Like Looking in a Mirror!

Genetics is an interesting subject, one I'm just delving into as I approach my second birthday. I am what is affectionately known as a "designer dog" -- bred purposefully with a labradoodle and a poodle to create me -- and F1B labradoodle. If you know anything about labradoodles you know we are a varied breed. Some of us are HUGE taking after the massive size of our standard poodle parentage or equally our massive lab genes. Some of us are small, some of us are curly, some of us have straight hair. Some of us love to fetch and swim (a lab trait) and some of us lounge and laugh (a poodle trait).

So when you look at this picture...
...you might think the two of us (me on the right, Ginger on the left) aren't related.

Oh, but we are! Ginger is my half sister. We share the same father, which might be really confusing if you know that our dad was a medium-sized poodle. Our mothers were sisters and first generation labradoodles meaning their parents were a poodle and a lab. But as distinctly different as Ginger and I may appear, look closely at our eyes and our noses and our mouths. Do you see it? We look alike if you take off our hair, don't we?

Ginger came over today for an unexpected visit. I haven't seen her for quite awhile, but I was quite happy when she raced through the front door. We played in the backyard and showed off our tricks to receive some yummy treats. It was a great way to end a busy day, which included the following...


...playing with Oshi and Perrito...


...holding onto my ears despite Gemma's persistence in grabbing them (in this last picture, for instance, she has my left ear in her mouth and is pulling it under my chin to the right side of my body...I must be a very patient dog...very patient)...

And then a visit with Ginger. Later, there is my nightly game of fetch with Monty. In many ways, Monty and I look more alike than I do with my half sister, but genetics are a complicated subject...one I will be getting back to soon.