Tag Archives: lab

Every Man For Himself

29 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by in Riggins

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If you read/watched yesterday’s blog you know that Riggins and I are doggie sitting a 6 month old lab named Snowbell.  Ask anyone who has ever had a 6 month old puppy and a 6 month old human baby which is harder, that person will say the dog.  At this age a lab is a ball of hungry energy.  In fact, this will be a short post since Snowbell is trying to jump into my arms while I type this …

photo (11)Normally Riggins will spend 1/2 of the night in his own bed before moving to mine EXCEPT when we are doggie sitting.  When we are doggie sitting he sleeps with me from dusk until dawn.  I’m sure it’s his way of showing the visiting dog that he is the king of the castle.  So last night Riggins jumped up in bed with Snowbell not far behind.  Eventually, after some laps around the room, up the bed, and over my body, Snowbell found a spot at the foot of the bed and fell asleep.  Like any baby she was restless all night, and jumped all around eventually re-landing in a similar spot, always with her head on my ankles.  After awhile Riggins had had enough.  He threw up the white flag and made a beeline for his own doggie bed.  He didn’t even look back.  Just went AWOL without a thought of the men he was leaving behind!  Loyalty to his master be damned.  The kid was tired and had enough of this foolishness. That left Snowbell and me to fight for real estate on the bed.

image (8)In the morning Riggins jumped up and laid down next to me … as if I wasn’t aware that he was a traitor.  It was about that time that Snowbell realized there was no reason she should sleep on my ankles when she could just as easily just sleep so her entire body was on or next to me.  I hung out there for a while listening to two dogs snore in stereo before giving up myself and starting my day.

Snowbell went to Runyon for the first time in her life today.  She was thrilled.  In fact I managed to poop her out.  Even if it was for a very short amount of time.  I see a trip to the dog park is in our future this afternoon!

HAPPY WEEKEND!

Not a Lab

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Riggins, Uncategorized

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I feel like I’ve written about this before but a quick search proved me wrong.  So here we go …

image (4)Yesterday I was looking at Riggins vet bill, from his accident, and realized they labeled him a Retriever, Labrador Mix.  To be fair Riggins has been to this emergency vet before so it is possible this was the label they original gave him on our first visit when I was sobbing and unable to speak.  You have no idea how much it chaps my hide when people demand Riggins is part lab.  He isn’t.  If you look at him he doesn’t even look like a lab.  It’s his color that throws people.  Big black dog = lab, to people.  That’s just not correct.

Riggins mommy was a German Shorthair Pointer while his dad was a Samoyed.  This blows

people’s minds to the point that they don’t believe me and argue that fact.  Which leads me to the statement, “I saw his mom and dad in person.  Did you?”  Grrrrrrrrrr.  Riggins body type is straight from his mommy while his hair (including the fact that both are big sheeders) and personality is a mix of both breeds.  You can watch videos of what is typical for each breed at the Animal Channel link that is found on the breed pictures here.  If you watch the video you will learn that German Shorthair Pointers are a hybrid of many dogs including dalmatians which means black, instead of brown, is one of their colors.  In fact, there is a black dog in the German Shorthair Pointer video that looks a lot like Riggins.

So there you go.  That’s the answer of what Riggins is.  Now if you were someone I met on the street and/orsomeone I was on a first date with you would now tell me I was wrong and fight with me about it.  Don’t fight with me about him not being part Lab.  First of all you are wrong and secondly it’s like you have never seen a lab before.  Of the two of us I’m the dog expert here so back off!

Speaking of the vet and Riggins accident I wanted to give a shout out to the people thaimage (8)t helped us.  First of all the Eagle Rock Emergency Pet Clinic was amazing (minus the whole lab thing).  I imagine it’s a horrible job.  The graveyard shift at a place where only really sick and hurt animals go?  No thanks!  The 4 people I came in contact with including the front desk woman, two vet assistants and the vet herself, which were all not only professional but super kind.  The vet in particular put me at ease due to her knowledge and her wiliness to give me as much information as I wanted and needed.

Secondly, I need to give a shout out to Dogvacay.com.  This is the site where my dog sitting profile is located.  When I informed them of the problem I had on a meet and great they were appropriately horrified.  I had actually written the CEO and he answered personally and quickly.  Their insurance woman was incredibly nice and all seemed to be very worried about Riggins.  If you need a doggie daycare and/or somewhere to keep your puppers overnight check them out.  If you use the promo code IHEARTRIGGINS the first time you book an appointment you will get $10 off.

image (5)Since I didn’t want Riggins off leash with other dogs while he is still healing we skipped Runyon and the dog park today and instead went for a walk around the Rose Bowl.  It was torture for Riggins as he kept trying to stop every human and make him/her pet him.  He was also tortured by the gang of mom’s and their strollers since many children were riding along eating snacks.  Snacks at nose height for Riggins.  No snacks and everyone was too busy exercising to pet him??????  Horrible!

(Still haven’t forgotten about number 39 Act of Kindness.  It’s coming.)