Luna had a good night. She went into her crate at 10.45pm and slept until 4.15am when she was whining and howling. I let her out and she went straight to the puppy pad to pee and poo. She wanted a wee bit of a play so I let her but didn't speak to her (except to praise using the pad) and I kept the light off. She fell asleep again so I popped her back in her crate and she slept until 6.20am. That's not too bad for a first night!
She likes my dressing gown!
I posted in my frugal group last night (cos someone asked me!) and I got a lot of lovely comments. Except for 2. Why is it that we always focus in on the negative ones?? Any way, in response (although I didn't have to) I wrote a wee bit about Luna's colouring explaining Labrador genetics 😊
Labrador Retriever genetics are fascinating. The 3 recognised colours by the US and UK Kennel Club are yellow, black and chocolate. Technically any colour of Lab can have a litter of puppies of any colour. Silver is recognised although not yet approved. So in one litter you could have 2 or 3 colours. Chocolates were uncommon when I first became a Lab owner 26 years ago and cost more than black or yellow. Breeders started breeding chocolates with chocolates to increase the chances of getting more chocolates or eventually all chocolates in one litter. For the most part black labs are black but my old girl had a chocolate mum and a black dad. In the sunlight you can see some brown shading on her coat. Yellow Labs can range from pale yellow to a beautiful fox red colour. I'm aware that Silver labs (a dilution of the chocolate gene) are seen as controversial as they have been bred to look a certain way. But so have labradoodles, cockapoos and all the other gorgeous mixed breeds. And I'm aware that some people have strong feelings about breeding. That's ok, my doggie posts aren't for you then. Luna is my 5th Lab over a 26 year period. I know the breed well and I did my research carefully. She's insured and hopefully will have a long and happy healthy life just like all her predecessors.
Thanks for posting this explanation-as a non doggie person it was interesting to know how Luna became a silver lab. Great first night! Catriona
ReplyDeleteI was prepared for being up most of the night so was happy to get off to a good start. Let's see how tonight goes though!!! :-)
DeleteSounds like Luna's first night went great. Our boy's mum was black & his dad yellow. The breeder was hoping for some yellow pups but they were all black. The owner of the sire told her that this mating would only produce black (something to do with genes???). We went to see another litter (all yellows) prior to choosing our pup & the breeder thought we knew nothing, so we had a big lecture on labs. He actually asked us to sign his petition to stop silver labs being recognised by the KC. We didn't sign it and made a hasty retreat - the pups though were gorgeous, but his manner put us off!!
ReplyDeleteBefore I even went to see her I did my research on them and went with an open mind. The breeder answered all my questions and I liked how they were being treated and where they lived. As long as no health conditions are created I don't have any issues with the selective colour breeding. But clearly some people do and that's their right as long as it's not rammed down people's throats :-)
DeleteOh and P.S. His own pups were kept in below adequate housing to say the least.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a big red flag to me!!
DeleteShe is gorgeous and I don't give a fig about all the 'noise' around breed colours. Like the comment above, I'm more interested in the conditions pups are bred and raised in . The pic of older and young dogs together is wonderful x
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Yep I'm not interested the commentary either as long as dogs are healthy and living in decent conditions. It's a fab photo :-)
DeleteThat is a cute pic of the two dogs asleep together. That was a good first night. We adopted an Lhasa Apso in January (puppy farm rescue), he was two this month and he is the first crate trained dog we have owned.
ReplyDeleteEmma is really not happy but allows her near sometimes! Lhasa Apsos are so cute :-)
DeleteLina is lovely! Who cares what colour her parents are, so long as the pups are happy, healthy & go to good loving homes?
ReplyDeleteSome people are very vocal about about not buying puppies and adopting instead. All dogs and animals deserve a loving home regardless of how they come into your life :-)
Deletemeant Luna*
ReplyDeleteLabs are just great all round family dogs with a great temperament. I always liked Dalmatians too but they need a lot of training and exercise :-)
ReplyDeleteShe is absolutely gorgeous 😊 Tolly our border terrier is 13 now and not as active as he was but he has brought such joy into our lives. I hope that Luna gives you as much happiness as our old lad has given us.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Lesley
Thanks! Terriers live longer than bigger dogs like Labs but I bet he's still game :-)
DeleteI have absolutely no problem with colour variations, they rarely affect the health of a dog and it throws up some beautiful animals as is the case with Luna. I do have to admit that white Pugs look very strange though!
ReplyDeleteAs long as an animals health isn't compromised in any way it's fine, and any negative nellies and vocal ignoramuses can go and jump.