Labradoris

Taken July 4th weekend, 2008.

Cosette was about 2 months old here.  I'm not sure why I wrote 3.5 months.

Cosette showing off some awesome moves, Jan 2008.

My breeder just sent me this pic.  These are the pups at 2 1/2 weeks old.  3 chocolates, 5 blacks, 1 female each color.  We've got our eyes on one of the chocolate males.

Taken May 2008.

On Sunday, we decided to go with some friends to a local winery.  They were planning on heading down the wine trail, but we decided to stop after just one. 

That morning, we had all gone out onto the trail for a good hour+ hike on the snowy hills.  Cosette enjoyed herself and we threw plenty of sticks for her as she ran trailside.  When we returned home, she followed us with great interest around and around the house as we all got ready to go out to the winery.

We had LG with us - no babysitter available - so I agreed to stay outside in the pleasant weather with LG and Cosette while Joel stayed in the tasting room with our friends.  This particular winery sits upon a big hill, and at the bottom of the hill is a large pond.  When I first exited the car with Cosette and LG, one of my friends who had only met Cosette once followed us to the grassy knoll.  I had brought a tennis ball - and when I say tennis ball, it should echo in your mind with great fervor and splendor, with a beautiful ringing tone, just like it does for Cosette.  Tennis ball?  Tennis ball?  Do you want to play TENNIS BALL?!  Each syllable should be enunciated, with each pronunciation lilting higher than the last.  Right before I throw the ball, my pitch is so high that I think I might shatter glass...TENNIS BALLLLLL?!?  It drives Cosette bonkers and gets her hyped up like a proper Lab should be.  My friend watched in amazement as I hurled the ball straight down the hill and Cosette tore after it with reckless abandon.  We began making our way down the hill as she started to return with the ball in her mouth.  We arrived close down by the pond, and she dropped the ball at my feet.  I flung it into the water, and she bounded into the pond, all Lab energy bursting and stretching and moving.  My friend turned to me and proclaimed, "She's beautiful!  I can't believe she goes in the water like that!  Wow!!  She's just amazing!!  Look at her!!"  I shrugged off his comments like, "Yeah, well, she's a Lab and that's what they do!"  Meanwhile, my heart was singing inside.  After I've been around her for nearly 2 years, her boundless enthusiasm for her TENNIS BALL!? was a little, oh, routine for me.  But to watch her perform through the eyes of a person who is rarely around dogs, let alone big dogs, was thrilling.  I always cherish my dog, but this left a warm glow between Cosette and I long after my friend decided to venture up to the tasting room.

I threw that ball over and over and over again, watching her joyfully jump into the water with intent.  I later raced her up to the top of the hill - she won - and sat down so I could be near LG.  He was busy burying his Transformers in dirt.  I was initially going to scold him, but seeing a four-year-old messing with his two favorite things:  Transformers!  Dirt! was just too sweet.  I sat nearby and kept a watchful eye on him as I played with Cosette.

I kept throwing the ball downhill as far as I could, and Cosette, beautiful baby, would run after it, jumping over whatever was in her path so she could bring her jaws to a satisfying close around that TENNIS BALL!?.  We must have played like that for an hour.  Occasionally I'd let her take a rest, but she was so insistent that I throw it again that I indulged her retriever fantasies.  Over and over again I hurled that ball down the hill. 

There were people sitting drinking wine on the deck nearby, and although they were conversing with each other, all their eyes were on Cosette.  They couldn't stop watching that dark flash of beauty, all muscle and sinew, all pure joy and happiness, just enthralled with catching her ball one more time.  I wonder if her world happens in slow motion when she's retrieving; I know mine does.  She moves at warp speed but it's as if my perception is slowing her down, savoring her every move. 

After we returned home that afternoon, she slept as hard as she did when she was a puppy.  Sleepily moving from room to room, she kept us all in sight, but was content to lay by me while I worked.  Her soft snoring and the flittering of her paws led me to believe she was having just as good of a time in her dreams.  I couldn't stop staring at her soft head and droopy ears, the rise and fall of her ribcage, the soft line of her tail.  I finally wore her out, and it was so beautiful.

After one year, 10 months, and 9 days, I have let Cosette begin to have independence in the household.  Meaning, I let her have full reign in the house while I'm gone.  It's been in little spurts here and there.  A quick run to the grocery store, a longer evening with dinner and a movie.  Several occasions of her not destroying any of my property like young Labs are renowned for doing.

Sure, she swallows knee-high hose occasionally, but darn it if my cupboards aren't chewed through and doors aren't clawed at!  Hot damn, she even leaves the toilet paper roll alone. 

I haven't let her have complete freedom all day long if I know I will be gone for a long period of time.  Cause isn't that what you really want:  after a long stressful day, coming home to a wagging dog and pillows shredded?  I don't.  So I trust her for shorter periods.  And she's done really well so far!  She knows not to get on furniture unless invited, she doesn't chew or dig or scratch or destroy.  Now, she's had her fair share of "whoopsies," but hey, that was all puppy behavior, right? 

So I'm trusting her.  I'm trusting her to only greet me at the door with a big Lab grin, and with no wood splinters stuck in her teeth, or no couch filling coming out her butt.  No toilet paper in between the paw pads, either.  Nope.  Not at all.  This dog's going to be great.

I'm right in trusting her...aren't I?

Cosette, 5 months old, working on her "down" command.

And a special guest post from Joel, to finish up the post:

The door swung open, and the dog trotted up and into the house. The owner, an energetic, small-framed woman in her 40's, thanked me profusely.  She said they looked for an hour the night before and had put the other dog outside hoping the barking would bring Fancy, the dog, home. We discussed Fancy's night out and how she had led me back to her home. We were having a nice conversation when another woman in her 40's, let's just say not looking very feminine, comes out and makes sure I know they are together.  The first woman thanks me again and hurries inside. About 2 hours later animal control calls me (we had reported a lost dog the night before) saying that Kathy, the first woman, wanted me to call her. I do, and she thanks me again, offering to buy me something and expressing her gratefulness. I let her know it is unnecessary and that I am just glad Fancy is back home.

LG looked up briefly but then returned to his Legos.  Joel was curiously watching the dog.  In the light, I could look at her much better.  She was tall, about 6 inches taller than Cosette, about 80 pounds, and looked like a strange mix between a Irish Wolfhound and an Airedale Terrier. 

Joel looked up the number for Animal Control and left a message, letting them know the rabies tag number.  He hung up and looked up at me.  I smiled at the dog who had now planted herself at Joel's feet, and said, "Well, I guess she'll spend the night tonight."

We got LG into his pajamas and prepared him for bed.  Bedtime usually consists of a round of hugs -- dogs included.  Raymond hugged Cosette and pointed to the lost dog.  "Cosette, this is going to be your guardian for a few weeks."  I smiled softly at his tenderness and sweetness.

Joel and I talked on the couch for a while that evening, especially about recent challenges in the graduate program.  The lost dog just laid at our feet, content for a warm spot and a quiet house.  The dog was offered, and took, an extra dog bed beside the bed.  What a polite houseguest.

The next morning, Joel decided to take the dog for a longer walk because she had eaten a full breakfast but hadn't used the bathroom.  He set off down the road with her, and then the dog became insistent in the direction they were walking.  The dog gently pulled him in different directions down the road.  Right at the end of the road, left at the bend, up the road, and so on.  The dog, surrounded by snowdrifts, paused for a second.  When she heard a dog barking, she tilted her head and then set off in the direction of the noise.  She brought Joel to the front of house.  They went ahead and walked up to the door and the dog sat down.  Joel looked down at her and said, "Is this it?"  He wasn't sure if that was the correct house or why the dog brought him there.  Then, he saw a face poking through the curtains, and the door swung open.