The new First Dog in the White House

So what’s going to happen dogwise in the White House? Mali and me have been discussing this for a while. Apparently, they are going to get a Portuguese Water Dog, although they favoured before a Labradoodle.

“In an exclusive interview with People magazine hitting stands Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama opened up about her marriage, life in the White House and, most importantly, the upcoming arrival of the First Dog. Obama said she favors Portuguese Water Dogs, although, as of last month, a Labradoodle was still considered a possibility. The pup’s target arrival date is April, after the family’s spring break trip, Obama said.” (source: US News)

I found this about the breed:

“The Portuguese Water Dog was originally a hunting dog introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by Moors from North Africa; it is as a fishermens dog that he excels.  Loving water, and accomplished diver, he would accompany them on voyages, retrieving nets or tackle that had fallen overboard and taking messages from ship to shore by carrying them in waterproof cylinders.

The Portuguese Water Dog is described in the Breed Standard as being “self-willed” and as a puppy he needs to be challenged to reduce his tendency to stubbornness.  Very intelligent and energetic he is obedient to his owner but needs the opportunity to use his energy constructively.

Medium sized at up at 22½” and weighing about 25kg, his coat is, unusually of two types.  It is either long, loosely waved with a slight sheen, or short, harsh and dense with compact curls.  Both types of coat are clipped over the hindquarters, leaving a long plume on the tail. He can be black, white, shades of brown or black with white and brown with white.  Not a numerically large breed in the UK, he needs ample exercise and a fair bit of attention to grooming if he is to look typical.  It is thought that the Portuguese Water Dog could have played a part in the development of the Kerry Blue when Portuguese ships were wrecked off the coast of Southern Ireland.”

Mamma Mia! We Labradors sound like pussycats, compared to this piece of hard work… No, I’m not jealous! And I wouldn’t certainly like my bottom part and tail been shaved like a spaghetti!

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Labradoodle

I wonder if you have already heard about this new breed of Labradoodles? Sounds like a joke, I know, but it’s dead serious.
They look very woolly and sheep-like, compared to me, and appear to be bread for people who are allergic against our coat hair and “SMELL”!! (I wonder who dares calling my natural odeur like this!?).

Anyway – this is what I found on Wikipedia:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A brown Labradoodle with a fleece type coat. The appearance of Labradoodles may vary.
Not recognized by any major kennel club

A Labradoodle is a crossbred or hybrid dog created by crossing the Labrador Retriever and the Standard or Miniature Poodle.

History

The Labradoodle was first deliberately bred in 1989, when Australian breeder Wally Conron first crossed the Labrador Retriever and Standard Poodle for Guide Dogs Victoria. His aim was to combine the low-shedding coat of the Poodle with the gentleness and trainability of the Labrador, and to provide a Guide Dog suitable for people with allergies to fur and dander. Guide Dogs Victoria continue to breed Labradoodles today and Labradoodles are now often used around the world as Guide, Assistance, and Therapy Dogs as well as being popular family dogs.

Appearance and temperament

The Labradoodle as a dog breed is still developing, and does not yet “breed true,” i.e., puppies do not have consistently predictable characteristics. While many Labradoodles display desired traits, their appearance and behavioral characteristics remain, from an overall breed standpoint, unpredictable.

As such, Labradoodles’ hair can be anywhere from wiry to soft, and may be straight, wavy, or curly. Some Labradoodles do shed, although the coat usually sheds less and has less dog odor than that of a Labrador Retriever.

Like most Labrador Retrievers and Poodles, Labradoodles are generally friendly, energetic and good with families and children (although as with any dog the temperament may vary between individuals). Labradoodles also often display an affinity for water and the strong swimming ability present in both their parent breeds.

Like their parent breeds, both of which are amongst the world’s most intelligent dog breeds,Labradoodles are very intelligent and quite trainable. Labradoodles can be taught to obey verbal or sign language commands, or both, and remain commonly used as guide dogs for disabled or handicapped persons around the world.

Types of Labradoodle

A group of Labradoodle Assistance Dogs.

A three-month old Labradoodle

There is no universal consensus as to whether breeders should aim to have Labradoodles recognized as a breed . Some breeders prefer to restrict breeding to early generation dogs (i.e. bred from a Poodle and Labrador rather than from two Labradoodles) to maximise genetic diversity, in order to avoid the inherited health problems that have plagued some dog breeds.

Others are breeding Labradoodle to Labradoodle over successive generations, and trying to establish a new dog breed. These dogs are usually referred to as Multigenerational (abr. Multigen) or Australian Labradoodles. Australian Labradoodles also differ from early generation and Multigenerational Labradoodles in that they may also have other breeds in their ancestry. English and American Cocker Spaniel/Poodle crosses (ie Cockapoos), Two Irish Water Spaniels and Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers have variously been used in some Australian Labradoodle lines. The Curly Coated Retriever were used too, but these lines did not work out and they were discontinued.

Labradoodle coats are generally divided into 3 categories: Wool (with tight curls, and similar in appearance to that of a Poodle, but with a softer texture); Fleece (soft and free-flowing, with a kinked or wavy appearance); or Hair (which can be curly, straight or wavy, but is more similar in texture to a Labrador’s coat) . Labradoodles come in a wide variety of colours, including chocolate, cafe, parchment, cream, gold, apricot, red, black, silver, chalk, parti colours, and generally all the colours that can be found in Poodles. They also can be different sizes, depending on the size of poodle (i.e. toy, miniature or standard) used.

Dog Art by Art Paw

There are quite a few artists around who, recognising our unique canine beauty, dedicate their talent to create doggie artwork.

One of my favourites is Rebecca of Art Paw. She creates the most amazing portraits of K9s from photographs. Here some examples:

Aren’t they beautiful?? I hope one day my Alphas will give me my Rebecca- portrait for my birthday!

Weybourne walk

It’s been a nice and crispy day, and the whole family went out for a beach walk today. It’s been a while since I last was on the cliffs at Weybourne, so I enjoyed it very much. And for Mali it all was new, ’cause she’s still nearly a pup.

And this was how the beach looked like… (I much prefer the beach at Mundesley, it has lovely sand and is sooo broad!).

Norfolk in winter is a wet storytale

No, I definitely don’t like these English “winters”. What about some snow, frost, sun? I wouldn’t even mind pulling a little sledge together with Mali – but frankly, just wading through kneehigh mud on the fields is disgusting! They could at least provide some sort of doggie Wellis…

Alpha Su is in such a foul mood,too –  she needs a bit of a Mediterranean holiday I presume (although it might be horrible down there as well? Caribbean sounds better).

Anyway, last night I browsed through photo memories when Mali was just a wee teenie… look, how sweet she was!

Ah… summer! Dry sunny lawn!

winter in Norfolk

No, I don’t especially like the winter in Norfolk. Because…maybe we have just the odd ONE day with snow and sunshine – which I thouroughly enjoy.

But otherwise, it’s just rain, rain, gray wet foggy days. No, I’d rather go skiing somewhere in Austria! The only place I like round here at this time of year is the beach.

Christmas

We had wonderful pigs’ ears this year, and loads of other stuff from their table. There was a real feast going on, so we sneaked around and kept our mouths wide open…

On Boxing Day, we went to visit our friend Pippa…

Our Chistmas tree was heavily adorned… with real candles and sparkles.

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas!