After a month without a dog, our house was unbearably quiet and empty, and I have been looking for a new family member. I've owned nothing but Dobermans for around 35 years, and I hope there will be another one or more in my future, but for now, my search was just not turning up the right dog (or litters were not expected until late summer/fall). Being willing to have a different breed or even a mix, I expanded my search.

So now we have Hunter, described as a Lab mix, four years old. I applied to the rescue based on the picture online which looked like a Lab-type dog, maybe 60 pounds or so. When they contacted me, they said he looks a lot bigger in his picture, because he's only 36 pounds! Anyway, that wasn't a deal-breaker by any means. We were open to a medium-sized dog. We met him and he seemed like a good match for us, our home, our lifestyle. It's been a week now, and things are going well.

He is the color of a chocolate Lab, with two white toes but no other markings. He was just a tiny bit underweight, but he's now almost 40 pounds, which seems good for him, and 18 inches tall. His head doesn't look totally Lab, though. Actually, I see more German shorthaired pointer in the shape of his head and ears. His coat is Lab-like but maybe not as thick as most Labs I've known. He is just a little bit longer than he is tall, but his legs are in proportion to his body size, not overly short.

Clearly, he is mixed with something that gives him the smaller size. I'm starting to think it could be Beagle. Little did I know, but I found out in doing some searches that Lab-Beagle crosses are a popular "designer" breed. (Gasp!) His bark sounds Beagle-like, and he follows his nose outside like a Beagle. We'll never know for sure, but whatever his ancestry, he's fitting in well here, which is what really matters.

He's crate-trained and house-trained, and seems to have good overall household manners so far. The only command he seems to know is "sit," but he's highly food-motivated, and we've already begun marker training. He's a good boy!

He sounds like a perfect new family member, Cheri!

Now I know two dogs named Hunter (a cool name).

Congratulations! I hope you'll link us to pictures.

Guess what, Cherie? Beagle was actually what 1st came to mind for me, LOL -- I didn't know they were breeding Labeagles these days, but that info reinforces my guess now It's wonderful to hear that Hunter is checking all the boxes for you guys !!!

That is awesome to hear, Cheri! Glad he’s fitting in so well!

Sounds like a fun happy dog to have around. The only way to be sure about the breed is to do an Embark DNA test. Eventually we will do that for our 2 mixes.