Our first Labrador Retriever was a gift from my sister and her husband. Willow was so gentle, obedient, and patient with our boys that I was sold on the breed and have had three more Labs since then. Amber and her daughter Luci were our two Labs that Micah grew up with. Both had the same gentle manner with the children that was especially appreciated with Micah’s active and at times unpredictable behaviors. They were never aggressive towards him, but learned to move out of his way and sometimes out of the room if he needed space. After grieving the loss of Amber and Luci who died within three days of each other, the most logical plan was to look for another Lab to fill that void in our hearts and home that they left.
Our search brought us to a breeder with a litter of Labrador Pups who lived about an hour and a half from our home. The breeder allowed us to meet the puppies when they were about four weeks old and as I sat in the midst of the roly poly balls of adorableness trying to figure out how I would ever know which one was our pup, one little yellow girl kept coming back for attention. I was smitten and we paid the deposit and headed home. I named her Celida after a darling little girl I had in my cabin when I was a camp counselor years before. Her nick name is Celi. After that first meeting, we were not able to visit Celi again due to distance, but we kept up to date with photos of her on the breeder’s website until the happy day when she was almost 8 weeks old that the breeder set as pick up day.
I should have had an inkling when we went into the home and gazed into the box where the puppies were, that our Celida’s temperament might be a bit less calm and docile than our previous dogs. All of her litter mates were sleeping peacefully while Celi sat on top of the overturned food bowl barking up at me as I peered down at her. I thought at the time how adorable it was that she was so excited to see me again. In reality she was most likely barking “you are late, it is time for this princess to head home”! On the way home, my friend Diane drove as I held tiny Celi in my lap, but she whined unless I held her up high enough to see out the window. Even on our first trip on our first full day together she was letting me know she thought she was in charge.
Once home she settled in and captured everyone’s hearts, as she believes every dog is her friend and every human’s main duty is to pet and adore her because she loves them. At our Vet’s suggestion I signed us up for Canine Training School in hopes of improving her basic obedience skills versus her tendency to only come when she felt like it and only follow other commands when a treat was right in front of her. Celi and I managed to barely get through the Basic Family Dog Course by some miracle, however the next Basic II Obedience Skills class proved to be our downfall. While the rest of the dogs in class mastered the skill of not moving towards other dogs or humans when they were supposed to sit in place, Celi inched or leaped forward towards them, desperate to get the attention from all that she felt was her due. Thus, while the other dogs and humans received their diplomas, Celi and I received a “Certificate of Effort” which translates to “Epic Fail”! The instructor did try to console me after; noting that Celi is smart, but needed a lot more practice. Going on three years later, she has progressed, but we are still practicing.
There is one area, besides being beautiful and loving, where Celi does shine and that is her instinctual protection of Micah. Almost every week in all kinds of weather we take a hike down the trail by our house that leads to a pond. The pond is about a mile through the woods and Micah likes to try to get ahead of me whenever possible. I don’t blame him as what 26 year old wants his mother next to him 24/7, but I have asked Micah to please stay in my sight as he zips ahead of me down the trail. Truth be told, Micah has excelled at social distancing for years. He generally does comply with requests to stay in sight, but sometimes he suddenly sprints ahead out of sight, a behavior that causes me to panic as he is so much faster than I will ever be. Once ahead he occasionally heads off the trail to look at something, and in my haste I have rushed right by him as I searched for him further down the trail. The reality is that as much as I call out for him, Micah does not speak, but he might wonder why I am running down the trail without him. However, I have learned from experience if I just look for Celi, she will be near Micah, often running ahead of him, then circling back to stay with him. She remains near him until I locate them together. She may never learn to sit quietly when there are new friends to meet, but Celi has learned to show me where my son is, thus deserving an advanced diploma in human care; Micah’s sentry with a critical role to fill.
Jan Lessard Peightell March 25, 2020
