I mean why ? when out walking you see so many ?

sure they are good tempered and easy to train and I suppose good with children, but there are days I look at the lab we walk and I wonder which brain cell is in charge today.
Her eyes just rolling round, nothing going on.
And further more more some blind people rely on these dogs !


ps this thread is just a bit of fun !

I had to smile when I read this, Labs are nice dogs and my dog Kira is a Lab x she is totally harmless but when you said "Her eyes just rolling round, nothing going on" I had to laugh cause that is the perfect description of a face that Kira pulls.... I always say the lights are on but no ones home :hihi:

hehehehe this made me chuckle, i have a yellow lab that i got as a stray from kennels, he is a typical lab, big and clumsy and there is def nothing goin on between them ears of his.... bless him lol :thumbsup:

Love your post, but I'm sorry to say "That's Labs for you". My parents owned several Labs and I've owned one. Brilliant dogs, but also slightly deficient in the cerebral area.

Get a Choc Lab, ours is like a big bear ( teddy bear) I am sure he should have been a cat though as he sleeps about 20 hours a day. :hihi:

I often think the same as you, these dogs moult like crazy , all the time.

My ex in laws had one and she would just lay on the floor wagging her tail at nothing, I used to think you idiot!!

Labradors are the best and most handsome dogs in the world.

Normal ones are 'nice but dim'. Guide dogs must be some kind of superbreed, my labrador couldn't guide a **** up in a brewery, never mind a blind person.
Our dogs nick name is "you big plonker!"

Lol clumsy I could say about mine but not daft...she knows exactly whats going on!! She's very sneaky and manipulative! Start's walking around bringing us shoes when she knows its time to go out! They do have a "big, daft, smile" though! I wish I was as happy and enthusiastic about things as she is all the time about everything!

I usually have a trail of spare labs (following their stomachs) after me and Mol when we leave the Bolehills- I use dried black pudding as a training treat for when I want her to only pay attention to me and it seems to attract lots of other dogs (mainly labs) too.

The only labs I've been around for significant periods of time are full guide dogs and most of them aren't super intelligent, they're just well schooled and can follow a few instructions. In some ways you don't want your guide dog to be too intelligent because a dog that's thinking for itself often decides it wants to do something else! Most of the guide dogs I know are big daft plodding stable beasties- their calm walk is their strong point.

Molly would be no good at all at being a guide dog. She's too bleedin' clever and does things like working out how to open the car door (a big no-no if the person you're with can't see that you're doing it)!

They are great dogs do quite a few labs,pitfall is if not careful can get over weight,the brown ones iv'e met tend to be bolo/wappy which is wierd but makes me laugh......

I don't have a dog but would love one. I mean REALLY love one! I was brought up on Beagles but have always dreamt of having a chocolate Labrador. To me all labs are kind, loving and adoring dogs. They are very loyal and a great friend.

Very sadly I feel I can't have one because I'm a fulltime wheelchaair user with a hectic lifestyle. I have to say I'd fall hopelessly for one but I know I couldn't take it out for the length of walks it would need each day. Nor could I afford to pay a dog walker. It often upsets me, as my heart and life would feel reasonably complete if I were fortunate enough to have one.

I've always felt I wanted 6 kids, a kitchen range and a chocolate labrador. I have 2 kids, a dual fuel kitchen range and 2 wonderful kitties, 2 goldfish who, beleive it or not, I'm very fond of and soon 2 bunnies. I know I can afford to look after all these lovlies properly, so I try to be happy with what I've got. But in truth it's not quite right without a chocolate labrador.

BTW this is all a bit personal, so shhhhhhhhh don't tell anyone!!!!

I don't have a dog but would love one. I mean REALLY love one! I was brought up on Beagles but have always dreamt of having a chocolate Labrador. To me all labs are kind, loving and adoring dogs. They are very loyal and a great friend.

Very sadly I feel I can't have one because I'm a fulltime wheelchaair user with a hectic lifestyle. I have to say I'd fall hopelessly for one but I know I couldn't take it out for the length of walks it would need each day. Nor could I afford to pay a dog walker. It often upsets me, as my heart and life would feel reasonably complete if I were fortunate enough to have one.

I've always felt I wanted 6 kids, a kitchen range and a chocolate labrador. I have 2 kids, a dual fuel kitchen range and 2 wonderful kitties, 2 goldfish who, beleive it or not, I'm very fond of and soon 2 bunnies. I know I can afford to look after all these lovlies properly, so I try to be happy with what I've got. But in truth it's not quite right without a chocolate labrador.

BTW this is all a bit personal, so shhhhhhhhh don't tell anyone!!!!

:) Bless you, I would hate it if I couldn't have my dogs I really would.
I hope that I am not doing my usual trick of opening my mouth and putting my foot right in it...but if you had an electric chair or a mobility scooter you could probably exercise a steady older dog quite adequately... just a thought as dreams really should come true you know :D

Have you not thought about contacting Dogs for the Disabled?

When at Crufts for Friends for Life I met Steve - another of the finalists and Farley, his dog for the disabled.

Farley is a black lab who uses a lead that straps around the top of Steve's arm and he just walks so calmly next to the chair and then lays down quietly when he's busy doing something.

You would be able to take a dog for the disabled everywhere with you and it may even take pressure off family members if there are things they help you with (I'm not saying there are, just a thought!)

Sorry if it's not my place to say - but if you want any help getting in touch with them or any advice, feel free to pm me :)

:) Bless you, I would hate it if I couldn't have my dogs I really would.
I hope that I am not doing my usual trick of opening my mouth and putting my foot right in it...but if you had an electric chair or a mobility scooter you could probably exercise a steady older dog quite adequately... just a thought as dreams really should come true you know :D


Ahhh Moonbird you are very thoughtful. I do have an electric powerchair but I'm still a bit nervous of it all. I guess I feel concerned that although I'm sure I'd be fine with a lab, what would happen if I found I couldn't manage it?

And although I'm definitely a grown up nowadays...(44 years old!!!) my ma and pa, lovely as they are, would see it as being the height of irrespponsibility. For example, who would walk it when I was ill? How could I know beyond doubt I could meet all its needs financially and they'd ask many other questions.

I am a very responsible person. I am buying 2 rabbits from someone for my daughters birthday and I have saved and bought the hutch.... a massive one like a chalet with a huge run underneath. I want the best for my pets and they will be neutered, immunised etc.

I know I can get the dog insured and save up for the excess before I need it. I've done all that with the cats and would with the rabbits but can't find any affordable pet insurance that includes rabbits.

Maybe, just maybe, if I could find the right Labrador needing a loving home I'd fall in love with him/her and all these problems would fade into the background. There's no doubt in my mind that the lovely sweetheart would be loved and cared for - big time.

Have you not thought about contacting Dogs for the Disabled?

When at Crufts for Friends for Life I met Steve - another of the finalists and Farley, his dog for the disabled.

Farley is a black lab who uses a lead that straps around the top of Steve's arm and he just walks so calmly next to the chair and then lays down quietly when he's busy doing something.

You would be able to take a dog for the disabled everywhere with you and it may even take pressure off family members if there are things they help you with (I'm not saying there are, just a thought!)

Sorry if it's not my place to say - but if you want any help getting in touch with them or any advice, feel free to pm me :)


Oh wow I never really thought of that. I'll have to look into it. I'd probably want a dog as a companion more than anything, although I do drop things all the time which maybe a dog for the disabled, would be able to help me with?

Thanks for telling me about these dogs.

I think that the thing you need to bear in mind is that you can find ways of keeping dogs exercised and happy even when you aren't so well- I've got severe mobility limitations too, but I know all of the spots where I can pull the car up by the side of the road, get Molly into a park or field and throw a ball for her without moving more than 50 yards from the car (specifically for my bad days).

She's happy, calm and generally well-exercised with half an hour of running most days and an extra walk when I'm up to it- all it takes after that is trips out to the garden when she needs it.

Apart from that she's fabulous company, endlessly loving and entertaining and she does her very best to look after me, including walking between me and other people if we go for a stroll late on.

I know that she enriches my life and I couldn't wish for a more faithful companion.

A DFTD could definitely help with picking things up, they are also trained to help you load and unload the washing machine, bringing things, alerting friends/family if you need help and so much more.

I've seen them trained to help disabled owners out of bed, opening the curtains and then pulling back the quilt and giving the owner a sort of tuggy thing to hold so they can pull them up to a sitting position.

They can also open and close doors for you by hanging tugs on the doors of your home so that the dog can open them.

I don't know how much help you would need but it's definitely worth looking into :)

Steve has no legs due to an explosion when in the army and Farley does a lot for him. He also has three kids and a wife and Farley is great with them all. He just slots into the family perfectly :)

labs arent dim mine is the best behaved dog ever could be a guide dog if needed she has the drive altho i have seen some dumb ones lol

agreed they are not dim ! The one we walk loves to please. When we first started taking her I made her sit as I put her lead back on. After a couple of weeks, she'd see the lead come out of my pocket and she'd come back to me and sit.
We take her in derbyshire on varied walks. If we return to a walk, she remembers where all the fun bits are (rivers, ponds and big puddles). All that said her eyes tell a different story.... nothing going on.....
Unlike your average cat who is thinking five days ahead....
I once tried to train our cat to sit.... before he walked off to his bed he gave me a look that I knew mean't one thing: "You are such a stupid feeder man... don't even think about this training thing again"........... An hour later I gave him some fresh tuna to apologise.

We had a choc lab 20 years ago.

He was gorgeous, super intelligent and as dim as they come all at the same time:)

I never heard him bark in anger in all the years we had him.

We had a choc lab 20 years ago.

He was gorgeous, super intelligent and as dim as they come all at the same time:)

I never heard him bark in anger in all the years we had him.

Oh its not just ours that doesn’t bark then, there are only two things that can get him to bark and those are the lawn mower and taking the wheelie bin out , he hates them. :D

mine dosent eithermind you niether of my 2 do and one is a staffy x, my lab has a mad few minutes the first time she goes out on the garden in amorning has a few barks untill she gets bored dont know why she does this but she does but apartfrom that shes queit as a mouse lol

agreed they are not dim ! The one we walk loves to please. When we first started taking her I made her sit as I put her lead back on. After a couple of weeks, she'd see the lead come out of my pocket and she'd come back to me and sit.
We take her in derbyshire on varied walks. If we return to a walk, she remembers where all the fun bits are (rivers, ponds and big puddles). All that said her eyes tell a different story.... nothing going on.....
Unlike your average cat who is thinking five days ahead....
I once tried to train our cat to sit.... before he walked off to his bed he gave me a look that I knew mean't one thing: "You are such a stupid feeder man... don't even think about this training thing again"........... An hour later I gave him some fresh tuna to apologise.

LOL.......dogs and cats! That post say's it all!