to foster dogs I want them to look their best for their new families. I want people to look at Lizze and laugh at her expressions, fall in love with her endearing charms and think she's absolutely adorable. I get worried that someone won't think she's as cute as she really is, if she's missing fur!

Anyway, Lizzie doesn't seem to mind how she looks. She still loves exactly the same things and behaves in exactly the same cute way. Tonight while I was watching The Block she came and jumped up on the couch next to me. It was as if she was saying, well if you are going to put me through that ordeal you can least shove over and give me some couch space!

If you would like to adopt this precious little girl, fill in an adoption questionnaire here. You have to love her as much as I do however, she deserves a brilliant home!

Maggie's just come into care this week from a breeder in Victoria. Unfortunately she's spent a fair amount of time at our vet due to a bad uterus infection. Peter Burgess and his team have been phenomenal as usual, putting Maggie's wealfare above sleep, food and their own families. We are so thankful for the dedication of our vets, they are incredibly generous and we couldn't do all we do without them. 

Here's John's update on having Maggie. Keep an eye out for her on our dogs available to adopt page when she's healthy and ready for adoption!

Maggie is a lovely girl, however it’s obvious she has had very little love and attention. Her coat has many black marks – not sure what they are – and her face quite a few scares. Her nails are very long and she looks a bit neglected. 

She has struggled with the stairs, although following her foster brother Henry’s lead, seemed to be managing them better this morning.

She cowers and becomes frightened and timid when we approach her – so for the moment we let her come to us. When we crouch down to her level she feels safer. She whimpers a lot, so I suspect that might be a sign of stress or lack of familiarity with a homely environment.

She isn’t house trained and we had major ‘accidents’ around the house last night. Our house is an old style plan without rooms such as a separate laundry. So we’ll have to come up with a creative solution for cordoning-off the carpeted areas.

As an aside, Maggie was also freaked out about our wooden and tiled floors. We have just kept exposing her to the surfaces, usually on her lead. She's still not totally comfortable, but much less freaked out than a week ago.

We have continued to employ Grant Teeboon's philosophy with reprograming Maggie. We are exposing her on a regular interval to all the things she's freaked out about; tilted and wooden floors, the crate, the lead, etc. We are finding it's working - but we have to do our best not to let her get away with anything. Sometimes it tests us more than her I think!

If Maggie has come from a puppy farm and her job has been to spit out pups on a production line, the poor thing has probably had a pretty crappy life.  

Thanks for the update John, and keep up the good work with poor little Maggie!

My name is Jake . I came from Wagga pound last week where I had been waiting for someone to adopt me. However noone saw the lovely inner dog behind my funny colouring...but who is perfect?

I arrived in Canberra and immediately was taken into the bush for a lovely walk. I can't remember ever being in the bush before...so I stuck my nose on the ground pretty much all the time to take in the lovely new smells. While I was on my walk, I was introduced to me new friend Moose. He's OK and after a brief hello I got back to just smelling everything around me.

I was then brought into my foster carers back yard and given a good wash to get rid of those nasty fleas I had picked up. It was a lovely experience, lots of rubbing and close contact, until she decided to rinse me off with a hose. I did not like that. My foster carer thinks I like treats but actually all I want is a pat and rub. I think she's getting the message, though she now makes me sit for the pats when before I had to jump up on her to get attention. She's learning fast :)

Anyway, then I was allowed in the house. I have never been in a house before so I was very careful to take it very slowly but it seems its OK. I like being in the house with my new foster carer because I get lots of pats and company. I am not used to the noise of TVs but you get used to that pretty quickly and after just one meal I am learning my manners when my owners eat. I love the way you can come and go through a dog door, it took me about 5 minutes to learn and then I got the hang of it.

I had a quick cry when my foster carers left me to go to their beds but I was soon asleep and ready for the new day of play!

Here are some pictures of lovely Jake....not your usual Lab rescue dog, but absolutely delightful ! He walks to heel so well but his energy and enthusiasm need containing...once he gets over that initial burst he settles quickly and thats after less than 24 hours with us.

Beautiful Mia's now been found!

Someone called us earlier today to say that she was wondering around Gold Creek. Thankfully Frances rushed out there and found her, hungry and muddy but otherwise okay. 

Hopefully Mia can start to learn that staying at home is a good thing. Until then we'll be double checking our fences!

We had Mia come in on the weekend. She's a timid lab cross who's black all over except for a white stripe on her chest. 

Mia's very shy and nervy. She hasn't shown any sign of aggression whilst with us, and we have no cause to believe she will cause any harm, but caution should be taken around her. 

She's now broken out of her foster home in Macgregor. She's last been seen on Saturday night. If you have seen her in the North Belconnen area, please contact us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. urgently. 

Hi Everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting for a while, it's been crazy here at Lab Rescue! Stay tuned for some great new stories on the blog over the next couple of days, but for now I wanted to share with you something special. ;)

You may have seen Alex advertised on our website in the available dogs section. He came to us as a very little pup and we thought he may be a lab cross. He's now a little bit more grown up, and doesn't look like a lab at all. We're completely biased and love out labs, but even we have to admit Alex is a charmer. He looks like a kelpie cross and shares lots of labbie traits. I could go on, but John - Alex's current foster carer sent me a rather sweet update. 

One of our foster carer's Shani sent this update in about Diego. Her comments about Diego around cats had me in stitches!

Having heard there was a male Labrador crowding out Linda's home, we thought we would investigate further to fill the void left by a previous foster dog.   Little could have prepared us for the big smiling face of Bear. A gentle giant who just wants to wriggle, have fun and be loved. We introduced him to our existing dog, ex foster dog, Moose and they sort of got on, but it was hard to tell with all the male posturing and then playing in the garden. So with Linda's wise encouragement we took him home with us. I have to admit I was a bit intimidated. I asked Linda, what makes intact males so different from desexed apart from the obvious. How should I be caring for two males when I have only been used to females. Linda was very reassuring and explained there was little difference in managing desexed males, but an intact male had other ISSUES! Well I resolved to get him desexed asap to fix those!

We took him home, gave him a medicated bath, gave him a flea treatment, gave Moose flea treatment, checked on everyone's flea status and then brought him inside. What a gentleman! I struggled to remember his name (Grizzle), I called him Guzzle, Gizzle and eventually the dog.  So we asked our son what he should be called. Continuing with a successful formula he settled on Bear because "he's so cuddly except he wriggles too much.."

After their evening walk he settled down a little but was still very stimulated with his new environment and playmate Moose. Linda had learnt us a dog cage just in case, so we set it up so we could get a decent night's sleep. I was still not 100% confident the dogs might come to blows with over enthusiastic play. No problem at all, he hopped into the cage which I made super comfy with an old duvet and of course some dog treats. Moose took up position in his bed and both dogs were asleep instantly. During the night I woke up, felt sorry for Bear and quietly let him out to go to the loo. No problem at all, he bounced back into the cage in anticipation of the treats which were quickly offered as a reward. I told Moose to go back to his bed and threw some treats into his bed. Surprisingly Moose kept on circling me and would not go to his bed, very odd. It took a moment or two for the penny to drop, I turned on the lights and yes, Moose was happily smiling at me from inside the cage and Bear was looking very unloved outside! The rest of the night passed on so peacefully and the next day, that we dismantled the cage and have used the spare bed instead.  Both dogs respond well to the drill of go to bed followed by treats and hey presto we have had no issues at night.

Bear has settled in well. He is very inquisitive and watches us most of the time. However he is learning to relax and follow Moose's example of just sleeping undisturbed and heavily whenever the opportunity presents itself. He is a very easy dog to have in the home and must have been used to a domestic environment at some stage.

I have been feeding him a homemade diet of fish, egg and raw vegetables to help his skin heal from the flea bites. His skin seems to be responding well from the care and attention he received before me and is already noticeably less aggravated. I hate to imagine how bad it must have been when he was first rescued from the pound.

Walking on the lead is fine, until he sees another dog. Then the hormones kick in, he starts barking and pulling. Luckily we have a harness to walk him in but I still need my husband to walk him as he has quite a sudden pull.

We have just had our ACT Moon Bear committee meeting at my house. Not surprisingly all loved the two handsome boys who wriggled and wagged their way around everyone.  I think a small role may have been secured in a future Animals Asia event.

So yes he is booked in for the snip on Thursday at one of the wonderfully supportive vet clinics here in Canberra. This with some basic obedience training on the lead around other animals will make him a pretty perfect companion...

Post by Gill, Grizzle's foster mum and Moose's permanent mum.

Chloe came to us from an overwhelmed family in Sydney. They had a young child and couldn't handle Chloe's energetic personality. Poor Chloe went from being a prized puppy to living life tied up in a backyard, all in 9 short months. Gill has recently taken her in and her dog Moose is teaching her about how amazing life is at Gill's house. Gill's been doing some calming exercises with Chloe, teaching her when to settle down. They've also been working on toilet training.

We think Gill's a SUPER foster carer, balancing (the relatively new the family) Moose, a birthday boy and his friends AND a joyful energetic new puppy!

Gill sent us an update today with some hilarious photos attached. 

Dear All

I am on the sofa with my cup of coffee and Chloe at my feet, but still keeping an eye on Moose the destroyer chewing another toy outside. (Sorry Belinda your lovely two toys hit the dust this morning and one of ours...) Yes what a blissful normal picture this represents, we are getting there and its only day 2. The sun is shining and its a beautiful morning for the dogs, and I thought I would share part of the fun we have had getting here.

Last night was an experience. Having had a cat nap Chloe was full of bounce again. However she really loves the big cushion. So we popped her on a lead and made her sit on the cushion while we ignored her and Moose and watched a film. She was soon fast asleep again and did not budge until we got up to go to bed.  Thats when the fun really started. Normally Moose tumbles into bed in the laundry eager for his bedtime treat and never stirs again until the morning.  Hhmmm well we tried that once, then twice, then lost count...an hour later after the dogs were howling into the night, I thought we had lost Chloe at one point as she semed totally AWOL, we heard a massive thump and it was not the dog door...the dogs were partying good and proper. Having tried to be calm and ignore them I lost my rag and shouted at both of them. They sat in their beds shamefaced, panting and happy while I stomped off in my nightie. Not before I barricaded up the front gates with anything to hand to make sure Chloe was not going to escape. By this stage William had stolen my side of the bed and so I was left with the spare single mattress on the floor (Another story behind that.). I lay there for probably about half and hour and to my disbelief there was silence...eventually I fell asleep but even when waking at 6 there was still no sound! I had half expected one dog to be missing, but no two waggy tails greeted us for their morning walk...though we think Moose looked a bit worse for wear!

So this morning the two dogs have played tug of war - with Moose sitting down to try and win, but not always. She has been alot more confident and assertive with him, hackles up at times and he has responded with growls. I am sure they will sort it out but one thing is for sure she has more energy and go than him! Trying to go through the doggy door two at a time is the funniest thing I have seen for a long time.

Toilet training is not going so great. As she has been drinking alot she has been peeing alot too. I have closed off all my carpeted area and while she knows the place in the garedn to go, (she even looks at me for praise as she pees there,) its still alot less effort to go wherever she happens to be standing. I am up for any tips but I have now set my phone to beep every 30 mins so I take her out regularly.

Well its now afternoon and beautifully quiet again. However this email has taken me the best part of the day to get off. Had one interruption after another. My son's 11th birthday today and boys just don't get not playing with dogs. Both dogs are now exhausted and asleep at my feet. I have  been taking lots of opportunities to give her special tummy scratchies when she is calm and sitting or lying down as I hope this encourages her to like quiet time too. At this moment she has her nose an inch from my foot, I can feel her breath on it but I hope the smell does not make her feel sick !

Anyway got to get on with the birthday cake etc, nana and great nana are on their way!

Best wishes

Gill

Gill we all think you are fantastic. If Chloe could talk, she would say how fun life is with your family and explain how thankful she is that you and William are taking care of her while she looks for her forever family. 

Finally I've attached some pics that Gill managed to snap of Moose and Chloe playing. She's a bright little cookie, and I dare say she's keeping Moose on his toes!

Chloe (at the front) resting. You can see Moose at the back going to pick up a toy. 

"Ooooh! Playtime!" Says Chloe.

And it's ON!

I think Moose feels like he has a bit to prove here, it was HIS toy!

Moose tries a new strategy. He sits down. Apparently it's worked in the past. 

But Chloe's worked out that she can stand ontop of him, and twist it just the right way...

Poor Moose, maybe next time buddy!

Lewis was surrendered to us last week. He is a beautiful 16 week old puppy who's still growing up. He's about the size of a big cat. We VERY rarely get pure lab puppies this young, so it's a bit of a treat for us to see them.

Lewis has just been moved into foster carer Laurie's home so that he can learn to play with golden retriever Ari. I was lucky enough to drop Lewis off and watch him play with Ari for the first time. Oh how they loved each other! At one stage, trembling with excitement, Ari ran towards Lewis, forgot to stop and bowled him over! Completely knocked off his feet!

Lewis is learning quickly however, next time Ari came running at him he gave a warning snap. Ari was so taken aback that he cringed! Poor old Ari, told off by someone a third of his size!

By the time I left Laurie's house the boys were panting heavily. They had just spent the last 20 minutes chasing each other around the yard and play bowing. It was VERY cute.

Laurie sent me some photos of Lewis the other night, I think they are rather cute!

Over Christmas we got an email from a lady in Sydney who was concerned about a lab in her neighbourhood. She described him as a skinny chocolate lab. We arranged transport and a foster home for him and Linda took him in. 

Poor Jackson was so filthy that when we gave him a bath, underneath all that dirt was a black labrador! 

Jackson's now spent a couple of weeks with Linda and she wrote in an email today about his progress. He's become quite a star at her house!

I'm currently fostering Bouncer who's about 10 years old. He's been my first old(er) foster dog and he's been teaching me a lot about the joys of adopting and fostering a dog over 10.

When I first put my hand up to foster Bouncer I thought I'd be looking after a subdued dog who sleep a lot. I had a very unflattering picture of what old dogs were like. I thought they would be so crippled by old age they wouldn't have much personality or show any interest in their surroundings. It's very cruel, but I can't help thinking that if that's what my naive opinion is, then surely others must think that too.

I can tell you now, Bouncer did not meet my expectations. It's like someone forgot to tell Bouncer that he's 10. He shows every bit of a 3 year old personality, occasionally impacted by sore joints.

For instance, when I picked up Bouncer from Jenny who was going on holidays, I got the impression that Bouncer doesn't need or want to go on many walks. He's arthiritis was hurting him, he can't keep up etc etc... I don't think it was what Jenny was actually saying, it was just my interpretation of the needs of an 'old dog'.

I let Bouncer settle into my house for the first few days before I took him out on a walk. When we finally put him on the lead he was SOOO excited. He obviously knew what was going to happen because he sat in front of me, doing that labbie mini-tail wag that we all know so well. As soon as the harness was on, we were off!

We ended up walking for an hour around the neighbourhood. Bouncer has this determined waddle that he does to compensate for his arthiritis. But apart from his funny trotting, his enthusiasm for the walk never diminished. He focused on Dorrie (my 3 year old lab) and was constantly trying to keep up with her. Bouncer also has this enormous grin which he displayed for all to see. You could just see in all his mannerisms how happy he was to be outside.

We walked for an hour and I was so worried that Bouncer would collapse! I thought he would need to slow down and need a break. But he kept up his little trot following Dorrie and myself. That night he slept well but not as exhausted as I thought he would be. Bouncer definitely walks as enthusiastically as any other 3 year old lab that I've walked.

Another thing that's shocked me about Bouncer is his liveliness around the house. Like most young labs, he's always interested in what you are doing. He wants to know what you're eating, what your reading, what moisturising cream you are rubbing in etc. He's not the "sleeping door mat" personality I was cruelly expecting.

My hubby and I have really enjoyed having Bouncer. He is always around for cuddle, but doesn't squirm or mouth your arm like other puppies. He loves going for walks, but he doesn't run so fast you can't keep up. He shows an interest in what you are doing, which some would call annoying (even myself at times!) but it means you can still train him to fit in with your lifestyle. He still looks at you for guidance and acceptance, and even a little love.

I certainly won't be stereotyping older Labradors anymore. Hopefully if you are looking at adopting a dog, you might consider a dog over the age of 8. What is it that you really want in a dog? What personality traits are important? Would they be more common in an older dog?

Thanks Bouncer for teaching me the joys of having a dog that's young at heart!

Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you're as happy as a lab, spending this time with loved ones and relaxing just like Dorrie above!

Christmas 2011 has been really good for Lab Rescue, so far we've only had one surrender. We've had quite a few new foster carers come on board just at the right time, which has really helped us out. 

We have two new dogs about to come into care and one who was transported to Canberra just the other day (thanks Helen!). Jackson, our new arrival in Canberra was surrendered to us as a chocolate Labrador. One good bath later and we found out he's a beautiful black boy! Jackson's now with foster carer Frances and Abbie, one of the RSPCA girls. Last I heard he was learning manners from Frances' spaniel Molly. He's a playful young thing, so a bit of learning will do him some good. 

We've got two lovely girls coming in from Renbury this week. One's got the name Linda! Linda's also the name of one of our foster carers and admin workers. She matches all the applications to dogs, so she's rapt that she now has a dog named after her. Might get a little confusing if she fosters Linda the dog. Maybe I can take her into care when I get back. 

Penny went on trial on Monday and her new owners recently told me they took her to the beach near them. Considering she came from Wagga (West of Canberra) it was probably the first time she's ever been to the beach. She LOVED it. Apparently she awed her foster family  by how fast she can run. I had Penny for a few days and she loved playing in our water bath. She also loved playing fetch. It sounds like a perfect home for her, so be good Penny!

I'm happily on holidays with my lab Dorrie. Dorrie's been getting a little chubby so she's on a bit of an exercise themed holiday. Her christmas presents this year were a floating frisbee and a long flicky stick to play with on the beach. She's LOVED both of them and I'm happy to report she's getting a lot more toned! She spends at least 3 hours a day running around the offleash beach here.

For people looking for a holiday paradise for labs, I'm going to shamelessly promote petholidays.com.au. Rob and Pauline have been fantastic to both Lab Rescue and my family. Rob adores dogs and the place is setup so that dogs are allowed inside and even (gasp!) on the couches! Opposite the house we are in there's a coffee shop with fantastic home made pies. Just one block away is the nicest beach I've ever been too. (and I'm from FNQ!)

Just next to Tomakin beach is the Tomaga river, so if your dog is like mine (a little cautious of the waves) the river is just perfect. Dorrie will easily spend hours catching sticks and swimming against the current. She's so pooped by the end of the day, but she just loves every minute of it.

I really can't recommend this place enough, both from the friendly and helpful owners (who have been very generous to Lab Rescue in the past) and the fantastic location of the holiday house. 

Hope your Christmas has been as good as mine!

Monica

As a foster carer, I often take for granted how amazing my dog is. She puts up with a parade of dogs who stay with us. She either makes friends with them, or finds places to hide away from them! And finally, she has to say goodbye to them. 

She really does miss them after they leave. She will stand at the door or the gate and look out onto the street. No amount of comfort reassures her and I can't explain to her that they are only ever here for a little while. Dorrie (my dog) has put up with rude puppies, dog aggressive fosters, resource guarders and attention seekers. Dorrie's very tolerant of the dogs. She doesn't necessarily tell them off (unless they are REALLY getting to her) she'll just look at me going, "can you please stop them from doing that?". Thankfully she's never picked up kennel cough, but she has started digging which I swear she learnt from someone else. 

Part of me feels guilty that I've taken the best dog that Labrador Rescue has ever saved and kept her for myself! (although I may be a little biased!) But I like to think that she's the perfect foster sister, to anyone who needs a temporary home. 

Our dogs play a large part in taking in fosters. They are the ones who first meet the dogs, and they help us asses how the new foster is going to react around other dogs. They are all patient and fantastic dogs because of the work they do. So I thought I'd do a tribute post on our blog, to all the dogs owned by foster carers!

Katherine and I took just our dogs out for a walk around Mt Stromlo and a swim and Uriarra Crossing today. Luckily my dad was there taking pictures. I think they enjoyed their 'me' time, don't you?

We've been contacted to help our some Perth based rescue groups about some beautiful labradors needing homes in Perth. 

If you would like to know more about these dogs, please fill in our WA specific adoption form. 

Boing

Boing is a lovely, slightly larger boy than his partner in crime, Bing. He is a little bit more confident. He too has clearly had a hard start to life; he is underweight and his ears need to recover from being fly blown. However he is a rough diamond who will be ready to shine his way into your hearts!

Bing

Bing is a lovely young boy who has obviously had a hard life so far. He is underweight and his ears need some TLC to heal from being flyblown, but this is one soft boy with a lot of heart. 

He is the less confident and slightly smaller of these two black boys, who are recent arrivals at the Refuge. Once his assessment is done this listing will be updated. 

Fondue

Fondue is a 4 year old girl. She is a lovely girl with an active mind and must be adopted by a home who are willing to provide her with an enriched, busy and active life. 

She does not cope well if left alone for extended periods of time. Crate training would help her settle and be calm when left alone. 

She is very dog social, but did not show interest in playing; however this may change when she is out of the kennel environment. 

Attending group training classes is strongly suggested. This will help Fondue to bond with her new owner; as well as work her intelligent mind. Her new home must be prepared for a dog who needs to be exercised and stimulated; preferably a home who is experienced in working dogs or Labradors. 

Mambo

Mambo is a strong, exuberant bundle of health. He is a wriggle merchant who takes examination and touch, but in an exuberant manner. He is a young boy with a lot of potential; he is only 15 months old. 

Mambo will thrive in a home who are true lovers of the breed and who are keen to take him on a journey of dog socialisation and dog obedience classes. He is very food motivated but has a short attention span so training will need to be short, sharp and fun! This is a dog who can learn with you! 

He needs an active family who are aware of the exuberance of the breed and who have older children who will be able to manage his joy of life. 

If you would like to know more about any of these darling dogs, please fill in our WA specific adoption form.