I love a lab in
my life!
When I married my
wife 24 years ago, she already had a daughter, Allie a wonderful Black Labrador
Retriever.
Labs have so
many endearing qualities; however they each seem to have their own eccentricities.
Allie was given
to my wife by a close friend, Sonny Stallings. He purchased her from Marvin Frazee.
Marvin Frazee was the local lab whisperer always letting you know how
to raise a good lab. You never saw Marvin without this three black labs accompaning him in his beat up old white pick up truck.
Marvin would tell ya" the secret to raising a great lab is spending
every waking moment with your dog and taking him/her everywhere you go". Not always an easy task however it does yield great
results.
Allie was simply
our family, everyone on 43rd street knew Allie, including guests/staff
of the Cavalier Hotel across the street, Allie’s alternate dining
establishment.
When Allie
passed away she died like an old elephant, wandered off never to be found
again.
Lesson learned – if you own a lab, you don't need to surround yourself
with fine furniture and expensive rugs.
Allie as a pup reconstructed our dining room tables’ legs and the fringes
of our only valuable oriental rug.
Our second lab
came along after our son Matthew was born.
We bought her from Buzzy Cason in Carova for $50. The other dog’s parent was Bob Romano “the
beast” also of Carova. Carova NC is
tailor made for a lab, plenty of water and wide open spaces.
Allie is the
name my son chose for our #2 lab. Made
sense to me, why change! We brought her
home to our house on 43rd street and it was difficult. Too restricted for a lab puppy, however when
we moved to Back Bay, Allie showed us her true colors.
A five acre
horse farm at the end of a county road surrounded by water is simply a gift to
a Labrador Retriever.
Allie was an
instant hit with the horses, especially my wife’s Appaloosa named Eddie who
didn’t like to go anywhere without Allie taking the lead.
Our second lab
lived for 12 years and gave us more love than any person is capable of. She is buried next to my office.
Lesson learned – If you let Allie out
late at night she would always get into trouble. Too many interesting critters come out at
night and most are not good for you to play with!
Our latest lab
installment was a gift from a friend that could no longer care for the needs of an
overly energetic one year old lab puppy!
Marlin was his name, our first male lab!
Marlin, appropriately
named after a Black Marlin, both love the open water. When
Marlin was introduced to our farm, he was surprisingly well-mannered for a
puppy. My wife took him on a walk and
introduced him to the canal and love was discovered. The dog took a glance and the next moment was
airborne launching four big paws and a whole bunch of enthusiasm into Back
Bay. Marlin had found his new home and
the Midgett’s their next lab!
Years ago I
worked for G.R. Schell, who headed up Schell Supply a division of Ferguson Enterprises. We
shared many conversations about how a company should and could be run
better. He never hesitated to share his
wisdom with me, whether or not I cared to hear about it! G. R. was overtly fond of his Golden Retriever.
He told me that
there were three kinds of retrievers in this world.
#1 Golden Retriever - a dog that you treat with
love and respect and that is what you
get in return, love and respect!
#2 Labrador Retriever
– a dog you love however keep a 2 X 4 available when they get hard headed.
#3 Chesapeake
Bay Retriever – a dog you can love if you want and always keep a 4 x 4 available!
He would then
end the analogy by stating I reminded him of a Chesapeake Bay Retriever!
I don’t agree
with G.R. other than the fact the return on investment for the love you
give your lab cannot be matched anywhere!
I look forward
to the new lessons that I learn from Marlin and welcome him to our farm and family!
Are you gonna eat that whole sandwich?
NobleOne
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