Dre was planned, unexpectedly. When my husband’s hunting dog’s life was cut short, he knew that he would have to get another. I have a friend who breeds Labrador Retrievers, so we joined their waiting list for a chocolate male. I say he was “planned, unexpectedly” because while it was a sudden surprise to us that we were going to need another hunting dog, we had to wait almost a year until he was ready to come home. Double Diamond Labradors are so amazing because they have a Facebook page where they post live videos so you can watch the puppies grow and then they allow a visit around 6 weeks of age!
Dre at 6 weeks
We were a bit worried about bringing Dre home because some of the herding characteristics Nelly was showing made us think she would maybe bully him a bit. Well, she still does - but what siblings don’t fight? They were super fast friends! And are now amazing companions… they nap together, play together and get in LOTS of trouble together!!
Dre’s first day home
Dre is 100% the better behaved of the two of them. It is in his Labrador nature to want to please his family. He listens to what you tell him (usually the first time) but he is very food motivated and is, of course, still just a puppy at 8 months.
We used to kennel them in separate cages side-by-side but once we started using cameras to watch them we realized how incredibly unhappy they were locked up.
We gradually started leaving them loose in the house little bits at a time. We have built up to 5hrs home alone but we haven’t tried longer than that yet. And we still peek in on them using the cameras. That is how we knew exactly which dog had chewed up my shoes, and which dog got into a garbage bag. Any guesses who did which crime?
While Dre is meant to be my husband's buddy, he has a super strong attachment to me. Honestly, no fault of my own, I go out of my way to try not to form bonds with the hunting dogs because they aren’t “mine” but he’s on me like GLUE. Typical… you ignore them and they want you more!
While Nelly will never really settle while I am working, Dre is more than happy to just lie down on the bed that is beside my desk and wait for me to finish so that we can go outside and play. My last job was super stressful and on several occasions I said that there should be dogs under our desks to keep us sane. Sometimes they make my work day harder than it needs to be but, in the end, having them near me makes it 10 x better!!
