LAB-a-dab-a-DOO!
Of all the dog breeds and mixes, which do you think has the most get-in-trouble personality and traits?
We know terriers can be diggers and barkers, for example. But I think the prize goes to the good ol' Labrador retriever.
Pictures above are of my coworker Jake's two dogs, Maggie and Katie, both with lab in their blood. I love the way Katie is looking at Maggie's bone, AS IF she had the better one, even though they are the same. (That's Scooter, always wanting what the other one has instead of his own, the exact same thing). Maggie and Katie are are good dogs, but they DO get in trouble, like the time Jake came home to find the two had played with the couch and pulled out all the stuffing. Many a shoe has been eaten as well. Or they'll escape from the fenced-in yard and go out on adventures. The latest escape resulted in Jake getting bit by some unknown insect in the woods, causing a huge red itchy bump on his thigh and various other bites upon his body. Poor Jake.
My vet told me labs are bad about "eating stuff." He told me of having to operate on a lab who swallowed a walnut still in the shell fresh from the tree--not once, but twice! Also, a lab that wolfed down--somehow--an entire tube sock! Beagles and other hounds can be big pigs as well.
My aunt and uncle have a lab mix, Sheba, who had to go to obedience training because she was quite the handful. Sheba loves to steal anything and everything she can get her paws on.
Now labs are great dogs that are used for therapy and leading the blind or disabled, but they are very active dogs when young and need basic training. Maybe that's why so many end up in shelters--they can be a handful and if not trained at all, cause lots of trouble. That, and there are a lot of labs and mixes in the pet population. Spay and neuter people!
Now, Scooter is my bad boy and has no lab in him, but he does have shepherd/collie and has that herding instinct. He has to lord over the world and boss everyone around, but hey, that's what herders are bred for. Border collies are tough too, as they need, need, need to stay active and busy. Any bored dog can become a handful, because if you don't give them something to do to expend energy, they will find something on their own, and usually an owner won't like what they choose for entertainment.
So, what are your opinions on breeds that can be a handful? The key to finding the right dog for a family is to KNOW the breed traits and pick according to your lifestyle and time and energy you have to give to the pet. And what is the WORST thing your dog (or cat) ever did to make you want to SCREAM? I'll get back on that as soon as I make my Scooter list. Though, Zoe and Peanut and Tramp and Penny have had their misadventures as well!
posted by Sandy at 7/25/2007 02:28:00 PM
Pet People
10 Comments:
Sandy, I have to admit as much as I love dogs and I do, I do not know diddly squat about them. We only have cats now so can only talk about them for what they have done to make me scream, well they make me scream on a regular basis, mostly about scratching the carpet. Penelope gets screamed at for running as fast as she can on top of the kitchen cabinets. Scares the crap out of me. I'm afraid she will go off the side but she manages to do that "Roadrunner" stop every time. Still worries me. Penelope and Brittany both jump on top of the entertainment center too, thats high as well so get yelled at for that. Courtney is still to fat to do that but we're working on the weight now so hopefully she'll be able to join them soon. Brittany of course gets yelled at for trying to eat plastic. It's a full time job keeping her from doing that and keeping her safe.
I'm sure I'll think of several more things later on but that's a start.
Posting this twice so it is seen by all...
In the local GA news today, the stores are removing Vicks stuff off the shelves! Stuff has stopped selling! Some say they will send it back if possible and some say they will take a loss and have a fire with the stuff before they sell it... I was afraid that football would rule over the animals but it seems, the people have spoken in GA… Hip-hip hurray!!!
It is indeed funny how the one dog is looking at the other bone. Kind of like, hey, what does your taste like? Wanna trade??? LOL
I was watching Funny Animal and People videos on TV a few minutes ago and they had a dog in the sprinkler just as the one above! The doggie was going nuts trying to catch all the water that was coming out of the sprinkler. I also saw a turkey pecking at some hound dogs through a fence. You could tell they were all friends but that was funny.
Today I heard a strange noise while in the sunroom. I looked around the floor to see a cat but did not spot one. I assumed it was an outside noise. Then I heard it again. This time as I scanned the room I took my eyes a bit higher. I found Sheba on top of a cabinet eating on a plant that had grown down far enough for her lips to smack! I was pissed she was up on top of furniture (that’s a big no no) then pissed because she was eating the plant! I had to chase her out of the room while I trail the plant up higher so she cannot get to it. I don’t think she ate enough to make her sick... Dam cat....
Our lab mix, Daisy, is not as bad now, but used to be a terror when she was younger. Some of it was randow cases of separation anxiety, which was cured both by age and by us getting another dog. But one day I came home and she had eaten two shoes, both nice leather work-type shoes, both from different pairs!! At least if she is going to eat two shoes, she could have eaten a single pair and left me the other one, but no... She also chewed a huge hole in out bedspread at one point and pulled out the "stuffing" in that and used to love to eat books. Not just any books, not my ratty old paperbacks that I bought at used book sales, but usually library books. I probably paid the library $200-$300 over a course of two years to replace or repair their books.
One solution we found for the paper eating problem was instead of having her tear up the newspaper before we read it, we would leave our junk mail on the corner of the table. It tempted her because it was off limits. So she did us a favor by shredding it and we didn't have to worry so much about the books and newspapers.
Thank God she grew out of that, most of it was just puppy-ness and boredom!
A short detour... I saw this article and wanted to share it with you all. This cat was born and raised in a nursing home and somehow knows when a patient is about to die.
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSN2531239020070726
If that is having a soul, I don't know what is....
HELLLLLLLLLOOOOOO Pet people!!!!! Back from the great HOT north and so proud to be back in Dixieland. Trip went well, Jeremy's folks were wonderful, and we had a really fun, but hectic time. All the babies are home, including my Hines. Now we begin the readjusting period of having another baby in the house 24/7 and discovering his little quirks. We are VERY close to reading potty language (translation-get me out doors or else!) and have begun basic commands (which I beleive he's had some training, but I want to get him used to us asking him to sit down and stuff). Lucy and Charlie are coming to terms with having such a small guy around. Lucy is still throwing those dominant cards, and Hines is accepting the "rules" pretty well. Charlie just sniffs him a lot and they run around the house together while the "queen (fat) Lucy" lies on the couch and watches them. I've had to make an extra effort to love on the Pearl, as she has been sort of withdrawn. It's more that she doesn't want to get stampeded over than anything else. But I can tell you this, Hines energy level has turned my two pups into worn out poops. It is so funny to see Hines still rarin to go with the tug of war rope and Charlie is collapsed on the carpet ready for a nap.
ON SUBJECT: Labs are great dogs--Lucy only destroyed stuff when she was left alone past the time that she knew we were supposed to be home. All the plastic salad bowls went first (she learned to climb to the dish rack and open the cabinet)then she gradauted to pillows and other stuff-but then she pulled about half of the tiles up off the kitchen floor--I superglued them back down a couple of years later--that wasn't funny. Charlie's middle name is destruction. Its always something with him--but it's never anything expensive. Hines hasn't shown us a chewy side yet. Pearl loves to claw the walls--I tell people my living room walls have a new bohemina style called "cats claw". LOL
Ok--thats my lunch hour folks--gotta run--keep those cards and letter coming!!
Melissa, sounds as though you had your hands full with Daisy as a pup! I like the junk mail idea! How cleaver of you....
Welcome back Brett! I missed your daily Pet Chat! Glad to have you back safe and sound. I bet your babies are in heaven now that daddy is home!
Alice, that story was on the front page of the Augusta Chronicle this morning! I cut it out and plan to post a few lines on the story for Saturday. I think it is amazing how the cat has these abilities. A sure asset to so many families....
Welcome home Brett! We did miss you.
That story on the cat that knows when people are dying is just a exzample of how they know when to give comfort when it is most needed. I think most of us have known this for a long time. My girls comfort me when I'm upset all the time as I have talked about before. I truly believe that cat on the news is giving comfort it knows is much needed. Animals really do sense when we need them.
On a sad note there was that man who tortured his poor dog by tying it to the back of his truck and dragging it to the point of having to be euthanized! What a low life piece of dirt. Actually that is way too nice a term to put it. That poor sweet dog didn't deserve to die like that!!!! I am so outraged but I have to get off the subject as it is making me literally sick!
Well, my Dixie was a lab mix, and she was never a bit of trouble. I mean she was the usual playful, rowdy thing as a puppy. But, as she got older, she was just big and enthusiastic about EVERYTHING!!!! She didn't chew or destroy anything. I started her on rawhide type bones as a puppy, and she never had a desire to chew anything else. She was terrible about jumping on people, because she would get so excited to see visitors. But, that was my fault because I never taught her not to. But, she was the sweetest, best tempered dog I've ever known. She never had a bad word for anybody. Maybe she didn't have that much lab, but if you looked at her from the neck up, she was pure lab. From the neck down you could see the rottie coloring and maybe some shepard, but who really knows. All I know is that I loved her so much, and she was my first dog ever, so every dog I have for the rest of my life will have to live up to her. Big shoes.
Lucy....well, she was a chewer when she came here almost 3 years ago. The rawhide thing didn't do the trick. (She's a golden retriever/chow mix--we think) One thing Lucy did was to train us to put away our shoes. Let's just say we lost a few pairs in the beginning. So much so that I bought one of those shoe racks from Target for mine and Sweetie built one for his shoes!!!
Other things would get chewed on a regular basis once the shoes were no longer available, and Sweetie was getting very unhappy about this. Tanya (Miss Tuttle's mommy) suggested I try one of those sprays that they have at the pet stores for such things. I spent an hour reading labels and finally bought some Nature's Miracle Best Behavior. It isn't harmful, either to your pets, children, the environment, or the furniture and flooring. You spray it on EVERYTHING!!! Literally. I sprayed all the legs of tables and chairs and the couches and just anything that was there that she could reach that I thought she might chew. It was amazing!! You are supposed to reapply in 2-4 weeks and again after that if needed. I reapplied once, and that was it.
What it does is leave a BAD taste in your pet's mouth. It isn't harmful, just nasty to their tastebuds. Once they get it on their tongue, they will never go near that place again. I was sceptical, but it worked. If anyone still has chewing issues, I highly recommend you try it. I always kept a couple of rawhides laying around no where near a sprayed area, and I would come home from work and she had been chewing on them during the day. Just like she is supposed to.
The cats pissing all over the house is the absolute worst thing ever by any pet. I just don't even want to talk about that again.
Welcome back Brett! Glad you had a good trip. Can't wait to hear more about Hines and his settling into your household. I'ms sure you'll have us rolling!
Post a Comment
<< Home