Labrador

A Black Labrador named Treo was yesterday given the PDSA Dickin Medal, the highest medal of honour that can be awarded to an animal. The medal is the animal equivalent of a Victoria Cross, and was presented to Treo at a ceremony in London yesterday by Princess Alexandra.

What did Treo do to deserve this high honour? Treo was one of the many sniffer dogs working with our troops in Afghanistan, and his bravery has saved the lives of many soldiers and civilians. Treo found explosive devices that had been hidden, and would have killed dozens of brave men, on two separate occasions.

Treo worked with 104 Military Working Dog Support Unit and completed tours of duty in Helmand province.

Treo becomes the 63rd animal to be awarded with the Dickin Medal from the PDSA, and the 26th dog. Other animals include messenger pigeons from World War II, a trio of horses and a cat.

Treo’s handler is Sgt Dave Heyhoe and they have been together for five years. Treo has now retired from active service and will live out his days [read more]

In the UK we’re pretty used to seeing sensationalised headlines such as ‘dog bites owner’, but we’re not used to news stories involving gun toting dogs. In America however, it seems that incidents of dogs shooting their owners are relatively common. There have been three stories in the last three years surrounding ‘gundog’ related crimes.

There was an occasion in 2008 where a man from Oregon was shot when his dog leapt into his boat, landing on his shotgun. A year earlier, a man from Iowa was gunned down by his dog when he left his shotgun next to a fence and the dog stood on it, shooting the man in the leg while he was straddling the fence.

This latest incident occurred last weekend in Los Banos, California. A duck hunter was shot by his black Labrador after the man set the loaded gun down on the ground and the dog stood on it.

The hunter has been criticised by authorities for [read more]

As reported in The Los Angeles Times and elsewhere in the media, a county judge has ruled that Chewey, a yellow Labrador retriever, can attend school with his autistic master Kaleb Drew. The court judgement seems to make sense because Kaleb suffers with his autistic condition and Chewey helps him relate to other people. Moreover, Chewey is a great companion for Kaleb who makes him feel better every day.

Chewey has had two years of [read more]

A black Labrador sniffer dog has been found alive after almost 14 months since she went missing during a firefight in Afghanistan.

Sabi is a four year old Australian sniffer dog trained to search for roadside bombs for the Special Forces of Australia, pictured here courtesy of the Times Online.

She was returned just a week ago by [read more]

The Labrador Retriever is possibly the world’s most popular breed of dog – and no wonder. The Labrador is devoted, affectionate and lovable, making him an ideal family pet. He is good with children, visitors and other pets, and will happily adapt to household upheavals such as house moves. His only demand is that you show him plenty of love – which he will return in droves.

Labradors are intelligent, obedient and fiercely loyal, with an inbuilt instinct to protect their owners from danger. This has made them the world’s most popular assistance and rescue dogs – they’ve even been employed as life guards.

Of course, the Labrador’s association with water is legendary. This instinct is deeply rooted; as pets, Labs have been known to [read more]

A dog walker who was knocked over by a dog whilst out walking has had her personal injury appeal for £160,000 rejected.

Patricia Welsh was out walking her golden retriever in 2005 when a black Labrador called Ebony collided into her. Mrs Welsh needed surgery on her knee and tried to sue the owner of the black Labrador, Neil Brady. The judge initially ruled against her stating it had been ‘a pure accident’.

The former [read more]

Many people do not really know the difference between a Labrador and a Golden Retriever, and some may be unaware that they are two different dog breeds.   Retrievers are a type of dog and are part of the Gun dog category of dog breeds.  The Retriever dog breed was originally bred to fetch game for hunters, whether they were hunting on the land or in the water.

There are six retriever dog breeds [read more]

Playing fetch with your dog is a great activity.  It keeps them active and healthy, encourages fun interaction between dog and owner and playing fetch with a stick whilst out walking is a common activity that can be seen on any walk in the park.

However, as pointed out in [read more]

If you’re a dog lover and a film lover, then this has been a great time to go to the movies, with an abundance of dog related films to get you in the mood to give your dog a big hug when you get home. The most successful of these movies was undoubtedly Marley & Me, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. As famous as they are however, it was the succession of golden retriever dogs that played Marley, from a puppy through to old age, who really stole the show.

The first thing that should be noted about Marley & Me is that it is not a feel good movie. It’s not one of those Benji style films that you can spend a Saturday afternoon watching and smile at the little doggie doing brave things and getting home at the end of the picture. Marley & Me is more of a gritty drama about relationships, the problems within them and how you balance a career with a family life.

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston play John and Jennifer Grogan, a young newlywed couple who are just starting a life together. They’re both career focussed as professional writers, though Jennifer has a [read more]