May 21, 2005 — The Driveway
Chewy was an accidental labradoodle. Love child of a lab and a poodle who were left to do their own thing. That made him, in breederspeak, an F-1.
That means that in a litter, there is an even chance of the offspring having fur from the lab, wiry hair from the poodle, or fleecy hair from the poodle’s line. Chewy had fleecy hair. The best.
Fur sheds and with it comes dander and many people are allergic to dander.
Hair doesn’t shed — it just keeps growing and growing and growing. No shedding means less dander in the air,* but it also requires regular haircuts. This is the boy overdue for a haircut.
It was a mild late May and threatening to get warm. The thick black hair reaches out and grabs the heat and holds it. We’d been putting off the first summer haircut due to the excessive cuteness factor** and the fact that it hadn’t gotten too warm. Yet. But the weather forecast showed a warming trend. This photo was taken just before a buzzcut.
(To be continued…)
(Canon 20D; Canon EF-S 17–85mm f/4–5.6 IS USM. Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
*This is why labradoodles were originally bred in Australia — to be trained as guide dogs and assistance dogs for people with allergies.
**This was one reason why he was the poster boy for labradoodles in our area. That and his gentle friendliness. In 2005, very few people had even heard of labradoodles, let alone seen one. I don’t know how many times we heard “Gotta get one” after a conversation on a walking trail.
AMAGA Photography Blog 
He’s very sweet 💙
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He certainly was.
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This dog… so funny!
I was thinking about the Portuguese dog, that Obama had in the White house: Cão de Água Português, it’s similar. 🙂
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A3o_de_%C3%A1gua_portugu%C3%AAs
Nice shot! 🙂
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Thank you! Portuguese water dogs do look very similar to labradoodles.
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I know you say he was overdue for a haircut but he looks so perfect! 😉
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Thank you. That’s why we put it off as long as we could.
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😉
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Love that shag. 😍
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He wore it exceedingly well.
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I’m accustomed to lab being a shortening of laboratory.
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I see. You might not be a dog person. Read on, and you will become one.
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What’s for sure is that I’m a language person. Both laboratory and Labrador come from a Latin word meaning ‘work,’ as in labor.
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What a poser he seemed to be! And that hair is FABULOUS!! I had several Shih Tzu’s when I was younger, so constant grooming was in order but the nice thing was they did not shed. They did require a lot of bathing and they smelled like dogs. We have had Japanese Chin for about twenty years now. They shed hair moderately and require a lot of brushing, but are not to be bathed much and there is no dog smell. I appreciate now not having to bathe Oscar and Lollipop much, and they’re small so brushing isn’t a terrible chore.
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Thank you. This is one of the few times he actually seemed to enjoy having his picture taken. He would usually shy away from the camera. Drove me crazy. Amazingly, we never bathed Chewy – well hardly ever – and he never smelled. Well, actually, he did horrifically smell a couple of times. Read on…
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If Chewey lived here he’d probably want to wait for that haircut. It’s still pretty cold here and he looks fine and happy to me.
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Very different climate in your neck of the woods. I grew up in Geneva. So I know.
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If you’re cute and you know sit right here. If you’re cute and you know it you’re so dear. The word “adorable” was coined for Chewy. ❤ It's too bad that the oncoming heat caused a haircut because he looks perfect.
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Well, Steve, that was the thing about Chewy. He didn’t realize that he was cute, but he absolutely knew that he was charming and he used it to his best advantage. “Don’t take me to get a haircut. Please? I hate haircuts. Do you love me, don’t you? You wouldn’t want to have me do something that I hate to do, would you?”
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pure cuteness Michael…mine Shepard/Poodle…was the last left in the litter…she sheds like a Shepard…no curls just wiry hair…enjoy Chewy ~ smiles hedy 🖤🐶
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Thank you very much, Hedy. Chewy was an amazing guy.
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I would have delayed the haircut too! Beautiful Michael
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Thank you very much. Edit gotten to the point where the first of two summer buzz cuts was not an option. That thick black hair just soaked up the heat.
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