Aw, that post has me in tears What a sweet and beautiful experience! The closest I can come to that is the daycare girls have tenderly excepted my new dolls! Makes me wish we could have pets.....

What a lovely story. Made me feel peaceful just reading it.

I have to share these pics of my son's Lab of the first time he had the nerve to go into the pool to get a ball. He wanted to retrieve that ball so badly, but just hadn't had the nerve to go into the water.....until this day. The first shot, he wanted the ball so bad.....and the second pic....he finally got the nerve and dove in for it! I snapped the pic at the moment he went in, but his hind legs and tail were still on the edge of the pool! Too funny!

How cute!!!!!

I love retreivers. If I did not have a border collie that is what I would own.
I love your story Luca and that goes to show that animals truly have feelings.
My dog Halle can tell I am going ti have an asthma attck before I do. This is true. My husband and son have seen it with their own eyes.


Anyway the name of the book I was speaking of The intelligence of Dogs by Stanley Coren. It is about intelligence and emotions of dogs.
I really don't use a training book for dogs per say just make sure they know all the basics. Walk on a leas , sit , stay lie down , kennel, ride, etc. Good manners . No jumping or excessive frantic licking. After my dogs learn the basics they learn to work the sheep. I think there is a competitive sport for retreivers . It looks fun where they fetch in the water ? I can't think of the name of it right off though...

Just priceless Sky! Thanks for sharing that! How old was your son's lab in that photo? I am curious because Cole is also kind of timid. He got scared when we let him in the house and he slipped on the Pergo floors. He was afraid to move and was shaking!

I wish I could record the wailing/crying sound he makes...it is the most pitiful sound I have ever heard, It almost sounds like Wah-Wah!

Aerwin, what does Halle do when she senses you are going to have an attack? I am going to go order Coren's book...it sounds fascinating! I also will have to look into Retriever sports...that sounds really fun!

Update on the sweet horse/cole story. Hubby was off today and let Cole into the horse pasture while he worked on the fence. My oldest, most agressive horse, Ardeo tried to charge Cole...he tried to show him who was boss to establish the pecking order. Unfortunately he may try to do that a few more times, and Cole does'nt know he is in danger-so his future horse experiences will need to be extremely well supervised until he figures out to watch himself when he is around them. That may take a while. I am trying to remember how old my Rott was when we let her mingle unsupervised with the horses. I don't think she was much older than Cole. She has been run over a time or two...and she learned very quickly. That is a dangerous way for them to learn though. I would die if anything happenned to him, so will proceed this time with absolute caution.

Run over by horses! Poor baby Hopefully that will never happen to Cole. Sounds so very scary, but I am sure all will be OK.

Aerwin, is that book one that an 11 year old could read and enjoy? One of my daycare girls just got two puppies and her birthday is in April. I thought maybe she would enjoy a book about dogs as a present.

Luca, I honestly don't remember how old he was in the pic, sorry. Growing up, my family always had dogs and they were always Labs. They are such a people kind of dog. They do get lonely when left alone though. I'll bet Cole's wail is a tear jerker. Our dog (not a Lab) had been heard by the neighbors to cry/wail when we weren't home.

I can see why your family is hooked on labs Sky. I truely love this breed with a passion. I always heard people rave about them, but until you experience it first hand you really don't know how special they are.

I feel very strong maternal instincts for this dog. He is so people oriented and so wants to be right with me and my husband. FC -I will not risk Cole
getting hurt by the horses. Ancha has always been a tough dog that liked to be agressive with the horses and try to herd and chase them around, and that is why she got run over. I just won't put Cole at risk of getting hurt by them...he is too precious. Not that I don't love my Rot, but she has always been more independant and no where near as devoted or attached as Cole is.

Cole is used to having his mother around and he must be going through that separation process as well as settling in with us as his new owners. I wish I could bring him in the house, but I think he has been trained to not come in the house-so he is afraid. I guess it will just be a slow gradual process. First, I think he needs to feel fully secure here and with us, then we can gradually expose him more and more to the house.

He has not gone to the bathroom in his kennel yet. I think he would be a cinch to house train.

I can't wait until he comes into your house! He sounds like a perfect house dog! I never knew there were dogs afraid to come into the house Growing up we had 4 dogs (not all at once) and they all were house dogs and house trained. My mom even paper trained them all so if we all were away all day the dogs would just go on the paper!

Sky, I LOVE those pictures!

I am actually a bit scared of big dogs. Had some traumatic experiences as a kid with a black lab who really was a nice dog, but something set him off and he almost killed and did rip off my little brother's face when he was 3. Doctors reattached it, but it was horrifying. And a gigantic boxer mixed with something even bigger almost got me, another time.

And now, as an adult, big dogs can smell my fear and do not like me much, so I keep my distance.

I like the ones I can pick up with one hand.

That is why I have two little lovebirds.

But I love the stories about all the animals. If only people could be like them!

I think dogs who are raised outside can sometimes be frightened when they come into a house. A lot of times, they don't know how to climb stairs, etc.

My dad's beagles always lived outside but if the weather got too cold, every so often he'd let them stay in our basement. It was so funny cos they'd go crazy barking and baying especially since my dad had his deer head mounted above the couch there.

When my dad first moved out here, there were a couple of barn kittens living in the garage which their standard poodle then a puppy himself adopted. Neither of the cats ever came in the house; they have a heated bed in the garage. One of them disappeared some years ago, but the other is still there. And she still will not set foot in the house. She's very friendly, you can pet her and pick her up, but she won't go in the house. If you open the door, she might stick her nose in, but then she'll run away.

Oh Frazz! How horrible for your family!! I'm so glad he is OK.

My cousin had her face ripped up good by one of her Dobermans. She had to have several facial surgeries. It took years for the scares to fade.

I like both big and little dogs! We had 3 Poms. They were just precious!

Frazz, that is horrible your brother almost died from that dog attack and that you were traumatized from the bad encounter with the boxer. Animals can be unpredictable, especially with kids. That is very cool you still can appreciate them from afar. You are right about the unconditional love and pure joy animals bring into our lives.

Yes, Badger...I think some creatures that have not been acclimated to life indoors can sometimes not feel comfortable in the house. I also think Cole was trained to not go through doorways and was kindly and regularly reprimanded for it and it is somewhat ingrained now. We went into the garage yesterday and I openned the door to my husband's studio and invited him in and he just sat there frozen.

I think I will be able to work with it though. He may be more comfortable being assigned one place in the house that is his and he understands that is where he goes and stays.

The thing about a big dog is that they can put a hurt on you without meaning to. My dad's standard poodle is old now so he's pretty skinny but when he was younger, he weighed around 100 pounds. He's a big goofball, but he could knock you down with no problem.