Labs are Number One!

As if lab owners didn't know this already!

According to the American Kennel Club, the labrador retriever was ranked as the number one favorite breed in America. As a biased lab owner, labs are not only versatile hunting dogs but great with kids, can be indoor and outdoor, and are a handsome looking breed.

On the hunting front, there are your arguments for other breeds. I've only ever owned labs, which is a result of me mainly using them as waterfowl and family dogs. I don't think there's a better combo between the two. I've also hunted over some spectacular field labs who have roused uplands better than their pointer and spaniel brethren.

Some other hunting dogs in the top of the list were beagles at no. 4 and golden retrievers at no. 5. Click here for the entire list.

Sure there are some that are better for certain applications than others. I don't think a lab would be great at running through a brier patch after rabbits. When it comes down to it, it's not about the breed, really. It's about how you treat and train your dog.

Disrespecting a Dog in Death

Here in central Pennsylvania, there is outrage over a local story. It seems that someone tied a cinder block around the neck and muzzle of a German shepherd and threw the dog over the side of a bridge. Killing the dog. There's also a hole in the dog's side, so it may have been shot. (Photo courtesy of the Williamsport Sun Gazette)

I don't think there will ever be a shortage of new stories that leave us saying: "What the hell were they thinking?"

I have a small shred of hope that what happened here was that the German shepherd had terminal cancer or something, and the owners, instead of putting their dog to sleep, shot it. And instead of burying the poor pup, decided to give him a burial at sea.