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‘Lion’ running loose in Norfolk, VA

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This story was all over the news yesterday, but it was hard to find a video that focused more on the “lion” than the person telling the story.

“Charles the Monarch” is a labradoodle, clipped and dyed to look like the lion mascot of Old Dominion University. He sparked a spate of 911 calls about a “lion on the loose.” Normally I disapprove of doing such things to dogs, but in this case it appears there’s no harm done. Despite his unusual haircut, Charlie appears to be all dog, completely oblivious to his own appearance and absolutely adorable. I love this dog!

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16 thoughts on “‘Lion’ running loose in Norfolk, VA”

    1. In their defense, some of the callers did refer to a “baby lion” or “small lion.” The one I loved was the caller who said the “lion” was about the size of a labrador retriever. He may not know his lions, but he nailed the dog part.

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  4. Okay, I will admit… that dog is cute! I’m not a fan of “designer” dogs (i.e labradoodles), but this one is pretty cool. Although I am NOT fond of letting that dog run around like that. The traffic on that street alone is too much and too fast. And apparently since people called the zoo about a lion running around, then the dog was out and about without a human attachment.

    In the dog-grooming world, that cut is called a “lion cut.” Hmmm… imagine that. We have a house full of them, although the show cut doesn’t trim down the front legs. Although, this could be a great costume for one of the brown Porty’s that are done in the show ring. Like “Blaze” here… my nemesis! (She lives down the hall from my bedroom door and office. When dinner time is approaching, she starts whining – and it is the most atrocious, high-pitched, eardrum piercing whine I’ve ever heard. Blaze: http://llwproductions.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/blaze-2005-akc-championship.jpg

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    1. I don’t care for designer breeds either, although there’s some good logic in the labradoodle (lab trainability, poodle’s hypoallergenic coat). I got the impression from the video that Charlie was under good voice control; people who saw him “running loose” may not have realized he was with a nearby owner. Personally, I always keep my dogs leashed in town, and would do so even if we didn’t have strict leash laws here.

      I recognized the adaptation of the lion cut that poodles get. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was the inpsiration for a dog that’s half poodle, lion-colored, and needs trimming anyway. I’d never seen the cut on a Porty. My only “experience” with Portys is seeing Obama’s “Bo,” who sports what I thought was basically a poodle puppy cut. (I’m not that familiar with the cuts; never had a dog that required trimming.) Blaze looks like a totally different breed with her lion cut; not all the tight curls (?) that Bo has. Being a good sized dog, I imagine she does have a lot of volume with all her vocalizations. Is her particular whine a breed characteristic?

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      1. Now, mind you, I only know quite a bit about Porty’s and their cuts because my roommate / housemate / “best friend that is also divorced from an @#%^##” / “and share the cost of maintaining a home friend”…..Okay, I’ll start over. I only know quite a bit about Porty’s because Lyn, my roomie, is a professional breeder who happens to be now breeding Porty’s. She’s 60 so has been through a few breeds in her life including Greyhounds and Labrador. AND she’s a professional, master groomer.

        So you can say I have the human version of a Portuguese Water Dogs encyclopedia here….

        Porty’s were the result of breeding Standard Poodles and retrievers. Porty’s may have either a curly coat – which is what Bo has. Curly just like a poodle. Or a Porty may have a wavy coat, which is what Blaze has. The curly favors the poodle side of the breed, and the wavy is the retriever side. Although both coats are hypo-allergenic.

        Technically, dogs typically have fur – but not Porty’s, nor poodles and a few other breeds. The difference is fur sheds and has a different dander that is typically what people are allergic to. Hair will continue to grow and grow and grow… like like human hair. Just like some people, the hair may “stop” growing once it reaches a certain lenth. Fur is what the vast majority of dogs have. It shed, clumps, molts out, gets in your food, coffee, mouth, and so on.

        Bo is sporting a cut which is called a “retriever cut.”

        Blaze’s annoying whine is not typical for the breed. That’s just Blaze. She starts when she gets hungry and it’s getting close to dinner… like right now…..

        One thing about this breed…. very very smart. And an endless amount of energy. They are problem solvers on speed. I’ve seen them figure out how to open a bin of food – now, this depends upon the type of bin – this one happened to be a style Igraine could figure out how to open.

        Well, there you go. More info about Porty’s than you expected – especially when you posted this article. 😉

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        1. I didn’t know they came from retrievers/poodles. Great combination in my opinion. Both are very smart, although I’ve only owned retrievers. The coat thing is one reason I’ve occasionally, in the past, flirted with the idea of getting a poodle. Decided I didn’t want the grooming hassle. Thanks for the info. Always interested in anything about dogs.

        2. They’re an interesting breed. They were used on fishing boats in Portugal. I can’t recall what they did, but they had some specific job.

        3. Here is a short video of LC (Elsie but spelled “LC”). She’s about 2 years old now. In agility training and doing very well – I can see why in this video. This is actually video I took with my tablet right after I got it… I just wanted to see how well it worked. LC and a couple others were in the yard outside my office, and she loves to jump in and look at me through the window. I get such a kick out of it. I’m sitting there, looking out the window at the sky or something. Then suddenly this dog bobs up and down.

          Here it is. Nothing special and not edited. Keep in mind the bottom of this window is about 5-1/2 feet off the ground. The yard is lower on this side of the house. So EC is doing about a 6-7 foot STANDING jump in order to look at me.

        4. Laughing out loud over this! That’s so funny, and she’s so cute! If she did that unexpectedly I’d probably spew a drink all over the window!

        5. Sometimes she gets high enough to be able to come in the window. She’s making a great agility dog. I don’t foresee clearing the jumps being a problem for her.

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