Here's my little Tuppence catching some z's.
Pete
My daughter has a black lab male. One of the smartest dogs I have ever seen, and with help from a professional trainer he follows rules very well. He will stay in "his area" until my son-in-law tells him its OK to go elsewhere. He stays close by when we are romping around on our land. A very good dog.
However, the amount of energy in this dog is unbelievable!! He wants to run, and run some more. You can throw a stick or toy in the tank (pond) over and over and the dog will continue to retrieve it and beg for more and more exercise. He will flat wear you out.
Alan L. - Texas
North of Mustang
South of Bugtussle
On the Banks of Buck Creek
The only breed I know much about is cocker spaniel. We've had several, and have one now. Great dogs, they love exercise, some (the one we have now) love the water and going swimming and retrieving in the water, and they love to run, and go walking in the woods. But they aren't near as hyper as labs, and enjoy being lazy (labs have their moments too).
We have a 6 year old that we got from a well respected breeder who shows her dogs. However he had 3 herniated disks and had to have back surgery back in December. He is fine now, but I guess you can never be sure.
I think many cross breeds that you might get at the animal shelter can be very healthy, as they don't have the inbreeding problems some pure bred dogs can have. We've had our share of those too, and they never had any health problems at young ages.
Also, although they have long hair and have to be groomed, our cockers have never shed much at all.
A little more laid back than labs, they are very affectionate dogs.
Alan L. - Texas
North of Mustang
South of Bugtussle
On the Banks of Buck Creek
Alan -- You're right about labs. What an incredibly muscular, driven dog! My goldens do well in field trials, but they finesse their way around obstacles and when they leap into the water they only make it about 8' from shore. The labs just run thru obstacles, and their water entries are easily twice the distance of our goldens! As for the shedding, give me a golden any day! Our vacuum has no problem with the long fur, but the short thick fur of the lab stays on the carpet. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]
Cockers are nice dogs, but they have a little trouble with four feet of snow. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Pete
have lotsa of patience and it will pay off in having a great dogs.
labs are fantastic.....we just got out 2nd one.
8 weeks old. "gracie". a real "biter/nipper" now.
i wear the "battle scars" on my hands,arm,legs!!!
I have a yellow lab and it sleeps in our basment with the door open and he's fine. You just need to teach him to stay down there.
Yeah, those puppy teeth can really hurt! Here's a lesson we learned from watching our dogs interact. Yelp. That's right. When the pup bites or nips, just yelp in pain and refuse to play for a few minutes while you "nurse the wound." Most pups quickly learn that they are causing pain and that if they want to continue playing there are limits to the mouth thing.
Pete
Ragtag Golden Retriever Rescue
I see this thread is back up top again so I thought I would give an update. After reading the responses here, my wife and I decided to see about an older Lab. We checked around, but found none right for us. In searching, we came across a breeder that had a female that was bred for the first time. The puppies were born at just the right time for us. The new mom had five in the litter, one boy didn't make it. Of the other four, three were females and one male. The breeder kept the male for show purposes. When we looked at them to choose, one female had already been spoken for. We had two to choose from. One just looked right, so that was it. Oh, it is a yellow lab, we changed from wanting a black lab to yellow during our researching. We are happy with her. Her name is Goldi. Goldilocks is what the kids came up with. She is AKC registered, and comes from a long line of champion labs on both sides.
Now to living with her. We brought her home the second Monday in June, so everything about her is still a learning experience. My wife is reading about four different books now about obedience and housetraining. Goldi has a crate in the kitchen where she sleeps. She is doing well housetrainig, where we allow her out of the crate when we are in the kitchen and she has done her business outside. We are learning her sounds and temperament when she signals she needs to go potty. The kitchen is gated at one end, but the other doorway is not. She is learning to stay in the kitchen pretty well, unless a toy is left outside the doorway in view. Am training the kids to keep their toys picked up. Goldi's crate in the kitchen is positioned next to the stairrailing and the living room, so she can see us there in the evening reading the kids' books to them. We also have a 10 x 10 kennel outside for her when we are gone longer than an hour. Shorter trips away, she stays in her crate. She has no problem going into and staying in her crate. As she gets housetrained, she will have greater access to the rest of the house. We are learning a lot about her, she seems really lazy right now. She will not walk very far, just drops down on the ground. She also sleeps alot, I figure that's just a growing puppy.
Well, this is a long post. Will stop for now. All in all, very happy with our decision right now.
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Tom
Try to attach a picture of Goldi.
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