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Ok, here is why I was late for work today...


Anyone who can guess what's protruding from my tire gets a free chocolate lab. Winner pays shipping.

What is that? A deer antler or something?

Aren't chocolate labs great? It's like having a hyper active, retarded child.

Ian wrote:What is that? A deer antler or something?

Aren't chocolate labs great? It's like having a hyper active, retarded child.

Good eyes, Ian! Yeah I love labs too, do you have one?

Sugar carried the antler into the house last week, real excited and proud of what she found in the woods. After she knocked over a chair with the antler and raked the wall we thought it would be a good idea to put it outside. That way she could play with it instead of digging holes all over the yard...holes that I just filled and seeded . We never thought that our "retarded child" would try to hide the antler behind my front tire


Well, you won the contest. You get Sugar, complete with food bowl, all shots and a slightly warped sense of humor. She is guaranteed to stand diligently on guard over your hamster cage preventing future escapes. Shipping weight is about 80lbs, 50lbs plus reinforced crate to prevent her from chewing her way out..

Man, I was going to say that looked like a bone or something stuck in the tire.

I love labs. I won't get a chocolate one as much as I love them (a long-term ex-gf had a chocolate lab service dog, and the wife refers to the ex as "she who must not be named" a la Harry Potter) but I do want a yellow lab once we've got a house and space for one. Hopefully the cat will take it well.

BigMonkey wrote:Good eyes, Ian! Yeah I love labs too, do you have one?

Yeah, we have a chocolate. She's 3 and finally settling down.

Ian wrote:

BigMonkey wrote:Good eyes, Ian! Yeah I love labs too, do you have one?

Yeah, we have a chocolate. She's 3 and finally settling down.

That's what I needed, a reminder that there is hope.

How did she do when you showed up with Ryan?

LoneWolf wrote:Man, I was going to say that looked like a bone or something stuck in the tire.

I love labs. I won't get a chocolate one as much as I love them (a long-term ex-gf had a chocolate lab service dog, and the wife refers to the ex as "she who must not be named" a la Harry Potter) but I do want a yellow lab once we've got a house and space for one. Hopefully the cat will take it well.

LOL, "she who must not be named", it sounds like that didn't end well.

I was really surprised how quickly our two cats and the lab learned to live together. The first couple of weeks was a little hard but they worked out the pecking order. The fourteen year old cat, a tabby mau, scored a few good hits when the lab was a puppy so they just ignore each other now. The two year old cat will actually play with the lab. It probably helped that Sugar is a female.

One of our cats thinks she's queen of the house. If she was a male.. she'd be Garfield. She's fat, orange and has an attitude. The dog is scared of her and the cat knows it. She'll sit in front of the dog's food bowl and won't let her eat sometimes.

The other cat is scared of the dog even though it could care less. When the dog spazzes out and runs around the house, the cat will freak out too. Usually knocks everything over in the process.

The dog is jealous of the baby but she's very protective. She always checks on him and licks his face. It's kinda funny because in 3 years our dog has never gone into heat.. until now. We think her motherly instincts are kicking in or something.

That's a content looking group.

You mentioned that Hershey has gone into heat. I remember that my brother had two mixed females. After one gave birth, the other, a golden/setter mix, went into heat. We always assumed it was coincidental, maybe not...

Are you thinking about breeding Hershey? We considered it with our lab but I realized I just didn't have the time to give the pups proper attention.

Also, do you know if Hershey is an American lab or the English version? I know that one has a heavier body and skull but never seen the two side by side to compare the difference.

We've thought about breeding her, but we thought she was sterile since she never went into heat. Now.. who knows. If we did, it would probably be next summer. We have enough going on right now with the baby.

I'm not sure what type she is, but she is very petite for a lab. My parents chocoate on the other hand is built like a tank. As Cartman would say.. she's big boned.

BigMonkey wrote:LOL, "she who must not be named", it sounds like that didn't end well.

I was really surprised how quickly our two cats and the lab learned to live together. The first couple of weeks was a little hard but they worked out the pecking order. The fourteen year old cat, a tabby mau, scored a few good hits when the lab was a puppy so they just ignore each other now. The two year old cat will actually play with the lab. It probably helped that Sugar is a female.

It didn't end well in that because that relationship lasted for much of my 20somethings, it's a baseline for a good portion of my life. It took me a long time not to talk about experiences that she was a part of, something that still makes my wife a little uncomfortable (even though I've never made comparisons).

As for the cat, I've been reading more to figure him out...He's a Maine Coon (we don't know if he's purebred, but after reading, he sure looks like one) and he's huge. I've just read that they don't reach full maturity until up to 4-5 years (which is scary, since he's two and already around 20lbs with a full 1lb coat of fur), but he's incredibly friendly, an attention sponge actually, and they're supposed to get along pretty well with dogs. I won't be getting a lab as a puppy, I'd look for a 5-year-old or so (no time for potty training and I want one who's past the self-propelled-nuclear-powered-thinks-he/she-is-a-disaffected-cheetah stage) once we've got the space.

Who, me?



Where's a beer and the remote when ya need `em?

Oh man.. your cat reminds me of our orange one. We think she is part Maine Coone due to her fur and love of water. Yes.. she likes water.

Wow, I just put my cat on the scale, he's fairly large but weighs only 13lbs. I didn't fully appreciate the size of Ian's cat until LoneWolf's put up his pics and mentioned the weight. After a second look I realized she's as long as the arm on the chair... That's a lot of cat.

Now that you guys have me interested in a Maine Coon...Do you give them a summer cut or do they tolerate the heat ok?


OT- LoneWolf, is that a firestorm case in your pic?

BigMonkey wrote:Now that you guys have me interested in a Maine Coon...Do you give them a summer cut or do they tolerate the heat ok?

Our cat doesn't go outside so the heat is fine. The only thing is her fur tends to get matted if she gets wet.. which is quite often since she likes to go in the shower and play when you get out.

BigMonkey wrote:Wow, I just put my cat on the scale, he's fairly large but weighs only 13lbs. I didn't fully appreciate the size of Ian's cat until LoneWolf's put up his pics and mentioned the weight. After a second look I realized she's as long as the arm on the chair... That's a lot of cat.

Now that you guys have me interested in a Maine Coon...Do you give them a summer cut or do they tolerate the heat ok?

OT- LoneWolf, is that a firestorm case in your pic?

Yeah, that's a B&D Firestorm drill, 14.4v. Bought it with wedding money last year. That was back when the cat was allowed in my office (now there is a child-gate to prevent him from getting in and either wreaking static damage or possibly eating a PC screw or two).

We've had the vet/groomer give our cat a lion cut in the summer the two years we've had him...first year was really to get rid of mats in his fur. The first week is really shocking, as he looks like a shorn sheep (I promised him I'd never let it be that drastic again this time, last time we boarded him until a month after the wedding and never really saw the initial baldness). If you have central air, I wouldn't bother. I will say when he had lots of fur, he'd lie on the entryway tile or in the bathtub since the surface was cool. Now that he's cut, he never does.

Like your cat, he's quite long. If he goes up on his hind paws, he can reach the top of our TV trays, the bathroom counter, or the child gate in my office to look over them.

LoneWolf wrote:That was back when the cat was allowed in my office (now there is a child-gate to prevent him from getting in and either wreaking static damage or possibly eating a PC screw or two).

And that keeps your cat out? That wouldn't phase ours. They'd either jump over or knock it down.