'Labradors are the Vauxhall Corsa of dogs'

Granca

Granca

This is how labs are described in a newspaper article yesterday - and I have to admit to feeling slightly miffed (with apologies to any Vauxhall Corsa owners!). Which car do you think it should have been? It did go on to describe labs as 'no bells and whistles, but safe, steady, reliable, consistent. And highly trainable, except around picnics...'

The article was actually about doodles, any kind of poodle mix, describing them as 'the Waitrose of dogs'!
 
edzbird

edzbird

Location
Isle of Man
Well..having just bought a Mazda CX 5 - that's what I would attribute to a Lab (And to Coco for that matter). Discreetly stylish, very comfortable & reliable with enough bells & whistles but with surprise off-road capabilities and a pleasing turn of speed when required. Not sure I'd trust it around a picnic though :rofl:
 
M

M.F.

Granca said:
And highly trainable, except around picnics...'
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Too true!! Snowie assumes he is invited to all picnics. Calmly helps himself to anything set out. Extremely embarrassing, and unfortunately has put an end to many beach walks.

Many times he will not budge until he is offered a few morsels. I can try to drag him away, but he digs in. What car could this be??
 
edzbird

edzbird

Location
Isle of Man
M.F. said:
oo true!! Snowie assumes he is invited to all picnics. Calmly helps himself to anything set out. Extremely embarrassing,
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Belle did this a few times too. She could also work a crowd of burger/bacon butty/hot dog eating bystanders. I think should would have been a quad bike, not a car - she didn't consider herself to be anything to do with dogs, she could take any detour off the path to avoid them, but she did enjoy a country romp.
 
Emily_Babbelhund

Emily_Babbelhund

Mama Red HOT Pepper
Location
Regensburg, Germany
Jelinga said:
I think they are a Honda Jazz, otherwise known as the Tardis :sun:
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Well, certainly true in that they are bigger on the inside, for all that food they scarf down and are never full. I'm constantly surprised at Carbon's ability to consume sheep poo, for instance. :sick:

Granca said:
It did go on to describe labs as 'no bells and whistles, but safe, steady, reliable, consistent. And highly trainable, except around picnics...'
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Yes, they are consistently hungry, reliably hungry and hungry around picnics. And highly trainable as long as you always have food in your pocket. If you forget the food (aka bribes), they go reliably and consistently deaf. Or maybe that's just Carbon. 😉

On a more serious note, I really don't understand the Labrador's reputation as a 'starter dog' or a basic (read: easy?) dog. I think that's Corsa comparison. I've had several different breeds, famously a few that are considered 'expert level only dogs' (Rotties and a pit) and here I'm going to say again what everyone is I'm sure tired of me saying 😏 but holy heck, Carbon is SO much harder than they were. That doesn't take away from his wonderfulness, but a starter dog is is not. 😂
 
MrChew

MrChew

People are keen to make themselves feel special by having a "unique" dog regardless of how odd and unsuited the breed mix is. I was talking to OH about it yesterday actually. There's a reason why Labradors are the most popular dog in the world and over and over again. Many reasons. They're good for families, for assistance, for sports (if you are prepared for a young demon dog). They are intelligent and biddable and friendly. They are kindhearted and gentle, if sometimes clumsy. The are amazing all rounders. Just because they are "common" and people aren't charging and arm and a leg for them (a lot of this stuff about "special" dogs is made up by dodgy breeders trying to sell them for $$$) doesn't make them any less wonderful or worthy.

I had a rant to OH about this after meeting a lovely dog that looked like a brown Schnauzer. The owner very proudly told me that he was a "Cavadoodle!" A Lab X poodle X cavalier...

As you can see I get a bit annoyed about this. Not sure what car Chewie would be. Maybe an Audi RS model because he's stealth speed- either on or off to the point of needing to be poked to ensure he's alive and has quite the imperious glare when he wants to.
 
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Candy

Candy

Biscuit Tin Guardian
Location
West Yorkshire, UK
Jelinga said:
I agree totally @Emily_Babbelhund, they are not easy dogs to begin with, people who think they are have never had one!
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Interesting to hear you say this, Sonia. The first dog I had from a pup was a Lurcher. I hadn't a clue about training of any sort but we kind of muddled through OK and he was a very gentle and sweet natured boy, if a little inclined to go AWOL from time to time. Since then the only dogs I have had have been female Labradors, two of whom came to me as adults and three as pups, so I only feel like I know about training Labs and sort of have no yardstick against which to compare them. I did meet a very pleasant young woman with a year old Pointer up on the moor today though, and was extremely impressed by her recall, sit, drop and leave (she had stolen Joy's ball). Didn't you have Pointers at one time? I'd be so interested to hear about how you think different breeds compare as far as bringing them up from being puppies goes.
 
Stacia

Stacia

Location
Malvern Worcestershire
@Candy I had German Shorthaired Pointers. The first one I had I hated for the first 10 months and then we got to know each other and she was a fabulous dog. I trained them in obedience, retrieving and some proper HPR work (hunt, point and retrieve). They are exciting dogs when they come on to point. I tended to take leads for a walk as the dogs would be off hunting, they are meant to quarter the land up to 300 yds either side of you as they are bred to really search for game on the moors etc. They always work into the wind which has proved useful for me when having Labradors and understanding the wind for retrieving. I would say that perhaps I prefer Labradors as they are much easier, but having a GSP was interesting and wonderful in retrospect! I tended to bring the Labs up as pointers, they have lots of freedom on walks.
 
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