I would like for you to meet
 

Our new member of the family, comes from a long line of great dogs her name Jolie pronounced joe lee, Picked her out 2 weeks ago picked here up 2 days ago she is 8 weeks old, Gary

What a pretty girl! She almost looks like she has a hint of brown in the right light.

I envy you the new pup - you can't beat a Lab for a family dog and hunter.

I'll bet she is going to keep you busy for a while...!

Gary,
Just as Deb and I recently found out, the best way to get over the loss of your best friend is to get a new best friend. Good luck with Jolie.

Larry, I had to think long and hard, before making the decision to get her, still strong attachment to the one gone but I can already see it is helping, she is wild as a crow, but already house broken, she seems to hold no fear of other animals, I will have to watch her close lots of bad things in the woods here. I found out today she is afraid of the lawn mower, she ran like crazy when I cranked it, A little while and she will come around Gary

Gunner has been gone 11 months but so far no new additions:crying:
A friend's Settr just had a litter so maybe that will pan out. I have two dogs on the edge (the hole is ready I'm just waiting) and crazy Daisy who has become somewhat anti social at least towards Tara who is one of the future occupants of the afor mentioned hole.

Congrats on the new addition. When Mattie's gun is finished you can bring both the gun and Jo Lee when you visit and the four of us will chase some Roosters.

Nice to meet you Jolie! She's a real beauty Gary. I've been a Lab guy for years now, especially the black ones. She'll work her way into your heart in no time. Enjoy her.

Nothing beats Puppy breath and those sharp little needle teeth when your hand is mistaken for a chew toy.:)

What a georgous pup Gary! Congratulations!

My new family member
 

Gary and friends
I would like y'all to meet my new friend, Pepper. She arrived from Ireland two days ago and we just love her . She is a 53lb bitch , sweet, calm. smart, and fully trained. I wish I had the skill and patience that y'all do, but my ability as a dog trainer= 0 Labs are truly one of God's gifts!
David

Thats a nice looking dog David. If she is going to work for you in the duck blind does she have her Green card?:rotf:

COB
I interesting story there. First Delta lost her, finally found her, but had lost her medical records. Custom would not let her go until I found an understanding Customs Agent that was a lab guy. He said "Delta screwed up but I will not let a Lab suffer for it . I was shortly on my way home . Long frustrating day and inexcusable on Delta's part.
David

The needless red tape we have to suffer through is absurd in most cases. I don't like to fly with a gun anymore and I can't imagine shipping a dog by air. I have a friend who raises English Setters and he gets and ships dogs by air all the time. I'm to old and crusty I guess for the modern world:rotf:

Rich
I completely agree with you. I had never shipped a dog by air before and would be very reluctant to do so again. I think though that Ireland to SC is a mighty long blind retrieve!!:rotf:

That's true but if she did it look at the bragging rites you would have. When she gets a little older you'll have to let her have some green beer with her kibbles just to keep her roots grounded so to speak.

This reminds me of a double bred Super Chief female I picked up about 30 years ago. 3 hunters had shot 59 geese on a half frozen lake using mag 10's. A few cripples and a lot of dead scattered birds. Jim asked me what are we going to do now and I said we'll go get my 9 month old pup and give her a work out. 2 hours latter all birds were retrived. Sadie was tired and bleeding from cutting the ice to get the birds. What a memory your young pup has brought back. I hope she turns out great. Dave

She's a beauty David, how old? Now you guys are making me want to go back to the shelter to get another Lab. Two's company, three's a ball. Yeah.... gotta love those Labs.:bigbye:

"Tar", the black girl in my avatar came from Scotland. Last spring, after we lost her, we went over and picked up a new pup from the midlands. No pix of her with game yet, but that will get remedied on October 12, when she will be one of the dogs for a 1,000 birdtower shoot at the club I hang out at.

British Labs are the best!

David, Pepper looks awesome bet she will be a great dog! gary

I love dog stories- keep them coming. Maybe we need a separate thread for all of them (maybe we have one- I forget).

Daryl
Pepper is 2 1/2 , great breading and a "velcro" dog. Did some water work with her this morning and she goes from calm and quiet to "switched on" at a "go out" . That is Irish for "back" . I am really impressed with the the UK retriever training-no collars just breading and positive reinforcement. I have shot over some fantastic U S Labs, but finding a 2-3 year old fully trained bitch that was 50-55 lb is near impossible. I did locate two and the breeders just laughed at the idea of selling one.
David

I agree David. My female is 56lbs. and the male is 69lbs. The tendency here in the US is towards 100lb.+ Labs which is way too big to use for upland game. Most Labs I see are overweight anyway and when they see my dogs they comment that they are "too skinny, what's wrong with them"? Generally they are fat, their kids are fat and they feed their dogs too much without any exercise. Good luck with her- make sure you bring her to a shoot so we can bond.:bigbye:

Daryl
I could not agree more!! I do a fair amount of my duck hunting from a 13 ft paddle boat and a small lab works well. If you hunt in heavy marsh grass a big powerful lab works but not what I need. I am just amazed at the level of training of the UK dogs and you do not need a shock collar to make them do it. My wife just told me "I want one too!"
David

You can meet her at the Fall SXS.

Jolie reminds me of Thumper, who came to live with me in 1980 at about the same age. Same overall sense of happiness all about her, and the same look of intelligence behind those eyes. I was blessed to have 16 excellent years with my Thumper. May you and Jolie be equally blessed! I mean it sincerely.
Patrick