Labradors...

We have one gorgous,greedy,naughty blond girl who raids picnics and steals from any other source,jumps in the water troughs,and tidies up after the farrier.She loves to wallow in filth,the smellier,the better,and then runs up delighted to see you in all her dirty glory.Labs are great fun and the lovliest breed ever.
 
I have a 4yr old choccie bitch.
She's the love of my life, and is a complete angel 99.9% of the time.
She's bright, was easy to train, and loves people.
She's always got a smile on her face, loves a cuddle from anyone, has no issues with other dogs, and is just so easy.
She doesn't steal - I can put day food down and tell her to 'leave' and she won't touch it, even if I leave to room (I'm sure if I left the house she would though)
My Lab is show strain and has Rocheby, Stormley, Oakhouse and Rhodenash through her pedigree. She's very layed back, and doesn't fidget about if she's not walked on the dot.
She does like to couch on my bed when I'm out, but when I'm home she follows me from room to room, quiety snoozing in the corner, or bringing me a ball or pheasant toy, waving them at me to play.
She had food intolerance as a pup to James Well Beloved, but this was resolved with 'Thenaturaldogfoodcompany.co.uk' and she has a fab coat and is not overweight.
Her only vice is if she picks something semi edible off the floor, if I ask her to drop it she necks it instead - she is a lab afterall :-D
I love her, know her temperament is exceptional, and I'll be hard pressed to find another like her... She's so special.
Sorry, gushed enough, but on a serious note, ensure your dog is hip & elbow scored and that eyes of the parents are tested.
Also keep exercise to a minimum for the first 12-18 months to ensure joints are not damaged for problems later in life.
Don't let these concerns put you off, just do your homework. The kennels ive mentioned are very good for show strain, can't comment on the workers, so depends what floats your boat.
 
Just remember, if you have a lab you give your heart to tear, it will give you almost more joy and more heartache than a mere human can manage.

(curtesy Power of the Dog by Rudlard Kipling)
 
pogface said:
Love the pictures! Nice to hear all the lovely stories of people's labs. There be definitely be some training going on. Have people always castrated their boys?
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As a few people on here know by now, i have a 16 month old Fox Red Lab called Bella (not my choice!) Be ready for an exuberant personality!
Her favourite game is to go mental when you walk through the door and pick up anything thats nearby (box, shoe, jacket, bag, purse, camera!, ect) And bomb around the house for about 5 minutes then put it back where it came from and have a cuddle. She doesnt destroy furniture or walls (some do) but does shred paper/tissues/plastic if she's left for a while without a stuffed Kong (invaluable!)

This is her: (I took it buttonpushers!!)
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I also have a Black Lab bitch called Tess, who had a very very bad start in life, is small for a lab and has arthritis at 6 years old. She's the best dog i've ever owned (sorry bella!) and she understands pretty much anything you say to her. We hack the horses down a relatively busy B road with her on the verge all the time, she wont step onto the road until you ask her to cross and she goes straight over and sticks to that verge. Same with pavements ect..

This is her:
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Also have a Golden lab Dog, had the snip at 5 and still hasn't settled and now 12. Acts like a young'un, no sign of a quieter life yet. You can see the age in his face, but he fixates on a ball and will do anything for it (the bitches haven't done this at all) Excellent at retrieving though never had the stamina like Bella does and settles quickly, though she is Field type and he is a working Show type.

Have had a Black Lab Dog, couldn't keep him, couldn't leave out on the farm, had to be chained, just took off all the time like one that was mentioned above. Turned out to be a lovely house pet but that wasn't what we needed at the time, so rescued Tess instead.

Train train train train really really really well. The boys get big quickly, and when they take off after a rabbit/pheasant good luck holding on! No jumping up must be instilled ASAP. Heel is a must and recall. Bella wasn't taught these in her other home and doesnt have the attention span for any of it anymore, its infuriating. If you're going out, get a Kong, stuff with Peanut butter, broken up treats or dog food and pack it really tight, they love that!

Puppy feed for ours was 2 weetabix a bit of milk and a raw egg day and night till the change to hard food, all farm dogs had this and never and ill one from it!

Good luck, and many good lab filled years ahead!
 
Canteron -

We have lost two, both young, and the pain is so strong still - I really didn't think i could have a third, but within a month, Percy is showing all the traits of his uncles - it's amazing. And my terrier adores him.

This is Stanley, who we lost a 4 years old to bone cancer in June. He was Shy's best friend, taught him to carry sticks, and just came out for hacks every day. God I miss him. Yes they do go right through to your heart

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Love these Lab pics, especially the black labs. Reminds me of Lottie a rescue black lab I had a few years ago. She lived to the wonderful age of 16.
By far the dimmest dog Ive ever had, we used to laugh at her moments of blankness staring into space and wondering when a thought was going to hit her.
She chewed, no she destroyed 29 pairs of shoes, 16 kids toys, 4 dining chairs, 3 kitchen doors and an electric cable (or there abouts!!) The worst was returning after a couple of hours out and not being able to see one square inch of carpet, my entire living room was a bouncy castle of sofa cushion foam. Hated that sofa anyway.
Once she had company with Tillie a GSD things settled and she was the best family dog.
We now have a bearded collie called Brando (after marlon) I wouldn't even know where to start describing him !
 
I have just worked out that as a family we have had 12 pure bred and 3 crosses :eek:
The first one was the dog that my mum insisted that my dad bought her as a wedding present. Dad was scared of dogs at the time, but Mum had always had them. When my sister was born he decided that it was his job to protect her and when I arrived he just added me to the list of people he was in charge of! :D I won't list them all, but we had the most memorable yellow bitch who played hide and seek with me and sis, should have been called houdini and the best sense of humour of any dog ever. She once hid behind the kennel and tiptoed round at the back of sis who was looking for her, with the dog looking through the dining room window at the rest of us giggling at her :D When she got too old to run away she hid under the bed and we only found her when we heard the banging as she started wagging her tail :D She once tried to push dad into a river and if she had had a little more bottle she would have managed it, but she was so ready to run away after the push with her nose (he was bending down to retrieve a ball she had failed to) that she didn't quite push hard enough :D :D :D
We have had three who have been epileptic and one who had progressive retinal atrophy.
We have had a few who were chewers, one did eat a wall! She did have a companion, but we think she just got bored. We have also had a few who were theives, the one that ate the wall also stole butter and eggs.
 
I LOVE THEM lol

I have 4 all golden Bred Brian myself 13 ( we had his mom for 17 years before she past away) years and he is the most faithful dog I have ever met, I have Puppy she will be 3 in feb and she is a little madam i am wrapped around her little paw, Then I have 2 of Brians and Puppies from Jan2012 and the are perfect. Took Bruno my boy today to be de-balled he was not very happy about it, I would have loved to keep him in tacked but i can not run the risk of him doing thing with him mom or sister, So i have done the right thing for him. x
 
Had a bit of a day staying up late and saw this our family has had a few breeds greyhounds , chinese cresteds and hairless and I have an Italian greyhound at the moment, as well as lot's of different terriers.

When I was a kid my first memory is our black lab he was much loved and was a kind lovely dog and was a gun dog for my dad, I bought our next lab for my dad I knew it would be a tough call, they used to call him Arnold the ardvark as they said his nose was too long for a lab, he developed in to the most handsome lab,family was all smitten.

Even my dad who is as hard as nails was on his knees when we lost him and he will openly say he was the best dog he ever had and admits he loved him, that is alot for my dad, I don't think he has admitted he loves my mum, he was the funniest, most loving dog with a real sense of humour ever.
So if you see a lab you like grab it it will bring you lot's of fun, they can be a bit headstrong when young, and ours have been a bit obsessed with bitches and have run away after them typical men.
However you could not fault them around children or other animals and we have recently been given one who was a nightmare apparently, he was pretty hyper for the first few weeks, all down to being stressed he is now a big fat softy and a bit of a drip but is a lovely dog.
I would like to say I am biased but we have had other breeds and we love them all but labs for us have been the less complicated breed we have had.
 
My favourite breed - wonderful dogs. I have my darling chocolate girl lying on my feet as I type this! Never had a yellow one, only black and chocolate, but love them all. Grew up working gun-dogs as I come from a shooting/farming family and always preferred the Labs to the other working dogs.

Loving, loyal and very trainable BUT they are basically a life-support system for a stomach :)
 
I have a chocolate lab, he's the latest in a long line of labs that we've had, plus various mongrels.

I don't think you can go wrong with a lab tbh, providing they are giving good training, plenty of exercise and companionship and probably a restricted diet. I always have mine neutered too.

Ours suffered terribly from separation anxiety and cowered a lot when we got him at eighteen months old, but given routine and he's a fantastic loyal loving dog who has stopped flinching at every move. :)

He is quite a sensitive soul and wary of strangers and I wouldn't tust him with children as he is frightened of them but I think it may be due to his past. He is very easy to train and happpiest when carrying his toys out on a walk. (Or eating) :rolleyes:
 
We have had 7 and have 3 at the moment. They are all completely different characters and we love them all dearly. They do break your heart when you lose them but they are wonderful dogs.

They are completely food orientated, so far today they have stolen carrots, had their heads in the pony nut bag and munched a few sheep droppings, all this after breakfast, lol.

Some of ours have been chewers, I think they do it just beacause they can. Our last pup was the first one that we have crate trained and I would always do this in future. He loved his crate and it meant we were able to take him on holiday when he was 4 months old without worrying about him chewing the lovely kitchen in the holiday cottage.

We did take on one that would stray, we could only have him in the garden with us if we were having a bbq as he loved sausages and would not move. He is 7 now and has finally grown into a trustworthy dog.
 
We have two choc labs, both are excellent around horses but both very different characters.

The chocolate bitch is the older of the 2 and we rescued her when she was several weeks old, dumped in the snow in January down the lane to the yard. She is a 'proper' labrador and I'm sure she would have taken up training to be a gun dog very well. She is a quick learner, incredibly intelligent and responsive. She loves to run and play and is a delight to be around, she never puts a foot wrong. Like many labs she has an in built radar for when water is near!

The chocolate dog was rescued from many tears as an ex stud dog. He is the soppiest dog ever and adores human interaction, if he could he would curl up on your lap all day long. He's quite thick and very lazy and a bugger if you leave the kitchen bin within reach when you go out. He is great for taking to horsey events, he loves the attention from strangers, is very good on the lead and falls asleep when you stop at each XC fence.

Despite being different ages most people think they come from the same litter because they are so good together, sharing the same bed etc
 
We used to breed labs and had them as gun dogs - earliest memories are of the biggest lab we ever had (who looked much more like a mastiff!) sitting and not moving while me and my sister dressed him up in a t shirt, tights, sunglasses and a hat! He was a fantastic guard dog as he scared anyone who shouldn't be snooping around, but was fantastic with us kids, always did as he was told etc :) we only ever had one "bad" one - he came from a house where he was the leader and the family were scared of him and let him rule over the house - he took ages to learn dad was the boss but turned out nice in the end until they took him back and let it all slip back!

Go for it - a lab will always be your best friend :)
 
DOG FOR SALE
A man sees a sign outside a house - 'Talking Dog For Sale .' He rings the bell, the owner appears and tells him the dog can be viewed in the back garden.

The man sees a very nice looking Labrador Retriever sitting there.
"Do you really talk?" he asks the dog."Yes," the Labrador replies. After recovering from the shock of hearing the dog talk, the man asks, "So, tell me your story."

The Labrador looks up and says, "Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I joined the SAS.
"In no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one imagined that a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years". "But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at Heathrow Airport to do some undercover security work, wandering near suspicious characters and listening in. I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded several medals. I got married, had a few puppies, and now I've just retired."
The man is amazed. He goes back into the house and asks the owner how much he wants for the dog.

"Ten quid," the owner says.

"£10!!? But this dog is absolutely amazing! Why on earth are you selling him so cheaply?"

"Because he's a lying bugger, he's never been out of the garden.."
 
Absolutely FAB dogs:D

There is a reason why they are one of the most popular breeds.

We have a 4 year old Lab and a Springer (both from working stock) - the Lab has been so much easier. You know the old saying "Labradors are born half-trained, and Springers die half-trained".

Having said that we have had a few things destroyed. The worst was when she took a liking to chewing plugs and would pull them out of sockets by the appliance - that's how we lost our microwave:(

My friend had a lovely Lab who never chewed anything, until a rather well-heeled friend visited and put his Armani suit jacket on the back of the chair, whilst they went into the sitting room......................;)

Go for it!
 
I have a black lab who is coming up 8, he is the nicest natured dog i have ever known. he loves his creature comforts and routine, is frightened of thunder and fireworks and hates change! Been my daughters best friend since she was two, we love him to bits
 
They are a fantastic breed if you are prepared to give them lots of exercise and stimulation. We have had three, one cream and two black and they have all been brilliant with children, horses, sheep, chickens etc but they do need a lot of exercise to keep them sane!
 
Labs are simply the best (shedding hair aside :o). We have two yellows - a fairly doddery old fellow, and a 7 month old girlie who keeps him young at heart! They adore the cats, who couldn't give a hoot about them, and they have never ever snapped, growled (well, except when the pup chewed the old boy's tail a bit too hard ....) or been ill tempered in any way. Easy to train, love to swim, and love to eat anything. They just want to please!

Word of warning about things in direct tail wagging vicinity though!

Good luck! :)
 
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