Thanks! It feels like a good step in the right direction for sure. Me being me, I will continue on with my research ( I've still got some other great leads from the Forum and especially from @Beanwood ) but if all that research just was to help me feel really good about going with today's breeder, I'd be totally fine with that! One thing I didn't mention yesterday was that my second breeder visit (recommendation from @Beanwood ) gave me an amazing contact who trains assistance dogs here in the UK - so I have a feeling that connection will be VERY useful. Plus now the ins and outs of EIC testing is burned into my brain as well as interpretation of hip scores. Every stop along the Labratour (meeting Forum dogs and people included) is teaching me a ton of useful Labradata.
No, he's definitely quite a bit smaller than Pongo! I don't think anyone is going to depose Pongo of his title of "Gentle Giant of the Forum" anytime soon.
Love the pictures and glad you are finally on a waiting list. PS could just do me a little favour and go back and pick up the little black girl and send her my way. Thanks
Oh wow, lovely and solid. I’m no expert, but to my eyes he’s beautifully put together. How old is he?
Wow, Emily, you are making progress! Devon looks like a perfect type of Labrador for you. Things are looking up I’d say!!
He's still a baby, really - just a year old (I think - not sure). That's why he'd not been used in stud yet, still needs all his tests and such. I probably wouldn't get a pup from him, but a half or full sibling.
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, things are moving along nicely!! You'll have to change your avatar thingey: Longest on the Forum without an actual dog
He was a real doll and I would have taken him in a heartbeat if he was available. He is super tall and just kept gently laying his head on my shoulder as I sat on the sofa. Also he gave me "air kisses" - licking right in front of my face but not actually making contact. A very polite gentleman dog!
So I'm going to do a typical Emily (which I imagine all following this thread are used to) and do another 360 in mood. Today I need to make the final decision on Cara - she's the pregnant black girl I saw on Wednesday morning. Her photo is a couple pages back. By some quirk of fate, I was actually the first to call him so first on his puppy list for a male. Since I originally spoken to him, he's had loads of calls, most of which want males. I didn't want to be wishy-washy when he had so much other interest, so we agreed on today as decision day. He emailed me yesterday that Cara started having her pups right on schedule. No news on how many (though five were expected) or what (male/female, choccie/black) as I imagine he's a little bit too busy and/or tired to manage emails at the moment. There were some niggling concerns that Cara is a small girl (I need a relatively tall dog), hip scores just above average (though I'm not as concerned about that now that I've learned a bit more) and that she is a "busy" (high energy) girl. On the pluses, she was very affectionate, her pups' sire is the same as the swoon-worthy Devon (big black male in my earlier post)...and hey...these are actual puppies, not theoretical ones! I know a lot of people here may say, "Um, so why aren't you getting that puppy NOW??" or "What's the decision, then?". Well, I don't have my "Longest on the Forum without an Actual Dog" label for nothing. I'm cautious and "gather all info until your drop" to a fault. On the positive side, it means that I really dig in and consider all the angles with the result that once I make a decision, I feel very firm and happy that it was the right one for me. On the negative side, it takes me a very long time. A VERY long time. Sometimes the stress of the whole process is so much that I just toss up my hands and decide not to decide. That's NOT good. So while I should likely duck for cover before I say this, I've decided to pass on a Cara puppy in favour of the Devon breeder (again, same lines as Cara). I'm on the waiting list with Devon's breeder, and she understands that I'm looking for a calm temperament (so ideally a less busy mum AND dad). As she doesn't have any immediate breedings planned, it will be a longer waiting period - six to twelve months. Which sounds like ages, but is time I can use to continue my obsessive research so when the next time I'm on a waiting list and get the news that the puppies are being born, I'll have less of a feeling of panic and more of a feeling of, "It's about darn time!!" Having said ALL that (another novel in post form today), I'm feeling very down about taking myself off Cara's list and about my indecisiveness. It's probably incomprehensible and frustrating to a lot of people reading this. And yes, I'm also frustrated with me. But I've given this a huge amount of thought, and I hope I'm making the right decision and not just the decision that delays the decision. Hopefully this turtle will finally cross the puppy finish line feeling calm about the decision...and then just panicked about facing the crocopup.
I didn’t even get halfway through your first para before I said “Don’t get the Cara puppy”. You didn’t feel 100% about it when you met her. In contrast you felt right at home with Devon’s breeder. So, wait for the option you feel best about, even if it’ll take longer. If you went for a Cara puppy you’d stress about the decision for the next 8 weeks and maybe never feel confident that it was the right call.
