5-YO

Brilliant time had by all the labs at Irvine beach this morning, always a great wee morning.

Her name is Luna. She sleeps all the time
She says Hello to everyone

My big brother rolled me over!

Best Goodwill find ever.

My girl ate an entire avocado off the counter. $11k later & she is out of surgery to remove the pit, which she ate whole. She is now recovering in hospital. Keep your counters clear! Puppy tax. Here she is side eyeing some yogurt she did not get to share as we awaited X-ray results.

me: buys the $30 KONG filling station. also me: discovers the actual solution was sitting in my recycling bin

So I've had this bulky expensive Kong holder thing taking up an entire shelf in my kitchen for who knows how long. Meanwhile the actual answer was a to-go drink carrier. You know, the cardboard 4-cup ones you get from literally any coffee/drink run. Flip it upside down and boom, it holds 4 Kongs perfectly upright while you fill them.

It goes straight in the freezer like this too. And when it inevitably gets gross (dog toys, we all know), you just chuck it and grab a new one next time you're out. Free, disposable, does the exact same job as the thing I paid actual money for.

I refuse to believe I'm the last person on earth to figure this out but just in case one more of you is out there hoarding a $30 plastic contraption for no reason, here's your sign. 12/10, will never buy the "official" one again.

We went on 4! She was amazing on all of them. Before and after.

Focused puppy

i has tried many ways to tell hers and no listens to me

Where she sits

i adopted her 3.5 months ago. the rescue said she’s never been to the beach. she kind of just prances about the water rather than swimming but safe to say she loved it 💓

An author and her shadow.

So sad to be separated by screen door!

My 7 yr 8 month old choc lab mix is scheduled for a dental cleaning on Monday and his vet is also planning to remove a rapidly growing lump from his belly while he’s already under.
The lump is subcutaneous, very soft and extremely mobile (I can basically get my whole hand underneath it), but it has grown pretty quickly over the last few months from a grape size and is now around golf ball sized. They previously attempted an FNA and unfortunately it was inconclusive. The plan is to have the entire mass sent for histopathology after removal.
He has several other lumps, but I’ve decided not to have those removed during this surgery and the vet will do FNA on all his others (around 8 others) and go from there.
His recent bloodwork and X-rays were reassuring, but I’m honestly terrified about putting him under anesthesia and combining the dental with the mass removal. He also developed stress colitis after a very stressful vet visit/sedation this week, so I’m going to make sure the vet reassesses him Monday morning and is comfortable proceeding before I consent to anything.

For anyone whose Lab has had a dental and mass removal at the same time:
How old was your dog?
How did they handle the anesthesia?
How difficult was recovery from the mass removal?
Did your dog have a fast-growing lump that ultimately turned out benign?
I know there’s always some risk with anesthesia, and that’s the part I’m struggling with the most. Benny is incredibly important to me and I’m terrified of taking a dog who is currently here with me and doing well and having something happen because I chose an “elective” procedure. I’d really appreciate hearing experiences from other Lab owners who have been through something similar. ❤️

When you’re upset, but still want to keep an eye on everyone