…is actually Audrey’s sister….and this is the story of how they ended up together!

After having Audrey for awhile, we noticed that she seemed lonely and rather enjoyed when she was in the company of other dogs. She was not at all aggressive with other dogs, thankfully, but she came alive when she got to play with them. So, we started talking about getting another puppy from the same breeder. I began to check out the breeder’s webpage, waiting to see news of upcoming litters. That is where I found Tori, my second Lab.

I had seen Tori’s picture up before on the breeder’s page. The breeder had kept two females from Audrey’s litter to have as show dogs. One day though, upon checking the puppy page, I saw the words “Adolescent for Adoption” and Tori’s picture (this one here). Audrey’s sister was up for adoption!!! I could barely contain my excitement! I contacted the breeder who told me that Tori wasn’t shaping up well to be a show dog, that her career was over before it even began, so that is why she was up for adoption. I didn’t care about that stuff–all I wanted was to give Audrey her sister.

We had to wait two weeks for Tori, much less than we did with Audrey, and again, it was worth it. The drive out seemed to take forever this time. We brought Audrey with us so she could meet Tori and the breeder could see how she grew up. When we arrived, the breeder took us down to the kennel and led us outside the the fenced play area. A few seconds later, a very round, bubbly yellow Lab came running out to us. Tori. Nothing like Audrey, who is very mellow and lean. I fell in love with her anyway. My husband was not so sure of her. Audrey was not so sure of her either. My vote won and we brought her home for a two-week trial period.

The two dogs did well during the car ride home, but all hell broke loose when we got inside our house. Audrey’s territorial side broke loose, her hackles went up, and she bared her teeth at Tori. Oh boy. This is not how I pictured it. We tried having them outside together on the front lawn and they did some sniffing, but Audrey still seemed on the defensive. I contacted the breeder who suggested finding a neutral spot in the house and bring the dog together in that room. Luckily, we had kept the spare bedroom off limits to Audrey, so we decided to use that room. It worked–not right away, we still had to supervise playtime for the first few days, but Audrey started to let down her guard and found a willing and fun playmate in Tori.

At the end of the two-week trial period, I was head over heels for Tori and there was no way I was giving her up. Audrey seemed to enjoy having her around too. My husband was still unsure of her, but because I loved her so much and Audrey seemed to enjoy playing with her, he voted to keep her. Now, of course, he likes her as much as he likes Audrey. We are a pack!