The Dog Days Of Summer!

Hello!

So many things to celebrate! Today was National Mutt Day! Hooray! So...if you haven't hugged your mutt today, times a wastin'! Somehow, I think you likely have!

Frax is sensitive to the term 'mutt' since technically...he actually is an intentional hybrid...his breeders intentionally bred a lab and a lab/golden to produce...more lab/goldens. The theory being, the hybrid actually has the best qualities of each breed, for service work. Usually, (Frax being omitted!) these hybrids are less tall than a Golden Retriever. They are not as 'soft' emotionally at a Golden as well. Golden Retrievers will take the weight of the world on their furry shoulders, and a harsh word is devastating to them. Labrador's are extremely strong dogs. Perfect for harness work. They are very intuitive, as Golden's are, but not devastated by an inadvertent loud voice. Both Labs and Goldens are jolly fellows and have a great sense of doggie humor. Goldens are renowned for their gentleness with children and the disabled. Labs are renowned for their endurance and love of sport~ water sport especially. Both breeds tend toward heaviness, without a willing human feeding them treats. Canine Assistants requires recipients get a weight check on their dog every four months during the first year, and their weight and exams faxed on to them each year. It's real easy to put a few pounds on...as we all know! For a service dog, it's so important to stay in that range of five pounds up or down of the weight he was when he went home with you. It goes without saying both breeds looooove to retrieve! Jet was more in line with the height and weight of a 'normal' lab/golden hybrid. He was a bit on the short side, but right in the weight range. He weighed 55lb when we went home with him. He could range 5lb up or down from that. He always looked best at 55lb however. Frax is not the norm in height or weight for a golden/lab cross. He is all long legs and looooong body. Even his face, ears and tail are really long. He is 8” taller than Jet. His ears are 8” long! However, he doesn't weigh too much more. His working weight is 74lbs.

Isn't genetics interesting?

Even though outwardly, Frax and Jet didn't look at all alike, the basic emotional and mental qualities are the same in both. Physically, although 'put together' differently, they both have the strength and fortitude that Labs are well-known for. Every 'registered' dog in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia all have one thing in common: they all came from 'mutts'. Selective breeding of different types of dogs have brought us the gazillion different types of dogs known today...but it's solely a result of human intervention, taking a bit of this breed and a smidgen of that...then when they thought they had what they wanted in a dog, to continue to breed best to best. That's all the dog shows ever started out to be...rather a glorified 4-H experiment.

Look through history and you will see lots of breeds of dogs and other domesticated animals that are no more, because what they were bred for is no longer needed, or their basic popularity ran out. It's cool being a mutt! You never know what you will wind up with!

That's what we celebrate in the US! All sorts of people from everywhere on the globe coming to one place...and what do you know? They fall in love and make beautiful Americans! So, aside from our American accent and deplorable taste in clothing and food....you would never know the 'average American'...there is none! I believe Forrest Gump said it best “Life is like a box of chocolates~ you never know what you will get!”...I got Jet and then Frax...and it's been totally AWESOME! I'm so glad I can share them with you!

Later...

LV, FX & JT

#hybrid #mutt #NationalMuttDay #AKC #dogbreeding