Finding A New Furry Family Member

After our black Labrador Auntie Layla passed over the Rainbow Bridge in September, Dave and I decided that we’d wait to see how Ranger adjusted to his role as only dog before we’d consider bringing another furry friend into our family.

After all, we reasoned, Ranger was very outgoing and social and had lots of doggie friends that he regularly interacted with in our small mountain community— at informal training sessions in the park and at the local library’s Reading to Rover program.

The day after Layla passed, Ranger, Dave and I headed out to Lake City to get away from our heartbreak. Layla was thirteen-plus when she passed and had slowly declined over the past ten or so months.

We stayed two nights in a cabin and enjoyed quiet nights in the small town nestled in the San Juan mountains in southwestern Colorado.

The first morning we rose early to climb Uncompahgre Peak, a 14,309-foot mountain as a pay tribute to Layla who’d joined our family at age four, nearly nine years prior. As we started our climb, I thought back to how our girl Taz had become very lonely immediately after the death of her sole four-footed companion, mother Brew.

A couple of weeks later, we located Layla after responding to an email sent by a Labrador Retriever Club of Greater Denver (Lab Club) member who announced the availability of chocolate pups. On a whim, I wrote back and asked if she knew of any available older Labradors. A few emails later, we scheduled an appointment to meet the four-year-old black beauty that hated the show ring. She sounded like a good match for our eight-year-old Taz that, because of orthopedic issues, needed a quiet, calm companion.

When we arrived at Lisa Butler’s Snowberry Labradors’ home, Layla followed Bonita out of the house. Bonita immediately stole the show and our attention when she rolled over and demanded pats. Lisa put her in the house so Dave and I could meet Layla. We petted Layla until she trotted over to our car and placed her front paws up on the open back of our vehicle where Taz patiently waited in her crate.

We let Taz out. The girls sniffed each other and then followed one another around as Taz investigated Lisa’s yard.

With Lisa’s permission, we took both girls on a walk through her meadow and to a pond. Lisa had warned us that Layla didn’t swim. Wrong! Both girls swam and retrieved, ever so gently taking a stick from one another’s month without a hint of a growl. The deal was sealed. Layla became Taz’s new sister!

Fast forward nine years. Dave and I had climbed Uncompahgre more than twenty-three years prior, but the trail seemed as new to us as it was to Ranger. As usual, our happy boy greeted the few hikers whom we met along the trail and helped himself to some delicious marmot poop. On the summit, he cozied up to a young woman who fawned all over him. Her group was replaced by two male hikers who also doted on our boy. We mentioned why we were climbing that day.

“What was her name?” one of men asked.

“Layla.”

“To Layla,” he toasted, raising his flask above his head. He’d left his aging dog at home. Before we left the summit, both hikers asked to have their picture taken with Ranger.

“It’s so much easier traveling with one dog,” Dave not so subtly mentioned as we left Lake City and drove towards Durango where we had reservations for three nights at the dog-friendly LaQuinta.

“It is,” I admitted.

The following day, we hiked north of Durango, skirting a huge herd of sheep, and not so nice border collies, until we had a view of Chicago Basin where Dave had backpacked to years before to summit three very difficult 14ers— all way out of my league.

On the return hike to the trailhead, something changed. We’d planned on hiking the next day but now we humans wanted to return home even if it meant facing an empty house. We both dreaded knowing that we wouldn’t be greeted by sweet Auntie Layla.

For a short period of time, Ranger seemed to adjust to his new status as top dog. Then he became quieter in the house. When he met his friends in the park for training, he was so exuberant that he almost pulled me over— this behavior from a dog that had earned Rally Excellent and Companion Dog titles! He hadn’t pulled that hard in years!! He looked SO happy when he played with two of his best friends— Holly, a very enthusiastic nine-year-old chocolate Lab and Sadie, a corgi mix.  And then he reverted to his too quiet self at home. I knew it was time. Now, I had to convince Dave.

We agreed that a puppy wouldn’t work because next summer we wanted to take long hikes which wouldn’t be advisable for a pup or even very young adult whose growth plates wouldn’t be closed. An adult in the two-to-four-year range sounded like a good fit. I really didn’t want to go through the loss of a dog any time soon or even close in time when Ranger, years down the road, joins Layla.

Dave wanted a female because even slightly dominant males seemed to take advantage of Ranger’s good nature. He also had a strong preference for yellows as our yellows had been our best trail dogs. I struggled a bit with that and fell in love with every cute black Lab puppy photo that I saw on Facebook.

“You aren’t thinking about getting a puppy, are you?” a worried husband asked me.

I knew a puppy wasn’t practical. “No.”

We put out the word. Emailed friends. Our now retired longtime vet offered to contact a breeder who had found dogs for some of his clients.  As I chatted with a couple of breeders about possible Labs, I listened for hints about the temperament of the dog that we sought – very happy and outgoing – traits that were a huge plus on trails with lots of hikers, some of whom feared canines.

A couple of potential prospects evaporated when their owners decided their dogs really weren’t available.

I started whittling down the age of the prospective Lab. Eighteen months would work because the dog would be two by summer.

Next I put out the word on Facebook but did so selectively- on the pages of the local Lab Club and the Labrador Retriever Club Inc. Numerous responses came in. We learned about the availability of young yellow adults but none lived closer than about 800 miles and most were 1,000-plus miles away. Travel would be iffy, I knew, because we’d already had much-needed snow in the mountains.

Then a Colorado breeder, whom I knew casually, messaged me on Facebook: would you consider an older dog, nearly six?

Dave and I looked at each other. Ranger just had turned seven. We started talking. The yellow female had her health clearances and lived in the house with other dogs and kids. And she loved the show ring! She was a conformation champion.

She loved the show ring. That was exciting!

“I bet she’ll love rally and obedience,” I told Dave.

She loved other dogs and other people. Her breeder was retiring her from breeding and wanted a good retirement home for her.

I whipped out my handy pad and pen to write down the pros and the cons. The only con was her age. Of course, we’d spay her once she fully recovered from her most recent litter and got toned and acclimated to our altitude of 8,300 feet. She lived at 4,300 feet on the prairie.

We thought back to Taz’s disappointed expression whenever we only took Layla on long hikes and left our yellow girl at home because she could no longer manage those arduous outings. And then we recalled how Layla eyed us when we left her behind and took Ranger. Our neighbors had checked on both aging girls on those occasions but we knew the old girls wanted to be with us, not stuck alone at home.

Ranger is probably our best-ever trail dog. He adores hiking, climbing, and swimming in alpine lakes. He also loves to travel. If a dog five years his junior joined us, we knew someday he’d be left alone at home.

But if Betty, just a year-plus younger than Ranger, joined us, that wouldn’t happen. That’s when we knew. Betty was our girl IF the dogs liked each other.

Their meeting was uneventful. Both dogs sniffed each other and wagged their tails. Ranger flirted. Then he became infatuated with the pet pig named Sweet Pea.

The rest is history. Betty (Ch. Simerdown’s Off Her Rocker), bred by Linda Vaughn, is now Ranger’s new sister. After just a week, she loves mountain living and expects her daily walks! We can’t thank Karen Chapman of Tincup Labradors enough for reaching out to us about Betty. Ranger thanks her too!

Welcome Betty to retirement in the mountains!!

Related articles:

https://www.caryunkelbach.com/choosing-a-reputable-dog-breeder/

https://www.caryunkelbach.com/some-questions-dog-breeders-may-ask/