Jolynne Smyth

How delightful hearing all these dog tales!

Ours passed a year ago & we've been wavering on a new one (well, I've been wavering...).

I just keep thinking how much mental/physical energy I devoted to the dog (is she hot? (big, black, furry dog--didn't like heat); is she scared? (fear of loud noises); etc.).

It's nice to give some of that energy to my human family, now (lol). Plus, instead of an abstract pattern of yellow spots on our (big) front yard, it's now so green that neighbors stop to comment (feel guilty for even thinking of this as a factor!!).

I told my local dog park friends (whom I still visit, even sans dog): getting a dog is not rational; if you did a 2 column pro/con assessment you'd never get one...it's an emotional compulsion (like having a kid).

Still wavering.

dbwes

We had a Bernese Mountain dog who was the undisputed queen of the house, the neighborhood, the universe. Never met a dog who didn't submit to her. Was exceptional with small children, letting them manhandle her endlessly. Tolerated the rest of us with dignity.
We now have a yellow lab who is, to put it bluntly, extremely good-looking and dumb as a bag of rocks. Also scared of everything -- ducks, the dishwasher door falling on his head, etc.
I recently adopted a mutt from an animal shelter that my Ds volunteered at for all of two minutes or so -- just long enough for me to acquire another dog. This dog is a genetic disaster -- his rib cage is bigger than his head and his tiny behind -- someone at some point broke one of his back legs and it never healed properly -- he is quite the drama king and cries whenever I am not home. LOVES me completely. Bosses the lab around unmercifully. Oh, has sinus problems, too -- sneezes and snorts constantly, snores, etc. And I of course love him best.

paying3tuitions

watch out -- they can read

HisGraceFillsMe

dbwes-same with my Yellow Lab, but I love her the best. She will be walking and bash her head into a small table, shake it off for a second or two, then just keep walking.

She also (and I can NOT figure this out for the life of me) wags her tail in a circle, and her whole body wags with it! I've never seen a dog do that before.

I'm so attached to this dog...we brought her home from the breeder in my lap, and I pretty much raised her (not to mention I was about 10 when we got her, so I've pretty much grown up with her).

dbwes

LOL, p3t -- and LOL HisGrace about the bashing into the table -- I've seen that as well!

drb

After we put down our last pup (at 14 yo) it took us four years to pull it together to get a new one. It is a ton of work, but one of the few that repays you in spades.

HisGraceFillsMe

^I still remember when I was 8 years old, the night that we had to have my first black lab (Roxy) put down. She was about 14 at the time (which is OLD for a Lab), and she had grown a large mass inside of her hip. Unfortunately by the time we recognized that something was wrong and took her to the vet, it was at the point that she could not eat or drink. The vet told us that while they could do surgery to remove it, because Roxy was so old she would most likely die during surgery. My dad opted to have her put down and save her the pain of surgery.

Eerily, the night that this happened my family had just returned from Modesto, visiting my grandma, with a brand new black lab puppy. It wasn't the same, but it sure was nice to have a puppy to cuddle with when my mom told us the bad news. We got the yellow lab two years later. It's amazing how much happier dogs are when they have another dog to play with.

I remember reading in one of my favorite books...the girl had befriended a flock of sparrows, and her favorite one died. She had the following conversation with one of her friends:

"It hurts so badly when they leave."
"I know. But think how boring our lives would be without them."

emeraldkity4

Labs are great family pets. They have a higher pain threshold ( because they are fishing dogs and have to jump into icy water) so when small kids thrash them, they don't generally react.
They will eat anything too.
We have a 14 year old black lab who is doing well- it took her about 5 years to outgrow puppy hyperness

HisGraceFillsMe

Totally, EK...there are home movies of me and my sister each in those little walker things with black lab 1 laying nearby...whenever someone walks up to us that isn't our mom or dad, she growls viciously at them.

She was also my pillow pretty often at naptime...definitely the family dog. I'll almost definitely have one or two labs when I have kids (unless one of them or my future husband is allergic, which will be a sad day).

mafool

Love labs. Our 2 have been incredibly tolerant of little kids (and puppies), functioning as pillows ( yes, HisGrace FillsMe) and as hand holds as little fists grabbed at the fur to pull themselves up. Our first was neurotic and fearful of separation from "her" family; this second is completely secure in her place as the center of the universe. But the temperament is the same and is wonderful.

septembermom

We are lab lovers also-have 2 females, a chocolate and a yellow. They are such characters and bring us so much pleasure. I joke that in my next life, I want to come back as one of our dogs. We spoil them way too much.

Bec5656

Another English Setter owner here. Has no setter instincts (scared of water) (and scared of ducks) but is big gentle couch potato.I love my dog *sniff*

HisGraceFillsMe

This is such a great thread.

My dogs spend most of the time inside, because they're so destructive (they loooooove to wrestle with each other and they don't care what they knock into). Sometimes, though, my parents will let them in...it's always a nice surprise when I open the door as I get home from school and hear their nails clicking on the hardwood floor as they come to greet me. Although, the yellow lab hasn't quite figured out how to stop on said floors yet (and we've had them a couple of YEARS now), so most days she ends up crashing into the dining table. LOL.

shelley14

About 3 years ago we had to put down my first dog ever, a weimaraner that was just a month or so shy of her 15th birthday. I'd been telling my DH and my 2 girls for years that any day now something could happen. It started as a cough, a few days later was bad. The vet found a large growth. We took her home but on the way out the door, I asked the vet how would I know when the right time was. He gently told me that I would know.
About a year later I discovered Boykin spaniels and brought home a pup. He is MY dog - I tell DH, that the dog is the best man in my life! Several months later after an unexpected death in my family we rescued a 4 month old Golden Doodle. She is sweet but definitely has ADHA!Bounces off of the walls most days. You are so right, HisGraceFillsMe, having two dogs is worth all of the trouble. The only problem in my Boykin's world is that he can not decide who he loves more - me or the doodle!

HisGraceFillsMe

XD I know what you mean. I don't know what the yellow lab will do when the black lab finally "goes"...and my dad says we're not getting another because I'll be in college and my sister is never home. (But odds are on mom will make him get another. XD)