Emma the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever hybrid dog)
Shaun the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever mixed breed dog) —"This is Shaun, my best friend in the world. Sweet, lovable, intelligent, well balanced. Wishing there could be a forever."
Shaun the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever mixed breed dog)
Shaun the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever mixed breed dog)
Shaun the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever mixed breed dog) as a puppy
Shaun the German Shorthaired Lab with his yellow Labrador Retriever friend
Shaun the German Shorthaired Lab with his yellow Labrador Retriever friend
Shaun the German Shorthaired Lab with his dog park friends
"Emma is currently about 3 years old. We do not know which of the breeds her mother and father were, only that one was GSPand the other was chocolate Lab. She was one of a litter of "WHOOPS!" puppies that were turned in to our local Humane Society. When she was about 1 1/2 years old she was again taken in by the same shelter as a stray. They remembered her from when they had her before, and also she has their "spay tattoo" on her tummy from that first adoption.
"As you can see, Emma has the Lab tendency to run too fat if she doesn't watch her diet. Amazingly, she manages to put on weight even though she's a very picky eater. Currently she's a very active 75 pounds.
"She loves all people, even people we do not like! This is not a guard dog, unless we need to fend off cats, rabbits and squirrels. She has a very strong prey instinct and has chased down rabbits and killed them. I would never trust her around any of the neighborhood cats, and there is a little Yorkshire terrier who lives nearby who would not be using our yard for a comfort station if he knew his life was in danger.
"Dogs her own size or puppies she has no problem with. It's just that she thinks it's game if it's small and it runs. Occasionally she will "point" at robins or other birds out in the yard, but so far no chasing those.
"She's very gentle around small children, and always takes care not to bump into them or knock them over.
"Emma's favorite activities are playing fetch with a ball or Frisbee, long walks or jogging, sleeping in front of the fireplace, and eating. She is very intelligent and is learning new commands and tricks all the time. We have also taken her on long car trips to visit family out of state, and she is a wonderful traveler.
"She is very anxious and worried when it's waterfowl season around here; I do believe the sound of a shotgun discharging is the most terrifying thing to her. There is a marshy area about a mile from our home; if we are outside and she hears those guns in the distance she will be up on the back deck begging to go back inside in record time.
"When we first adopted her, even the sight of a gun was enough to make her run for cover under the table.
"She is also terrified of water, even though she has inherited those wonderful webbed Lab feet. It took me nearly a year to train her to get into the bathtub on her own power—before she would act as if her legs had lost all function and I would have to straddle her and manhandle her into a bath
"She also enjoys going out on the river on our boat, but is very careful to pick the way back onto shore that's least likely to get her feet wet. She won't even walk through a large mud puddle most of the time.
"We have a theory that perhaps the owner before us adopted her with the idea that she would be a wonderful hunting companion, and when things didn't work out that way became frustrated with her. It's obvious that there's been some mental trauma in her life associated with hunting.
"We never had to housebreak her and she has had just one accident that way in the entire time we've had her. She doesn't tear things up and only chews what we give her to chew."
Emma the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever hybrid dog)
"This is our puppy, a 1-year-old German Shorthaired Lab. She is VERY energetic and playful. Her full name is Coco C. Farre. She is also a very happy and loyal dog, never being in a fight and will follow you anywhere. This dog is very, very smart; by 4 months she knew commands like Sit, Stay, Down and Ven (come in Spanish; that being said she is bilingual haha). Now almost a year old, Coco is very fluid in verbal field commands, whistle and even hand signals towards blind retrieves. New commands include Baja (down from bed, furniture, etc.), Get It (Fetch), Hold, Drop, Heel, Go Left, Go Right, Go Back and Leave it. Now that I write about it, it seems pretty crazy and impressive that a dog can know this much but she just never stops impressing us."
Coco the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever hybrid dog)—"She loves to go hunting for pheasants, grouse and Hungarian partridge. She will occasionally point when the scent is really strong."
Coco the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever hybrid dog) retrieving a pheasant.
Coco the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever hybrid dog) pointing into the water.
Coco the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever hybrid) jumping over a post— "Coco, our German Shorthaired Lab loves working and training equally and never gives up, acts like a great hunter and a great friend around the house helping with tasks like bringing the mail and newspaper in, or just bringing me my cell phone. My wife and I are very grateful to have her as part of the family. She is way more than what we expected."
Coco the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever hybrid) as a puppy in the snow—"I think this combination is a very good one, she looks like a small Chocolate Labrador at 60 lbs., but is very slim and muscular with a very wide chest like a German Shorthaired Pointer. She points every now and then even after I trained her to flush and retrieve."
Coco the German Shorthaired Lab (German Shorthaired Pointer / Labrador Retriever hybrid) as a puppy sniffing the ground under the snow.
