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| Love those golden eyes... |
Meet Chloe!
I am sure I will be mentioning Chloe a lot in future blog posts, so I thought I should introduce her to you.
Chloe is our beautiful, 3-year-old Chocolate Lab. We got her as a puppy in 2010 after losing our other dog in late 2009 to a car accident.
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| Chloe as a puppy-May 2010 |
Isn't she a cutie?
She is a crazy girl, though! SO full of energy. She loves to swim, chase cats, play fetch, chew up sticks (occasionally in the house when I'm not watching *ahem*)....oh yeah, and be the CENTER OF ATTENTION all the time!
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| Chloe in the snow- 2012 |
We love her so much, she is like a member of the family.
For those of you who live on a farm and are searching for a new dog, I would highly recommend a Labrador. I am no dog training expert, but with some time spent training her when she was little, she:
Has never killed a chicken...
Has never chased/killed a goat (or any of the animals for that matter)...
Is very good and gentle with kids...
Has never set foot on the road when she wasn't supposed to...
And for the most part does what she is told...
Labs don't eat much, don't really need to be groomed, aren't outrageously expensive, and are all-around great dogs in my opinion. They do need exercise, however, so please make sure you will be able to provide that before purchasing a Lab.
A fat dog means an unhealthy dog, which means vet bills, and vet bills are EXPENSIVE!
Chloe has her own way of staying fit...If we don't take a few minutes in the day to let her run around and play outside, she will be crazy and hyper in the evening until her energy is gone. Not fun for us when it happens, but it reminds us to play with her earlier in the day! It's better than her being lazy and overweight, though, that's for sure.
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| Tired Chloe |
She is a great girl, and I look forward to many more fun-filled years with her...
Chloe is adorable! I've been looking for a good breed to be a farm dog, as I have cats & of course the chickens. Thanks for posting. I'll definitely consider this breed. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Charity! I'm glad you found this post and are now considering a Lab!
DeleteOver the years we have had 3 rottweilers as our farm dogs and they have been fabulous. They are great with kids, great with livestock, and very obedient. Like any breed, you want to select them from a breeder that breeds for temperament and you have to train them. Our current Rotty, Spirit, is great with our chickens and has been protecting them since they were hatched. We call them her "Feather Puppies" and she mothered them and herds them around our farm. We have predators (you can hear coyotes in the woods at night) but they never venture in our yard and I am very sure it is because of our dog. You can see her on my Instagram account - http://instagram.com/p/aifM9qALSQ/
DeleteChloe is so cute. I have lab mix dog named Jaq-Jaq. Great pets and so loving!
ReplyDeleteThanks, April! Yes, labs are AWESOME!
DeleteWhat a beautiful dog - and it's the expression in her eyes that is especially wonderful. It's been almost a year since we said good-bye to our beloved lab/shepherd, Katie. For 14 years she was our constant companion and she's greatly missed... Thanks for sharing your Chloe!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lori, we think she's pretty cute too :) Sorry for your loss, I know how hard it is, even after a year.
DeleteWe have a 3 yr old yellow lab named Lakota. We live on 9 acres but not REALLY a farm. Lakota has taken so well to staying on our property (most of the time, not 100% but she always comes right back). I have been worried about what she would do with our 4 new chickens. She did want to grab them when they were brand new but now they are almost 2 months old and she seems to understand what I want her to do. She helps me round them up in the evening and lets me know as soon as one leave the exact area they were in. If I tell her it is okay, she will let them move. All of this is just her following my lead and not actual "training". My only worry is when one chicken tries to "fly"/ flutter away, she will chase it. I'm afraid she will try to catch one if I'm not watching carefully. She'd only be trying to help...
ReplyDeleteAs far as a lab goes- if you can stand the hyper-ness when they aren't properly exercised and the shedding (ours is an indoor dog), then they seem perfect to me. She's my first lab and picks up on everything. I even used her as a mobility (service) dog for the first 2 years of her life. I trained her myself and she was amazing. She alternately amazes me and drives me nuts...but we love her dearly.
Lakota sounds a lot like Chloe! That's great that she is learning how to treat the chickens! One thing we use to be sure that Chloe behaves around chickens/goats is a manual shock collar. You can control how strongly she is shocked, which is nice. Chloe doesn't need a very strong shock to know that she is doing something wrong, so we aren't really hurting her, just catching her attention. It was an investment, and I would rather not have to use anything at all, but it is SO worth it for the safety of our other animals. If you are able to afford one, I would highly recommend it. Good luck with your chickens!
Deleteawww beautiful dog! Found you from Sincerely Paula's weekend party. Don't have a lab or a farm; wish I had both! lol
ReplyDeleteI've got a house in the suburbs and a shep/lab mix! She is a member of our family-like another kid. :)
Sooo cute! My Step dad had a black Lab called Max he loves to tell stories about. They sound like great family dogs!
ReplyDeleteThanks, they really are fantastic dogs!
DeleteSaw Chloe's picture in the 1804 Blog Hop today and had to stop by! She is beautiful! We have a chocolate lab, Reese and she is the best Dog I have ever had. Labs are the best!:)
ReplyDeletehttp://ohsewcraftylife.blogspot.com
Thanks,they ARE the best!
DeleteWe had a black lab when I was a kid. Charlie. He was a very good dog. Labs are excellent dogs...and your chocolate lab is GORGEOUS!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rosilind!
DeleteLabs are the BEST! I have two. Both yellows but Sadie, the puppy, has green eyes and a pink nose. Her grandfather was a chocolate lab.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, young labs need exercise or everyone pays for it later in the day. They've got to get the energy out some way. Our Petsmart has dog camp. Especially if we have a string of bad weather where Sadie cannot be outside, we go to camp. She plays in the "rowdy room" with the big dogs and at the end of the day she is a happy, exhausted girl.
We also bought her a swimming pool. She LOVES it! :)
Thanks so much for adding this sweet post on my blog hop. Hope you'll come back again this week.
Blessings,
Sinea
Ducks ‘n a Row
Sinea--Chloe also LOVES swimming! We are so blessed to have an in-ground swimming pool; that tires her out real fast! We also have dog camps in our area that are great. Labs really are the best :)
DeleteI love sharing my posts so thanks for hosting!
Beautiful dog!!! Thanks for sharing with Wildcrafting Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteAwwww, so sweet! I'm sorry to hear about your other dog :( We have a lab mix and he is a great dog too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing on The HomeAcre Hop! Hope to see you again today at:
http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/06/the-homeacre-hop-25-exciting-news.html
Stop by and say hi to our new co-host!
Thanks, I'll be back next week!
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