I’ve had pets in the past but I have to say labrador retrievers are just the most amazing animals. I have a 13-year-old chocolate lab it’s really breaking my heart to see her slow down. Just such beautiful loving animals. I’m sure I’m not the only one here who has a real fond attachment to a dog.
Dogs
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Dogs forever.
I will never be without a dog.
24/7/365
Sit with me
Sleep with me
Travel with me.
Just me and my shadow.
I will never be without a dog.
24/7/365
Sit with me
Sleep with me
Travel with me.
Just me and my shadow.
I know what you mean!
I totally understand how you feel. We had a boxer for 11 years. She was our baby and was a puppy until the day she died. Her passing was sudden and unexpected and hit me like freight train. I cried for two days.
My Labs first hunt. He was 9 months old and obviously proud of himself lol.
He became a star after my father commissioned the painter for Ducks Unlimited at the time, Tammy Laye who was also the breeder and owned his parents, did the oil painting below.
Putting him down at 13 because of Thyroid cancer, was the most difficult thing I've ever done. People form special relationships with dogs, closer even than with many people.
He became a star after my father commissioned the painter for Ducks Unlimited at the time, Tammy Laye who was also the breeder and owned his parents, did the oil painting below.
Putting him down at 13 because of Thyroid cancer, was the most difficult thing I've ever done. People form special relationships with dogs, closer even than with many people.
My boys. The dog passed a couple of years back. He showed up on our doorstep as a hungry 15lb puppy and lived to 11 years young. He found us. He then raised the cat in the picture to be more like a dog than a cat. The cat now 13 years young and still more dog than cat. With that said, dogs rule.
I love all the dogs I've had. I think dogs are best creatures on this earth, man included.
Here is a picture of my 82 lb. baby in my lap. I love her. She is a Goldendoodle.
Here is a picture of my 82 lb. baby in my lap. I love her. She is a Goldendoodle.
Max turned 14 today. He wanted the steak I was slicing up but got a pigs ear instead.
Who am I kidding he'll get some of my steak when it's cooked.
He's may be getting old but he still enjoys his trips to the beach.
Who am I kidding he'll get some of my steak when it's cooked.
He's may be getting old but he still enjoys his trips to the beach.
Did somebody say beach?
I've had dogs most of my life and have trained several generations of working dogs for myself and for others. My last and best ever dog was a Geman Shorthair/Lab mix. Smartest dog I'd ever owned & mostly trained ME. She could point, flush and retrieve. She knew hand, voice and whistle commands & was the perfect desert/dove dog. I had her for 17 years. Although deaf and blind, she somehow was still able to locate hot air balloons high in the air & bark at them until they were scared off & went away. In her last years she raised my first cat, a tiny Siamese kitten that came off the street & home with me one day. It took several days before it was confirmed that the kitten wasn't a snack & that it wasn't going away. They became best friends. When it was time to take the old dog to her last visit to the vet, I came home with empty collar & leash; the now 2 year old cat would run to the door howling for me to come and see if his dog was home yet, waiting to be let in.
The population of Arizona has gone from just over 1.5 million to over 7 million, so all my convenient hunting spots are all long gone & I've got nowhere to go should I train another dog. It would be a big disappointment if it didn't turn out as well as her, so I've got cats today. They come when called (especially if food is involved), catch and retrive cat toys, sit on command, follow me on command (usually), and know how to "pick up your crumbs" after treats, just as all my dogs did. "Barf in the shower" is a skill only 2 of 3 cats can follow when hacking up a hairball; the other one insists on using the bath mat ... I have a cat to come get me when the cell phone on the desk rings, one to come & get me out of the back office when the doorbell rings, and one to let me know that the landline is ringing. They take turns waking me when I sleep thru the alarm. 1 lets me know when the water dish is empty or when someone drops in a cat toy, another lets me know that the food dispenser is empty, and the 3rd gives me a heads up that someone's gonna poop in my shoe if I don't empty the litterboxes PRONTO!
They often remind me that the bed is more comfy for me than the couch:
Suzi: Sealpoint - drops cat toys, sits or stands in water dish
Kiki: Flamepoint - rats out water dish status
Mat the Cat: Lynxpoint - monitors food dispenser
The population of Arizona has gone from just over 1.5 million to over 7 million, so all my convenient hunting spots are all long gone & I've got nowhere to go should I train another dog. It would be a big disappointment if it didn't turn out as well as her, so I've got cats today. They come when called (especially if food is involved), catch and retrive cat toys, sit on command, follow me on command (usually), and know how to "pick up your crumbs" after treats, just as all my dogs did. "Barf in the shower" is a skill only 2 of 3 cats can follow when hacking up a hairball; the other one insists on using the bath mat ... I have a cat to come get me when the cell phone on the desk rings, one to come & get me out of the back office when the doorbell rings, and one to let me know that the landline is ringing. They take turns waking me when I sleep thru the alarm. 1 lets me know when the water dish is empty or when someone drops in a cat toy, another lets me know that the food dispenser is empty, and the 3rd gives me a heads up that someone's gonna poop in my shoe if I don't empty the litterboxes PRONTO!
They often remind me that the bed is more comfy for me than the couch:
Suzi: Sealpoint - drops cat toys, sits or stands in water dish
Kiki: Flamepoint - rats out water dish status
Mat the Cat: Lynxpoint - monitors food dispenser
Labs are indeed wonderful companions ...
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Some dogs are just exceptional and take to training, field or otherwise, like they've been waiting for you to ask them. I had my Lab trained to the bill of my ball cap. If I lifted it he'd go further away, if I looked at my feet he'd come to me. Look left or right and he'd go where I looked. If he stopped and I lifted my bill, he'd keep going until I whistled at him. It took me about 20 minutes to teach him that playing in the yard with a tennis ball while I was bbq'ing one day. Unbelievable.
Some other dogs are just insolent belligerent buggers. Even some that you know are smart enough and understand what you want, just dont want too lol.
My Lab got a bit like that after he was around 5. He was fine hunting over water but on land he knew I could walk to the downed bird just as easily as him and sometimes needed some prodding lol.
One Christmas my father took him when he went shopping for the ride. He came out of one store and put a box of Black Magic chocolates in the console of his truck. Paddy, my Lab, lifted the lid and by the time my dad got back to the truck the whole box was gone, thats how we discovered chocolate didnt make him sick. He'd eat anything and once swallowed a whole cob of corn. Another time I tossed him a T bone and he crunched it once, broke the T off and down it went. He laid in the yard one day and ate a whole head of cauliflower.
Hunting upland birds or when I'd take him deer hunting he'd be mousing the whole time. Just like a fox, he'd listen tilting his head and then pounce. He missed one day and the mouse got him by the side of a lower lip and wouldnt let go. I can still see him shaking his head trying to shake that mouse loose lol.
My brother in law trained his female Yellow Lab to collect the shotgun shells after the shooting was over. That took less than 10 minutes one day between flocks. Being a handloader, that was handy. She would also point. Not a strong point, she'd only slightly lift her left foot and wouldnt lift her tail, but she'd lock on a point.
A fantastic pair. We bred them and I only met one of the male pups a year and a half later. Mine was big, 92lbs working weight. The female was smaller, 70lbs, but had long legs and was really fast. The male pup I met was Yellow, had my dogs build, deep wide chest and his mothers legs. Strong, fast and agile. He'd point too and was mostly used for Pheasant and Grouse.
My last dog was a Brittany. What a great dog Andy was! He'd point grouse, woodcock, and believe it or not rabbit. Different points for different game, none of my buddies could believe it. But he just got to be too much. With children coming along and a promotion I just couldn't devote the time for exercise and hunting, so I made the hard decision to send him to a buddy. He's living his best life now I think.
I did manage to convince Mrs. Rookie that my dream dog is finally practical. Our last (human) baby is almost old enough and our schedules are good for a new puppy next spring. So we're on a low key lookout right now for a basset hound!
I did manage to convince Mrs. Rookie that my dream dog is finally practical. Our last (human) baby is almost old enough and our schedules are good for a new puppy next spring. So we're on a low key lookout right now for a basset hound!
That would be handy lol.
That breed just has so much energy. They need an off switch haha.
It was very handy! Took me about a year and a half to figure it out. Rabbit was very low, ears back, and back foot up. Very subtle. And you're not kidding about needing an off switch! He ran while sleeping.
