Maggie, the Lab
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We have a new house guest she's 2, has beautiful hazel eyes, can jump 4 feet straight up and has 4 large feet and a very solid tail. She also has a beautiful chocolate brown fur coat. Her name is MAGGIE.
Maggie is one of neighbor's Labrador retrievers. This is her second year of being our house guest. Last year she went into heat for the first time bringing our 13 year old male Labrador retriever, Mokie, to life. He went from being a rug potato to an active, engaging playmate - sort of a Lab Viagra experience.
I'd been praying for my little guy to have a companion. Be careful what you pray for. Maggie loves him - he loves her. They both are in motion. Its sort of a test run of a second dog. Still not sure I'm willing. Got use to the low energy rug dog. They say if you get a dog its should be one you can live with as the parent- not sure I could go through the large very active dog thing again - especially since kids leave but the dog stays with you.
This year Maggie is larger, more active -if thats possible- and into everything. All dog sitting suggestions welcome. We do crate her when we leave because she's a paper shredder.
She loves the snow so we've been running her outside the way you do toddlers - just to wear her out. We have 5 more days.
Doggedly yours, Linda
WOW .... we have a lab-ish myself (mostly lab, just smaller), and Ds got a King Charles Spaniel/Dachsund for Christmas, they have been playing like you've never seen before ! But she's a puppy so we have the potty training issue.
Would Maggie be YOURS ? Or is this a trial to see if you want ANY second dog ?
Does she calm down after you run her outside for awhile ? How is she in the house at that point ?
Although this new puppy of ours is a handful, she is SO good for our lab. An incredible amount of work on our part, but our lab is just having the time of her life, a playful partner, someone to run around in the backyard with, etc .... if I'd known how much joy another dog could bring to our lab, I probably would have done this earlier.
Just my two cents Linda ..... I'm glad we bit the bullet, but it IS a lot of work. Definitely worth it though.
Harlena, This is rent-a-pup. We're sitting for our neighbors - they live 500 yards away- while they visit your fair state. They're in Orlando. Felt bad about the near freezing temp for them.
Anyway they would like to breed our lab and theirs. All of the kids -theirs and ours love this idea. Our lab is the perfect dog and Maggie is beautiful. Both us moms realize this probably means at least one new dog per household - we have reserved decision making.
You are so right about having a second dog being good for our older lab. He is a new man when she is around. He's far more active and I think happier.
I commend you for taking on the work. Wold love to know more about the mix you have. Is it small - would love small. Prayers for energy and endurance are in order for you.
With the canines,
Linda
Well Maggie went home. Our dog walks around the house sighing. He goes to the glass doors that have a sightline to her house and barks at her house.
I'm keeping an open mind about a second dog.
Comments welcome.
We've always had two dogs at a time, sometimes 3. It's no more work really. We usually have labs but had 2 labs and a fat beagle at one time. They keep each other company and are each other's playmates when we are at work. When we had to put the beagle down, we only had one lab. She had never been alone ever in her entire life. We had to take her everywhere. So we got her a playmate and that helped. Actually, we ended up with 2 playmates for her. Long story.
Personally, and I am a huge dog lover so take that into account, if I was going to get a puppy, I'd get two. That way when your older dog does go to doggy heaven, your younger two will still have each other. Get the potty training over with all at once and the puppy phase, too. I work full-time as does DH and didn't see two pups at once as any more work than one.
Awesome Tayjar .... I agree getting the puppy phase out of the way sounds good ..... I guess I'd worry that two puppies would only be playful with each other and not with the fullgrown one, you know, kinda like how some twins have no room for anyone other than the other twin ? But, maybe I'm personifying too much here !
Northcountrymom, now I feel lonely for your lab ... if the two dogs only live 500 feet away from each other, can they just go play with each other often enough ? Just curious, maybe your dog could have a playmate without you ending up wiht all the extra work .... I'm still there, not a lot of fun when the puppy just "doesn't get it !" .....
But I think you'll break down and get a playmate for your doggie .... he'll thank you later, over and over and over again !!! heheheheh
I'm giggling as I'm reading this. Dog lovers are like eating buddies we really can talk ourselves into another dog. I really am thinking about it. Need to pick a time when we can provide a stable schedule like a month in the summer. To be continued....
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