How strange is this?

Today at the dog park there weren't many dogs around. At one point it was just me, Keeley, and Teagan. Then a guy and his dog showed up.

If there were like ten dogs there, I probably wouldn't have looked twice at this other dog, but since it was the only other one there I was paying more attention to it. It was the same size as Teagan, all long legs and tiny waist.

So I asked the guy what kind of dog it was and he said it was a lab. I responded that it must still be a puppy because labs generally get to be twice as big as Teagan when they're fully grown. He agreed that it was still a puppy.

So then I asked how old it was. I was guessing like 6 or 7 months but the guy said no, it's over a year old. He also said that he still expected it to gain another 6-8 inches in height over the next year and fill out. I thought that was kind of odd since I thought dogs were, for the most part, done growing once they got to a year old, but I held my tongue and didn't say anything.

I sat there watching this dog for a couple more minutes. It was a shiny jet black color with a tiny white spot on it's chest. It liked to run fast and play chase and was just as fast as Teagan. It's tail was about the same length as Tess's and had a slight curl to it. And it's body shape was exactly like Teagan's.

So I asked the guy if he got it from the Humane Society here and he said he did when she was just a puppy. Then I asked if her birthday happened to be March 10th and he looked surprised and asked how could I know that. I told him that's because it's Teagan's birthday too and told him I think they're sisters. But he refused to hear it and insisted that his dog was a black lab, not a mutt. So I let it drop.

I sat there watching the dogs run and play and the guy continued to talk about his dog. I became more and more convinced that this was another one of Teagan's litter mates. He said he got her when she was 10 weeks old and that her name was Mandy. So I asked him if her other litter mates at the Humane Society all had names that started with M's too. Again he was surprised that I knew this so I told him that Teagan's name used to be Mona but I changed it.

Still he insisted that Mandy and Teagan were not sisters. He said that his is a black lab and that the other dogs in the litter were black too but that there were only 3 of them total. But if Teagan and Tess had already been adopted before he got there, of course it would look like there were only 3 dogs in the litter. And for that matter, I've been saying that there were 5 dogs in the litter but I don't know that for a fact either since there could have been more that were adopted before I got there and I wouldn't have known. Anyhow, I decided not to argue with the guy.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me today, but you can be sure I'm going to be bringing one from now on in case we ever run into Mandy again.

Meet Tess

Looks like Teagan. Acts like Teagan. But it's not Teagan, because it's TESS! Today at the dog park we ran into one of Teagan's biological sisters and her name is Tess.

They came from a litter of 5 girls and the Humane Society gave them all names that started with M's. Teagan's name was Mona before we got her. Tess was obviously renamed by her new parents as well.
I've always hoped to one day run into one of Teagan's litter mates. I knew she was Teagan's sister the moment I saw Tess. They do look an awful lot alike, don't they? Teagan is a little taller and longer. Tess is a little more blond and more sturdy. Teagan's tail is longer and curlier. Tess is more well adjusted and doesn't have any hang ups about other dogs or resource guarding. However, it is clear that they are related. They both love to run fast and chase balls. Also they both can entertain themselves for hours with just 2 tennis balls.
It was hard to get a good picture because Tess was moving so fast but here's a shot of the two sisters together. I wonder if some day we'll run into the other 3 girls in the litter. I hope so because it was so cool meeting Tess at the dog park today!