October 12 - Shyla continues to do very well! We have a few bunnies in the backyard that she is intrigued by. She is positive that she could chase them down, but I think they would be way too fast for her! She would chase them if given an opportunity, but is respectful with leaving them alone as we have worked on the leave it command and she listens very well.

Shyla is not thrilled with the rainy weather. She doesn't like to go outside in the rain for potty breaks and has learned to do her business quickly and head back inside. This is surprising since she loves to swim and be in the water....very silly dog.

Her and her foster brother enjoy playing tug and wrestling, but when it's time to settle down they both understand "enough" and will calm down and rest.

The weight loss continues, but has been slowed down as she really only has a few more pounds to lose. However, her diet and exercise still continue. She continues to do well on her hypothyroid medication and still firmly believes it's a treat. Shyla is trying to convince us that she can have some Halloween treats (dog safe of course!) because she has done so well with her weight loss over the past year. With her cute little head tilt when she begs, she didn't have to do work very hard on convincing us!

July Update - July has marked a milestone for Shyla...we have finally reached the 25 pound weight loss goal! Good girl, Shy, Shy! She still needs to lose a bit more weight, but we are very proud of Miss Shyla. When she came into our home she weighed 97 pounds and now is 72. Absolutely amazing! We recently visited the vet in which she had her check up on her hypothyroidism. Everything is good and we will maintain her current medication, she will need another blood test in 6 months. Silly dog still continues to take her daily pills as if they were treats. We continue on working with her behavior around strange dogs, she understands what "be nice" means and while she may growl if they sniff too much. There are some strange dogs that she is fine with, so it all depends on the dog. We went to the lake over the 4th and she enjoyed swimming again and went on her first boat ride. She enjoyed the boat ride and was fine with the fireworks. Shyla will be a great dog for the right family.

June Update - We went to the lake and Shyla loves to swim, even more than what I thought she would. This labby is a big time swimmer!! She goes out to swim, just to swim. No need to throw a ball, she just likes to swim. She will carry a ball back onto shore, but if you are too slow to throw it back into the lake, she will just enter on her own and swim around. She doesn't understand why her foster brother jumps off of the dock after his ball. She seemed interested in following, but isn't quite sure yet. With some more experience on dock diving, she may enjoy it. Her endurance swimming is remarkable....she could and would swim all day if allowed. Even the neighbors at the lake commented how great she looked since they saw her this past fall. They couldn't believe she was the same dog! She did well with the kids this weekend. Children need to be taught not to touch her paws as she does not like that. But, she did very well with taking a ball gently from her one year old human cousin, she understands the "gentle" command, but needs to be told "gentle". She seems to enjoy extra attention from children and could do okay in a home with children as long as there are rules with where they can touch her. She does get crabby when her paws are touched, but we are continuing to work on that. We will go back to the vet for another blood panel at the end of June to check her thyroid functioning. She continues to take her thyroid medicine very well. We have found out that Shyla loves the cat food, so we have had to block the cat food access. Her weight loss has stopped due to the extra cat food she was able to sneak, but now that we have found out her sneaky ways the diet is back on, much to Shyla's dislike. She is holding steady at 20 pounds lost, hopefully next update we can increase that amount. We continue to go out to the dog park. Shyla is very good with dogs that she knows. She shows bossyness towards strange dogs still, but will chase her ball and leave them alone. She doesn't pick fights, but still feels the need to boss. With proper introductions and time to adjust she would do okay in a home with other dogs.

Recent: Shyla graduated from basic obedience and is still continuing to do very well! She is now enjoying the dog park and is slowly trying to make friends and play with strange dogs at the park. She still enjoys to fetch her favorite chuck it ball and roll in the grass. I know that she is dying to go swimming this summer as last fall she really enjoyed the water! She is doing very well on her thyroid medication and her tail fur has grown back completely!!! We will do another vet check in June to check her thyroid functioning and make adjustments if needed for her thyroid pills. She still thinks her medication is a treat...silly dog! She still continues to lose weight and now is quickly approaching a total of 20 pounds lost since she first came into our rescue program in August. With the extra exercise and swimming that this spring and summer will bring, I am very optimistic that she will continue to lose weight. She still has some extra pounds to lose, but we take things slowly as she was a very unhealthy weight when she first came to us. She is looking great and feeling great and will be an awesome dog for someone!

Previous update: We are week 3 into obedience classes and I must admit that Shyla is doing better than I expected! She is one of the smartest dogs (and well behaved) in her class. She catches on very quickly and seems to enjoy the praise that she gets for doing things right. We are learning "place" which has been helpful at home, so that she is not right underfoot in the kitchen. Instead she will go over to her "place" and lay down. Staying out of the kitchen is really hard for Labs as they want to eat all the time, so we are really proud of this very food motivated girl that she listens and responds to what we ask of her. She continues to enjoy her foster Lab brother (still a bit bossy to some strange dogs) and continues to be good with the cats, even when they are in front of her food dish at supper time. For those that are looking for a mellow Lab, Shyla is your girl. She does not have the typical Lab energy and is really content to lounge around and sleep at your feet, but is still excited to see you when you come home from a long day of work. She would be best suited in a quiet home with an owner who is open to future obedience training with her.