Gus at the top of a pasture at our farm!

Gus became a part of our family during the first week of June. Our first Granddog had arrived! I wondered if I should send out printed announcements, post the arrival on Facebook, or maybe call some friends on the phone. After all, this was a major event!

Now we know how we will act when we have our first grandchild sometime in the future…we will likely be out of our minds with excitement! Gus the Granddog is our practice session and we need a lot of practice. We are rather rusty in the baby category.

Gus is a Black Labrador Retriever! As all Granddogparents know…he is the most precious, friendly, and intelligent Granddog born within the last 10 to  15 years. Something just tells us that this is a true statement. I know some of you have Labs and beg to differ, but trust me…Gus is certainly in the running for the most outstanding award.

Of course, Gus does not live with us. He lives with his parents…our daughter and son-in-law. Gus is the proud owner of a very nice kennel…thank goodness it is a big kennel. I hear from his parents that he is good about sleeping in the kennel. That is good news…in case, we are called upon for babysitting duties…especially a sleepover. We sort of like sleeping without getting up to walk a puppy outside. I imagine that we would do what is necessary. Let me rephrase that…my husband would be happy to walk Gus in the middle of the night.

Anyway, Gus is going to be very tall and strong and big (at least, to me). I checked on the website, dogtime.com and Gus may be anywhere from 1 foot, 9 inches to 2 feet tall at the shoulder. That is just almost gigantic in my mind…our Fritz (our Bichon…the subject of my post two days ago!) hovered around 11 lbs or so. I could carry Fritz anywhere. I may need a stroller for Gus.

Gus has his very own baby swimming pool like you can buy at Target. He jumps in and out while retrieving a stick. Gus is preparing for his future hunting days. He even has a duck play toy. I think it is a duck or something that looks like a duck…a duck that is about to meet destruction by Gus. I believe that Gus will not be hunting during the current season. He has to study and observe and practice. Really! Don’t forget that he is just a baby.

One very important part our Granddog’s life is that he has a special friend. His sibling’s parents are friends of our daughter and son-in-law. Gus is one lucky puppy because he gets to have PLAY DATES! We had no idea about the social lives of puppies these days…a very busy social schedule.

Poor Fritz never had a PLAY DATE that I recall. He did go to the groomer way too often or so it seemed to our bank account. He had many friends at the groomer. The most important place that Fritz went was the doggie hotel. He loved the Fireplug Inn with the very fun outdoor play gym, separate “apartments” for each guest, and the wicker furniture in the lobby.

Gus and his parents will have to find their own doggie hotel. The Fireplug Inn only takes dogs under 20 lbs. Gus is not a candidate at all. However, Gus likes to travel and has already made several trips to our farm. Gus practices swimming and catching a stick in a creek at the farm. Talent, for sure!

So now you know…we are officially Granddogparents of the most precious Black Lab puppy that we have ever seen. It is perfectly fine for Granddogparents to brag a little bit, isn’t it?!!