Everyone loves a Labrador don’t they? They are the world’s most popular dog after all and the perfect family dog. That is if you don’t mind the appetite for destruction, their even more insatiable appetite for anything they can fit in their mouth, the muddy footprints, the fascination for water in all its forms, that poo is both a food source and moisturiser to them, tennis elbow from the lead being yanked as you’re pulled around the world…….I could go on indefinitely, of course. But these little ‘character traits’ are part of the reason we love them.

This is just as well as Happy Paws has been fortunate enough to have received a sudden influx of Labrador Retrievers. They’re a young bunch of black Labradors all from gun dog lines and we’re sure they’re all going to be best pals.

We have our own Murphy, who was seven months old this week. He’s a real charmer and has made a few guest appearances on the Labradors North East Facebook page. We might as well not exist when we take him for a walk, the oohs and aahs and isn’t he so cute ring out for this crowd pleaser.

Next up is two-year old Taryn who much to the chagrin of her owner has a fascination for eating poo that is extraordinary even by the standards of this breed. She’s a great, friendly character with bags of energy and always so happy to see us.

Oscar is also two and loves water and balls. Put the two together and you’d better make sure you have plenty of towels ready. One ball is never enough for this boy and his favourite trick is to carry two at a time, at least until he drops one, usually in a pond then goes fishing. He’s got bags of energy and will play fetch until the cows come home.

Our latest, youngest arrival is Tenzing. Named after the famed Sherpa, Tenzing is just 12 weeks old and the world is his playground. He’s only been with his owners and Happy Paws for a week but he’s settled in so well already. As you can see he’s a real cutie and we’ll be looking after him with puppy visits and helping with his development until he’s ready to join in the Group walks with the other boys and girls.

I’m the envy of my wife, looking after these beautiful dogs. She loves the Labs. So much so, that for her birthday in October I bought her this cracking read Labrador by Ben Fogle. She managed to get a few paragraphs into the introduction before the tears started to follow. I took that as a good sign.

We’ll keep you up to speed on the progress of our Labradors and feature more of our dogs and cats of many breeds in coming blogs too!