Getting our new puppy today

[Jstpssng]

Congratulations! It's been over a year for me and I started looking last week. Labs are the only dog for me.
I was supposed to look at a litter, but the local shelter had a 4 YO Lab who needed a home. I took him for a walk and found he was well behaved, especially considering he'd been at the shelter for 2 weeks. But I also realized I am not ready for the commitment of training a dog properly, and especially not the puppy I had originally thought about.

Enjoy your new puppy!

 

[oosik]

You know Jstpssng - you are a really great person. Getting that young lab made your day. Just think how happy the lab must be. That somebody loves him enough to get him out of that shelter and actually take him home.

 

[2manyrocks]

Lots of nice, trained dogs in shelters because owners can't afford them, don't have time, landlords won't allow, etc.

 

[gsganzer]

Beautiful Pup! You just can't beat the joy a good dog brings in to your life. Don't forget to get those dew claws removed promptly.

Agree on the dew claws. Most breeders clip them at birth on a breed known for field work. I know some folks may object, but the pain of a field injury is probably worse. I had my last dogs dew claws removed when we had him neutered.

 

[Jstpssng]

You know Jstpssng - you are a really great person. Getting that young lab made your day. Just think how happy the lab must be. That somebody loves him enough to get him out of that shelter and actually take him home.

But I did NOT bring him home. I will if nobody else does, but thinking it about it last week madee realize that I really don't want a dog right now.

Looking at their website, he may have already found a home.

 

[Doofy]

Our "Dozer" tangled with a porcupine 2 nights ago and 3 strong men couldn't hold him down to remove the quills. No local Vet so this meant a 2-1/2 hour trip thru the mountains to an Emergency Veterinary Clinic for treatment. $1600 later, we are back home with a happier and hopefully smarter pooch.

Dozer is a mixed breed and one of the smartest and most loyal dogs we have had the pleasure of welcoming to our family. Bernese Mountain Dog, Malamute, Black Lab and Golden Retriever and weighs in at 100 pounds. Excellent hiking companion and loves the cold weather.

 

[Thomas]

Congrats on the new member of your family.

 

[dodge man]

Maybe it’s just me but you named him in your original post. I like it anyway, Butterball.

 

[gsganzer]

Excellent! We're a few weeks away.

Property is getting fenced. Wife is set on an Anatolian Shepherd. I want another GSD.

We looked into Curs, Ridgebacks, and Catahoulie hounds, too.

What do you see as the pros/cons of a Cur versus other breeds?

We found our first BMC to have some endearing and quirky traits, sharing many of the traits you'll read about if you google and read the breed trait description. He was extremely loyal and protective of his "family" and homestead. When we had some workers at our house, they said he was very different towards them, based on whether we were home or not. If we were home, he'd play with them and was friendly. If we were away, they said he wouldn't quit barking at them and was very protective and distrustful of them. He also had a hierarchy of the family members. If my oldest daughter was home, he would be wherever she was. If she was away, he would then follow me everywhere. If we were both away, he would stay near my wife, but she could tell he was lost without me or my daughter around.

He was very "eager to please" his family and you had to be careful about reprimanding him. If he thought he failed you, he'd sulk for hours. It actually made us feel bad for him and we adapted our methods for correcting him. They're smart dogs, so they learn rather quickly. Ours developed a vocabulary, if we said the word squirrel, he'd look up in the tree canopies, if we said rabbit, he'd scan the ground. There were countless other words that he understood.

They won't back down from something. Our BMC got sprayed by skunks at least 6 times and he probably would have continued to get sprayed every time a skunk came around.

 

[JESSE1]

Bought my second Border Collie over the weekend. 16 weeks old, female. Super sweet, we will be training her for agility and obedience but mainly a pet. We have a five year old neutered male that is the most gentle dog we've ever had. He takes the puppy in stride. Hard to get her to stand still for pictures.