getting very frustrated looking for a dog to adopt

[AL]

I can't say enough good things about Labs and Lab mix dogs...they are the only kind I've ever owned. They are intelligent and receptive to your emotions and wants, gentle with kids and other animals and completely trainable. At least, the ones I have were....maybe I got lucky?

,,..........

I have Labs too and they are amazing dogs.

There aren't really 2 breeds of labs - but 2 bench types - as in
English (show) - stocky, blocky head, look almost too fat for field work but they aren't really fat; more mellow, but still puppies until at least 2yrs of age

American (Field) - HIGH energy, taller, leaner, usually narrow heads (which I don't really like); aim for 3yrs to have them mature

My old Lab turned 14 on July5 and still keeps the other dogs in line. He has had birds on his head, cats sleeping on him, kids climbing on him and puppies chewing on him...and he takes it all with the sweetest disposition. He is from show stock.

My younger lab just turned 2. His dam and sire are both titled in hunt / retrieve trials. He has 3 speeds - fast , faster and asleep. As a puppy he destroyed : cell phone, screendoor, $800 mouthpiece, house plants, patio plants, swings......... all of this while attending multiple training classes and a SAR course. BUT.... he is absolutely 100% dependable around kids, cats, dogs, adults (unless we are traveling - triggers some guard dog response buried in his brain). He is super smart and the very definition of loyal.

ETA : just opinion here... but I never give my Labs rawhide chews - Buford (who destroyed Kongs in minutes in his younger days) swallowed a piece and had part hanging out of his mouth, part swallowed. It was horrible

 

[MsPony]

Lol AL!! Sounds like both of mine (show and Amer.) To the tee!! Except for the guard thing, Jax let's repairmen in w/o even waking up.

 

[MsPony]

On and AL I understand, I'm weird about rawhide. But all mine have been good with them.

 

[AL]

Lol AL!! Sounds like both of mine (show and Amer.) To the tee!! Except for the guard thing, Jax let's repairmen in w/o even waking up.

I drove to Austin, Texas just me and Rio (the then 1yr old) last year. Everyone made fun of me taking him for "protection" but I figured he is a big dog (110lbs) so maybe there would be an intimidation factor? I stopped over in Orange, tx for the night at a hotel right on the interstate. Early the next morning I had been taking stuff out to the truck, so when I went back in I just flipped the security latch over, but the door wasn't closed all the way. Housekeepign came by and tried to throw open the door and Rio went absolutely "guard dog" on me..... hackles up, snarling, growling.... I was literally speechless. This is the same dog that greets the UPS man with pretty much the same enthusiasm he has for me!! LOL

Love me some Labs. I want a "Trifecta"..... yellow, black and (gulp) chocolate... or maybe 2 yellows and a black / 2 blacks and a yellow.... LOL

 

[lupinfarm]

We had a black and a yellow. Samari (yellow) and Hwin (black). Hwin later found a new home on a ranch in Saskatchewan as a hunting dog, she was not meant for the city life! And Samari was euthanized after an injury/health issue.

Samari was smart as heck, loyal, learned everything quick as that... Hwin on the other hand.... Probably one of the dumbest dogs I have ever known LOL, yes stupider than our poodles! Great sack of love but dumb as a doorknob


But who doesn't love labs, right?

 

[Beekissed]

AL, you have described my labs also. My first was 4 years old~yellow~ when I got him and was the best all round dog I've ever had or seen. he looked like Ol' Yeller and acted like him also...we used him to herd cattle, find wounded deer and turkeys, round up rabbits, great guard dog and an almost human personality....he charmed our whole town.

The second is snow white, a mix, maybe with GP, not sure, that I got at ? age...older. Calm, smart, completely trustworthy....points like a bird dog but won't fetch for love or money. Great dog! Perfect LGD and guard dog. She has been in Star magazine, of all places.

The third is a Choco Lab/BC mix and has the two speeds only...can't sit still and must twirl in place unless you order him to lie down. Very intelligent and trained with all things in one day as a pup...extraordinary dog, fast as lightning. A chewer and has killed quite a few garden hoses...death on the hunt for small game but will not fetch either. Perfect with livestock and chickens, rarely ever barks but will to warn of intruders.

All were adopted from bad situations. The two older ones had been in and out of shelters, the younger was a starved pup from a large farm dog litter. All great companions, intelligent animals, keepers!

 

[lupinfarm]

Beekissed, Samari ate a sofa LOL... seriously... she chewed the fabric and the wood on an entire loveseat.

 

[Farmfresh]

Don't even get started on what a dog has eaten. I had a AKC Siberian Husky for years and the list is TOO long and un Believable to even mention.

I am with Bee, for the most part our dogs have found US. We just try to be receptive to what is out there and in need. We have purchased a few dogs in the past AKC German Shepherds or Huskys, but 99% of our dogs and all of our cats have been rescues.

Anytime you get an animal older than a new puppy they come with baggage. Sometimes you can get it worked out to everyone's mutual satisfaction, occasionally something you never counted on pop's up and things just don't work.

One of our dogs (a purchased one, but believe me still a rescue!) was a AKC German Shepherd female. She had been kenneled in a too small and SOLID sided kennel with only one small window for up to 10 hours each day!! (I should have shot the people, but instead I just paid them and took the poor dog.) Lock a big energetic intelligent dog in a little dark box and they come out with a few issues. This we expected and really she mentally bloomed. Physically however there were un-remediable issues. Her bruises healed, her energy level came back, but we discovered SEVERE allergies. Even on special foods, and medications each summer she would lose tremendous weight and be terribly ill. We worked three YEARS closely with a vet and she was a mess. She had to be put down.

Many of you have read my journal about my last dog Sirius. We recently had to find him a new home (where he is doing great I might add! ) because he nipped a person. He was another rescue. We had him 4 years and he had still not lost his anxiety of being left. His first family obviously had kept him locked in the bathroom. (when he came to us he would go curl up around the toilet to sleep!!) He was wormy, sick, underweight and they literally threw him out of a moving van in the middle of city traffic at about 8 months old. My friend was a witness to his abandonment and said that he tried to chase his "family" in the van for quite a ways before they lost him.

So now we to are in the market for a new dog to adopt. My Cassie needs a pal when we are at work during the day. I am reading all of the good advice on here and hoping that the next dog that "finds us" is a YOUNG puppy. It is so much easier than some of the baggage.

 

[MsPony]

Agreed FF My mom went with purebred puppy, from a loving, stable home because she has never trained a dog before. Jaxon actually has a tiny bit of baggage because the breeders adult male dog kept attacking him. We went to pick up a black female, and got a yellow male because she was so afraid for his life. I have to remind him, if I wanted a chihuahua I would have gotten one, so grab those balls of you and STOP SHAKING!!

 

[Farmfresh]

When WE were raising AKC German Shepherds when I was a kid, I discovered just how much of what a dog is is learned in those first few weeks.

We always worked hard to socialize our pups and "train them to be brave" as soon as they opened their little eyes. Our tiny pups had more basic obedience and confidence trained in before they were weaned than some dogs ever get.
By the time they were sell ready (and we never rushed that and let them nurse until they were ready usually at 9 to 10 weeks) they would walk on a lead and sit on command! Everyone always commented about our good pups.

Mother of course also makes a HUGE difference. My Cassiopeia and her full brother Kooshie are half AKC Siberian Husky and half AKC German Shepherd. We got them as young pups from a rescue group. Cassie looks (and acts) mostly Shepherd and Kooshie looks (and acts) mostly Husky. Both, however, are the most huggy, cuddly, loving, snuggle bunnies you will ever meet. THAT had to be mom. (who oddly enough was the Husky!) When you get a litter of aggressive pups (or loving ones in our case) it is usually how mom was with them when they were days old. The fear factor, shyness or boldness is often already fixed when they are weaned.

An interesting thing about OUR two dogs (D1 owns Kooshie) is that the first time I ever watched them playing at 7 weeks old Kooshie marched up to Cassie and grabbed her on the neck. She fell over onto her back and defended with tooth and growl. They are 6 years old now and when they play it is like a rewind to that first day.