Your dog on the right always reminds me of a Norweigan Elkhound/Black Lab mix that we had. She was the best dog ever. I enjoy seeing your pics everytime.
I had gone to the pound, looking for a different type of dog. A young guy had a box of fuzzy puppies out front. He said he couldn't keep them, but the pound was out of room, so they'd be put down if he left them there. She chose me, & I took her home.
When I got her, her name was Tasha, but my girlfriend at the time had a great dane mix named Shasta. I thought Shasta & Tasha sounded too much alike to the dogs when we took the dogs out to play. I changed her name to Tanya, which still sounded close to Tasha, but didn't sound like Shasta.
Tanya learned everything quickly. She was amazing at heeling. She saw it as a game. I'd turn sharply any direction & she hustle to stay right at my side. I'd drag my heel on the last step to stop. She'd hear that sound & knew to sit when we stopped on the following step.
Tanya was great to hike with. I'd tell her "ok" & she'd run up & down the trail, but never over a hill or around a corner, so she was always in sight. I'd whistle & she'd come back at a run. She loved to swim in streams.
She was incredibly fast. She'd sometimes catch birds. Not sneaky like a cat, but at a full charge while barking. She'd jump as they took flight & catch them in the air. When she played with other dogs she could outrun any of them.
She had different barks. If a stranger was at the gate she had a serious bark. But if it was someone she knew, it was more of an announcement "Hey Boss, your friend is here". When my future wife (Not the ex-girlfriend with Shasta) first met Tanya, it was that stranger bark only one time. I told Tanya "She's ok", & it was the friendly announcement bark after that.
Tanya would wait at the door until we told her "ok". In or out. My wife was very pleased with that. You could put down a towel if she was wet & dry her off before she'd run in the house.
She was protective of the home when it was just me. When I got married, she turned it up. When we had a baby even more so. She was great with the baby. He was her kid to look out for.
She found a guy in the yard one night. That was a serious "I'm going to get you" bark. I ran out the door. She was right on his heels as he was high stepping as fast as he could to not get bit. She was so fast that biting him would have been easy, but that wasn't her intention. She just needed him to think he was going to get bit. As he jumped over the fence I hollered "HEY!". He called out "Sorry, I was cutting thru your yard". We lived in a neighborhood where the streets were a maze. Cutting thru my yard probably saved him blocks & blocks of walking. But it never happened again. Tanya made her point.
One night I left the window open on my car. I went out to get something, & there was an animal in the car. I could see its eyes & it was growling. I backed away & it poked its face out. Once I could see her face I recognized Tanya. I said "Hey!" She looked embarrassed. I opened the door & she came out of the car very sheepishly. Looking sort of like "Sorry Boss, I didn't know it was you. How did I get in that car anyway?"
We lost her in the 80s. I miss her still. Every dog since I've hoped would be like her. But she was one of a kind in my life. Lots of fond memories.