My first chocolate Labrador visitor was a young boy called Ingo who was accompanied by his brother, an old black Labrador called Riley. Both boys were lovely, but the two of them were complete opposites: Ingo was jovial and laid back with quite a roly-poly figure while Riley was very slim and on the go the whole time fuelled by nervous energy. Ingo’s mum told me that following a recent visit to the vet he was just about to embark on a strict diet. I am sure Ingo was not too pleased about this prospect as he loved his food and especially his treats. Riley on the other hand certainly did not need to diet, although he liked his food he was not so much of a foodie as Ingo.
Both boys loved the pond in my garden and treated it like their own private plunge pool. There was nothing they liked more than to jump in for a quick cool down after their walks. This was all very well, but then they needed to dry out, which took them some time, especially Ingo with his thicker fur and rounder silhouette. The boys would be placed on large dry towels in my conservatory where they could lie down and be warmed by the sun streaming in through the windows, this all helped to hasten the drying process.
On one or two occasions they took a bit longer to dry off then planned and were still a bit damp when their mum and dad arrived to collect them, but as they had an estate car with a nice blanket in the back area for the boys to travel on it didn’t matter too much and their parents were just pleased the boys had had a good time.