Black Labrador Retriever

mendacium jocosum

It seems that the hardest thing about getting a new dog is to agree on a name. On Saturday morning Linda and I traveled to Ely to see Margo and Al Penke and their litter of puppies. They were of course all very beautiful specimens of the Labrador Retriever so we narrowed it down to Black only. The yellows in the bunch were spectacularly good looking and active so the urge came over me to get two pups, but fortunately we settled on a great little pup that looks you directly in the eye. There are a lot of theories on how to pick a dog but according to James Lamb Free, a great trainer of my dad's era, you might as well shut your eyes and grab one.
Now as we drove home with the new addition we started to discuss a name for this pooch. Linda said that anything I would choose would be OK. So I settled on George. After 10 miles of silence she said "George"? "Why not," I countered. Well, we decided to call our grandsons Tommy and Erik for their opinion. They said they could help out and asked what were the guidelines for a name. I just said it should be an androgynous name. Tommy said "I've got it because in my class we have a boy named Sam and a girl named Sam." So there it is; our new puppy is called Sam or Sammy depending on her behavior.
The truth is that having such a beautiful animal in our house brings a lot of comfort and a certain measure of peace. Dogs must be one of God's finest creations, just look at the pictures of this little future working dog and companion.
Linda and I are doing alright and wishing for a little snow.
I hear the "Call of the Wild". Gary