Brindle Labrador Retrievers

Have you ever seen a Brindle Labrador Retriever? As far as I know I have not seen one in person. Although, I’m not too sure I’d recognize a purebred brindle Labrador retriever even if I saw one.

Just about everyone has heard of the Labrador Retriever breed. And I’d probably say that most people know the common colors of a lab: yellow, black, and chocolate (brown). Of course, there’s a lot of variation in the yellow coloring from a very light white color to as deep as red/copper color.

However, have you heard of or ever seen the other Labrador Retriever coat colors? A few months back I wrote an article about Black and Tan Labrador Retrievers. The coloring is very similar to a Rottweiler or a Doberman Pinscher. One of our guide dog puppy’s in training, Egan was black and tan lab. If you want to see a picture of Egan take a look at the article on Black and Tan Labrador Retrievers.

Brindle Labrador Retriever

The second unusual color variation in the Labrador coat color is brindle. As I mentioned in my previous article the brindle coloring is seen less often. Labs with brindling have tan speckling on their forelegs, muzzles, and chest.

Here at Puppy In Training we were lucky enough to receive some pictures from one of our readers who has a couple brindle Labrador Retrievers. Here are the photos I received:

Waiting For Her Treat

Good Down-Stay!

Learning To Retrieve

Here’s what Maia and Tora’s handler had to say about his two brindle Labrador Retrievers:

“Maia’s reddish/brown on black is more dramatic. Each leg has a different pattern. Her inner thighs have yellow hair as does her butt area. At 8 months I began training her to hunt pheasant, quail and chukar. Often times she will hold a strong point and I have hunted her with some professionals and she holds her own. Tora’s a chocolate with yellow markings on he muzzle, across her chest and on each leg. Her brindling is more uniform than Maia’s. At nearly six months she swims like a fish and retrieves very well. Soon we’ll go to the fields with a couple of birds and begin training in earnest.”

It’s interesting to see pictures and hear about the unusual color variations in Labs.

As you all know I’m working with my current puppy, Derby in hopes that he will someday be a guide dog. Raising a guide dog requires a specific training program as we prepare our puppies to lead their blind handlers in many different places and situations. One thing that caught my interest after reading the short snippet about Maia and Tora the Brindle labs is that they are being trained as hunting dogs. As with a guide dog I’m sure a hunting dog has a strict and specific training program. I would be interested to see exactly what kind of training a hunting dog goes through.

If anyone has any other pictures of brindle labs I’d love to see them. If you train hunting dogs I’d be interested to hear about how a hunting dog is trained. What do you think of these Purebred Brindle Labrador Retrievers?

Ever Wonder How Your Dog Escaped?

Have you ever quarantined your dog to a specific room or area of the house and assumed there was no way for him to get out? However, to your amazement he somehow free’s himself from his special area in attempts to get the ultimate reward (spending more time with you).

In the video below this Beagle proves that not only can his breed win the Best In Show at the Westminster Dog Show and be the top dog in the Puppy In Training article The 6 Best Dog Costumes On The Internet, but this multi-talented breed is also a great escape artist.

Is this dog the MacGyver of the doggie world?

MacGyver’s Dog

The most amazing part of this video to me is: The Beagles were not BARKING or HOWLING!

My Dog Linus The Escape Artist

Another shining example of a great escape artist was when I first got my Australian Shepherd mix dog Linus. I did my best to spend as much time as possible with Linus when he was a puppy. However, I couldn’t spend every hour of every day watching over him. During his second week at home I had an appointment and was going to be gone for about 2 hours. I knew this would be an eternity for Linus and didn’t want to just throw him in his crate for 2 hours. I wanted to give him extra space to move around including a pee pad and his water dish. So, instead I put him in the bathroom and used the box his crate came in to block the door entry (I wanted to be sure fresh air would circulate to him. I also didn’t want him to scratch the bathroom door).

The crate box was approximately three feet high and as a 10 week old puppy Linus had no jumping skills, balance, or height…he couldn’t even reach the top of the box standing on his hind legs. I figured this was sufficient to keep him from escaping the bathroom. I propped a chair up against the box making sure there was no way he could move the box and chair out of the way.

I said my good bye’s to Linus knowing he probably start crying when I left. After about 2 hours I returned home from my appointment. I opened the front door and Linus came running up to greet me. I was happy to see him, but thought “how in the heck did you get out of the bathroom?” The box was still blocking the entryway, the chair was still firmly propped up against the box, but Linus was free.

At this point I was wishing I had a camera on Linus (just like the one in the video) to see how exactly he escaped. Upon further inspection I noticed pieces of box all over the bathroom area and also saw a round hole approximately 4 inches in diameter in the middle of the box. I knew there was no way Linus could jump the box. He didn’t move the box and slip out the side. My only guess is that he became frustrated with the box and started chewing on it. The hole in the box gave him a little step for his hind legs so his short front paws could reach the top allowing him to propel himself over. Lucky thing for me there were no accidents in the house.

Never underestimate your dog. They are much smarter and more resourceful than you sometimes think.

Do you have any stories about your dogs great escape? Do you have the next puppy MacGyver?

First “Pet Days” At The Orange County Market Place

Guess what’s just around the corner? No, not Halloween (although it is, so go get your dog costumes ready)…it’s the First “Pet Days” at the Orange County Market Place.

This sounds like a great event…it sounds like it’s a mini-Pet Expo with specialty rescue and adoption groups, information on pet wellness, spaying and neutering and other animal welfare education; pet related vendors; guest speakers and demonstrations and non-profit pet organizations.

First “Pet Days” at The Orange County Market Place

Costa Mesa, CA - As part of National Pet Wellness Month, the Orange County Market Place, the weekend swap meet at the O. C. Fair and Event Center, will host Pet Days, Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12, 2008 presented by the Animal Assistance League of Orange County.

What: First “Pet Days” at The Orange County Marketplace

When: October 11th and 12th, 2008: 7am - 4pm

Where: Orange County Fair and Event Center
88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, CA

Admission: Regular admission is $2. Click the image below to download one free admission coupon.

Vendors And Exhibitors

Unfortunately, space and participant application deadlines are past due so if you were interested in being a vendor or exhibitor you’ll have to wait until the next “Pet Days” event.

An added bonus is that the “Pet Days” event will be held in conjunction with the regular Orange County swap meet activities which includes over a 1,000 merchants selling various products and services.

Puppy’s In Training

For those of us with Guide Dog puppies in training this event is probably not suitable for any dog under 12 months of age. Unfortunately, Derby is way too young to attend this event. One of the things that we’ve learned as Guide Dog puppy raisers is to be sure we take our puppies only to age appropriate events. A large event with many people like this one is not appropriate for a young puppy who could be traumatized by all the activity going on during the event.

Age appropriateness is not only important for Guide Dog puppies in training, but for all dogs and puppies. So if you have a young puppy you do not want to over expose him to any “strenuous” or “traumatizing” events. “Strenuous” and “traumatizing” will vary depending on the age of your puppy.

I’ll be at the event (without Derby)…probably Saturday morning.  I hope to see you all there!

***One final note: Personal pets are not allowed on the premises of the Orange County Market Place.

Dogs Doing Good - Guide Dogs of America

Just a couple days ago I received a magazine called Orange County Westways with a title Who Let the Dogs Out? on the cover with a picture of (I believe) Huntington Dog Beach. The main dog on the cover looks like my parents little yellow terrier and off in the background about to tackle a wave is the grown up version of Derby (a full grown yellow lab that is).

Anyways, the cover caught my attention so I decided to flip through th magazine…I think I receive the subscription as a part of my auto club membership.

I quickly flipped to the section on dogs and guess what I saw…a feature on Dogs Doing Good…and guess who the subject was? Guide Dogs of America! Yay! There’s a wonderful picture of a yellow lab wearing the distinctive yellow puppy in training jacket. It reminded me a lot of my puppy in training, Derby.

Here’s a nice shot of Derby working on his training with children.

Back to the article. Westways had some interesting facts about Guide Dogs of America that I wanted to share today.

Guide Dogs of America

57
Joseph Jone’s age when he discovered he was too old to get a Seeing Eye dog.

1948
Year he founded International Guiding Eyes, with the help of the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, in North Hollywood, one of the only programs without an upper age limit.

2
Number of students and dogs the school could accommodate that first year.

Thousands
Number of dogs trained by the organization (now Guide Dogs of America) in the years since.

Approximately 50
Percentage of dogs trained who end up becoming successful guide dogs.

80
Percentage of dogs (bred and trained at the school) that are Labrador retriever.

Stetson And Derby

Stetson was my first puppy in training. Unfortunately he was career changed (dropped from the guide dog program) and is now my pet (we want to get him into therapy dog training). Derby is my second GDA puppy and if the stats hold true then Derby should make it as a guide (meaning that 50% of the dogs I raised end up becoming successful guides). I know…wishful thinking, but I’m really working hard with Derby in hopes that he will successfully become a guide dog.

If you have any questions about Guide Dogs of America then please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer.

Check out the full article at the Auto Club website.

Guide Dogs In Action

Just the other day I received a short blog article from Google Alerts about a person’s experience or actually eye witness of a fully trained guide dog in action.

Lucky for me I see guide dogs in action almost on a daily basis. There’s a lady who walks by our office with her guide dog daily, I’ve also seen several people at my local grocery store probably on a weekly basis. Finally, as a guide dog puppy raiser I get to see the unpolished version of a guide dog (puppy in training) daily.

I’m always amazed to see how focused guide dogs are when out in public, how they can successfully navigate their handler through obstacles, and how obedient they are with the many distractions going on around them. Of course this is the final goal for me as a puppy raiser.

The Guide Dog

Here’s a short blurb from the guide dog blog article I read the other day:

The dog led on, and we walked along the same street heading to my office. As we approached a van parked entirely on the pavement, I readied myself to warn the woman that she’d have to walk in the road, when the dog looked around, saw a car approaching from behind us, and stopped instantly. I told the woman that there was a vehicle parked in the way and that she’d have to dismount the curb; she thanked me and we walked on. The dog was very hesitant, constantly turning back and forth to check for traffic, before leading his mistress back onto the pavement once we’d passed the van.

Amazing! This is just one of the many reasons I’m proud to be a guide dog puppy raiser. I feel so honored to be a part of the process that will someday allow a blind individual to travel and move around with confidence and ease knowing that their guide dog will get them from point A to point B clear of danger.

Derby and I are working hard to prepare him for his formal guide dog training. I’m hoping in the next year and a half I’ll be sitting proudly next to Derby and his new blind companion at guide dog graduation.

I Love Your Guide Dog Blog

Thanks Anna and Lawrence for nominating my blog!

1. Here are the rules:The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate seven other blogs and put links of those blogs on yours.
4. Leave a message on those blogs you’ve nominated.

Gosh I follow so many blogs that it’s kind of hard to only list seven. Well, here are some of my favorite Guide Dog blogs!

Velvet - Guide Dog Puppy In Training

Dutch The Dark Yellow Lab - My Bro

Tonka - Guide Dog In Training

Vito - The Furkid In Training

Joanna And Camry - private

Denise and Catalina

GDA Drea

Finally…Back From Alaska

***WARNING THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT DOGS OR PUPPIES***

It’s been a while and I apologize for not getting a post up here on my blog a little sooner. I have been back from Alaska for two weeks and still no posts during those two weeks. Well…

The day after I returned from Alaska I caught the flu (I think I might have gotten it on the flight). I stayed in bed for the majority of the first week. Then I got caught up in my friend’s wedding. I was part of the wedding party and had to take care of my groomsmen duties. Finally, one week of vacation put me way behind at work and I’ve been putting in extra time at the office in the evening and on weekends.

I know…unacceptable excuses. First post back and I wanted to get some pictures from our Alaska trip.

Unfortunately the only wildlife (in the wild that is) we saw during our trip were Bald Eagles (very cool, but our river guides said their basically like vultures) and fish.

The photos below were taken by my mom at the nature preserve:

My mom takes some great photos and cleans them up real nice with photoshop. It’s amazing, but there was actually a fence between us and all the animals and my mother was able to remove the fence from the pictures. I’m going to try and get her to post her pictures to a website with tutorials on how she takes and cleans up the pictures with her digital camera and photoshop.

It’s good to be back and tomorrow I’ll get some more posts about Derby, Stetson, Linus, and puppy training.