Tatze has a working line Mum and a show line Dad Shes four years old. She’s very strong but something of a princess and not keen on swimming or jumping over anything, she’d never make a gun dog Keir is seven months old (yes, he’s huge!) he’s 3/4 Golden Retriever and 1/4 Flatcoat. He’s a Guide Dog puppy and an absolute sweetheart. I’ve never had such an easy puppy. .
I thought he might be a rottie, but didnt want to put a foot in my mouth so early into the forum, I am sure I'll have plenty of time for that, reminds me of how a colleague from work told me that me having a lab made all the sense, it's a dog that matches me, he said, I think that may be the sometimes blasé clumsy side of me he might have been hinting at. Lion was totally blasé in his clumsiness and naughtiness, he'd do the damage and just go about things with his most natural looking face on. I once took him to a birthday at a friends house. They had a big unopened paté on the coffee table, Lion entered the house, walked past the paté, his tongue came out, swept the paté whole as was into his mouth, and carried on tail wagging greeting people. We were left staring at the empty paté dish, but he did this in the coolest way, as if in slow motion, so that was that really and hardly anyone commented as it was really all so serene (blasé), and the party just went on paté-less. My husband had a rottie. He was a very silent serious looking dog, we were only school friends at the time and I didn't get to know the dog that much, but yes I felt a little bit intimidated by the looks of him, he had the widest neck I think I have ever seen on a dog, it was like a bulls' neck!
Thanks Karen. The first dog in your avatar looks just like Lion. Yellow labs are stunning, they just have such a loveable kindly look about them. We went for a black lab now. Anyways I love them all, regardless of colour just as Emily says. I have found, a little to my surprise, and especially after Lion, that I now love bigger dogs when I was more into the small breeds before. Bigger dogs just come across as people I guess, their caracter just fills a room And many times the better versions of people.
That'll be my 10-month-old Merlin... The one behind is Poppy, who will be six years old in March. They are both from working lines. My first-ever Labrador was yellow; his name was Leo - clearly a leonine theme there for both of us! and I must say, when I look at Merlin I often thinks it's like having a friendly lion sharing the couch... My previous dog was a lovely black Lab called Bones, and I also had a chocolate lab/spaniel cross called Billy, so I too love all the colours...
Oh, I thought all labs were keen on swimming. We had some friends over this weekend, a french couple, and I told them to bring their new puppy along with them, a black lab too. We took the dog down to the river, and we were really expecting him to dive in like there was no tomorrow, which was what Lion used to do in any old puddle he'd come across, the puppy just trotted on by, ignoring the water, me and hubby spent the rest of the time looking at the lab sideways, trying to assure he was a lab and that they hadn´t been tricked into a buy. So I see there are some lab princes and princesses that just don't appreciate getting wet, ok, guess I get that now Keir is huge....
Hello and welcome from me, Wispa and Tuppence. I'm sorry to hear that you lost Leão recently - the fact that it all happened so quickly must have been a great shock to you. I'm sure that Gaston will be lots of fun and look forward to hearing about your adventures with him (and seeing some photos too).
You know Karen I thought Lion would be a very hard dog name to come across in Portugal. Then I found some neighbours who had a lab mix called Lion. So we had at least 2 Lions in the neighbourhood. One day their Lion ran away, I think they left their gate open or someone opened it, not sure, and he disappeared. Especially the woman was really upset about the dog being lost, they eventually decided to get a new dog, and called him Lion just as the first dogs' name. Then, one day, the lab mix, the first dog, was found, six months past so they endeded up having two Lions in their household now. I wonder how the Lions know who is who when called. True story!
Thanks Granca. Leão, it was such a shock. It is hard for me to believe. As I said before I am still speaking (on the phone) to the clinic I took him to for the emergency and they insist that I go there in person for a chat and I am just not up to it. I think I will never be, I just don't feel like ever going there again. Wispa and Tuppence are great names! I am really excited as today the breeder is sending me a videoclip of Gaston, which is just great I am not sure how to upload photos on the forum yet, I will have to go see how it's done.
Hello and welcome to the forum from me and my three monsters: Willow is a black female, three years. Shadow is a yellow male, three years (Willow's litter mate). Luna (a.k.a. Squidge) is a chocolate female, fourteen months. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your boy. What a devastating shock that must have been. I hope Gaston is bringing the smiles back into your house.
I do however feel better talking about Leão, you have all been very kind, and yes, maybe I couldn't have done anything different for it not to happen to him, I guess it is just life and natures' ways and we have to live with that. Thanks very much to you all.
Hi and welcome from me and 4 year old girl, Harley. Sorry to hear about your boy. Hopefully Gaston will go some way in making more room in your heart and healing it a bit.
My sister's dog Bernard (the brother of my Bones) died age 6 of gastric torsion... It was the most horrible, unexpected shock. Completely healthy and happy in the morning, and dead by the afternoon. So I know where you are coming from.
Hi snowbunny. Thanks for your kind words. I have been reading your blog, and I have understood how Willow and Shadow came about, with the ferrets and all but I cant seem to find how Luna Squidge came along ?
Ah, she was planned (to the nth degree!) and came bowling into my life last December after months of secret deliberation. Once Willow and Shadow were grown up and relatively sensible, I decided I needed to complete the colour chart! She came from a breeder in Scotland and since I live in Andorra and Spain, I had to spend a few months in the UK until she was old enough to travel. She's a totally different beast to the other two; completely unruffled by anything and a real social butterfly
Hi Naya and hi Harley ! Thanks. I am already head over hills with Gaston. I have just this minute got the videos from the breeder, and he looks fit for a cuddle He is just so cute. Aren't they all. Harley is beautiful. I really love the way their lab faces are so streamlined and nicely defined.
Karen, it was exactly that way with Leão, I took him to the village for our morning coffee and he was fine, 2 hours later I was rushing him to the vet. I have been reading about a preventive cirurgy in which they basically sew the dogs stomach to his back, or something of this sort. I would love trying to do something preventive so at least I wouldn't worry about the gastric torsion, but I don't think this would be the best thing to do to a dog and maybe I should not be selfish to that point. Not sure, but that's how I feel about it for now.
A lab being a social butterfly is something I cannot imagine, but there you go, here we have your Luna and Boogies' princess Tatze. I wonder what Gaston will be like personality wise? My husband says he looks like he's snoozing lazily along in the videos from the breeder, while his brothers and sisters are jumping all over his face. He was the second last born, so I am guessing he has a right to be still a bit dozy headed. Maybe he will be calmer than Leão was (he ate our wooden doors, our kitchen, a lamp bulb, and a million other things as a pup). And maybe I think I shouldn't have said this out loud.
Ah, sorry, your English is so good, it didn't cross my mind that the phrase 'social butterfly' might not translate well - or maybe you understood just fine! It sounds very delicate, but it means the opposite really - she wants to meet absolutely everyone and everything, to be the life and soul of the party. My other two, not so much - they're pretty anti-social, the exact opposite of most Labs! A good expression to describe Squidge would be "a bull in a china shop"
