My first and oldest, Frango (she's the one with the grey on her chin), came home to us at exactly 49 days old. She was the sweetest, cuddly-est puppy I knew - and she stole every bit of my and my husband's heart.
Dog number 2, Porter, came to us more recently, as an adolescent, but he has done no less to win all our hearts - including Frango's. Both dogs are pure-bred, AKC registered Labrador retrievers, both favoring the English (shorter, stockier, conformation) lines as opposed to American (taller, lankier, hunting) lines, though Porter is a better example of the "shovel-face" that we originally fell in love with. Luckily for her, Frango has a beautiful, feminine frame, while Porter sports the stocky, blocky look.
A little explanation on the names: for those of you not from Seattle or familiar with the now defunct Frederick & Nelson's department stores, Frangos were the chocolate truffle made & sold exclusively at F&N. When they went under, they sold the recipe & the rights to The Bon Marche, now Macy's, where Frangos have proliferated in numerous varieties. So Frango is the Seattle-specific equivalent of really yummy chocolate - hence the name for our chocolate lab. Porter, on the other hand, had already spent the first 15 months of his life with the unfortunate name of Kenny (my apologies to any Kennys out there). For us, that just wouldn't do. As a black lab, there were 2 viable candidates for his name: Guinness & Porter - because after all, what's more important in life than chocolate & beer? Porter, obviously, won out.
We have been truly blessed with both our dogs. They have fantastic temperaments, and have gotten along like 2 peas in a pod from the moment they met. I'll write more about both of them later - but for now you can enjoy this photo taken this past Sunday, October 2, 2005. The dogs said it was a great dog morning - with temps in the upper 40's it was just right for chasing the ball & the frisbee around the backyard.
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