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Featured Pet: Guthrie Wybel

guthrie2Our featured pet this time around is Guthrie Wybel, a big, strong, slightly goofy Labrador mix who stays frequently at The Farm and enjoys tummy rubs and nature walks!  Guthrie lives with Sandy Wybel of Nashville and they are definitely a team. In fact, there’s nothing we can write about Guthrie that Sandy can’t say better … so here is Guthrie, as presented by the person he loves most:

The most interesting thing to me about Guthrie is his mix of breed – Labrador and Boxer. He looks just like a black lab, but his behavior will surprise you – he is definitely boxer inside. . . strong, stubborn, stocky, solid and spoiled (well, maybe that part is lab)! Like a boxer, he likes short bursts of energy – he’s always ready to go for a walk when I get home from work, but he can’t go very far before he is exhausted. He doesn’t like to swim or play ball – he does like to play tug ‘o war and stamps his feet when he wants your attention.

Guth is a real “lover”. We live in a three-bedroom home, but we occupy the same 4 square feet most of the time. Wherever I am, he is there – usually on my lap or with a paw on my leg – touching me somehow. At night, he sleeps on my bed with his head on the pillow next to me. He’s very protective and yet, at the same time, he loves to be touched. Sometimes he growls and wags his tail at the same time! He once chewed his way through a steel fence just so he didn’t have to be alone (he was being quarantined in the shelter the first night he arrived, but he was having none of that!) His bottom front teeth are broken off from that chewing incident.

I think Guthrie is five or six-years old, I’m not sure due to his background. I’ve had him for three years now. I found him by searching online for local shelters in the Nashville area. I was really looking for a full-blooded Labrador since I had a chocolate lab for sixteen years before Guthrie. But, when I saw his face on the website at Robyn’s Nest Animal Rescue in White’s Creek, he just looked like he needed guthrie 1me. The first day I met him he wasn’t very interested in me, but he loves to ride in cars, so he jumped right into my car when I was ready to go. . He still loves to go – anywhere. Going to work the first month was so difficult – I couldn’t get through the back door into the garage without him pushing in front of me (he’s also very strong!). He would beat me to the car and I couldn’t get him back into the house because he is so big! Many mornings, I ended up driving him around the block and then taking him back inside through the front door (quickly) before I left for work!

 Guthrie had a pretty difficulty “puppyhood”. Robyn Guidara, the owner of the shelter, told me that she had rescued him from a local farm where he’d been dropped when very young and basically was roaming wild. Eventually, he found shelter the laundry room of a trailer on the property that was rented to a single individual. One night, the person came home very late and Guthrie growled at him, which resulted in the person stabbing Guthrie in the nose. You can still see where part of his nose was sliced off. The next day, they called Robin and asked her to take him. Even though she didn’t really have room, she didn’t turn him down, and he then stayed at the shelter for over a year before I saw him. He has had some difficulty adapting to a “kept” life and the first few weeks were rough – he growled every time I put food down for him and there were times when I wasn’t sure we were going to make it, but eventually I won him over and he has been at my side ever since.

Guthrie’s a good fit for me because his protective side makes me feel safe at home and his loving side makes me smile – I can’t imagine another dog in his place. He’s happy to have a good home and I’m happy to have a great friend.