OMG a bc/lab mix? I can't even imagine what that personality would be like... a love-able slobbering tennis ball fetching type A who likes to organize your shoes by heel size? Wow! I'm not being flippant, Rex sounds like a neat combo-

OK- pets...do husbands count? (tee hee) All my critters were rescued, abandoned, or the offspring of a rescue. Almost everyone is spayed or neutered- the only exceptions are for age/health reasons.

Dogs: Ringo, 12 yr old male athritic Aussie; Riley, 12 yr old male lab/rottie; Lightning, 10 or 11 yr old female bc; Capris, 3 yr old female BC/Aussie/Heinz 57 that my Australian & Oz friends say reminds them of a Kelpie Dog.

Cats: Lady, 13 - 14 yr old mostly black calico with a diamond on her forehead; Smoke, 13- 14 yr old long haired smokey tortoise shell (her name is actually Smoke Detector, as my step kids thought that's what she sounded like when she was born); Murf, 11 yr old tiger who weighs 20 pounds and is a stroke victim from when an owl or hawk tried to take him (he was only 13 pounds then); Meesha, 7 yr old white with black spots, and her sister Sasha who looks almost exactly alike, but Sasha has bigger spots...

Goats: Billie Holidoe, about 4 months old- my horse found her 3 months ago... don't know where she came from. Opie, 3 months old, I adopted him from Pennsylvania where he was hand raised. Opie doesn't know he's a goat...

Pigs: Wilbur, 9 or 10 yr old pot we rescued from a yard sale (and he started the whole pig thang); Weesie, 10 or 11 yr old pot we got to keep Wilbur company- she now has uterine tumors and is being treated for end of life issues; Moe, 7 or 8 yr old that was found running from dogs; Shy, 7 or 8 yr old that was found holding some big draft horses hostage; Miss Piggy, literally rescued during her spay surgery when her owner abandoned her on the table; Lightning, came with Miss Piggy- he's deaf as a doorknob; Zeappo, rescued from the freezer (it's illegal in TN to slaughter pots- they have the same protections as dogs & cats); Squealer (or Nixon), same; Kim-Him, same, he also has the distinction of being an hermaphadyte, Carribean, rescued from animal control; Lucy, was someone's housepig and abandoned; and Babe, another house pig who had to be given away when the family had to bring an elderly relative in...

Horses: Bud, a 27 yr old retired police horse, quarter horse (qh); Jate, an 11 yr old qh with a blown out knee- got him from a therapy program who couldn't use him anymore; Coal, 7 yr old black miniature (genetically arab); Dancer, 7 yr old Palimino miniature (Coal's cousin); Beamer (show name: Mid-Life Crisis), coming 5 yr old Belgian/qh PMU foal I rescued when he was 5 months old; Rohan & Rune, two 3 yr old Norwegian Fjord half brothers, also PMU foals rescued when they were 6 months old.

We've had a few too many of our pet family cross the rainbow bridge- our peafowl, George & Gracie & their offspring, Foo our bunny, Buddy our first rescue horse, all our guineas (only Chick Corea was named), "Drive By" our rooster ( we don't have chickens, we were the victims of a drive by roostering), Suzie and Eeama our pigs; Rosie, Beaux, Chip, Katie, Penny, our dogs; Sam, Hoover, Lewis, Ginger, Mr. Cat, Marnie, Paloma, Artie our cats....

Ah.. yeah.. Feeding takes about 1.5 hours- needless to say I'm always late to anything off- farm!
makes it hard to go on vacation too- have to get a farm sitter, let all the vets know, make sure I've got feed stashed for how-ever long we're going to be gone- but the real kicker is the vet bills... I try to apply for spay/neuter help with the non-profit rescues- a few have funding for such things. Sometimes I get feed donated- but the regular stuff, well that's on me- luckily have some great vets, a great farrier, and a husband who understands (rolls his eyes a lot, but understands).

Vivi has my dream menagerie...

As to the BC/Lab mix,it's really a good one and I plan to seek it out for future dogs. With Rex at least, and also with a couple of my former fosters, you get the best of both worlds--brainy, loving, etc. Of course if you don't want a high energy dog this mix is not for you. Case in point, Dalmatians are notorious for being "hyper," or so people tell me, but compared to Rex, Callie's a couch potato. And even at 12 with two knee replacements, Rex loves to run. Just not as much as when he was young.

The differences in the two dogs are pretty interesting (and Callie is much the better for having Rex as a brother). Both very smart, but Rex tends to use his mighty brain to worry about doing the right thing and keeping things in order, whereas Callie's is entirely devoted to getting her own way.

I love the concept of a schnoodle- Moose sounds adorable and best of luck with his puppy training. Do you have any puppy parks in your area? Great places to let your bundle of energy off leash to run and mingle and you don't have to worry about cars...
I'm sorry about Bear Rex. Loosing a loved one is hard, especially when they're so young. He'll be waiting for you at the rainbow bridge.

wow izzie, what an incredible story- any chance you could post the love letter? wow!