Most of the dogs in shelters here are brought up from southern states, for whatever reason. I've only had 2 dogs, both labs. My first I got at 6 weeks old and she went everywhere with me, learning as she went. She was woodswise, head strong, and great at bringing back grouse; even the ones I thought that I had missed. My current lab was a year old when I got him and hadn't been off a chain in his life; I always thought that taking a dog like that was taking somebody else's problems but he has proven me wrong. I literally had to teach him how to be a dog; swimming and being in the woods without getting lost but he sure is eager to please me. He doesn't do so well on the birds though... he finds them all right but will eat them if I don't get to him. I think that goes back to not having enough to eat before I got him- he weighed 63 pounds when I got him and you could see every rib in his body.
My dog is more than something to greet me when I get home; he goes to work with me and is almost always at my side. I'm partial to labs because of their temperament and because they are water dogs. Ruger is 9 1/2 years old and has had a rough life, including one major injury; he's got one good leg out of 4, arthritis is already starting to bother him. I'll be lucky if he's around for 2 more years but my next dog will be another lab puppy.