If you have or have had a golden retriever lab mix? I have questions

[MsMelvin]

We've been labbie folks for a while now; they don't even acknowledge their (4 RIRs, a goose and a duck) presence much less chase them.

An awesome thing about Labradors is they are soft mouthed...they can carry an egg back to the house for you when your hands are full, with out breaking it : )

Just don't make the mistake of saying "drop it" before your hand is right there to catch it

The pups (12 wk pure bred chocolates) on the other hand will chase anything that moves...we have recently started training "no" and yesterday all but one pup stopped the persuit...positive re-inforcement, "good boy" and repetition...always reward for positive results. Two more days and we will have it down. So when they find their forever homes they will already be conditioned not to act as "bird" dogs.

Everyone should have poultry....and a labbie / mix.

Agreed, exercise is key.

 

[sonew123]

haven't read entire thread-just wanted to chime in and say I had a retriever lab mix for 12 years-best dang dog I could have ever wanted-it was an accidental mating from my SIL's pure bred lab to the Doctor neighbors golden! When it came time for the birth-this little tiny guy was the runt-mom pushed him away all the time as if it were sick-so my motherly nature kicked in and I bottle fed that fat little piggy until it was weanable-when it came time to sell/give away the pups SIL said I could keep the $ from selling it since it wouldnt have been alive without my help. I had never had my own dog before-( at the time I was 19) and my BF at the time ( now hubby) said nooo way. but I ignored him ( hehehe) and kept him-the first year he was a normal pup terorrizer but not to other animals-loved them all. He grew up to be 120 lbs lean mean lovable machine-my children slept on him-pulled his hair out-wiskers-tail- you name this dog didnt budge-he loved them...he traveled everywhere with us-he went fishing with me daily-dive bombing fish right out of the boats-retrieved things from the water I dropped-slept with me everynight for 11 years. When his legs got to weak to climb the 20 stairs to my bed -I slept on the couch his last year making sure my hand hung down from the couch on his shoulders-so he knew I was there ontherwise he whined for me. when he became blind my mission was to acclimate him at every corner in the house-I made sure that I put everything in its place so he would not be "lost" in his own house-he could walk freely and know he didnt have to worry abot tripping or bumping into something and throw his memory off. at 12 he was blind and deaf-but still greeted me at the door everyday-he felt the rumble of the car in driveway and knew momma was home... Wasn't until his hips gave out that I knew it was time as DH and I had to carry him outside and back in to go potty-this went on for 6 months-never an accident in house ever-his last day was one of the saddest days in our lives-His name was "Loopy" loopy-doos we called him-that was 6 years ago and to this day we feel his presense in the house-pictures of him everywhere-I have a cocker spaniel now and a chihuahua and If I ever find myself dogless again-I will get that mixed breed for sure-not that I would expect a reincarnated version of my Loopy-but the chance of having another type of dog like him would be amazing!!!!

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Quote:
This has me bawling.....

I can picture him in my mind, and you doing these things for him, what a wonderful owner you are, and what a magnificent friend he was to you and your family.

I would LOVE to get a mix of these breeds later down the road, the 4 dogs we have right now are the legal limit in our town.

 

[drdoolittle]

sonew123, that was an awesome thing you did for your dog. A lot of people these days would have put him down when he went blind, but you didn't give up on him. I, too, would someday love to have another lab-mix------we had a lab/shepherd mix about 18 years ago, and he was probably the best dog we ever had. Sadly, someone stole him when he was about 2 years old.

 

[Mak]

Ok, here's Murphy:

sonew123- What a wonderful story! Murphy is starting to go a bit deaf, and he has some arthritis in his hips, but he's still pretty active and happy. Just have to make sure he can see you when you want his attention, and working on hand signals with him.

 

[sonew123]

MomtoSyd&Emma :

Quote:
This has me bawling.....

I can picture him in my mind, and you doing these things for him, what a wonderful owner you are, and what a magnificent friend he was to you and your family.

I would LOVE to get a mix of these breeds later down the road, the 4 dogs we have right now are the legal limit in our town.

thanks Guys dang If I didnt get myself crying re-reading what I wrote! Im telling yah he was the best!!! When I was pregnant-he was my body pillow- I kid you not-My DH knew not to say a word as this dog was my best buddie I would crawl into bed and he would slide in front of me my leg would go over him and would my arm-he never budged until I told him-time to get up bud! then it was like he was on crack!!! You know how most people are worried about bringing a new baby around their pets? Not me -I put baby clothes around him all the time and when it came to deliver my first DD, my inlaws watched him for two days-He never ate a morsel-stayed by the front door sleeping on my jacket. He was one of the first things I asked my DH to get me when I walked in our door. When he brought him home he boogied up the stairs and spotted me sitting on the bed holding my DD= I said "HEY loopy doos! come sit near momma" and patted the bed-he went around the bed and came up from behind me-slowly-crawled to my side and looked at my DD-I said "Look what Momma has-a toy for you!" His tail wags...I layed down to show him and unwrapped DD so he could see her-he slowly got in her face and sucked the living snot out her! I let him-he was so so gentle with her-She didnt even cry-DH just about freaked out when I let him get so close so fast but I knew him-he couldnt harm a fly.. From that day on thats where he stayed-at her cribside when she went to bed and when she awoke... he was there..in her crib, she would lay on her belly and dangle her arm down to pet him..she couldn't reach and he would sit up for her-she giggled and laughed and he licked the snots out of her fingers! match made in heaven. When she was old enough to figure out she could hurl herslef over the crib and sneak out-guess who was her ladder?? yup loopy doos...she would use him as a stepping stool and he never budged-but when she did this he would bark and bark to alarm us... he would block her doorway until we got there-everything was babygated off so she couldnt go anywhere but our bedroom but he didnt care he knew "something" bad was happening and needed to tell us.

There was a thread a few weeks ago about men crying?? Let me tell you -like I said in the thread-That was the first time I had seen my hubby cry ever-the day we put him down-We had the vet come outside the clinic and do it in my van while he layed between my Dh and I-he knew the smell of the vets and got scared so we didnt want him to worry:-( we held him as he passed-the vet left and we stayed in parking lot for over an hour holding him-we cried the whole way to our house to bury him-the whole time my DH sobbed and hugged me. We buried him in our comforter he slept on from our bed-We have a special grave with rocks all around it -big rocks so the kids could paint on them-leave him notes-we replant plants there every year-my youngest still has his collar hanging in her room- yup that dog was my child in so many ways-I could only be so blessed to have a dog half as loving, commited, and faithful as that dog...​

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
Look at the gentle soul in his eyes! handsome as ever-ahh give him a huge snuggle for me-Yup loopy learned hand signals when he started going blind and deaf-pointing my fingers was the first-down to sit. both hands pointing down to lay down...pointing up to sit pretty. motioning a stop signal with my hand to stay.. it was fun teaching him those tricks

 

[Mak]

Thank you! He's a good boy! He'll get that snuggle!

 

[Up-the-Creek]

These are my babies,..from left to right,..Sammy...he is a lab/chow mix 5 years old,...then there is K.C.,she is a reg. yellow lab 7 years old,..than the last one is Precious,..she is a mix that we adopted 12 years ago. They were all out playing in the snow today. You can't ask for a better dog if they have lab in them!

 

[momiphouph]

sonew123

I had to go get more klenex, Im sobbing! What an amazing boy your Loopy was. How blessed you were to have him in your lives and for him to have you. We had a little mutt dog a lot like him, she was here when I brought my first 3 babies home, I never had to worry about her with them she loved us through thick and thin. She was my little girl...I wasnt able to be with her when she passed and I regret it more than anything. I sure loved her. I tried to read the story of Loopy to my 2 older boys and couldnt finish I was crying so hard, reminds me so much of Friskie. Its amazing how those pups become like one of our children and touch our lives in ways we never thought possible.

Mak- That picture of Murphy just pulls at my heartstrings... he is soooo sweet! Could ya give him a snuggle for me too?

I am even MORE anxious to get that puppy... We are going to try to go see the pups tomorrow!!! If everyones schedules work out. They have 11 puppies to choose from, how am I going to pick? I have plenty of time, but 11 is ALOT of puppies!!! The family has a Golden and it is the neighbors white lab that is the daddy... so Im thinkin these pups are going to be SOOO beautiful... who am I kidding they would be beautiful if they were purple... LOL