The first time ever I saw your face.

[Candy]

Today it is three years since Trevor and I drove to Barnsley to see Joy for the first time. I remember I had spent the day in the garden tying back the daffodil leaves whilst listening to the radio and thinking of names. Ode to Joy came on and I thought it would be an auspicious start in life for a puppy to have her own Ode, but I wasn't fully decided and hadn't discussed it with Trevor.
Our puppy viewing time was 4.30 and typically for us we set off early to avoid being late and had to sit outside in the car for half an hour in a state of barely contained excitement. We knew that we were the last people to view the pups, so unless someone had decided they didn't want one, there would only be one left available and she would be black. We wanted a female pup and didn't mind what colour, so that was fine. We still hadn't talked about names, I think we both wanted to see her first.
Anyway, finally it was time, so we went in and met the parents, both gentle, lovely dogs. Then Joy was brought in and she was tiny and snuffley and snuggley and they told us that she was the smallest surviving one and our hearts melted and we said we would love to give her a home. Then we were taken to see the other seven pups and she was definitely the smallest. They asked if we had a name for her as they would start to get her used to it.I said that I had been thinking about Joy and Trevor looked surprised. I said 'but it's not decided yet, we need to talk about it. I'll let you know when we've made our minds up"
Then just as we were leaving I realised that we hadn't taken any photos so I whisked my new phone out and took some, or so I thought. I had a look at them on the way home and found that I had actually taken several videos, all in slow motion including the sound. Most bizarre! Trevor was very quiet on the way back and I knew this meant he was Thinking. Then when we were nearly home he slapped his hand on the steering wheel, gave a big smile and said 'Yes! I like it! Joy ! It suits her, I really like it !' So there we were, and that is her name!
What memories do you have of the first time you saw your dog? How did you choose a name? Did you manage the photos better than me?!

 

[Shaz82]

That's a lovely story Candy, made me a bit tearful actually, but a nice memory of Trevor and your new pup.

When we saw Maisy and her litter we were asked if we were fussy about colour as a few people yet to choose wanted very pale yellow. We weren't fussy and they were all yellow anyway, all we asked was to have a bitch. That narrowed it down a bit but there were 12 in the litter and none much smaller than the others, all looked healthy and it was so hard to choose. I picked one up and had a cuddle, put it down and then lost it in the heap of pups. Picked up another one and the cute little pup started delicately nibbling my ear, it snuggled into me and was very calm and I decided that she was the one. I hadn't decided on a name yet, that came later.

Little did I expect that that cute loving nibble would one day soon become a near hospital incident - my crocopup nearly bit through OHs ear one morning whilst 'nibbling'. And the 'calm' was just a front, a ploy to make her escape. At least she has passed that phase now.

It was May Day bank holiday 2017 we collected Maisy actually, not much between her and Joy

Maisy is the one on top in the orange collar
And there they are before we chose.

 

[Jen]

We’d just bought our house and I’d been saying the entire time we’d been saving as soon as we got a house I was getting a dog.

The only breed we could agree on was Labrador. I then found a litter of puppies and called and told OH I was going to visit. He was like noooooo we need to have a think and a chat first. And I said to him that I was going whether he came or not and who knows what might happen if I went on my own.

When we got there they let 7 puppies loose at us and one bouncy black one came charging over. I picked it up, saw it was a boy which I wanted and was like I’m having this one. OH had a quiet one and was like oh this ones nice, and I was like nope.. this one is Stanley! OH said we weren’t calling him Stanley,

As you can see.. OH just gets ignored a lot but I knew he wanted one really. He’s just so cautious sometimes he needs to be shoved in the right direction and he says he’s so glad I made him go that day so we got our bid lad.

3 week old Stanley

 

[kateincornwall]

We just went to look , like you do This litter were related to my darling Sam but not too close , we drove up to Dartmoor saying that we were going to be sensible ( since when ?) but by the time we got there, we had already chosen a name . I had been heartbroken at losing Sam so young and determined not to have another puppy but all my resolve disappeared when I met this one . There were only four pups in the litter but he drew me instantly and I just knew that we had to have him . It was hard to leave him but we did visit several times before we finally brought Reuben home, here he is at four weeks old xx

 

[FayRose]

Loving this thread

 

[HAH]

What a lovely thread @Candy !

We had wanted a dog for years and decided that the “last few months” of my PhD would be perfect timing - I was at home pretty much full time finishing my thesis, and so would be around for puppy fun (as it was, my PhD went on for another 2 years but happily our puppy kept me sane!). We’d found a breeder and dogs we really liked, met the bitch and when she was in pup we were first on the list. We were first to meet the litter at 4 weeks, and had liked the look of a little very dark yellow boy from the videos.

When we visited, they’d all just fed and everyone was asleep - apart from one little pudding (‘Mr Dark Blue’), who yawned and stretched and toddled over to play with my socked feet. He was interested all through our visit, while the others snored, and when we got up to leave he was the only one to raise his head and sneezed at us. So that was Kipper, and we knew we were his people!

We saw this video of him a few days before visiting - didn’t know it was him at the time, but made us laugh like idiots. It’s so Kipper! He’s the one on the left hand side that sneezes Sneezy pup [not sure if it’ll work as a link...]

 

[Joy]

Loving all your stories.
I got Molly in just the way you're not supposed to. I'd been wanting a new puppy for months (it was nearly a year since we'd lost dear Rolo, our chocolate Lab) and suddenly came across an advert on Gumtree. One puppy was left - ready to go immediately as someone had paid a deposit and then changed their minds - a Chesapeake Bay Retriever cross Lab. She looked so sweet and helpless in the advert photo (ha ha!) I emailed OH to say what did he think and he said to go and get her. I replied, 'Well I'll just go and look.'
It was a 2 hour journey to a stud farm (horses) where I met Molly's mum, a gorgeous Chessie, and was told her dad was a friend's yellow Lab. When the puppies were let out of the stable they all rolled around together and I asked which was the one for sale. The breeder scanned the heap (all were wearing coloured felt/ velcro collars) and then pointed to the only one off by herself, up the yard scrambling over an old cartwheel.
I think I only bought her because I'd come so far (I had reservations in the back of my mind about reading things that said Chessies were hard to train - but just pushed that away telling myself she was half Lab.) The one thing I did know was that once she was mine she was mine for life, for better or worse.
Needless to say I love Molly to bits. She is such a strong-minded character and has been the most demanding dog I've ever owned but I wouldn't be without her for the world.

This is during her first week with us. I soon discovered that the garden wasn't quite as puppy-proof as I'd thought.

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[Ashley]

I love this thread! OH and his daughters had been nagging for a dog for ages and I was a stern no. A few months earlier, their mom got a yellow lab that stayed with us a couple weekends, and this intensified OH's convincing. They sent me pictures of puppies, ads etc. I told him - prove to me on another weekend with the girls' puppy that you will do all the work and do all the research and I'll think about it. We went to see another lab mix puppy, but they were shy and standoffish which seemed odd for puppies so we didn't go with them. Then OH found another litter that had one black girl and 2 black boys left. We went to visit, and I was very taken with the yellow girl, who was already sold. After our visit, we went for dinner at the closest restaurant to the puppies that happened to be called the Black Dog. We took it as a sign - OH told me he was in love with her and agreed to be the main carer of puppy, including training and that there would be no dogs on furniture or bed and no begging. The rest of course is history - she's so my dog and I instantly was obsessed with her/researching/training etc.

The Pub were The Decision was made


A few littermates

OH with Quinn on first meeting

 

[Selina27]

This is a great thread @Candy, thank you It's absolutely lovely to learn the background of the dogs I've come to know so well.

Cassie comes from some farming friends, I was visiting one night to find their son lifting a heavily pregnant Tia down off his tractor, where as usual she had spent the day with him. She was too rolypoly to get between the pedals and the litter of six was born that night. I'd always loved Tia and thought that if I was ever going to have another dog I'd like one of hers. So there was this growing sense of inevitability that lasted 8 weeks until Cassie arrived in my kitchen!!

I first visited them at 3 weeks, there were 3 bitches to choose from, I wanted one that looked as much as possible like her adorable Mum. And there she was --- sitting in the middle of the nest, looking at her brothers and sisters before toddling out herself and .... going her own way. Never has been a velcro dog I was lucky enough to make weekly visits, at coffee time when I'd join the family as the puppies milled around, happy days.

She was named Cassis, after a local producer that held a tasting night.

 

[JES72]

I always said to Hubby that when we move to the country we'd get a dog. We were trying for children and our first round of IVF ended with a MC. around this time I say an add in a local magazine for dog day care, something I'd never thought of before, so I rang them about looking after a puppy and they said they didn't have facilities for a young dog, they gave me details of our dog walker. So I rang her and we had a chat, I hadn't even found a puppy yet so the conversation was hypothetical at this stage. I then started looking for puppies, first on champ dogs and gumtree I really didn't know where to start. I had pics of puppies on my screen at work, when by chance a colleague who was in for a return form maternity meeting popped her head through my door to say 'Hello'. Her friend, the godmother of her baby had puppies!! She showed me pics and gave me her number. It was a Tuesday. Hubby came home form work and I told him so we could make plans to see them, he said to ring and ask if we could come down tonight! Two hour later I was holding five-week old Homer!!

When Homer was home and settled with us Linda the dog walker came to visit. While we were chatting about details baby Homer curled up under her chair and fell asleep. Nearly eight years later he still goes to her when I'm working.

 

[Boogie]

Visiting Tatze for the first time. With my son at the breeders.

I made the decision to get a pup very suddenly. Callum had died and I still had Gavin. I suddenly knew that, if Gavin passed away I would be so upset it would be years before I got another dog.

I told my friend and she said they were getting a black Lab as soon as she retired and how about we got littermates? I hadn’t thought of a Lab and started researching the breed. Then I started looking for a pup on Champdogs. The littermates thing didn’t work due to holidays etc. But Tatze and Zaba are now seven years old and best of best friends.

 

[Cath]

We always get our dogs from the same breeder. We waited a while after our dear old boy had died. When we were ready my OH rang the breeder.
We wanted a black boy. The litter was born, there was only one black boy. We were away in France when the puppies were ready, so we came back post haste to pick him up. He was friendly and gentle I took one look at him and said Freddie We brought our lovely lad home.

Eighteen months go by and we made another call. This time for a black female. We had to wait. The breeder rang and said a litter was due and we were number two in line. The puppies were born and there was only one female in the litter. Fingers crossed. We got the phone call saying she was our if we wanted her, she was very small but she could stick up for herself. I said like Annie get your gun.

They love each other and are always together. Fred is still gentle and Annie can still stick up for herself. She will take Fred's ball off him and he will let her.



Annie



Freddie otherwise known as Fred

 

[Naya]

My OH had been bugging me for years to get a dog. I always said no as I was worried how we would fit a dog into our lives. Just over 7 years ago my neighbours mum brought her black lab puppy round who was 4 months old. He was adorable And made me start to think about having a dog. One of my friends had a black lab who was 6 years old and they asked if we could have him for a long weekend whilst they went away. when they dropped him off, he helped whilst jumping out of their car, but then proceeded to run riots. Later that night he was struggling to walk and we phoned the vets. They gave him metacam and said he needed rest. The rest of our weekend was gentle play in the garden and lots of snuggles. After having him, I decided that I did want a dog. I spent weeks researching breeds and litters. I eventually found 3 litters I was interested in. We went to view the first litter in Swindon. We saw mum, grandad (he was very very dark red and stunning). We were allowed in the outside kennel to sit and play with the dogs. My OH picked up a boy who ran to him and he was saying that he was the one, I disagreed. My daughter picked up one that was behind everyone watching and a bit cautious. She passed her to me and as soon as I had her in my arms she snuggled in and went to sleep. I fell in love with her there and then. She was 5 weeks old. My OH kept pushing for the boy and we nearly had 2, but eventually decided on Harley. On our way home I stated that she wasn’t allowed on furniture, had to sleep in the crate downstairs, no eating human food and no licking. We picked her up a few weeks later and she was so adorable. The furniture rule was broken within 2 days. I spent 2 weeks trying to get her to settle in her crate to no avail. She then picked up a respiratory infection and wouldn’t settle. We decided to put her bed in our bedroom next to our bed. She slept 12 hours straight........a few days later my OH put her on the bed whilst I was getting ready for bed - she fell asleep and I left her there. She has slept with us ever since .

This is when I chose her - her mum is in the background In her kennel - she was so gentle too.

 

[Atemas]

When we decided to get a second dog, I looked on the Champdogs website. It was our intention to get another black Lab like Sky. There was a new litter of 7 about 30 miles away. Mum was a black Lab and Dad a stunning fox red. I liked the way they were both described as biddable. The litter was mixed - black and yellow. At that point I said to F why don’t we have a yellow? When I enquired about a girl, I was told we could choose from 2. We visited when the puppies were 4 weeks old. The breeder let us see mum and all the puppies but left us with purple collar and red collar. We both chose red collar - she seemed to have more about her. We bought her home at 8 weeks. Many of you will remember the rocky start I had with her but she is the most fabulous dog and we both absolutely adore her - feel so very lucky.

This is me holding Red just after we had chosen her

 

[Pepper]

We’d decided to wait until we moved away from London before getting a dog. Prior to moving I’d spent a couple of years on here listening and learning.

We spent months writing to breeders and hadn’t found one we really liked until a chance meeting with some friends of friends at Christmas. They had the most delightful one year old Lab - Solly - and passed on the breeder’s details. We spoke to the breeder in the new year and he had a litter of pubs due in February.

Next we had to pass the breeder’s interview! So when the pups were four weeks old we drove to Bristol and spent 3 hours finding out about their dogs and being grilled on whether we’d be a suitable home! We must have passed the test as we were invited back when the pups were seven weeks old to chose one.

So we headed back to Bristol and had a fabulous time with the pups. There were eight in the litter and the breeder gave us a choice of two males who he felt were calmer and suitable for us as first time dog parents.

Pepper was chosen as he was so excited when we were by the puppy pen that he fell over backwards trying to greet us. He was also very keen to chomp away on my fingers!Then we had to wait two more weeks to pick him up!

The name was chosen before we’d selected Pepper as it would have worked for a boy or girl.

Fast forward and we’re just about to celebrate Pepper being with us for two years on 9 May.

The best decision we’ve ever made!

Here he is at four weeks old with his brothers and sisters.


Making himself at home the day we picked him up.

And a sign of things to come!

At seven weeks old.

 

[Jacqui-S]

And you Pepper photos have always been a delight!

 

[Lab_adore]

We lost our first lab, Benson, in 2011. Steve grew up with dogs, I grew up with cats. He convinced me to get a dog and yes I loved him but he was OH's dog (my pal was Oscar the Himalayan Persian cat) and I had nothing to do with training etc. They were best friends and rarely would you see Steve without his trusty yellow shadow next to him. The grief I felt when he died was terrible, but Steve's was too much to bear. We have his ashes and Steve wants him buried with him. We decided not to get another dog

7 years later we finally made the decision to get another dog. We found a breeder 2.5 hours up the coast and went to visit when the pups were six weeks old. We wanted a boy so there were three and they let them out of the pen for us to observe. They all toddled around but then Maxx stole the breeders son's thong (flip flop - and yes we should have taken that as a warning). Then he toddled over to his Mum's water bowl, tipped it over and lay belly first in the cool water (it was a very hot day). Then Mum wandered in and he latched onto her teat and she dragged him along the floor as she walked. We decided he had character and chose him.

Oh dear. He was a frigging nightmare (many will remember). Steve didn't bond with him at first as I could hear his thoughts 'he is nothing like Benson'. Plus at the same time we had Steve's best friend and his girlfriend staying with us for several weeks as they were over from NZ. They weren't ideal house guests in a normal situation (pretty lazy and VERY much late night people) so I'd be up at 4.00am with a manic crocopup and they would all have just gone to sleep so I had to try and be quiet (yes I shouldn't have been so nice). Steve was juggling spending time with his friend and helping me with baby jaws. Anyway you've all hear the story that we nearly gave him back but I found Labrador Friends just in time

As he grew older, Steve bonded and now they are best mates. I'd say this time he is 50/50 his/mine. He is still a shoe thief (and tea towels, paper towels etc) and he still likes to jump up at anyone who gives him a second glance but he is our WIP and we adore him.

 

[Shaz82]

This is cuteness overload , great start to the day.