“My goal in life is to be the person my dog thinks I
am”.----Anonymous
I cannot remember a time when I did not have a dog. Even
when I was small strays would “follow” me home and after much
persuasion, I would be allowed to keep them. The rule
however was that they would be outside. Naturally many of my
pets did not last long. I promised myself that when I had a
place of my own I would have a dog, in the house, and part of the
family. If I had only known then that this would become a promise
that would come true many fold.
As I grew up I also knew that I wanted to teach adolescents
with learning and behavior problems. While doing my student
teaching at the University of Louisville, I was placed with
orthopedically handicapped students. Two of these teenagers
were accompanied by Labradors used as companions which allowed
them to move around more independently. I was amazed at the
versatility of these dogs. Their dedication and noble
appearance fascinated me. I was introduced to the lady who
had trained these labs, and the rest is history. As with any
history however, it has had its ups and downs.
After college my life went through several transitions and it
was a few years until I could think about owning a dog.
When the time was right I knew I wanted a chocolate lab.
Like a lot of people, I went straight to the newspaper, picked out
an ad that sounded good, and went to get my puppy. We (my
husband, son, and I) named her Bingo. She was much
loved. Since I knew the basic obedience training, I started right
away. As I am sure you have quessed
by now, Bingo had a “bad wheel”. She was moderately
dysplastic in one hip. We could not believe it. After
a second opinion, and we recovered from the numbness, we had
her spade. She was no less the lab for her hips and
continued to be the excellent companion and hunt test dog we had
always known and loved. We swam her a great deal as the vet
said this would be good for her. Of course she was not
guaranteed. This setback only caused me to read more and
research more and add to my list of things to learn----genetics.
It was through one of these venues that I learned of Kim Moses and
Hunters Marsh.
It was said that Kim Moses knew a great deal about labs and
genetics. At the time she had just started coming to
Kentucky to train in the winter. We called Kim and arranged
to buy a new puppy. This one would be called, Hunters Marsh
Return to Cinder, “Cinder”. Our schedules became such that
after our new pup was several months old, we did not have the time
to devote to her training and the force-fetch was something
neither of us felt comfortable with doing. So Cinder was off
to Hunters Marsh with Bill and Kim. She too was an excellent
lab with much enthusiasm and desire. We would train with Kim
and Bill on weekends and learn much. When Cinder was a year
old Kim suggested that just as a caution we have preliminary hip
x-rays done. And we did. You guessed it. Cinder had
bad hips. Kim could not believe it either. However Cinder
was guaranteed and Kim not only replaced the pup but also would
receive the same amount of training as Cinder for free. Of
course any time this happens to an owner it is disappointing.
We had grown to love Cinder and now the decision had to me made as
to what we would do with her. We now had two labs with “bad
wheels” and a third lab about to come to our house. After
talking with Kim, she assured us she could find a very good home
for Cinder with a family that would take care of her. So
Cinder went to a family that had been looking for a lab already
housebroken, trained and good with small children. It was a
good trade. Bingo went to an elderly couple where the man
would use her as his hunting buddy and she would be an inside
companion dog the rest of the year. This too was a good
placement. It did
relieve the pain knowing that they were in good homes however it
did not replace the hours upon hours of personal time and training
we had spent with each lab.
I would remember this later when I did decide to breed my
first litter of labs.
Now I was a woman
on a mission. I
became obsessed with learning all about Labradors.
How is it that a lab with parents with good hips can be
dysplastic? How is it
possible? Why was she
the only lab in the litter to be dysplastic?
Was it just my luck or what?
Now I attended seminars, subscribed to several
publications, and researched hours on the internet.
Of course nothing is quite so enlightening as just plain
old talking with other lab people “in the know”.
Kim Moses has become my mentor as well as friend over these
years and I have learned much from her.
And let me say a few years have passed.
I will not bore
you with the other ups and downs I have experienced with my “love
of Labs”. I will
suffice it to say that I am thoroughly absorbed and obsessed with
the breed. At present I own five labs at various stages of training.
I own all three colors, and have both sexes. One lab I
co-own with Kim Moses, Hunters Marsh Maker’s Mark, “Booze”.
I still do obedience but my passion is the hunt tests. We compete
in both UKC and AKC tests and I am planning on trying the field
trial game in the spring. I judge UKC tests and am a member
of several of the clubs. I am a member of Ducks Unlimited
and Quail Unlimited. I also devote a great deal of time to
local groups in my community such as PINS (Pets In Need Society)
and take my older chocolate, Bogey with me to the senior citizens
as a therapy dog. All my labs accompany me to school and
help me work with behaviorally disorder adolescents. I spend
countless hours on the phone talking with people about labs and
trying in every way that I am able to help educate people about
labs. There is much to learn and I do not want people to
have to learn the “hard” way as I did. Do not get me wrong.
I have had numerous people help me in my goal to learn all there
is about labs, but there is always new information and research to
be learned and shared.
I hope this has helped you learn a little bit about where I am
“coming from”. Elsewhere I will bore you with my opinions
about labs as well as share with you some of the facts I have
learned about the most versatile breed in “dogdom”, the Labrador
Retriever.
