OK so I wanted a Labrador, having had two in the past.

[3sloppydogs]

I had a lab and a Chessie previously. They are both wonderful breeds. The Chessie is more protective of her people though. If I was a younger man I would have considered one these again but I just don't have the energy for these guys. That's why I have working breeds now. They are not as zoomie.

 

[biomedtechguy]

Anyone make a dogster wheel? I'll take 3 and power my home with dogfood converters.

A few things I've/we've done over 3 decades of Lab experience is if you have a pool, all of the ones I've had will swim year-round. Granted, I'm in South Louisiana, so the pool water temps don't drop out of the 70s, at least I doubt it. Any relatively clean body of water will do too, although here I have to pick and choose carefully. I would need to be institutionalized if I saw one of my dogs attacked by an alligator, so I don't let them swim in the Bayou any more, and thank God I was able to convince my wife not to let the dogs in the Bayou, her in the Bayou...optional...



Another tool we use is the Chuck-It ball thrower and the whistle balls. They even make one that glows in the dark, when you run out of daylight before they run out of energy.
The 2 puppies run around and play pretty rowdy with each other, so that helps too.

 

[patrick66]

My Boxer-Mastiff mix is 109 pounds. She had her third birthday in July. She is a rescue from the city shelter, who was about 80# when we first got her last August. She's not big on zoomies, but she does like to play rough-n-tough every now and then! Ruby is a mellow dog. She blends in with her favorite couch (favorite couch not pictured!) - they are nearly the same color! She has tried to take off three times, and thankfully, we had good, honest people find her and call us to say they had found her. Ruby has a GPS device on her collar that we just go. It has geofencing, so we know if she starts to head down the long gravel drive to the gate.

 

[biomedtechguy]

Ruby has a GPS device on her collar

That could have saved me what was (thank God) about 24 hours of misery and suffering, searching for my black Lab Bud, back in the 90s. Fortunately I got a call from someone about a mile or so from home, and I rushed to go pick him up.
I had spent the ENTIRE night and early morning putting florescent yellow flyers out:

LOST CHILD!
Black Labrador Retriever​

I had a picture of him and my phone number. Best call I could get!

 

[JR_Charger]

A few things I've/we've done over 3 decades of Lab experience is if you have a pool, all of the ones I've had will swim year-round. Granted, I'm in South Louisiana, so the pool water temps don't drop out of the 70s, at least I doubt it. Any relatively clean body of water will do too, although here I have to pick and choose carefully. I would need to be institutionalized if I saw one of my dogs attacked by an alligator, so I don't let them swim in the Bayou any more, and thank God I was able to convince my wife not to let the dogs in the Bayou, her in the Bayou...optional...



Another tool we use is the Chuck-It ball thrower and the whistle balls. They even make one that glows in the dark, when you run out of daylight before they run out of energy.
The 2 puppies run around and play pretty rowdy with each other, so that helps too.

I've lived with labs for over 40 years. IMO they're curious to see what's out there, and like to visit people they think are friends. Catahoulas are also working dogs, but my full blooded Catahoula doesn't roam. I've also got two half-cats - one takes after his Boxer side and roams, and the other takes after the cat-dog side and only roams when one of her Boxer buddies leads her astray.