Happiness is a Labrador Puppy This is Tide
Tide Poppa: Bart
Good Hunting... from Varmint Al
Posted on 02/26/2005 12:42:26 PM PST by Cagey
I have a diagram in my old Labrador book that gets into ratios of puppies of each color you can expect from each combination, but bad things happened when I tried to scan it, so I'm not going to try again... I think we've already given more than they wanted to know ;~D
You're probably right. :-D That article I linked to made my eyes roll back in my head.
That is way too precious!
I wish we could have known Bubba as a puppy, but we didn't feel we could cope with a puppy and got Bubba when he was two.
Little did we know!!! ha.
Thanks, all of you; Sorry to run out like that! I think I'll go ahead and add Labrador to my list. As a previous poster mentioned, there are tons of them at the pound, so I'm sure we could find a smallish one that would suit our family. That might be easier than going through a rescue, anyway. :'P
A lot of "Labs" at the pound are mixes, and you don't know with what. The Rescue dogs are vetted and fostered with families, so at least you know what you're getting. They also are treated if they have heartworm, etc.
Thanks so much for the links; I''ll check those out now.
Characteristically, Beagles the world over will run away if given a chance. Where to, no one knows...
There's your answer ;-)
Is little Tide a boy? Going to be a big one, judging from the size of those feet!
My Granddaughter and male Blue Heeler, and Black Lab. Both excellent dogs around kids. The Heeler is a pain in the butt around the horses, but otherwise a good dog. The Lab is a purebred was a rescue at one year of age. He was a good bargain. $85 and he was neutered, all shots and a year worth of heart worm pills.
Thank you both for the excellent information. Another mystery of life has been explained.
In defense of the pound dog: yes, many are mixes, but many of those mixes are very kind, trainable, and lead longer lives than our purebred dogs.
If you have your heart set on a particular look, then breed rescue is the way to go. But the mutts at the pound face death if people don't save them, and there are many hearts there worthy of a good home. It may be the size and shape you are looking for, or you could find yourself looking into the eyes of a shaggy dog you never would have predicted you'd fall in love with. I love a big dog, but one of my rescued mutts, Zulu, a cocker mix, was my soul-mate and a dog in a class by herself. Good dogs have many shapes, and are good despite their less-than-accredited breeding.
I am a fan of the purebred dog, don't get me wrong. I used to compete and hunt with a purebred lab. But most people aren't interested in competing or hunting or promoting the improvement of the labrador breed, they just want a pet. Mutts make great pets.
Two mutts and a pedigree:
I was suprised to see the smaller cousin of the American Pit Bull Terrier/Amstaff as #5 in UK.
As a novice dog owner, I went with the sure thing. Now that I have a little more confidence, I think I could handle a pound "Lab mix", even if he or she had some quirks. But I am really holding out for another dog from the same or similar breeding as Shelley - a little quick Lab.
The thing that struck me about the Texas rescue sites is that they were doing the hip dysplasia surgery on quite a number of the Labs. Last time I checked, that was $3,000 per hip (and it's probably more now). I guess they have vets who donate their services, because a couple of those could break a small rescue organization . . .
I donate as much as I can the DFW lab rescue every year, but I could do it for ten years and still not repay how much they spent on Bubba.
On the surface, he looked like a perfect dog. He was purchased from a good breeder in Oklahoma and hadn't been a stray. His owner had died.
HOWEVER, the owner's son had taken Bubba and seriously neglected him. When we got him he had: heartworms, several other varieties of intestinal worms, canine acne, had not been neutered, serious ear infections...
and hardest of all to deal with was separation anxiety. We couldn't even leave him for a couple of months without one of us being with him.
All is fine now, though, and he is a great joy. DFW paid for most of the treatment. He is still on clomicalm, but I get the generic off the net...it's not too expensive.
they charge $200, but they easily spent over a thousand on Bubba.
GS are hugely popular at shows and always have been. Never mind all the working dogs there are (of course, most are not American types tho).
Add to this the non-registered dogs (yes, there are such things as purebred non-registered dogs!), and the totals are actually higher.
Also consider alot of German/Euro GS are here who are NEVER registered w/AKC - mostly undoubtedly the working dogs. Because that's abhorent to them. ;-)
GS are still very popular. I don't see them as much as Labs but I probably see them almost as much as Goldens overall (in real life, I mean). I see plenty ads in the classifieds when I bother to look. Besides mine, I've seen at least 2 different GS in my new neighborhood. Also, I've seen a real Collie (no, not a big Sheltie!)! Of course, we also have a big pot-bellied pig roaming around.....
It may depend on where you live.
You have to remember, these are AKC REGISTRATIONS. Most of those registered dogs are going to the shows. Show people can be quite a bit different from Joe Schmoe. Beagles are very popular on the show circuit.
And I haven't seen a whole lot of Beagles myself. But I have seen some - or at least obvious mixes.
I should also add, in my "old" neighborhood (my home all my life) just 5 min away and I only moved last year, there was also at least 1 other German Shepherd when I left.
Specifically, the Queen has Pembroke Welsh Corgis.
And I have seen Cardigans, but way in the past at shows.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.