There she is, Libby.
Isn't she just the most beautiful yellow labby you have ever seen?
She has the soft brown nose and eye area, not black. A true blonde. :-)
I have spoken before about John Grogan's book, Marley & Me, and, again, I will tell you all to read it. Especially, if you have a dog.
In the book, he discusses how breeders have 2 classifications for the labs.
The 'normal' lab that will be an excellent hunting and working lab, and the 'subnormal' that will make for a fabulous family pet, but not much more.
That was Marley in his book, and that is our Libby.
These 'subnormal' labs are overly affectionate, overly attached to their owners, are too emotional, too sensitive, easily distracted and are too submissive.
In other words, they will love you too much and never, ever, hurt you or anyone else!
The perfect family dog. The perfect description of Libby.
Libby loves kids, cats, other dogs, squirrels, skunks, babies, anything and everything. She tries to lick everyone she meets.
Libby has allowed toddlers to pull her ears, tail, and stick fingers in her mouth andplaces they shouldn't, all completely passively. Okay, maybe not completely passive, she will occasionally go for a good lick on the toddlers face.
Libby is the most loving, mushy dog I have ever seen or known.
Thus, every time we go on vacation is a disaster.
By the end of the week, our dog sitter reported, she was hardly eating and refused to leave her crate when she came to visit, feed and let her out.
This results in Libby then peeing and pooping on the floor when the sitter was not there, and then she would punish herself for doing it and refuse to leave thecrate.
Libby was also losing big clumps of hair, the poor thing was so distraught.
So, we came home to a smelly house and slowly balding, sad, thinner dog. Thank goodness for my mom, she scrubbed the dining room and kitchen floors until they were clean and ever trace of 'accident' was gone. Thanks Mom.
Poor Libby. It took her about 3 days to even begin to get back to normal!!!
Of course, as her mommy, I felt totally and horribly guilty!!!
So, that is Libby's vacation story. Thankfully, it will be a long time before we go away again, all seven of us. Ugh.
be well,
Dawn
ps... Libby has also never met a food she doesn't like and will try to eat and chew just about everything, another trait of the 'subnormal' labs. We call her a 'food hound'!!! ;-D
18 comments:
Poor Libby! I'm glad she's getting back to normal.
Lori
she is gorgeous i would like a big dog if i had enough space for one but im choosin a tiny one instead :)
what a cutie:) next time take her with:)
Deb
(((Libby))) Poor little one. And they just don't know and understand that you are coming back. It is hard on them. (did you ever think of boarding her when you were gone and perhaps if she was around others in a different situation it wouldn't be so hard on her?)
Tell Libby she's always welcome at our house to share in Koda's treats; he is definitely her brother as he loves any type of food too :)
betty
(((((((Libby))))))) I know exactly what she went through! This is what Rhapsody did (with the exception of peeing and pooping in the house) when J went through the whole deployment thing with the Guard. Poor girls. Your Libby sounds a lot like my Rhapsody, the overly loving, sweet girl.
Hugs,
Susan and Rhapsody.
Yeah, Labs are that way. Years ago we had a black female Lab..."Lady" she loved my husband to death, would meet him at the front door wagging and a peeing, and nothing we would do could stop it. Joe even tried sneaking into the house the back way...the dog KNEW! We cleaned puddle spots for years..LOL. When I had my last baby for some reason Lady became totally miserable, jealous of the baby and starting to destroy diapers, bottles baby toys and it got progressively worse. It was a hard decision but we had to find her another home...one of my neighbors knew an older lady (with no kids) who had just lost her Lab...it was love at first sight on both their parts...so we were very happy that it worked out well. Sandi
aww...so cute picture of Libby :-)
Gem :-)
This is a very nice entry. There is a lot of love in your words. Dogs have a tendency to "take over" your life by putting themselves right square in the middle of your heart. I know I've been dealing with it since I was a kid. I don't know what I'd do if there wasn't at least one dog around my house. My Regards, Bill.
Dear Libby, I have a very handsome chocolate labbers to introduce you to. His name is Ripken and it sounds like the 2 of you would really hit it off! Rip-dog also doesn't eat when things are out of whack, and he licks and licks and licks until the cows come home!!! He is absolutely adorable with his brown fur, brown nose, golden eyes and pink tongue. Just the cutest EVER! We have the Marley & Me book @ your mommy's recommendation but haven't read it yet. I think it's time...
Libby is gorgeous. We have Grizzly, who's a mixed lab, and we also had Princess, his sibling, who was also a mixed lab. Griz is black but Princess looked like her mama and much like Libby. Such a gentle sweetie she was but had severe seizures which couldn't be controlled. Labs are just the best doggies in the world. HUGS Chris
Oops, Dawn, I also forgot to add that since Grizzly is almost 11, I can't leave him overnight unless one of the kids are home with him. He is just too old and would never survive without a family member around. I know how you feel. He was 2 when we moved here and lost 22 pounds because of the change. Poor Libby. HUGS Chris
Yes, Libby is a cutie. Such a sweet face. I'd take a "subnormal" lab anytime. Dawn
aww she is beautiful!
I've seen that book in the bookstore and browsed through it. It looks really good.
Hugs,
Gretchen
http://journals.aol.com/ksgal3133/LivinginSavannah2
She's beautiful!
Dianna
OMG ! I love Libby. And I am glad she's feeling better!
hugs,
Ellen
OMG ! I love Libby. And I am glad she's feeling better!
hugs,
Ellen
What a wonderful dog you have. Makes me SO jealous. I only have a grand-dog right now. That's my daughter's dog that I babysit occasionally, and I love her to death but it's just not the same as having one of your own! How lucky you are.
Shadie
Libby is just wonderful!
love and hugs, natalie
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