Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Top Dog Why Americans love Labrador retrievers.
Slate ^ | July 14, 2005 | Brendan I. Koerner

Posted on 07/14/2005 7:15:45 AM PDT by libstripper

Not too long ago, Labrador retrievers were considered a tad exotic. In the 1950s, the sporty mid-size breed was a suburban rarity, popular mainly among upper-crust Anglophiles who liked the idea of owning a dignified hunting dog. Today, however, Labs are the Levi's jeans of purebred dogs. They've topped the American Kennel Club's list of registered canines for 12 years straight. And not just topped, but dominated: The number of registered Labs is nearly three times the number of golden retrievers, the second most popular dog on the list

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: akc; animals; beau; bo; companiondogs; doggieping; guidedogs; labradorretrievers; pets; servicedogs; topten
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 441-447 next last
To: libstripper
Labs are great pets, friends own own the 100 lb and 50 lb variety. We would recommend a Belgium Malinois. Very active,territorial and unbelievably smart. A great companion to my late mother.
101 posted on 07/14/2005 8:00:36 AM PDT by homeywhite
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
Judging by the dogs I see when walking my new Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy around the neighborhood

CORGI??? I have a tri color Corgi who along with my yellow LAB are the funniest pair of dogs. Have fun with your pup.

102 posted on 07/14/2005 8:00:40 AM PDT by QueenBee3 ("Phone's ringin dude.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: fatnotlazy
lab, golden retriever or a beagle,

??? The beagle is a totally different creature from the other two!

103 posted on 07/14/2005 8:00:56 AM PDT by iconoclast (If you only read ONE book this year, make sure it's Colonel David Hunt's !!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: toothfairy86
I think the basenji sounds like a great dog. I've read, though, that they can climb virtually any fence. Have you found that to be true?

My dog of choice is a boxer. Wonderful, wonderful pets. Mine were six when our first child was born and they adored him. He had some trouble when he first started walking outside because they hovered over him so protectively, and when he fell over, he got the full licky assault. We lost one of our beautiful girls last fall, but her sister is still going strong and plotting opportunities to lick our eleven month old every chance she gets!

104 posted on 07/14/2005 8:00:57 AM PDT by GraceCoolidge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 85 | View Replies]

To: kellynla

I've always said Americans (not any1 else) are making the German Shepherd go the way exactly of the Irish Setter. Hell, they (the American types) are as skinny and over-tall as the latter have become!


105 posted on 07/14/2005 8:02:13 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 89 | View Replies]

To: colorcountry
The only thing better is a labradoodle....sweet and intelligent, non-shedding and non-allergy inducing.

We just brought one home last Friday, having lost our 14 year old yellow lab last October. She's a keeper.

106 posted on 07/14/2005 8:02:23 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: libstripper
You haven't had fun until you try to domesticate (let live inside) a Treeing Walker!


107 posted on 07/14/2005 8:02:26 AM PDT by Niteranger68 ("Spare the rod, spoil the liberal.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: libstripper

I have had two dogs. One a black lab/golden mix. My new dog is a lab (white coat, probably mixed with something else. He's almost as wonderful as the first dog. Except when he runs off to play with the pit bull next door, he is usually obediant. The other day the silly dog actually gave me a "high five" when I told him, "High paw." What he has been taught did not take a long time to teach. I wish my children would listen as well as he does.


108 posted on 07/14/2005 8:03:11 AM PDT by HungarianGypsy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: libstripper
I have a 135lb Black Lab that drinks coffee in the morning with me.
109 posted on 07/14/2005 8:03:36 AM PDT by TheForceOfOne (My tagline snapped the last time the MSM blew smoke up my ass. Now its gone forever.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: iconoclast

It's still a dog. :)


110 posted on 07/14/2005 8:04:40 AM PDT by fatnotlazy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 103 | View Replies]

To: libstripper

If anyone is looking for a fantastic pet--go for goldendoodle or as another poster mentioned, a labradoodle. These dogs have the personality of a retriever and the non-shedding coat and intellect of a poodle. They grow to be the size of a regular retriever, but are the smartest, friendliest dogs around-Not to mention the cutest as puppies. Granted, the name is kind of hokey, but the dog is definitely a prize.


111 posted on 07/14/2005 8:05:41 AM PDT by rebelgrl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eyespysomething

"Our lab dislikes water."

We call that a cat.


112 posted on 07/14/2005 8:05:45 AM PDT by John Robertson (Safe Travel)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: colorcountry

This is my labradoodle, Ginger. She is absolutely the sweetest of the many dogs I have had. Her father is a white standard poodle, and the mother is a yellow lab.

She has the most laid back personality and is great with all our grandkids--from the youngest to the oldest. She is just past a year old now.

113 posted on 07/14/2005 8:05:45 AM PDT by basil (Exercise your Second Amendment--buy another gun today!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: libstripper; HairOfTheDog; Lil'freeper
They've all been the sweetest, silliest dogs in the world; my present is the most loving of the three. I don't agree with the author that Labs are so popular because they're trendy. Instead, it's because they make such wonderful, entertaining companions.

Sam and I agree. He's part Husky as well. But he's got a great personality. We got him for our oldest son before we knew another kid was coming along. We might have reconsidered getting such a big dog.

BUT, Sam was always gentle with the baby. Even when as a toddler, our son would play pretty rough. But Sam always knew which toys were his and which ones were our son's. He never chewed them (earlier puppy years were a different story).

Now, he's a companion to my mother-in-law who lives with us. He checks up on her.

Recenlty when our (now) five-year-old was downstairs by himself and Nana hadn't come down yet, Sam went upstairs and barked until Nana came down to be with our son.

Family is all gone this week and Sam has been noticably subdued. He misses them.

114 posted on 07/14/2005 8:06:59 AM PDT by Corin Stormhands (Join the Hobbit Hole Troop Support - http://freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mel
"She is really pretty"

She knows how to use it too. I can find her beside our clean clothes basket, with socks all around her, and she'll look up with a "how could you ever be mad at me" look.

115 posted on 07/14/2005 8:08:21 AM PDT by avg_freeper (Gunga galunga. Gunga, gunga galunga)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 95 | View Replies]

To: libstripper
Gotta jump in here since I am a dog lover.........

I've had dogs my entire life from beagles to labs to German Shepards. But the best, best dog that I ever had was a German Shepard/Collie mix. Gosh, what a wonderful dog and companion. Had him before Mrs. Lando and I had kids. We lost him last fall - 14 years - and I still grieve.

Now we have a shepard/husky mix, a Fox Terrier/Chihuahua mix (survives on the "cute" factor) and a pedigreed Shetland Sheepdog. The pure bred is the one that needs constant vet maintenance. The mix breeds are best.

Lando

116 posted on 07/14/2005 8:08:50 AM PDT by Lando Lincoln (How many liberals does it take to win a war?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fawn; mel
I wish they would stop breeding dogs altogether.....mutts make perfectly good pets..... Need to cut down on the 'perfect breed'. Too many dogs/cats are dying because they have no label.

I think it is shameful the number of unwanted dogs we put down each year, but you're placing the blame in the wrong place. It is backyard breeders who are ~not~ trying to perfect their breed who need to stop. There is a legitimate function for many of the purebred dogs, be it hunting, or police work, herding, or search and rescue. Most had or have a legitimate historical purpose that was worth honing, and those specific types are worth preserving. It is the irresponsible breeding of mutts and unremarkable backyard purebreds that needs to stop.

I agree, mutts make fine pets for most people, I currently have two... but they are the byproduct of irresponsibility, not a better way. Fight for spaying/neutering of pets.... Argue with friends who want to breed their backyard dog just for the fun of it or because they can make a few hundred bucks.

117 posted on 07/14/2005 8:10:14 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: the OlLine Rebel

>They won't be much scared of any "yella" Lab!<

A couple of years ago, a local dog club put on a Temperament Test. One of the dogs tested was an elderly yellow Lab, accompianied by her elderly owner.

The last test involved a "suspicious stranger", who hits the ground with a riding crop. When the weirdo came out from his hiding place, the Lab looked visibly alarmed. She then very deliberately placed her full body in front of her beloved master.

There was not a dry eye in the crowd.


118 posted on 07/14/2005 8:10:20 AM PDT by Darnright ( Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: GraceCoolidge

The basenji sounds like the perfect dog....in theory. Barkless, odorless, don't shed too much, not too big, etc. But they are both sighthounds and scenthounds and very active. Definitely escape artists!!! Oh, forgot to mention that they are the epitome of stubborn too. Listed as the 2nd hardest breed to train, next to a borzoi.
I "inherited" my basenji from my brother and his wife after they had kids.


119 posted on 07/14/2005 8:11:04 AM PDT by toothfairy86
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 104 | View Replies]

To: freeandfreezing

Best canine swim instructor is another water-crazy Lab. After watching the other dog have SO much fun leaping into the water, the water-shy dog will usually venture into the shallows. Once they get to racing each other to the bumper or tennis ball, the deal is done.


120 posted on 07/14/2005 8:11:26 AM PDT by AnAmericanMother (. . . Ministrix of ye Chace (recess appointment), TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 80 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 441-447 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson