We have a golden retriever - she loves our kids, and her mother loves my sister's kids. She is very protective, but also very good natured, and relaxed. They are excellent with little kids, if your grandchildren are little. We also have cats and one cat has kittens, and the dog loves the cats, and tries to "mother" the kittens, e.g., she grooms them if they will hold still. But if a stranger enters the perimeter or passes by she barks like crazy and I am sure would bite any stranger that didn't heed the bark. So when I am home alone I feel safer knowing she's there. When I am on the computer she comes and lies down under the desk and makes a handy foot-warmer, too.<g>
My dad has had labs and standard poodles, the big black ones that are almost as big as a lab, and I would take a standard poodle over a lab. Very intelligent dogs, also quite goodnatured. A bit hard to housebreak the males but not the females. They like water, too, and you can train them to hunt.
But I don't think any dog loves water as much as a lab. My dad has a lab now for my little brother, and while there doesn't seem to be as close a relationship as there is between my dog and my kids, the dog does love to swim. |
