Labrador Retriever

From the very first time I saw Walt Disney's "Old Yeller" I wanted a Labrador Retriever, a yellow Lab to be exact. Yeller was more than just a farm dog; he became the family's protector against all the bad things that could happen when Papa was away.

Of course, there was only one Old Yeller and even his pups couldn't take his place after he died, so I never really expected that I would have a dog as intelligent as him. Besides, Old Yeller was an actor trained to do all those heroic deeds in the movie. Still, I thought I might be able to train my Lab to do some of the things that he did.

Undaunted, I went ahead and found my 'Old Yeller', Badger, at a local Golden breeder with a good reputation. But Badger wasn't an actor and I wasn't a dog trainer; my expectations might have been a bit too high, to say the least. However, as time went by, my expectations of Badger proved to be much too low.

I can now say that, after he once pulled me from a flooded river, awakened me with his bark to flames in the living room, and having watched him go nose-to-nose with a black bear that invaded our campground, Badger is amazing. He needs no training in heroics and he is every bit as good an actor as the Disney dog. In fact, since I'm not a trainer, Badger may be even smarter since he had to learn everything on his own.

I am so proud of this dog, even got him a buddy, Big Red. In addition to all of his other talents, Badger has displayed a natural talent for teaching and Red is showing some of the same heroic characteristics that I long ago saw in Badger. I don't believe that having two Labradors with an "Old Yeller" mentality is a mere coincidence; I think Labradors are special. Personally, I think this breed is the absolute best.