Fully Fledged
Written by Pam on July 19, 2015
At HGT we have a few dogs who have reached this prestigious ranking. Normally our dogs reach this ranking at 2 years and that high ranking position is truly apparent. This is a time when each dog in the HGT pack seems to understand the status of the pack’s hierarchy. Even as pups you can tell those pups that are more dominant than others, but when the dog is fully grown, the other dogs in the pack understand the hierarchy and actually respect it.
Wilhelmina, or Mean as we lovingly call her, is our oldest golden right now who is 8+ years old and she still holds that top ranking spot. She is a mother and a grandmother here at HGT and she constantly has the upper-paw with her offspring and her grand kids. She also lays the doggie law here with all the labs.
Surprisingly the next dog on that doggie totem-pole notch is that of our Kissakee, one of our younger labs, who has not yet turned 2. Kiss is a dynamic lab who sets the game plan with all the dogs in our pack. She loves the water, the land and every single thing in between, but when the game starts, Kiss is in it to win! She will stop on a dime when given a command during her favorite game of fetch the frisbee, but the concentration is always the Frisbee or jolly ball – whatever is being tossed around. So we can ask her to sit while the Frisbee is being thrown and she sits agonizingly until we release her from the sit command and allow her to run as fast as she can to get that Frisbee. Kiss, believe it or not, needs a little extra persistence when meeting strangers though – she is trusting to those she knows but does not place that same trust with others she does not know. It is becoming very clear that Kiss is quite different from her sisters and her mom. Similarly to that of the alpha dog – the other dogs in the pack are resourceful and figure things out, they also ensure for the safety of the pack but it is the alpha dog that lags behind, is more cautious and ranks the highest – kind-a sounds like our Kissakee!
Our Ty-Ty, Kissakee’s older sister, just turned two in June. Ty is fully fledged but also in a different way. Ty is a very very lenient lab and accepts everything Kiss throws her way. So because of this beautiful well-balanced temperament and willingness to please not only the human but to please her sister Kissakee, Ty steps down in a position and settles in a position that is comfortable to her while Kiss simply is allowed to snatch the higher ranking. This is perfectly fine as long as the dogs understand and accept each others position. Ty is very much like her mom, Koko. Koko is a very happy-go-lucky lab who adores her human friends and her doggie friends. Koko also loves meeting humans and animals of all shapes and sizes unknown to her – she is very accepting and friendly.
It is my belief, that if Kissakee is bred when she turns two, she will imprint into her pups, a beautiful temperament but one that leans more for families that truly enjoy the out-of-doors world – more hunting, hiking, swimming. An all weather pup that most families look for although the activity level will be much higher than that of a lower ranking female’s offspring. As a breeder, I not only have to produce the very best of breed in look/structure, in health/genetics, but also I need to focus on temperament/personality. When you hit high on all of these genetic traits, the result is producing the best well-rounded puppy although the difference lies in the puppies activity levels…
Enjoy our pictures of Eps, Ty, Sage, Akona and our future fully fledged leader, Kissakee!
