My uncle owns a beautiful, friendly ten year old chocolate
Labrador Retriever named Gadget, she's overweight but has no health problems they know of, she's stubby, nearly as stubby as a Basset Hound and lumbers around like an old hound, too. She is a lazy old gal, but happy as can be and is able to get up and go to the kids' new locations. Gadget has been known for her protectivness towards people and animals who try to 'mess with' the kids. She tends to follow the kids everywhere they go to monitor them.
The neighbor had a young
German Shepherd named Max, a large dog with an attitude no dog owner would go for, and the dog had a fence with large gaps. One day, the dog escaped the yard and made his way into Gadget's backyard, where she was watching the kids on the play set, as usual. Well, the GSD charged at the kids, and Gadget, obese and ten years old with her long, stubby hound body got up and charged that GSD, the GSD turned and bit her face, Gadget didn't react to any pain and locked onto the GSD's ear. I swear, for as fat and stubby, old and lazy as she is, she can fight and protect those kids like you've never seen. She tore his ear and he ran off, never visiting their backyard again.
I'm not saying it's great that she hurt the GSD, I'm saying that it's great that she cares and protects the kids in the way she does. And I think that if a dog were coming at me and my friends in the way that GSD did, I'd want a dog to protect us.
I went to her house today and smiled at the old girl. Lumbering around, following the little kids and then lying down intently to watch the children. I pet her and she put on a smile and a wagging tail. She's got a will to die for, I'll tell you that, and it's no matter to wonder why Labradors are the most popular dogs in the US =)
