Daniel Rowe
My yellow Lab is named Buck, after the dog in Jack London’s The Call of the Wild. He had a thick golden coat and a tireless working attitude from the day he came home, so the name picked itself. I think the best dog names work like that. They fit the coat, the personality, or … Read more
Take a Southern farm and hunting dog, cross it with America’s favorite retriever, and you get a dog that can work all morning and still want a lap at night. The Black Mouth Cur Lab mix is an athletic, loyal, high-energy cross that suits active owners far better than couch potatoes. Most weigh somewhere between … Read more
A French Bulldog snores like an old man in an armchair. A Labrador would rather be swimming after a dock bumper in January. The Frenchie Labrador sits somewhere between those two dogs, and which side wins in your puppy is the big question nobody can answer in advance. The Frenchie Labrador is a cross between … Read more
A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel weighs about as much as a mid-size bag of kibble. A Labrador can weigh five times that. Cross the two, and you get the Cavador: a sweet, soft-eyed, people-loving dog that usually lands somewhere in the middle, both in size and in energy. The Cavador is a cross between a … Read more
An English Mastiff male can weigh 230 lbs. That’s three of Buck, and Buck’s no small Lab. So if you’re thinking about a Mastador, the first thing I’d ask is whether your car, couch and budget are ready for a dog that might outweigh you. The Mastador is a cross between a Mastiff and a … Read more
A Brittany can hunt birds all day and still bounce around the truck at dusk. A Lab can do the same, then fall asleep on your feet. The Labany sits right between them: a medium-sized, sweet, very busy bird dog that wants to be outside with you and inside with you, in that order. The … Read more
Australian Kelpies have been known to run across the backs of packed sheep to reach the front of a mob. That’s the kind of energy and problem-solving you’re mixing with a Labrador when you bring home a Kelpador. I’d describe the result as a lovely dog with a motor that doesn’t switch off easily. The … Read more
A Goldendoodle Lab mix is a cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Goldendoodle, so most of these dogs are about half Lab, a quarter Golden Retriever and a quarter Poodle. You get a friendly, food-motivated family dog, usually 50 to 80 lbs, with a coat that could be anything from Lab-straight to Poodle-curly. That … Read more
Irish Setter owners have a phrase for their dogs: they grow up slowly and stay silly for years. Mix that with a Labrador’s appetite for fun, and you get a Lab Setter mix, a tall, leggy bird dog that can run all morning and still want a game of fetch at dinner. The Lab Setter … Read more
Buck weighs 78 lbs, and he still knocks my coffee off the side table with one swing of his tail. A St Bernard Lab mix can weigh twice that. So before anything else, picture a Lab’s tail on a dog the size of a small sofa. The St Bernard Lab mix, often called a Labernard, … Read more