CareerMysteries

Take a look at the difference a year can make. The first picture is Andrew Kingsley, proud eighteen month old dog, next to the little scared guy named Andy, that came our way back in October 2007.

He was a rescue animal. Picked up off some backroad in Arkansas and taken in by a sweet lady with about twenty other dogs. She gave him to a wonderful group of people, who I am now proud to be part of, doing some volunteer work with them in my community, Labs4Rescue.

They take the dogs that are abandoned by cruel and ignorant people who basically throw the dogs away, mostly in the deep south. Perhaps they are just too poor to feed them and too ignorant to be aware of Labs4rescue and similar organizations. Labs4rescue takes the dogs up north, cleans them up, gives them their shots and then spays or neuters them and gives them to worthy folks.

If you are looking for a dog, go to labs4rescue.com and find one. You won’t regret it. Our Andy is the light of our lives and perhaps the smartest dog I ever knew. He is very happy to be a Haberman now, after a hard start as a scared pup.

Is a Labrador Retriever right for you? Lab/lab mixes are the smartest dogs available, but smart means they can be spunky and get into trouble when they are bored. (I’ll never forget the day I came home and found that Andy ate the kitchen. Yes, the kitchen. The woodwork, the plastic thing that runs around the floor, a bit of the table and - just for kicks - he broke my favorite fruit bowl).

They are a handful, but the sweetest, most affectionate and fun loving dogs you can raise. Sure I miss my one-of-a-kind handmade bowl, but I would miss him more if I didn’t have such a beautiful animal in my home.