All dog owners have a particular breed of animal they prefer.  Labrador lovers are no different.  Our choice of breed is usually shaped at a very early age.  It may be a neighbour’s dog, or one you met in the park.  It may even be the first glimpse of a certain toilet paper advert on the TV.  But one fact is clear, once you have been captured by the Labrador; it is a life long devotion that no other breed can tear you away from.

My own experience was forged by my Father’s Police Dog.  An animal so unique, the family still discuss him as though he only left us last week.  When in fact, he has been gone some 36 years.  Such is the measure of this remarkable breed.

The Labrador possesses the ability to train their owner to a fine degree.  I bet that none of you even realise that in reality, you don’t actually own them at all?  The fact is they own you!  Your dog has you well trained.  They can get you to feed them daily at the same time and take them for walks, even when you don’t really want to go out.  When you visit your local pet shop to stock up on supplies, somehow, probably telepathically, they have the ability to make you slip the odd treat into your shopping basket.  Maybe food or a toy you just know they will love.  How do you know?  Training!  That’s how!  They can ensure that you are trained to endure all the doggy smells they come with and forgive them their transgressions, such as ripping up your favourite slippers or pinching the Sunday joint from the kitchen table.  Oh yes, you might be cross, but I guarantee that within a short space of time they will be back on the sofa beside you or helping you demolish a packet of Custard Creams.

Did you know that the Labrador has the ability to hypnotise you?  Those wonderfully expressive eyes that can see deep into your soul, can make you do just about anything they want.  The Labrador owner has to be particularly strong to resist this.  Especially when it comes to feeding time.  Many a Labrador has gone to an early grave because of their ability to hypnotise their owner into over feeding them.   They have a stare second to none when it comes to persuading you to part with something you really wanted to eat yourself.  The same stare can be used to make you feel guilty at depriving them of the treat they desperately want to get their teeth into.

Once your Labrador gets you to fall in love with them, you are lost forever.  There is simply no going back.  This is a love that will last a life time, long after your dog has departed to the great kennel in the sky.  When they leave you, they tear off a piece of your heart and take it with them.  It is painful, but necessary.  It ensures you never forget them, but also leaves a small gap, ready to be filled by the next Labrador you fall in love with.  You are trained to love every Labrador that owns you equally.  Which, if you think about it, is pretty amazing!

The Labrador may leave your heart broken but they give you so much in the short time they spend at your side.  They are loyal, loving, dependable and protective.  When you get home after a horrible day at work, they instinctively know you need a cheer up cuddle and a good wash with a warm slobbery tongue.  When you suffer personal tragedy, they will use that some tongue to lick away your tears, while the waggy thump of their tail sooths you until you feel better.  When you are ill, they don’t care if you look like death warmed over; have a runny nose, or a cough like a foghorn.  They are instantly there beside you on the sofa or bed, snuggled up helping you to keep warm and lowering your blood pressure so you can sleep and get well again.  When you need to lose weight or get fit, they are happy to walk for hours to help you achieve your goal.  If you feel threatened they will stand between you and danger, with no thought for themselves.  If you were drowning, they would jump in to rescue you, without hesitation.

All dog owners will tell you they know exactly what their animal is thinking.  In the case of the Labrador this is certainly true.  They have wonderfully expressive faces and their body language conveys a host of information to their ‘owners.  Labrador owners know instantly if their dog has done something they shouldn’t.  We know this as the ‘Who Me?” look.  The ‘Butter wouldn’t melt in my Mouth” look is another.  No other dog can “smile” like a Labrador.  It’s not just in the facial expression, but something they manage to achieve with their whole body.  Which is pretty amazing when you think about it.  They have the “It’s time for my walk, feed, toy, treat and cuddle” expressions and the one that says “There is NO way I’m having a bath”.  Whoever says that dogs can’t talk has obviously never owned a Labrador.

Man has, by selective breeding, developed the Labrador into the most amazing tool.   They are, first and foremost, a working breed and boy can they work.  My Father’s Labrador was almost a split personality.  At home, he was a daft soft thing that played with us kids and kept an eye on, my then, baby Brother.  At work, he was something altogether different.  A hard Black bundle of muscle that could make grown men cower at the sight of his teeth and the sound of his low throaty growl.  At the Dog Training School, very few of the other dog handlers would pad up and run for him, because his teeth would slice through the protective gear like butter.  Yet, this was the same animal that would slink off behind the sofa, with his head down, after “blowing off” and being asked “Phoor!  Is that you?”

You will almost certainly recognise your own dog/s from the description in this piece.  I’d be very surprised if you didn’t.  Each one of us knows our own dog is unique, but at the same time, they are all exactly the same. Once we fall for the Labrador we are enslaved forever.  Even long after we no longer have one of our own anymore, we will stop a Labrador owner walking their dog, just to say hello.  The sight of a Labrador puppy will always tug our heartstrings and we will never forget any Labrador who “owned” us.  For we are forever theirs, heart, body and soul.  There is no escape and truth be known, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Pat Pollington
(Owned by Fidget & Bosun)

Images:

Top: Pat her Dad and Skipper

Lower: Fidget and Bosun