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I WOULD BE INTERESTED
TO HEAR YOUR STORIES. <> 
THE
STORY OF POPPY Poppy's Grandparents lived here
at Alablloyd so we are delighted to be able to tell her story.
Just over 5 years ago, I had a triple-bypass
heart operation, and while I was in the theatre, my husband Graham
was at home with our dog friends feeling rather anxious. Time
dragged on, and he eventually asked our group of Labradors; !Well, how
is Margaret then?! Not one dog wagged its tail, and it was serious expressions
all round. He felt uneasy. About half an hour later he asked them
again, and this time their tails wagged and a sense of excitement filled
the room.. Bolstered by the dogs positive response to his question, my
husband phoned the hospital, and to his very great relief was told the
operation was over, and that it had been a complete success! I feel some kind of sixth-sense told them I
was in danger, and let them !know! when I was out of it. I am sure their
are a lot of dog lovers who have had a similar experiences
with their wonderful friends.. Many years
ago when our children were 10, 9 and 7 years old respectively, their
favourite thing to do on a Sunday morning was a visit to a park in
the hills about twenty minutes from our home. Off they'd go with their
father and our current labrador called One day, when he was absolutely bursting
with pent up energy, he completely lost the plot. The children later
told me they were all walking to the creek, when Cavy began running
around them in ever-decreasing circles, trying to get as close to them
as he could, without knocking into anyone. But suddenly, my husband Graham
and daughter Sandra, found themselves looking up at the treetops, and
small patches of blue sky peeping through them. Cavy had knocked them
down, like a bowling ball running into a pair of skittles. Needless
to say, he was at their side in a flash, looking utterly embarrassed,
as only a Lab who's made a mistake can. Fortunately, no one was hurt,
and there were lots of hugs and kisses, and licks all round My family will always
remember with great fondness the super times they had with this wonderful
Labrador. Our married daughter Sandra, obtained
two Labs from us that we bred at Alablloyd. They were from two different
litters that were about four weeks apart. As they live on their
own vineyard ( Culley Creek) , it was no surprise to us that the
girls were named, Baume and Chablis One day when the girls were only
about five months old, they were taken for an exciting new walk, not
far from home. It was a lovely natural scrub walk, on a narrow path
that curved its way slowly up a hill, and it seemed to them that
something good was around each corner. Little Baume was always a bit ahead,
when she suddenly disappeared. Sandra and Chablis ran to catch up,
and were just in time to see little Baume literally fly into a swiftly
running stream. All they could see now, was this little yellow head
bobbing in the water like a cork! Chablis barked and looked up at Sandra
with sheer disbelief on her face. Baume had always liked water, and both
the girls had gone for swims at the local beach, but my daughter didn't
expect THIS sort of CRAZY stuff!, but not to worry--- the little one
found a spot where she could climb up the bank, and then back she raced
to show she was okay. She was So thilled with herself after her great
new experience! Baume was not, of course, quite the
same lovely shade of gold she'd been before she went into the river:
she was now a sort of mud-coloured Lab!. She wanted Chablis to join
her, but no way was Chablis planning to end up looking like that! The girls are
now six years old, and are still the same in lots of ways. But it's
still Baume who does things on the spur of the moment: and Chablis who
thinks things out first, just before she joins in. They are lucky girls,
who have 40 acres of vineyards to explore. Of course, they have
tried to press their luck by eating some of the lovely ripe, red grapes,
but have learnt that this is not acceptable! They are Labradors
and, as we all know, this breed can learn ANYTHING!!!
I AM YOUR LABRADOR
RETRIEVER
THERE IS NO PLACE
LIKE HOME ---( CALAIS
STORY )We have a darling Labrador Bitch called Calais, she is one of our girls whom I would class as one of the smartest, she just seems to know what you are thinking. One day my son rang me up from Victor Harbor where he lives & asked me if I had a Labrador that I would like to give a new home to. He had met some lovely folks who had recently moved to the area, previously they were on their own farm where of course they had working dogs but not a family pet, now they wanted a Labrador but not a puppy. They had a lovely home close to a lake infact you could walk out the back door and there it was. Both the husband and wife were fit and well, loved a round of golf and a regular daily walk on the beach at Encounter Bay, not far away. My husband and I discussed the idea of giving Calais to these nice people as we had a couple of other dogs that were getting up in age also, anyway we decided yes and Peter and Jane rang me and a time was made to take Calais down to meet and see how they liked each other. She was excited when we left home because she was the only one on board, and that in itself is always a treat around here. Calais seemed to know we were on our way to the beach, silly me, of course she did we had been on the same road many times before. When we arrived Peter and Jane made a great fuss of her as they thought she was lovely, the feeling seemed to be mutual. After a cup of tea with Calais sitting alongside us in the kitchen I left her toys, favourite blanket & familiar eating bowl, and of course some food that she was fond of. As I drove off I thought now this girl has fallen on her feet, she is going to have a great time, ball chasing and swimming every day. I was wrong so wrong, after I left I was told she just sat staring in the direction that I had gone, she did not show any interest in wanting to do anything. Peter and Jane took her for a run and swim to the beach, she always loved this, not now she would not even walk properly with them, she was dragging her four feet like a spoilt small child. She would not go for a swim and when Peter threw the ball for her she looked at him as only a Lab can and almost said 'get it yourself' They tried for a week to make her feel happy but she was so sad, she would still just look into the direction I drove off in and quietly cry.They rang me and told me the situation, I said I will come and get her, they said no worries they were coming to town and would bring her back home. Bye the way the only thing she did do that was the same as home was eat "shes a Labrador" I will never forget the look on the face of our dear Calais as she saw us for the first time from the back seat of there lovely car I went over to the door to say hello to Peter & Jane at the same time what followed was simply amazing we had never seen a Lab do it before or after. She jumped out of the car ran towards us and then lept a long way in to the air and did a complete 180 degree pirouette. She was shaking from head to foot with excitement and I thought her tail might fall off it was wagging so vigorously. Peter and Jane had never seen anything like it, he remarked to us that she just loved us so much. I agreed so did Graham. After that we decided that Calais could stay with us for the rest of her days. She is now nearly 13 years old and is still enjoying her outings to the beach , swimming and ball chasing but of course it is with us and her Labrador friends. Something we had forgotten, this girl had always had Labrador company, never been on her own. All of the above has become so much more precious to us now as we no longer have our darling Calais with us she died at the Vets on the 8th of August 2008 at 13 and a half years, she will be in our hearts forever.
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