Posted on 02/01/2014 9:24:06 AM PST by Innovative
The Labrador retriever was the most popular dog breed in the U.S. last year for a 23rd year in a row, the American Kennel Club announced Friday.
That's the longest any breed has been top dog since the organization's 1884 founding.
German shepherds, golden retrievers, beagles and bulldogs are holding steady in the top-five pack, with Yorkshire terriers, boxers, poodles, Rottweilers and dachshunds continuing to round out the leading 10, which mirrors last year.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Second was a rescue and very sweet...not bossy like the one I got from the cradle and was my own creation. :)
You don’t necessarily get instant gratitude from a rescue dog.
Ours went through phases - quiet, meek and hungry, autistic, would-be dominant, stalker of little children, jumping greeter of everyone, good dog, ferocious self-appointed guard dog, good dog.
I don’t think she was ever abused or neglected, but she went through a at least three shelters and foster homes before she came to us. Now she is secure but there is not a drop of gratitude in her, any more than there is in a small child. She loves us but takes us for granted.
Yes. We’ve had three over the years. Our first one was Thunder. He was amazing - almost a European standard. Weighed around 30 pounds. He had the full range of the small town where we lived. He was not neutered since that was not really the thing back then. He would bring dates home with him. He showed up once at a New Year’s eve party we went to with a german shepherd. They seemed very happy together, went around the place saying hello to everyone and then left. Our next one had serious health problems and wasn’t that much fun to own. As I said, this one, Biscuit, is a joy. Makes us laugh every day. Doesn’t even bark much. He knows that magic command, “out.” If you have not taught your dog to leave the room on command, you need to work on it. It solves a lot of problems. Our dogs leave the room and sit in the next one, watching us closely.
Labs are plain nuts. I got one that swims like an otter but try to give him a bath and it is like you were trying to dip him in acid. Makes no sense.
You’re absolutely right. My dog (a shelter rescuee) put his paws on each of my shoulders and pulled me towards him and hugged me when I knelt down in front of him to say hello the day that I went to my local shelter to find a new best friend. It was as if he was saying ‘where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you to take me home’. He picked me that day. We had 14 wonderful years together. He was the greatest dog ever. Someone had left him tied to a tree before he was rescued and brought to the shelter. I don’t understand how people are so cruel to animals. My dog had a gift of making people smile. If everyone had a dog like him, people would be much happier, I am convinced.
None of the top ten even make my top four.
What a cutie! (LOL You’re toast. Sympathies- toast here, too)
Absolutely correct. The best dog *is* each of ours. There may be many as beautiful, smart, funny... but not more.
I try to stay away from threads, books, photos, etc. like this, but that looks like my Jake. We had to put him down in 2007. He was seventeen, hard of hearing, and going blind. It was renal failure that did him in. Really rough stuff. I questioned myself (and the vet), for a while that I should have put him down six months earlier.
Do you know about Rainbow Bridge?
....
5.56mm
We had to the same to our Mia recently, pit bull mix. It’s not easy. My sympathies.
I have three friends who have gone the rescue route. One had to put the dog down after he bit four people including her, one severely. One is on puppy prozac and cowers in a corner most of the time. When she is not on the Prozac she wimpers and snarls if someone comes into the room. By choice she spends most of her time in a very expensive crate my friends had custom made for her. And the last one has been banned from our yard because he has three times viciously attacked my dog for no reason. The first two are/were purebreds a cocker and a lab. The third is a beagle/boxer mix that should be put down. All these people felt they were doing the right thing.
Havanese is the best breed though :-)
Dagny, our present Corgi is 4.5 years. She was 6mos. when Jake passed.
I love dogs, people...eh.
Click on my name to see my dogs.
cute corgi
Our 11 year old black Lab Titus was rescued from a really bad situation in Alaska in 2002. Our yellow Lab Jewel was given to us by an elderly man who could not keep her. Our Bichon Frise and Bichon/Shi-Tzu cross (Be Shiht?) were taken from homes where they were unwanted. They are all great dogs living in their forever home now.
All three of our cats are rescues too.
I have had 5 labs over the years. They all have different personalities but the males have the most interesting personality quirks and were the worst chewers.
Is she a Silky Terrier?
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