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The American Kennel Club, the keeper of dog breed standards and statistics, has released its annual popularity contest of pure-bred woofers. The AKC carefully plans this announcement to build excitement for its canine lollapalooza, the Westminster Kennel Club dog show on February 12 and 13.

Once again, the Labrador retriever, the handsome hound with the soulful face, has won top honors. Labs may eat socks and jump into the muddiest pond at the slightest provocation but we love them for their glories and indiscretions. Most of us have a Lab in our past, present or future.

Dog Lady tips her hat to Sooty, a black Lab who became her baby brother's best friend. Back in the day, Dog Lady's parents never thought about neutering Sooty so he wandered freely around the farmland in Katonah, New York, mixing it up with an apricot poodle up the road and just generally carrying on his dog business -- unleashed and fancy free. When Sooty was kept inside, he slept next to the heat register under the kitchen table with his nose in redolent soiled garments he scavenged from bedroom floors. Sooty died in 1980, but his spirit lives on in everyone who loves a Lab.

Posted by Dog Lady at January 19, 2007 11:39 AM