We found this sweet boy stray with no collar or ID on Saturday.
My sister who is a Vet Tech checked for a microchip and nothing.
Scanned the local papers, SPCA and on the web and no one claims him so we will instead.

We have named him Buddy and he is a ~2 year old Labrador Retriever
He is very gentle with my kids (5 and 7 years old) and my wife and me.
Walks kid gloves in the house and is very clean.
The only bad trait is that he would pull on the leash while walking (Typical Lab trait).
2 Days working with him on a "Gentle Leader" leash and no more pulling and he is happy. Very easy to train so far.
Wonderfully trained in everything else by someone.
I am still puzzled why they would not mark him some way.
He is a wonderful addition to our family.

Mike





Mike

Well, it looks like fortune has made a good match. Good people and a good dog. Is there anything more cosmically right ?

God bless you for rescuing him. I worked with an animal rescue group for a couple years. Got my last two dogs while with them. I had to give it up because I moved and I also would have wound up keeping more than I should. I have a special place in my heart for dogs.

Good looking dog. Looks healthy.

Labs are great dogs. One of the few breeds that is supremely gentle and tolerant and yet will fiercely defend family and property.

He is a beautiful dog, I hope your family enjoys him.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful story Lone Star. Buddy is a beautiful dog!!

That is wonderful news! Labs are good dogs and too smart for their own good!

That's great. I wish more people would adopt stray dogs instead of paying out the nose for breeds made at those puppy mills. Whenever I see those houses with 50 kennels behind them and dogs chained to posts driven in front of their little dog houses I see red. Looks like you got a friend for life there!

WTG Lone Star!

Very cool. My GF and I ended up with a stray lab terrier mix about 3 months ago.

Two thumbs up for rescued dogs! Super handsome boy you have there....and sounds like a good family pet too.


I was in a relationship with a Vet Tech a couple years ago and had to deliver something up to her workplace one evening and there was this little six week old pup in an incubator up there. I thought it was the most adorable thing because he was just howling like a little wolf. The next morning I found out that the owners weren't able to afford his treatment, so they had to surrender him to the Vet office...well a couple days later, they were at the point they were going to have to euthanize him, and my girl snatched him up and brought the little fella to me.


He's been my favorite companion ever since. He's still around....she isn't.


I named him Buddy too.

Here's my lil' boy about 4 months ago.

What a fine dog LoneStarAce! Let us know how long it takes him to make the couch his
I've had that breed before and they are wonderful with kids - and will protect them too.

Enjoy!


cheapshot - you got a good one too!

qft

Extremely cool Lone Star.
We found a stray just after Thanksgiving.
Same thing. no collar, no chip and completely house trained.
We took her to the pounds expecting to have to leave her there before we could adopt her.
I go to bring her home after we went to the pound but I had to wait 30 days to adopt so someone would have the opportunity to claim her.
She became ours Tuesday.
A 4 to 5 year old, possibly pure bred, Samoyed.


Wheels

Great story and great find for both you & Buddy, though it's sad that there's probably someone out there who lost that handsome fella.

Puppy pics Wheels! I just love dogs...they are the most wonderful animals.

I'm really glad to see more people take in strays or adopt from a local shelter. There are just so damn many that could use a good home. Every time I hit a shelter, I wish I had more room for another pup...but being an underemployed apartment dweller prevents it. My folks actually adopted from a shelter a little over a month ago and had me meet them to get a bit of advice. There was a Dane/Lab mix there that almost had me making a bad decision.

Anyways, they ended up with a real sweetheart of a pup. She's an adorable Australian Shepherd/American Bull mix who caught their eye as soon as they came in, due to her interesting markings and great disposition. Her tail was standing high, confident but mild mannered. I think she's going to be a fantastic dog.

Here she is at around 11 weeks...



She's pretty bright...she learned basic sit and stay commands within the first couple of weeks of being there, and now I have her able to sit/lay stay for upwards of 2 minutes. Not bad for only being 16 weeks and me only able to spend 3 hours a week teaching her new stuff, but my folks are doing great at reinforcing between visits.

The next big task is a bit of leash training as she's likely to become a big strong girl, a bit too strong for my mother to walk without it.

Leash training...*groan*

My camera is on loan tonight.
I should be able to get some pics up tomorrow.
I also have a sheltie.
The size contrast beteween the two is hilarious to me.

The little sheltie is trying to herd the big one but it can't.
He goes running at her and jumps up and bounces off her side trying to get her to go where he wants and she doesn't even break her stride.
Thank heaven she is an extremely gentle dog. She already treats him like her puppy.


Wheels

Same here, when I eventually get my own house (out in the sticks, of course) I'm going to turn into the crazy cat guy with 100 cats, and also a few dogs to run off the coyotes & fishers that my AR15 and shotgun don't take care of.

Rescue dogs are the best! They know you took them in and love you for it. Congratulations.

Ted is a rescue. Only a couple of days left in the pound before his time was up. He's a handful, but that's part of his character so I wouldn't change it. He's been with us three years now.





Great to see so many people rescuing these amazing creatures.

Show him a hose pipe or a pool of water.

Labs are crazy dogs, they remain 'teenagers' until at least 6-7 (dog years) and water makes them crazy funny. They genetically are attracted to it and some of their antics will have you laughing your ass off.

Great looking dog!

Great story Lone Star. Looks like Buddy found a good home.

I love dogs, Labs in particular, and Yellow Labs the best. Axel's right, take Buddy down to the nearest pond and toss a stick into the water. They're naturals when it comes to swimming. Our last lab, Misty, was a nut about it. She'd just jump into our pool and cool off in the summer. Course, if I was swimming, it didn't make any difference, except she'd come right up to me and then you have to watch out for those feet!

Many happy years to you and your new friend.

Labs are puppies their entire lives, but they're awesome dogs.

pfunk

I love dogs....well I don't "love" dogs, but I am glad you guys found a match. I like dogs better than people.

My wife and I went to get a dog, and we went to the pound. There were a bunch of dogs there, but in the corner was one little tiny lab rot mix. They kept him away from the other dogs because he smelled SOOOO BAD. He got nailed by a skunk a couple days before and hadn't bathed him. He was so pathetic that we had to adopt him. He's been a great dog since, a bit dumb and spastic, but he's good and tolerant with the kids. No complaints from an owner of a rescue animal.

Labs are indeed the purest of puppies. We've had two, and they just stayed puppies their whole lives. What great dogs.

I mentioned this in the "War dog" thread, but I'll repeat it here, cause it's worth repeating. There was an episode of "The Dog Whisperer" that featured a yellow lab who was a bomb sniffer by trade. Had served in Iraq, was doing duty with his new sheriff owners down in Florida. He developed a problem with loud noises, such that he would just go hide somewhere and shiver. No one could figure out what was going on and so they called Cesar Millan.

This show ran an entire hour, which is rare for "The Dog Whisperer". Cesar rehabbed the dog over a long period of time and eventually bonded with him so tight that it was clear he had a hard time letting him go back to his owners. I've never seen Cesar get so attached to one of his project dogs.

It was a special episode.

Wow, those are all such great dogs. Makes me miss my Shepard/Husky mix. Died as a pup from Distemper that she got at the pound. Still chokes me up to think about it.

I love dogs. Nothing can make you happier or laugh more. My best wishes to all your hounds and thanks for saving some great animals!


Deacon

Love labs. Hope to own one some day.

My last dog was a rescued dog. She was actually my ex-wife's. I remember when she brought her to where she was living. Her roomates had been all for it and then when she did it they all changed their minds (asses). I remember the dog sitting in the hallway leading to the room and taking it all in. I was actually in another room letting them all sort it out since I didn't live there. The dog then looked over her shoulder at me with the this wide-eyed expression on her face that seemed to scream "DO SOMETHING". I went in and mediated and it got sorted out and the dog could stay.

I rescued another dog years after from an abusive owner, but I still can't talk about that. I had to give her up at the time and I found a great place that takes in bull terriers and protects them until they can find a suitable home. Still breaks my heart to think about that one.

Guys thanks for all the well wishes.
I think Buddy is adjusting to the family just fine.
Since it has been so cold here in Houston he has been bunking in the house with us at night. Let me tell you that Big Fella can snore when he's sleeping! I am touched by all the wonderful dog stories on here and appreciate you all sharing them with us.

Mike

Congrats on the new family member, Lone Star.

We picked up a stray dog 15 years ago, about two years later she gave birth to 5 more and we kept another female. They are still with us, we couldn't be happier and I'm happy we picked her up.. definitely the best decision we ever made as a family.

How is everyones dog/s doing one year later?

The Samoyed we found just before Thanksgiving 2010 has taken to digging up our hillside and keeps me busy filling the holes. My biggest victory with "Snow" was to get her to roll over and let me scratch her belly. She has totally become a part of the family.

My little Sheltie still trys to herd her but she still ignores him. It's funny to watch him take a running leap at her and then just bounce off without fazing her one bit.


Wheels

I have two dogs in my household. I got them both from the local animal shelter as pups. Both are fantastic dogs and my home wouldnt be the same without them. Lewis is a Shepard/Doberman mix and is now 12 yrs old, Emmy is a Malamute/Lab mix and is 2 yrs old. The only drawback is that every f'n thing I own is covered in dog hair... oh, and the 2 lb turds....could do without those...

Buddy the Labrador is still getting along good and Living the Life of Reilly my Mom says.
Wife thinks he is our third child and the kids and me love him too.
Love him bunches and he is a full fledged member of the family now.

Things have changed a bit since last year in that we lost Rex mid year but we still have our bandit Snow. We had taken her to the groomers a couple of days earlier and she was trying to get the bandana off and got it stuck on her nose.




Wheels

I'm a dog-person (is that a proper term) through and through and I'm missing my old friends. All of them have passed by now, my last buddy Max about 2-3 years ago.

I'm seriously thinking of getting a Pom for my kids (my previous dogs were Jap Spitz), I'm sure they'd love it. My eldest is actually the first (and only) child to befriend our neighbor's big-ass Labradors, and when my second was born, he was chasing that big dog around as he himself was still learning to walk/waddle. Unfortunately, it seems like a Pom is damn expensive here in UK, and caring for a dog is also expensive in itself.

Ice, my eldest son works at the Dogs Trust (a national rehoming charity here) and they have some pedigree Poms ready for re-homing. They were rescued from a 'hoarder', who had over 60 in a small house. They are quite young, and due to their previous situation, untrained and unsocialised.
They would also have to be re-homed in pairs.
Have look here for information about the Dogs Trust:
Dogs trust website