Why people have labradors

Clodagh

Clodagh

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I have absolutely no idea!
Ffee is an total gannet. Tawny and Pen never were, Brandy was but it was so long ago that I have forgoetten how bad it is having a hoover puppy.
Today, for a pre breakfast snack, she ate a rat toastie. We burnt an old shed last week and there were some rats under it, that ended up crispy. She found one this morning...bleurgh.
Then Pen caught a tiny baby rabbit and was bringing it to me, Ffee grabbed it and swallowed it while I frantically chased her down the garden path. I don't even think it was dead. o_O. It hasn't made a reappearance.
 
Mine too make me question why with amazing regularity. Stealing fisherman's sandwiches, eating their maggots, hoovering up sheep poo as though they haven't been fed for weeks, peeing in kids sandals in the beach, rolling in fox poo, picking up road kill to throw around like a frisbee, the list goes on, but they're also the most amazing, loyal companions I could ever wish for. Embarrassing, mortifying, all of the above but still fabulous.
 
People have Labs because they are easy to train, lol! Tbf, they certainly are easier than Rottweilers:D..

They definitely do have some horrible habits, though. Ours used to roll in badger poo, bleugh! And they would eat just about anything. We did once have a bitch who caught a baby rabbit on a walk, she just put it down to be admired, it was so shocked it didn't move and she was also reluctant to leave it but, of course, because we insisted, she did. Rabbit was unharmed.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
People have Labs because they are easy to train, lol! Tbf, they certainly are easier than Rottweilers:D..

They definitely do have some horrible habits, though. Ours used to roll in badger poo, bleugh! And they would eat just about anything. We did once have a bitch who caught a baby rabbit on a walk, she just put it down to be admired, it was so shocked it didn't move and she was also reluctant to leave it but, of course, because we insisted, she did. Rabbit was unharmed.
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The rabbit would have been unharmed by Pen, I am just hoping it was dead from some previous issue and did not drown in puppy digestive juices.
I will love her when she starts earning her keep - but that seems a long way off today!
 
At 16 and 12 years old two of mine can still behave like puppies but definitely are not:). The most sensible of them is the 2 year old who has a mature head on young shoulders. I'm hoping the 2 oldies never grow up because they're perfection just as they are.;)
 
I never question why I have Labradors I adore them , nothing they do is to much trouble ,nothing they chew when young can’t be replaced , no floor knee deep in hair that can’t be cleaned .
From my partner in crime of childhood , to the lovely dog who saw me through my failed relationships and into marriage , the first friend ( of many ) MrGS and I shared to the lovely dog who broke my heart by getting cancer young , then there where the labs who kept me company while MrGS worked abroad .
Now I have the fantastic Dram my shadow always there , I bury my head in his neck and smell him and all those dogs who went before before are still there .
Lucky is the human who has a lab to walk with them through life .
 
Goldenstar said:
I never question why I have Labradors I adore them , nothing they do is to much trouble ,nothing they chew when young can’t be replaced , no floor knee deep in hair that can’t be cleaned .
From my partner in crime of childhood , to the lovely dog who saw me through my failed relationships and into marriage , the first friend ( of many ) MrGS and I shared to the lovely dog who broke my heart by getting cancer young , then there where the labs who kept me company while MrGS worked abroad .
Now I have the fantastic Dram my shadow always there , I bury my head in his neck and smell him and all those dogs who went before before are still there .
Lucky is the human who has a lab to walk with them through life .
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That is lovely, and very much how I feel about mine.
 
My 12 year old Lab has just had his spleen removed (along with a huge benign tumour that seemed to grow overnight) and the way he has recovered has left me completely in awe of him. I'm certain that if I'd had a major organ removed I'd not be out of hospital in the 36 hours that he was, he has always been an amazing buddy but I appreciate him even more now that I have come so close to losing him. Thank goodness for that infamous Labrador appetite, it means he is eating everything I'm putting in front of him and very quickly getting his strength back. He is amazing. :)
 
Had to laugh Clodagh, I thought you were going to give me an answer and you said you had no idea!
Lovely post from Goldenstar, I feel like that about my flatcoats. They would never kill a rabbit either Clodagh , just retrieve it if quick enough to catch one, then ofcourse they die of shock....the rabbit I mean!
Luckily I haven’t had one that ate them!
 
One of ours cantered past a hen and her seven chickens and neatly picked one and swallowed it.....poor thing......mum luckily couldn’t count and never even noticed.
 
suebou said:
One of ours cantered past a hen and her seven chickens and neatly picked one and swallowed it.....poor thing......mum luckily couldn’t count and never even noticed.
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Brandy, old girl, did eat a dutch bantam chick when she was young. It was not doing well and was trailing along at the back peeping and oops she ate it.
 
Clodagh said:
I love her really...but I feel awful about that rabbit!
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It would have been quick. Bear retrieved a baby rabbit instead of his ball one day. It was in a bad way but he didn’t want to eat it. I had to dispose of it, with people coming down the path. Shameful. I was about to chuck it in the bushes when Brig reached down and swallowed it! Horrific.
 
Fitz is the hoover in our house, eats first thinks later. The vet gave him a treat when he last had his jags and she didn't even see him take it (he's like an anteater, tongue comes out takes treat and swallows in one mega quick movement). He also has an uncanny ability to find badger poo and deer legs. Quarrie is pretty good, mostly he finds litter lol which we take home. Fitz wouldn't hurt a creature though (he does eat flies).

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/03/labradors-could-be-genetically-hard-wired-for-greed
 
I have seen that before, but just had another read. So, she can't help herself!? I will have to help her.
No way would any of mine take a treat from the vet, they think he is a man who collects lab body parts - tails and wombs, mainly.
 
Clodagh said:
I have seen that before, but just had another read. So, she can't help herself!? I will have to help her.
No way would any of mine take a treat from the vet, they think he is a man who collects lab body parts - tails and wombs, mainly.
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I have the exact same genetic variation :D

Quarrie doesn't trust them either-he politely takes treat and then spits it out.
 
I remember why I love them. Fantastic training sesssion this morning with all three. If I wasn't so terrified in public I would do a working test with Tawny, she is such a good girl.
Ffee is learning' find the biscuit' and funnily enough is proving to be a natural.
 
Clodagh said:
I have seen that before, but just had another read. So, she can't help herself!? I will have to help her.
No way would any of mine take a treat from the vet, they think he is a man who collects lab body parts - tails and wombs, mainly.
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None of mine will ever refuse a treat. As far as J is concerned he has just swapped his spleen for a gravy bone! 😳
 
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