Oh gosh- I got mine at 19. They train better when started young, I believe.
Our Sammie (JRT) is a rescue and so is Bud, the 2 year old chocolate lab. I was driving up a dirt road by myself to get to a trailhead I wanted to clean on foot and came across this big lab puppy lying in the road. He followed to where I was going to park, stayed with me while I cleaned trail and drank water out of my cupped hands when I returned to my van. I called Bruce and said, "I've found a big puppy ..." He started to say no, but when I mentioned it was about a year old chocolate lab, he agreed that Bud should come on home. We had lost two almost 16 year old black labs in the previous months. Bud had worn a coller - we could see the marks - but he was not wearing it that day. We advertised in two newspapers, on two radio stations, called two county animal control, posted signs and had out vet check for tattoo and/or microchip. There was nothing and no one responded. This very nice and very needy young dog had been dumped on the road on the opening day of upland bird season. It still makes me angry. We love him so much that the next year I purchased Hank, another chocolate lab for myself. Bud is Bruce's pal. Nancy
