Our four year old labrador retriever mix enjoying the sunshine in her backyard – August 2008

Callie came into our lives in 2005 when we decided that we needed a dog in our family again. Our German Shepherd had died at the age of seven in late 1997. At the time my kids were babies and I couldn’t handle any more work!

Instead of getting a puppy again, we researched rescue groups in our area on the internet. We had recently had a bad experience with a GSD biting my daughter so we picked labradors since they are very friendly looking and not scary.

We contacted several groups and visited several foster families with the dogs. My kids liked Callie the best and she seemed ready to leave with us right away as she jumped right in my open van door while the kids were playing with her. We decided to keep the name she already had. The vet estimated that she was about one year old at the time.

We don’t know anything about her former owners, perhaps someone who didn’t train her very well, crate her, or had to move away. She was a bit destructive when we first got her. Other than being a little wary around the kids (ages 16 and 13 in 2010) every now and then, she’s got a great temperament.

For some unknown reason, she likes me the best and is like my shadow. She follows me all around the house, even to the bathroom! The only bad thing is, I almost trip over her a lot!

Callie loves to ride in the car. She doesn’t care if we’re not going anywhere, she’s just content to sit on the seat in the back of my minivan and look out the window. She’s so quiet, sometimes I forget she’s there! She’s like this silent furry passenger.

She’s a funny dog sometimes – the two different foster moms who had her also had a lot of other labs waiting for adoption. They lived out in the country and Callie swam in the ponds with the other dogs everyday. We don’t have any pond for her to swim in since we live in the suburbs, and she doesn’t like the plastic kiddie pool we bought her. Guess the water’s too clean! A few summers ago we took her to a pond down the road and she would not get in the water any higher than the bottom of her belly! She ignored the ducks and wouldn’t even go after dog biscuits tossed a little farther out in the pond. The fish ate them. What kind of retriever is she? LOL.
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Canon EOS Rebel XSi (450D)
f/5.6
1/250 sec
Canon EF 70-300mm lens @ 300 mm

© Rachel Stickney, All Rights Reserved

Featured in:

1. Labrador Retrievers – December 2010
2. DSLR Users Only – February 2009
3. Cats and Dogs – November 2008
4. Rescued Pets – October 2008

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