Safe From Shiny Bugs

We all love our Labs, that's why you're reading this. They bring us so much joy and fun. They protect us from all sorts of things that endanger us. Sometimes they do all of those things at once.

I am a bit of a morning person. I enjoy getting up an hour or or more before anyone else in the house. As summer arrives that means it is light out as I get up at 5am and Tucker, our solar powered Lab, gets up with me. I sit here in my morning routine, coffee on the end table, computer on my lap, and email open. Tucker, is being vigilant.

The ever-vigilant Tucker on watch for shiny bugs

The sun breaks the horizon and starts to shine through the cracks in the blinds, and Tucker jumps into action to protect me. He starts bipping the dreaded shiny bugs. He is going to protect Papa and the rest of the family from the scourge of reflected light with amazing intensity.

It is hilarious to watch. That is until he gets a little overzealous and starts jumping up the walls and almost knocking things off onto the floor. He stands undeterred as I tell him to leave the shiny bugs alone. "Papa, you don't understand. I must bip them with my nose!"

Tucker is very intelligent, too. He knows what causes the shiny bugs and makes them move. He knows when Kelly gets up, and he waits in the living room for her to come open the blinds because more shiny bugs appear on the couch. As she opens the blinds, he sits staring at the couch waiting. When the side door of the house is open, he knows that if he moves it slowly open and closed, shiny bugs move across the floor. I have watched him move the door back and forth for an hour. The dog is hilarious!

So fear not Lab lovers. If your Lab is anything like Tucker, you are safe from the shiny bugs. Just beware when you pull out a flashlight to look under the refrigerator, or pull out your cell phone to take a picture. Our friend the Labrador Retriever learns very quickly and will start watching for shiny bugs instead of staying out of your way or posing for that adorable picture.

Benjamin and Bacon

In a previous post I said we have had two Labs prior to the two we have now. Both of them very precious to our family, as our current two are. I came across this meme today on social media and had to share it. It reminds me so much of Benjamin!

Benjamin lived with us for 3 weeks short of 15 years, and I am sure I will share many stories about him. Suffice it to say, he loved his family and adored his Momma, my wife Kelly. But that's not what I want to share today.

The nose sticking through the fence in this image seems to be a Yellow Lab to me. If you know Labs, you know about their incessant curiosity, their ease of distraction, and everybody is a friend. Benjamin was no different. He rarely met anyone that wasn't an instant friend. His nose, though, was amazing; absolutely amazing.

Like most dogs he loved riding in the car or truck with the windows down and he would get all the smells funneled into his nose at 35 miles per hour. Sniffing on turbo. His tail would wag and wag with all the smells. Benjamin would always have to check his p-mail on walks. He always sniffed the same exact spots and had a reply or two for his friends, probably commenting on some funny status update or blog. I think that's the original social network. And when the wind would blow he would lay in the back yard with his nose up in the air just sniffing. Oh the smells he could smell.

One of my funniest memories though, is the one thing Benjamin loved more than his Momma, well maybe not more than but really really close. It was always fun to watch him asleep somewhere in the house when Kelly would start cooking breakfast. We'd cook a number of standard breakfast things, but there was one item that always caught Benjamin's attention; bacon. We all know the smell of bacon cooking. You can cook any meat, but bacon just really makes itself known. Once the smell of bacon would start to move through the house you could watch Benjamin's nose. He wouldn't be awake yet, but his nostrils would start flaring open and closed, as if to fan the smell in. This would go on for about 30 seconds, then you see his eyes slowly open. This is how you knew he was still asleep when he started sniffing. He would start to focus as he opened his eyes, and then, all of a sudden, his brain would kick in and he would pop up like a champagne cork and run to to the kitchen. It was hilarious and as reliable as Old Faithful in Yellow Stone National Park. I sure miss that old boy and his love for bacon.

Thank you for indulging me and reading this today. I had to share this wonderful memory of our precious Benjamin. Maybe you have a story about your Lab. I'd love to read it, feel free to share.

You've got to love Labs!

Turning On The Irrigation

Our family lives in the desert. You're probably already imagining sand as far as the eye can see, or red buttes and rocks, or maybe cactus after cactus after cactus. Well, that's not exactly what it's like here. We live in a beautiful oasis where three rivers come together and close to 250,000 people live. We enjoy 300 days of sunshine each year; a far cry from the 70 or so we had when we lived in the greater Seattle area. One of the necessities of living in the desert is artificial rain for the lawn, flower beds, and garden. Yes, you guessed it, irrigation and sprinklers.

Right now you're asking, "What has this got to do with Labs? I'm about to stop reading and move on." Please don't. Something funny happened today that I have to share.

As I said in my previous blog, we currently have Jasmine, a Black Labradoodle, and Tucker, a Black Lab. Jasmine is hard to ruffle. I think part of it is her age, 10 years old, and part of it is she is used to our family. Tucker is only 18 months old and skittish as a sparrow. He's only been with us for a week but he has truly stolen our hearts. It's really quite funny watching him figure out life with our family.

Today I was placing our irrigation system back in service after the winter. After turning the supply valve on at the street, I enabled each of the sprinkler zones one at a time for 2 minutes each. It takes a minute or so of air coming out of the lines and they hiss and spit water until the lines are full and they pop up out of the ground completely and start working. Tucker has not seen this before.

I was testing the second zone when I noticed Tucker in the flower bed. His ears were perked in full alert fashion and he was bouncing around a spot in the flower bed without taking his gaze off of this one little spot. I knew what was about to happen. I wish I had had time to get my phone out to record this. The moment the air was out of the line the sprinkler head below a couple of dried leaves popped up spraying water. Tucker took off like a shot. I don't think I've seen a dog run this fast ever. He ran across the back yard to get as far away as he could, barking the whole time to alert the world. Then the best thing happened.

Yes, you guessed it, he stopped right next to a sprinkler head for the next zone. and within about 15 seconds, it was hissing air and then popped up spraying water and Tucker was off again. I don't know what was going through his head, but I was laughing so hard just watching him. The best part is he was having a ball. His tail was wagging to beat the band.

Meanwhile, Jasmine, the older, wiser,tougher to impress Black Labradoodle stood on the back deck watching all of this and just laid down. I didn't see, but she probably yawned.

You've got to love Labs!

You Have Got To Love Labs

Our family loves the Labrador Retriever. I often say to my wife, "There is just something about Labs!" It's true, there is really something special about Labs. Our family has had 3 1/2 labs over the years. Where does the half come from? We currently have Jasmine, who is a 10 year old Black Labradoodle that we adopted from friends a year ago. We also have just adopted Tucker, an 18 month old male Black Lab who lives up to the breed's reputation fantastically, including coming up and dripping water on my laptop from his chin after getting a drink while I try to write this.

Why am I writing a blog about Labs? That's a great question. There are plenty of blogs about Labs. There's even a magazine, Just Labs, that our family has subscribed to from its beginning. There is book after book after book about Labs, and let's not forget a pretty famous book and movie, Marley and Me. I think this only goes to show you how much we love the Labrador Retriever, and I wanted to share some of the warmth, fun, delinquency, and heartbreak this wonderful breed of man's best friend can bring.

I may from time to time even write memories of our last two Labs, Ben and Daisy. They were the most amazing dogs I have ever had as a part of the family, though, I am sure I'll be saying the same about Jasmine and Tucker.

In part this blog is to remind me of the funny stories and life events that happen within our family as it relates to our dogs. I also hope it can bring a smile to someone's face and encourage someone somewhere sometime.