Looking back at the photo’s, missing those cute eeniemeenie puppy days…. Here is my lil boy at 10 weeks vs 10 months (now), all grown up!!
He was a lil demon puppy though so I’m glad he is bigger now, but looking back at those pictures… 😭 he was so cute!!

She is an exceptional field dog, we go for days in the bush and marshlands for retrieval training exercises and on demand execution. She can hike for 20km in the woods, always making sure we are in sight and on trail. She plunges into the Great Lakes (Erie, Huron, and Ontario.. not Lake America, Ontario) without hesitation, leaps into any marsh, and looks up to us lovingly and excitedly to be pushed further. But, when company comes, this is their favourite little trick to see. She can lay down, twirl, give pray hands, all that jazz. But this is the money maker. She knows it..easy duck jerky.

Her name is Miso. Like the soup.

Milo is 10 years old now, and every time I come home after being away for work, the feeling of seeing him again is impossible to put into words.

I work on an oil rig, so I’m away from home for months at a time. You get used to the distance, the long shifts, and the routine… but nothing prepares you for that first moment when you walk through the door and your dog sees you.

Milo is heavier this time 😂. He has obviously gained a little weight because my grandparents apparently believe that feeding him everything he looks at is their full-time job. 😂

But honestly, I don’t even care. Seeing that face again, feeling his excitement, and having him right beside me makes all those months away worth it.

Dogs really do have a way of making you realize what “home” actually means.

Three months felt like forever. But I’m finally home with my old boy. ❤️

Happy Birthday to my sweet Doug!
I am so very lucky to have you.
Today vs 9 weeks, how time flies. 🥹

In January? Maybe february... I got a new black lab mix puppy. One of our cats had just crossed the rainbow bridge, and i had wanted to get a dog for a long time. A friend of mines aunt rescues dogs, and she rescued 4 black lab mix pups from someone in Colorado. (We are in idaho) she had them transported here and found homes for them all. I was one of the lucky 4 parents she found.

I am an avid fisherman, but my wife is "allergic to outside" and my friends are more into video games than nature, so I wanted some company. That's why I wanted a dog specifically.

After a few days of deliberation on what to name him, inspiration struck! I was reading a book called "heritical fishing" at the time. The books main characters name was Fischer. Immediately I knew that was my bois name too.

He absolutely loves the water. To the point, he had surgery on his paw recently (damn cheatgrass) and was very upset with me that I wouldnt let him go in the canals or streams on our walks for like a month.

Yesterday, we were in the yard playing, and a neighbor came home. Fischer ran over to greet them (which he knows he is not supposed to do) and i yelled "fisch! You better get back here!"

Then it hit me. Id been calling him that as a shorthand for his name for months without realizing.

I have a dog named fish. Im one of thoooose lol. I never thought I would be one of those people that named a pet something extremely dumb, but i am apparently lol.

Anyway, here's the dog tax. Me and fisch on one of our fishing trips!

That is all.

This little dude is my world and is officially double-digits. My previous chocolate only made it to, so I wanted to share Caruso's 10th birthday!

This is my little shadow & love.

He turned 8 this year. I treasure the luxury that he's still happy, healthy and energetic (he survived AHDS at 1 y.o., a dog attack a few years ago, a paralysis tick I caught early about 3yrs ago, and a near-miss with a brown snake late last year) and get sad at his little sparkles of wisdom appearing (whites).

Having some ruff days lately (nothing horrible, just a looot), and this boi has been by my side the whole time, being super cuddly. He's helping me so much to cope 🥹

My 11 month old is starting her first heat, I think. I always spayed my girls early in the past, so I never had to deal with a heat but with the debate between waiting for a heat and not, I didn't pull the trigger. So, how do we deal with this? Get doggy diapers and what else? What if she tries to take the diaper off? She eats literally everything, like most labs.

I have been watching Rocky Kanaka on YouTube today, it breaks my heart to see dogs surrendered by the owner!!!

I don’t understand it!!! I would go homeless, live in my car, and work picking up shifts through Shiftkey as a CNA and med aide before I gave up tater!!

It would hurt my heart and crush my soul to give up my fur baby!!!!!

I don’t understand these people that give up their animals due to “hardship?” What? There are HOMELESS PEOPLE ON THE STREETS WITH DOGS (not that don’t have a few thoughts on that), but it is better than the pound!!

I could never give up that beautiful face!! “The smile” is what he does when I have something he wants a part of. He does that to get a bite of or a piece of something I have.

i swear she has a baby face lol

It warms my heart that Milo (red) is Otis’ best little friend.

Do you have labs that love each other?

My beautiful baby Hazel is about 8 or 9 now and has to have CCL surgery on Tuesday. I just found out she has to stay overnight as well which absolutely breaks my heart. She's my baby and I hate having to leave her. But the crazy zoomies finally caught up to her and it has to be done.

Can anyone share their insights about the surgery? I know it's going to be a long recovery period. But I'll do anything for my girl!

A while ago I posted a video of our lab Ziggy walking funny, we immediately contacted the vet who, after doing a few tests, directed us to an orthopedic specialist and recommended we do a PennHip to test for hip dysplasia.

The specialist already prepared us for a possible JPS surgery if the score was high, they would stop part of his pubic bone from growing so that socket would grow over the leg bone locking it in tighter and possibly saving him from bigger problems later down the line.

He did explain very clearly that JPS is a preventive surgery and that there is always the chance that the issue could resolve itself and that we would do the surgery for nothing, however the scans do give a good indication of the possibility of HD developing and since no one can see the future it's about weighing the benefits vs downsides.

The score came back 0.69 which I was told is on the line between medium and severe, weighing the pros and cons we decided to go on with the procedure and today, 2 days later, he got it.

The procedure was very minor, 5 hours later he is already back to his crazy self and we just need to keep him from jumping and running the next 10 days.

I did do quite some research into jps the last 2 days, I know there are lots of people that feel that nature should take its course first and determine HD when the dog is more grown and developed, but we decided to listen to our vets and take the chance now, but it did feel like an impossible choice.

I do feel that we made the right one right now, the procedure was very minimal and if it saves him from pain and discomfort it's worth it, but we will have to wait and see.

Anyway I wanted to post something about our experience, perhaps someone else will find this post and our experience helpfull some day.