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Doggone good dog thread

Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
Just got back from breeding our Miniature Schnauzer.
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jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
So for those that didn't know, I actually have 25 labs in my house at the moment. We had 12 born Monday, but 1 did not make through the first night. She appears to have had fluid in her lungs that didn't get adequately cleared. So we are left with another litter of 11. Here's where it gets crazy. Lulu, our yellow female has 2 yellow parents. All 4 grandparents are yellow. Gunnar's mom is full blooded chocolate with some yellow in her family tree. There's 10 blacks and 2 chocolates! If we'd had a yellow male that was almost white like Lulu, we were for sure keeping it.

It gets a little crazier, yet. Or could. We loves chocolates and after Remi, chocolate males are our preferred dog. Well, we have a male and female chocolate. I'm trading the female for hunting access 😉, but the male is struggling a little. My wife is bottle feeding him and I'm helping him stay on the teet a few times a day and fighting the other dogs off. If he makes it and shows any sign of promise, I'm not sure he's leaving. I mean, we have 25 today, so what's 4 when the dust settles?!?

Oh, and Gunnar is on the waiting list to lose his balls. It'll happen in May!
Man... I give you a ton of credit. To be balancing everything with kids and working from home, AND caring for 25 dogs... I just can't even imagine. There's not enough booze in my cabinet to level that all out in my head. LOL

Labrador coat color genetics is really fascinating. Remember the punnett square stuff from high school science class? Dominant alleles, recessive alleles, some dogs only produce one color, some combinations can produce all three... it's really cool. I had Betty genetically tested so that I would know the probability of produced colors based on what alleles the male carried. Betty is BbEe, so she can produce all three colors if paired with the right male, even though she's blacker than night.

Keep giving that little chocolate male the TLC he needs. Those pups that need extra help often turn into some of the best dogs you could have.
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,691
177
Ohio
Those pups that need extra help often turn into some of the best dogs you could have.
I agree that this is true. I have one. Lefty was the "runt" of the litter. he didn't have any physical problems as a new born pup, but he was a late bloomer, so to speak. there are only two dogs from the litter that I have no clue about today, but of the other 8, Lefty is the only one that amounted to anything in the woods.

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Baby Lefty.jpg
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Despite our best efforts, brownie boy passed in his sleep last night while laying next to my wife. There was something wrong with him that wasn't about nutrition IMO. His instincts to nurse, crawl to mom, huddle with the others, and his overall coordination was way off compared to the others. On Day 4, he was no different than he was on minute 4. So, we are down to a litter of 10, all of which look healthy as can be. Sad morning around our house, but life moves on and the other 21 puppies still need our love and care, so there's plenty of puppy love to go around.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
Our shepherd stays outside most of the day, she knows the boundaries of the property and rarely leaves it unless a critter is involved. Bring her in at dusk and she’ll come in periodically for food, water bowl is outside for her as well. The wife just let her dog out and yelled at Bristol that she’s coming in in 20 minutes.... A curfew for a dog.... SMDH 😂😂😂😂😂
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,691
177
Ohio
we don't call them "mans best friend" for no reason. their world revolves around us. dogs are family, not livestock or an "investment".

I remember a phone conversation I had with my old friend and squirrel dog guru. it was probably the first or second season I hunted Lefty. Dean was a highly educated and very sophisticated man in many ways, but was downhome backwoods old school in just as many ways. He was nearly thirty years my senior, and our generation gap reared it's ugly head occasionally. we worked around that pretty well. Well, I worked around it, lol. hard for a pup to teach an old dog new tricks.

I was telling him about a squirrel hunt, probably asking for advice about something the dog did, and I must have said "we got 4 today" and "we" did this and "we" did that several times during the conversation. he finally asked me who I took hunting with me that day because had said I went by myself. I said, "just Lefty and me". He brought that conversation up some time later while we were hunting together. Told me that during the conversation he got confused because I kept saying "we", i.e., the dog and me. Said he'd never heard anyone include their dog as their hunting companion in such a personal way, implying that "it's just a dog", and dog people simply don't do that. I distinctly remember being caught off guard by his surprise/confusion and that it was even worth mentioning again. I shrugged my shoulders and told him that my dog isn't just livestock to me, it's family. it had never occurred to me to think of my dog as anything other than my hunting buddy. that may have been one of the handful of times I caused a light bulb in his head to come on. It never occurred to him to think of his dog as more than a tool. He loved his dogs dearly, and he took good care of them, but you'd never find one sleeping in his house, let alone in bed with him. animals stayed outside because they are animals. I've tried to treat my dogs more like "dogs". I'm just plain bad at it.
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
The purpose of a dog sure has changed with time and that story is one of many. I have had similar things happen and grew up with the kind of thinking Dean had. Tools, a dog with no job has no purpose, shoot him and move on. It wasn’t until I had kids that my mind changed. Honestly, it was Tanner that changed me. Before that I traded and shot more dogs than I will ever want to admit. Now we consistently have two dogs in our lives that serve no purpose beyond companionship. One of them we paid more than I ever have for a dog and he’s dumb as shit. He would’ve never made it this long in life 15 years ago. Weird how things change. Not sure I could even leave a dog in pen outside anymore. They’re part of the family now, even the dumb one. 😂
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I grew up with one dog that was primarily a family companion and they were treated like such. Lex, Rusty, and Mac got be through my childhood and early adulthood. None had a job other than Lex was a Doberman and Mac was mostly rottweiler, so they made good protectors. Rusty was a cocker spaniel that wasn't worth a damn, except to replace Lex and keep 6-12 year old me occupied. Remi was the first dog I ever owned that had a purpose beyond companionship. I love dogs more than people, hence why I have 3 and they're allowed in the house. They're family and I'd prefer to hang out with them as opposed to 99 out of 100 people.
 

triple_duece

Ragin Cajun.
9,126
159
Pearl’s birthday is today. 3 years old, man time is flying. I had a personal goal of getting her HRCH title before she turned 3 but covid 19 fucked that up. All the test have been canceled until further notice. She needs one more pass to earn her title.

Having many labs before, and having that once in a lifetime great dog before, I never thought I’d get another. I have been blessed again and she is the best I’ve had so far. Never pee’d or pooped in the house since we picked her up at 5 weeks old. She’s never chewed up one thing either....she might not be a lab [emoji23].

Anyhoo, I’m gonna spend the money to get her health clearance and find the right stud to breed with.
 
Pearl’s birthday is today. 3 years old, man time is flying. I had a personal goal of getting her HRCH title before she turned 3 but covid 19 fucked that up. All the test have been canceled until further notice. She needs one more pass to earn her title.

Having many labs before, and having that once in a lifetime great dog before, I never thought I’d get another. I have been blessed again and she is the best I’ve had so far. Never pee’d or pooped in the house since we picked her up at 5 weeks old. She’s never chewed up one thing either....she might not be a lab [emoji23].

Anyhoo, I’m gonna spend the money to get her health clearance and find the right stud to breed with.
Happy Birthday Pearl!!
 
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