Comment which one you would rather have and then post another for the next person. Labrador or Golden Retriever?

Igor had his first race of the year yesterday. The boy probably had his best run.🐾 He was really keen to get off the start line so his pull was great and he actually didn't come last! 11th out of 13 he is slowly moving his way up 🎉 probably would have done better had my daughter realised they were actually racing and not just there for a good time 5k 😂 With those ears I think he could probably fly round.

The new trick we have been doing just for fun. Igor just waits for it to rain treats lol

First weekend of 2026. So are we discussing Stranger Things? I lost my car keys this morning. We looked for them for two hours before admitting defeat. I had to call out a locksmith which was very expensive 🤦‍♂️

Well I have slacked with posting but I feel like the end of the year is good for reflection and I’ve been thinking back to this time last year when it really was sinking in that I’d sent a lot of money to a random lady in Slovakia that I’d met on Facebook and I was hopefully going to have a dog appear at my door in the next few weeks. It just goes against everything you’ve ever been told to do and yet it turned out so well! 😅 looking back, I don’t think if you had told me we would be so successful that I would have believed it, so I am very proud of him (and us for persevering and spending so much time and money on his training!) We are still training every day, lots of work on the flashier stuff has slowed as I’ve realised that until we’ve nailed home life it just doesn’t make sense to put too much energy into other things. Heeling on a lead walk is now almost second nature, we can pass other dogs extremely close with no real interest and he will happily walk off lead through “it’s ok, they’re friendly” locations without really giving a 💩 about anything. His recall is incredible around everything we’ve tested and things now have begun to become habit for him, like auto recalling around certain triggers. I’ve realised that I am much more risk averse than I should be with increasing intensity/distraction etc and have been really pushing him lately and he’s absolutely proving this theory 😂 I try to mix it up so not everything is a test, still lots of play in every walk which has helped so much with engagement. His house manners have dramatically improved as he’s having a lot more time put into it. He hasn’t decked my toddler in a long time, will chin-down settle while he plays around him (on lead), he’s much better with structure and context and seems to have switched his big brain on and worked through a lot of his adolescent difficulties. I’ve had some really bad car trouble which is ongoing and had stopped me being able to train IGP as much as I’d have liked to but 2026 is going to be a huge focus for us in this regard. I want to do our BH and begin to think about IGP1, as well as doing a temperament test and all of his health testing. He is maturing to be such a nice dog with so much potential for sport which is really exciting.