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 ...
LOL I have never had just one dog at a time, that's no fun. Forget what you have heard about JR. None of mine have been jumpers or hyper and only one has been mean. The others have all been the best of friends except one that we got at age 6 and she doesn't like anybody. Most of them have been smart, some easy to train and anxious to please and a couple have been very independent and impossible to train. They are as different from each other as children, bold and head strong and shy and timid. You can't say Jack Russell Terriers are............. any 'one' thing.
OH MY....That is funny!
>Now.... about the fighting breeds ;~D<
Oh, have you guys heard yet about the RIOT at the World Dog Show (held this year in Argentina)? The National Dog there, the Dogo Argentino, is a big, white mastiff that looks just like a white pit bull.
The crowd didn't like the dog the judge chose for Best of Breed and a soccer match style free-for-all broke out, complete with tear gas!!!
We dog show exhibitors are becoming ruffians, that we are (c;
"The Airedale can do anything any other dog can do and then whip the other dog. -- Teddy Roosevelt"
Stated before the German Shepherd came to the fore. ;-)
Airedales are nice, tho, and they were at 1 time useful. ;-D
"Our lab hates baths so I figured she might be the exception and not like the water. I've thought of buying her a kiddie pool and see if she'd be interested though."
"Want a bath?" are our lab's favorite three words. She beats me down the hall and jumps into the tub. :-)
My friend had a chlorine-free pool and used to let her Lhasa Apso swim in it. My dog would just look down from the edge of the deck and back away. My brother's house had a creek in the back yard, and my basenji would leap across it, but once in a while he'd fall in and get wet. He's a very "polite" dog. If he gets his feet wet from anything...wet grass, snow, etc., he'll stay outside and clean his feet off before he comes in.
Here's our girls after being busted digging a huge trench, which was a ground squirrel burrow that they had uncovered.
Here's the German Shorthair after finding mom's lipstick!
Ain't mine... :)
That's a good lookin' Lab! I love the agility shot! She's so "into" it, just like a good Labbie. Labs just appreciate life so much.
Seriously, I agree with you that even the purebred APBTs need a careful hand - just like a Dalmatian for example (though for different reasons). I just don't want to see the breed completely destroyed. Nor do I want to see the catchall, vague laws put in place so that the authorities can grab any dog they want to destroy just by saying they think it looks like a PBT. More than one idiot has thought that my purebred Lab was a PBT with uncut ears.
DAlmations are terrific dogs but have been overbred-101 dals. Had one for 11 years- she's been dead 10 years and i still grieve. Having had many labs, a chessie, the dal, numerous mutts, we've now gone to chis and rats. Labs are great! Love my little ones now-easier on the house, too!
have my thrird Golden now and will probably not have anything else. She was a little water shy also until I got in the water and teased her in. Now we can't keep her out of our pond and had to get her a baby pool to keep her out of our regular pool (she's part of the family and if we do it so should she LOL). Lamb in his book on training water dogs said something to the effect of; A Golden you train with pats and hugs, a lab takes a bunch of yelling and a chessie takes a 2x4. LOL
I didn't see that!
I remember the story about a military trainer that set up a class of Shepherds to try and reach their handlers behind a high brick wall. The GSD's all tried without fail to go over the wall, and failing, would sit there and whine and bark.
The airedale tried once to go over the wall, stopped and thought, and then went around the wall to reach the handler.
Even after the GSD's were showed how to go around the wall, they still insisted on trying to go over when left to their own devices.
:-)
LOL, well, my current - BAD character - GS loves every1! Not a good guard dog or rep of the breed.
My beloved dog from years ago WAS a proper guard w/excellent temperament & character. Flawless. She always, always properly barked and acted ready to tear you up if you were a "stranger". Even if you were my sister, or friend, or cleaning lady (latter she probably knew the best). However, if she knew you, you just had to reassure her by calling her name and going to her. Then she'd "remember" and let you alone.
When she was old, still the guard, a co-worker helped me move. As he stated - "Scary as hell when you went to the place. Then after meeting you and being accepted (thanks to yours truly), she was the NICEST dog!" Yup, she gave him a toy to throw and everything.
But if he came back, esp. by himself - she'd show she means business!
The best GS are incomparable to any other dog. Period. Too bad there are so many worsts.
That's a good sporting cut, at least! Too bad Poodles were taken over by fashion Frenchies.
Good point. It's a complex issue. AKC show folk have not been the best service to any breed.
I can tell that just from the look on his face in the photo.
We use him as a water retriever and he's great. (I hesitate to post this picture because of all the teasing I get, but I tell you he AIN'T NO SISSY).
As a rule, standard poodles aren't sissies -- it's the smaller breeds which earn that reputation.
You might enjoy "Poodlevania" and "The Dominant Dog", two online books by writer Michael Finley, about his "drill-sargeant" (and semi-psycho) standard poodle Beau, and dogs (and the dog/human bond) in general. In fact, I recommend them to all dog lovers, Finley is a wonderful writer and a great observer of human nature and "dog nature".
The books can be read online, or downloaded as .lit "eBook" files and read via the free Microsoft Reader application.
Chris and the Boyz Morning Theraputic Greetings
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