I have always loved Labs. We've had a lot of different breeds of dogs growing up, but I've always wanted a Lab. Around Christmas of 2011 my wife, Laura, and I decided to buy a Yellow Lab and have Santa deliver her on Christmas morning to our kids (but really she was for me). I went on Christmas Eve to pick her up.
* Piper Lucy Belle
She was everything I had always wanted in a puppy: fun, loyal, great with the kids and a very fast learner. She had many names the first couple of days - Christmas Cricket and Jingle Belle to name a couple - but we finally landed on Piper (because she was hyper). We registered with the AKC as Piper Lucy (after her Mom) Belle.
* To Breed Or Not To Breed
We had decided that we wanted her to have a litter so that we could keep one of her puppies, because she has such a great Pedigree and is an awesome dog. The years passed quickly (mainly due to the chaos surrounding child-rearing) and the day came that we decided that now was the time for that litter. I have a buddy who has a big, black Lab and we had spoken over the years about getting our dogs together. When I finally told him we were ready he apologized profusely saying he had just had his boy fixed. Well, that was that. I called Laura and let her know that Oscar wasn't going to work and we should just consider taking Piper in to get fixed. When I got home that night, Laura announced that Piper was pregnant.
* A Labradoodle???
What? How? Who? She said that she and our daughter had found a local breeder who has a Poodle. WHAT?!? I asked why in the world she would breed our Lab to a Poodle. Our daughter informed me that she had looked into it and found that Labradoodles were very popular. "What in the world is a Labradoodle?", I, not so quietly, asked. They sat me down, tried to calm me down and explain what they had done. After realizing that the deed had been done and there was nothing I could do about it, I decided to listen and try to understand.
* Piper's Pups
Well, nature took it's course and Piper's pups finally came. And they were the sweetest things I had ever seen (well, besides my wife...and kids...you know what I mean)! I had never been around a litter of puppies before and I fell in love. Piper was a perfect Mom and has had many beautiful pups over her career.
* The End of an Era
Piper has had some beautiful pups and is now "retired", though we still have one her pups, River, a Labradoodle, here with us. Just as I had always wanted...well, kind of.
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