Welcome! This is where we share adoption stories, upcoming events, and updates from the rescue. We’re an all-volunteer team that’s been finding loving homes for Labradors, Lab-mixes, and their friends since 2007 — grab a cup of coffee and see what’s new.
This week’s Tail Wag takes us through just about every part of rescue.
Emma’s 8 Pack is growing up and getting ready for families of their own. Blaze is healed, adopted, and home with his boys. After more than two years in boarding, Kira is finally discovering foster life. Gracie Lou is still waiting for someone to see what we see in her.
We also pause to remember Sirius and the hundreds of working dogs who served after September 11—and introduce seven of the newest members of the LAF family.
Different dogs. Different journeys. One thing behind every story:
Someone said yes. ❤️
Catch up on everything you may have missed in Weekly Tail Wag 008 below.
There’s nothing better than getting out into the community with some four-legged friends! 🐾
Labradors and Friends was proud to join the Brea Police Department for a special community outreach event, giving some of our adoptable dogs the chance to meet new friends, soak up plenty of attention, and show everyone just how wonderful rescue dogs can be.
From playful puppies to our beautiful Kira, it was a day filled with wagging tails, new connections, and a whole lot of LAF love!
The Puppies Were a Hit!
Emma’s puppies made their community debut — and, as you might imagine, they were quite the crowd-pleasers! After everything these little ones have been through, seeing them healthy, happy, and out meeting new friends was pretty special.
They spent the day getting plenty of attention, practicing their social skills, and showing off some serious puppy charm. By the end of the event, it was pretty clear that community outreach is exhausting work! Apparently, being this cute takes a lot out of you!
❤️ Kira’s Day Out!
Kira had her own chance to shine at our Brea community outreach event — and just look at that smile! ❤️
After waiting so long for a foster home, Kira is finally getting the opportunity to experience more of the world outside of boarding. Days like this give her the chance to meet new people, explore new places, and show everyone what a special girl she really is.
With those unforgettable eyes and that big happy smile, Kira certainly knows how to get your attention! Now she just needs the one thing we want for every LAF dog — a family to call her own.
Events like this are about so much more than adoptions. They give our dogs a chance to get out into the community, meet new people, and experience new things — while giving us the opportunity to share what rescue is all about.
A huge thank you to the Brea Police Department for joining us and helping shine a little more light on rescue dogs still waiting for their families, and to PetSmart Brea for welcoming us and providing a place where our dogs could meet so many new friends.
And, of course, thank you to our amazing volunteers who gave their time to make sure our dogs could be there. From setting up and handling dogs to answering questions and sharing their stories, we couldn’t do any of this without you. ❤️🐾
Sometimes in rescue, you know exactly what you’re taking on.
And sometimes, you simply say yes.
Just before the Fourth of July, Blaze and another dog named Gunner were at San Bernardino City Shelter. They had come into the shelter together, although they weren’t bonded, and both were on the euthanasia list for the holiday.
They needed out.
We said yes to both.
At the time, we had no idea that Blaze was also carrying an injury that would require major orthopedic surgery. It wasn’t until after he was safely out of the shelter that we learned he had been limping.
What started as a freedom ride was about to become a much bigger journey.
First Safe. Then Healed
Once Blaze was safe with LAF, we learned that he was limping. A veterinary evaluation revealed the reason: Blaze had a torn ACL in his knee and needed surgery.
Blaze underwent TPLO surgery to stabilize his injured knee, beginning weeks of healing and rehabilitation.
The surgery was only the first step.
Recovery from orthopedic surgery takes time, patience and consistency. Blaze needed controlled walks, restricted activity and careful rehabilitation as his knee healed. And while he waited for his forever home, a dedicated group of LAF volunteers made sure he didn’t have to go through any of it alone.
Day after day, they showed up.
They came to take him on his controlled walks. They helped with his rehabilitation. They spent time with him, encouraged him and, just as importantly, made sure he got plenty of love and attention while he waited.
Little by little, Blaze grew stronger.
Those volunteers weren’t simply helping a dog recover from surgery. They were helping prepare him for the life we hoped was waiting on the other side of it.
And eventually, it was.
A Family Full of Boys Had Room for One More
When the Gehrig family met Blaze, they already knew something about rescue.
Longtime dog lovers, they had previously volunteered as foster parents for a Lab rescue while living in Dallas. Earlier this year, they said goodbye to their beloved 13-year-old black Lab. When they were ready to open their hearts and home again, they found Labradors and Friends.
And then they found Blaze.
With a house already full of boys, apparently there was room for one more. 🖤
His new mom, Charlotte, shared:
“Hi! My name is Charlotte Gehrig and this is my family—we’ve got a lot of boys and now another one, Blaze! Wouldn’t have it any other way—he’s simply the best!”
The People Behind the Happy Tail
Charlotte knew from her own rescue experience that adoption can be a leap of faith. You’re welcoming a dog into your family based on everything the rescue has learned about them—and trusting the people helping you make that match.
For the Gehrig family, LAF Adoption Coordinator Ruth was one of those people.
Charlotte shared:
“Ruth was our Adoption Coordinator and she was incredibly helpful and communicative about each step of the process. She answered my questions before I even asked, and spent countless hours discussing things with me and working behind the scenes.”
She went on to recognize something we know is true of every successful adoption:
“I know that she’s just one of many volunteers who make up this great organization, so thank you to all of you!”
From the volunteers who walked Blaze through his rehabilitation to the adoption team working behind the scenes, so many hands helped carry Blaze from a shelter euthanasia list to his forever home.
This Is What We Were Fighting For
Charlotte summed up Blaze’s new life better than we ever could:
“Blaze is honestly the sweetest dog we’ve ever gotten the pleasure to meet, let alone call our own! I cannot thank you enough for your passion, time and energy spent on giving these dogs a chance at a better life—we are beyond thrilled to spoil Blaze for the rest of his life!”
Just weeks earlier, Blaze was sitting on a shelter euthanasia list. Then came the unexpected diagnosis, surgery, rehabilitation, controlled walks, volunteers who kept showing up, and an adoption team determined to find the right match.
Twenty-five years later, we remember the heroes who ran toward danger—and the dogs who went beside them.
On September 11, 2001, amid unimaginable loss and devastation, dogs were there.
They searched through mountains of debris. They looked for survivors. They helped recover those who could not be saved. They worked beside police officers and first responders. And when there was nothing left for some of them to search for, dogs provided something else desperately needed in those days: comfort.
Among Them Was a Yellow Labrador Named Sirius
PAPD Officer David Lim with his K-9 partner, Sirius, a four-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever assigned to the World Trade Center. Photo courtesy of F.A.S.T. Company / K9MemorialCards.com
Sirius was not a search-and-rescue dog brought to Ground Zero after the attacks. He was already there.
Sirius was a four-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever and an explosives-detection K-9 with the Port Authority Police Department. His partner was Officer David Lim, and together they were working at the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11.
When the North Tower was struck, Lim left Sirius secured in his kennel beneath the South Tower and went to help. He intended to return for his partner.
He never got the chance.
Officer Lim survived the collapse of the North Tower. Sirius was killed when the South Tower fell.
Months later, when Sirius’s remains were recovered from Ground Zero, fellow officers gave him an honor guard as he was carried from the site—a final tribute to a police K-9 who had served beside them.
But Sirius Was Only One of Hundreds
A rescue dog searches the World Trade Center site with a rescue worker, September 24, 2001. Photo: Andrea Booher/FEMA
In the hours and days after the attacks, more than 300 working dogs are estimated to have joined the response at Ground Zero.
Search-and-rescue dogs climbed across unstable mountains of twisted steel, concrete and debris, searching for the scent of survivors. As the rescue mission became a recovery mission, other dogs continued the difficult work of helping bring victims home.
Police K-9s served alongside their handlers. Therapy and comfort dogs arrived too, offering something that could not be measured in searches or recoveries—a quiet moment of comfort for exhausted first responders, rescue workers, and grieving families.
The conditions were dangerous. The work was exhausting. Some dogs worked long shifts amid smoke, ash, heat, and unstable debris.
And still, they searched.
They worked beside their handlers, doing what dogs have done beside humans for generations: trusting them, following them, and giving everything they had to the job they had been asked to do.
More Than a Search
Something else happened at Ground Zero that no amount of training could have prepared these dogs for.
The search dogs became a source of comfort.
Amid the destruction, rescue and recovery workers would stop to kneel beside them. They hugged them, stroked their fur, offered them treats and played with them. For a few moments, these working dogs gave people a connection to something warm, familiar and alive.
Later, trained therapy dogs joined the response, providing comfort to those carrying the enormous emotional weight of the rescue and recovery effort.
The dogs could not understand what had happened that morning.
But they understood their handlers. They understood their work. And, in the way dogs so often seem to understand us, they knew how to simply be there when people needed them most.
Scout, a FEMA Indiana Task Force 1 search dog, with an FDNY firefighter at the World Trade Center site, September 16, 2001. Photo: Andrea Booher/FEMA
Twenty-Five Years Later, We Remember
Twenty-five years have passed since September 11, 2001. For those who lived through that day, some memories have faded with time. Others never will.
Today, we remember the thousands of lives lost, the families forever changed, and the first responders and ordinary people who showed extraordinary courage.
And as people who believe deeply in the remarkable bond between humans and dogs, we also remember the four-legged heroes who served beside them.
The dogs who searched.
The dogs who served.
The dogs who comforted.
The dogs who came home.
And the dogs, like Sirius, who did not.
Their paw prints are part of the story of September 11, too.
We will never forget…
A Legacy Preserved in Art
Sirius’s story has continued to touch people far beyond Ground Zero.
Artist Ron Burns learned about Sirius after September 11 and was moved to reach out to David Lim. With photographs and stories shared by Lim, Burns painted Sirius. That portrait became the beginning of a larger journey to honor the dogs who served in the aftermath of the attacks.
Burns went on to meet and paint search-and-rescue dogs, therapy dogs, and other canine heroes of 9/11, preserving their stories through his distinctive artwork.
Today, the original portrait of Sirius is part of the collection of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
Ron Burns’s Dogs of 9/11 collection allows us to meet Sirius and many of the other remarkable dogs whose service became part of the history of that day.
After 473 days in the shelter, Jesse is finally free—and his story is just one of the second chances we’re celebrating this week.
Meet Kippy, see how Charlotte and her puppies are doing, help us find Baxter his person, remember a very special LAF alum, and catch up on the events and fundraisers helping us save more dogs.
From freedom rides and Happy Tails to healing puppies and dogs still waiting for their turn, this week’s stories are a reminder that every second chance starts with someone choosing to care.
Plus, we’ve got upcoming ways to join us, support the dogs, and be part of what happens next.
