I'm a far cry from having any degree of expertise when it comes to dogs. Basically, most of what I've had previously were German Shorthairs and primarily for hunting upland birds and as a family pet. I found them to be excellant on upland birds, great nose, soft mouth and seemed to work a little closer than the English Pointers some of my friends had. Good family dog and great with kids.
I've always liked the looks of the Yellow Lab and shortly after retirement, I got one, Tikka.
Great dog but sadly, I never got to try her much in the field. She was diagnosed very early on as having Cryptococcus but lost her battle with it at age seven, which was longer than most survive with it.
That was a little over a year ago and we decided to get another, which we just did. Not having hunted with Labs all that much, but as I indicated to the breeder, at this point in time in my life, requirements have changed a little. Now primarily, I'm looking for a friend, companion so I indicated to her, 90% pet 10% hunting dog.
Generally speaking, I've found the Lab I've had to be very friendly and easy going and not a mean bone in her body. They're possibly the furtherest thing there is from a guard dog or home protector. I think our first Lab would not only invite an intruder in but also show them where all the goodies are.
This one, Tessa, started out on her first night with us by waking us about once every two hours. To be expected. I look forward to having her as my buddy and working with her a little, on birds.
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, and no one more to blame for that sidetrack of discussion than yours truly. Further to that point, I have a recently acquired model 70 Winchester Super Express that I haven't burnt any powder in yet. Puppy duties.
